speak the language
know the potential

via mediastorm

… film – both still + motion.

just looking at the images from an older post with stuff from se asia + the warmth of the images is undeniable. i’ve read this in a ton of places but seeing it with my own work really spoke to me. (check out ape’s interview with sam jones for more on this.)

and in this age of hi speed, digital wizardry where everything happens so very fast it brings a smile to my face to think of shooting film, taking notes + then delivering to the lab only to have to wait a few hours or days for results. maybe that’s why christmas seems so much sweeter now as we’ve lost the hundreds of christmas’ we all used to have.

talking with a client lately i was initially surprised to hear + to be honest, a bit put off, by his mention of using film. but in the course of our conversation – this is the beauty of collaboration – i came to greatly respect what he was doing. not only did he care enough about the brand to genuinely seek out a unique visual voice but he was willing to find that voice in film. the value he put on the visual media part of the campaign is inspiring. if only we as visual content creators could all be so lucky to work with brands + clients that care about visual media + it’s messages.

fun story from pdx writer peter frick-wright + yours truly via sierra magazine out now online. the print version is due next week + according to the pe looks even better. almost time for that white stuff again so good way to start what is sure to be a grand winter season.

this article, while solid, hardly touches on the effort put out for images like these. not to mention how many avalanches we dodged that day. always good to be with the right peeps – thanx misters costain + lamson. great turns. a few outtakes below.

so i spent a few years living in japan + time between + after that traveling around se asia shooting + taking in the asian culture i had until then only read about. college provided me with a fantastic worldview particularly of that region of the world + i spent countless hours working on projects related to the hmong + other ethnic groups. so by the time i was able to pound the pavement i had a voracious hunger to see things for myself.

when one is living abroad vs simply passing through everything tends to change. i came to adopt a mindset that i feel has served me well to this day. in a nutshell, that is to live as those around you live – barter if bartering is necessary, eat what is served, indulge in a few fresh insects, a dip in the river, a kind ride across town. it always amazes me how people can show up in a land they are unfamiliar with + proceed with the mindset they live with back home.

i spent a month + a half in lao pdr (please don’t rush) as i enjoyed the slow pace + had always wanted to visit. the economy wasn’t exactly booming at the time (mid-late 90′s) + the country doesn’t have a surplus of resources. i mean how many lao restaurants do you see popping up anywhere today even? i remember going into the bank to exchange us dollars + coming out literally with a plastic bag full of bills.

as you can imagine food, lodging, etc were all on a much different economic scale then what we in many places are used to. the key was/is to recognize this + adapt. simply because a serving of sticky rice was going for $1 doesn’t mean it was necessarily cheap. if you think in terms of your old life back ‘home’ then that might be the case but in lao you were getting ripped off. paying this amount works against you, other visitors + the economy in general i’d argue but spiraling things upward artificially.

what does all this have to do with anything you might be asking about now. reading about money + photographers lately left me thinking that it works the same way. when small businesses or individuals come up against larger clients offering good work many people have a tendency to stick with their current mindset. an offer for $50,000 comes in + we think that’s a lot of money. don’t get me wrong, it is. but to be successful in any business i believe that you need to take your client (or anyone for that matter) into mind – what are they expecting, what do they need + what are they used to? this pertains to money as much as it does bottled water. if your working for one of the world’s largest brands + they spend $2 million a pop on ad placement alone, not the campaign, then you have a very valuable skill set to offer + $50,000 isn’t an outrageous number.

don’t knock yourself down. believe in the value you create. put yourself in other positions to more clearly see where you stand.

and if you’re ever in lao, then take a good bag to carry all your money in…

fantastic to see the thriving variety of uses for imagery + visual media evolving lately. two big hitters this week include national geographic + the ny times. the times feature is similar to work that is slowly making it mainstream that i touched on earlier here.

the national geo piece is via gizmodo + in conjunction with the oct issue + features nick nichols year long planning session to photograph a 300 ft tall tree without distortion. his custom rig is both elaborate + extremely effective, check it out. and let me know if you come up with anything even close for your own use. (mine’s more akin to this.)