Thursday, March 28, 2013

New York Times Magazine




We produced this ad (along with another one scheduled to see the light of day late next month) for the Maui Visitors Bureau back in November of last year, thanks to the trust & good work of AE Stefani Li & Creative Director April Rutherford of H'lulu mega-agency LCA Anthology.

Funny thing about this is... since the arrival of my shaman friend Denis, we've been talking a lot about goal setting. During one of our lengthy conversations a couple of days ago, I happened to mention that one major goal was to get myself on the radar of New York Times Magazine's photo editor, Kathy Ryan - a king-maker & Holy Grail of photographers.

So... this morning, an email arrives from AE Stefani with details about another future round of shots for the same MVB Campaign. Attached to the email was the above tear-sheet from the March 24 Travel issue of... you guessed it - The New York Times Magazine! Full page, no less. 

And, while the goal has not quite yet been reached - I am now armed at least with an image that will be familiar to Ms. Ryan when I begin to focus promotional efforts in her direction... perhaps a small advantage for me when making initial contact with her.

Miracles & wonders? Seems to me at the moment that that's as good an answer as any.



Website Updated


In preparation for the spring email blast, newest of new work has just been added to the website. Look for new additions in the Lifestyle, Architecture/Interior Design & Food Galleries.


Monday, March 25, 2013

Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle


An amazingly productive shoot resulted from last weekend's outing on behalf of designer Maggie Coulombe. Crew & talent all worked in a rare synchronicity to produce thousands of fantastic images highlighting M's creativity in the realms of resort fashion & swimwear. 

Many thanks to pal Scott for allowing us to use his luxurious resort as backdrops for the production. Kudo's to make-up & hair stylist Theresa for a job well done and to model Callie for... well, for being naturally beautiful, poised, patient and simply fabulous in every way. Also thanks to 1st assistant Niki for keeping me organized equipped with the essentials. None of this could have happened without the efforts of all!



























Saturday, March 16, 2013




Evening wardrobe check & preproduction meeting dinner with frock star Maggie in preparation for today's foray into fashion. Over seared ahi bruschetta, crispy calamari, spicy lamb meatballs a plan emerged. Talk turned to future plans to conquer the world... mobile device apps (the wave of the future I'm told), books, luxury cruise runway shows... 

Weather is looking a bit bleak for production this morning but with four hours still to go before call time and a location located in a drier part of the island, I'm optimistic that art will still be made. 

Coincidently, a profile on Maggie in the current issue of Modern Luxury Hawaii hit the newsstands a few days ago. Find it here.

D arrives from Down Under at mid-day. Foregoing any detention by Immigration officials, a reunion will commence immediately following this evening's wrap party.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Fire Away



 



A day of misfires in too many ways. Remembered in the early evening a set of misfires of another sort entirely. Remembered hearing my iPhone® firing randomly buried deep inside my pocket during morning walk with Chester. Downloaded phone, had a look and was amused. Day ends on an upbeat note... 




                                                                                                                                       

Reach For The Skies




And why not? Anything less would be boring. 

Monday, March 11, 2013

Photographers Entering Bali, Indonesia May Face Problems In The Future


Foreign Photographers attempting to enter Bali, Indonesia carrying professional equipment may soon face extra scrutiny when passing though customs.

This comes from Jack Daniel's popular Bali Update website, posted March 2, 2013:

Bali News

Say, ‘Cheese’

Complaints Raised Over Use of Illegal Foreign Photographers by Bali Hotels


Bali News: Say, ‘Cheese’
(3/3/2013)
 
Beritabali.com reports that there are many undocumented and illegal photographers working in Bali, some earning “tens of thousands of dollar per project” while working on only a tourist visa.

The chairman of the Indonesian Association of Photography Producers, Erry Wibowo, said in Kuta, Bali on February 24, 2013: ”These foreign photographers enter the country on a holiday visa, though in fact they are working in Bali doing photography jobs, like taking pictures of internationally branded hotels.”

Wibowo contends that foreign photographers are lured to work illegally in Bali by projects offering “tens of thousands of dollars” in payment.

Wibowo elaborated: “The (foreign) photographers are paid as much as US$20,000 or nearly Rp. 200 million for a single photography job profiling an international hotel. This amount is far above that paid to an Indonesian photographer. These foreign photographers are working without any legal basis.”

In this context, Erry Wibowo hopes the government will more strictly enforce working permit regulations for professional photographers in Indonesia. He also expressed the wish that more opportunities to shoot internationally branded companies, such as international hotels in Bali, be given to local photographers.

“So far, the internationally branded hotels have used foreign photographers, leaving the impression that these hotels are outside the reach of local photographers, for them the main point is that the photographer must be a foreigner,” Wibowo complained.
 

© Bali Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced if attributed to http://www.balidiscovery.com.

Bali is a country of eye-candy for both the visiting holiday snapshooter as well as the professional. On occasion, I too have entered the country on assignment without the required paperwork in place. More often, I turn up to shoot stock photography - a sort of grey-area when it comes to temorary work visas (KITAS) vs. tourist visas (VOA). 

Even when arriving without tons of lighting & grip equipment, the sight of two or three camera bodies, multiple lenses and tripods alone is enough to pique the interest (and opportunity to solicit bribes) of wily customs officials who will wisk you away to a small adjacent room where the negotiating begins. 

So... be advised. For more information on negotiating the quagmire that can be the Indonesian Visa process, click HERE.


Thursday, March 7, 2013

It's On


Prowling around the grounds of one of the South Shore Resorts earlier this week with fashion designer Maggie Coulombe in tow. Searching for elegant locations for next week's foray into high fashion. Found many. Euro-Supah-Model Callie enlisted as talent. Stylists & crew being assembled now. Fun project. Looking forward to this one in a big way... quite out of the box from the normal routine.

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Job as volunteer radio station Program Director (or Herr Direktor as I am now referred to in certain quarters) has suddenly expanded - spearheader of fundraising, janitor, organizer of birthday parties, supply purchaser, webmaster and staff psychotherapist. As if just keeping the schedule filled with live bodies wasn't enough, we now find ourselves with yet another full-time job. The station celebrates 11 years on the air on Monday... 11 years supported entirely by the donations and good will of our listening community. An amazing thing if you think about it. You can listen in anywhere in the world via our live streaming signal at: Manao Radio, 91.5FM Maui (click for the internet streaming).

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Enlisted to judge a youth photography contest for the Boys & Girls Club of Haiku, Maui this afternoon. Should be interesting. Good practice for the eventual jurying of of the pop-up exhibition being sponsored by the new arts advocacy group B & I have recently put into play, Gallerie Spontaneous. Our first exhibition is slated for April 6. Exhibition is open to all two-dimensional media with the theme "Fertile Ground". Receiving day for entries is approaching quickly on March 29th. Find the prospectus at the Gallerie Spontaneous Facebook page:


 https://www.facebook.com/GallerieSpontaneous?ref=hl

Be sure to "like" us and mark your calendars for receiving and exhibition dates.

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Denis, a UK-based friend with "shamanistic" tendencies met in Bali last year arrives for an extended bit of couch surfing next weekend as he continues his tour of Pacifica with his first visit to the Hawaiian Islands. Expecting sore cheeks from overextended laughter which always ensues when we are together. 

Denis busy restoring world balance at Borobudur Temple Complex, Yogyakarta, Java



Sunday, March 3, 2013

Weekly Highlights & Lowlights


When I moaned about the ceaseless rain in a recent posting, little did I know that things could only get worse. By mid last week, the heavenly floodgates opened up in earnest, dropping a reported 4-5 inches of rain in a 12 hour period. This, of course, overwhelmed roads & nearby streams. Two small bridges within spitting distance of my home were overtaken by the deluge, washing away parts of the retaining walls of each and closing several roads in the area. A 12" water line servicing this area was also a casualty and problems with silt & debris continue to cause problems by jamming up several of the shut-off valves on various faucets around the house which now leak steadily. The water heater has also suffered damage and had to be replaced, the new one already having problems, less than 48 hours after installation, with debris wreaking havok with the pressure-overflow valve and waking me at 2:30 am this morning with a hissing deluge of another sort.

Can't complain too much overall... we got off easy, with only some minor flooding to the yard & driveway and the appearance of a hairline crack now running down the middle of the concrete slab of the new screened conference room. Neighbors just around the corner from here suffered much worse, requiring rescue crews to assist them in evacuation as their small cottage, used as a vacation rental, was swept away by the floods & leaving no evidence that it was ever there in the first place except for broken water and septic lines sticking up thru the mud. Parts of the cottage are now turning up on beaches more than a mile down the coast.

During the peak of the downpour, the road fronting my home & studio turned into a Class 5 whitewater kayak course, forcing more than one motorist to abandon any hope arriving at their destination while another motorist and friend from a neighborhood nearby pulled into my driveway and turned up at the door, soaked to the bone and seeking shelter from the storm. Add a little thunder & lightning, a dusting of snow on Maui's volcanic mountain and a solid 14" powder base to the Big Island's volcanos and we had what can easily be called a severe winter storm.


Once the rains had subsided, we loaded up the car and headed to the jungles of the remote east side of the island to scout locations for a pending fashion shoot and to take in the scenery, spending the night as house-sitters for friends living in the area. Evidence of the heavy rains a few days before was manifested by dramatic, swollen streams and raging waterfalls everywhere along the road as we crawled along the road to Hana.



Returning to the spot where nuptials were exchanged almost 30 years ago was a particular highlight of the trip.



While the heavy weather dominated the news of the week, there was also some good news waiting when I returned from Hana... word came that two photographs were accepted to the Hui Noeau Visual Arts Center's juried B&W photography exhibition, themed "The New Black". The show opens on March 9th and runs into April.

New work is also being prepared for the annual juried exhibition Art Maui. Receiving day is April 4th. This year, I have chosen three images to submit that I am particularly fond of yet suspect the juror my be less enthralled. To learn more about this year's juror, yesterday I attended a presentation given by said juror and left well before the end, underwhelmed and frustrated that the 90 minutes that I sat enduring his nonsense were 90 minutes that that could have been spent far more productively.