Two weeks ago I received an inquiry from Dana Hagendorf, VP and Chief Marketing Officer for Fontainebleau in Miami, one of the world's top resorts."Can you fly down to Miami next week to shoot our executive portraits?"My calendar is booked solid until January, with an overflow of people on the waiting list. I cannot accommodate any disruption in my schedule, so I had no choice but to say..."Sure." I even added two days to shoot for my Dancers Among Us book. I'm no fool. As I expected, the resort is lavish and stunning and immense- well deserving of their premier standing in the industry. However, I did not expect to enjoy everyone's company as much as I did. I discovered that "cool executives" is definitely not an oxymoron. I assumed they wanted a standard corporate headshot approach- find a nice location and have each executive come to me, basically replicating the same photo every time. Instead, I proposed a unique idea- photograph each executive in a different environment, choosing a location that matches the individual's expertise. As I was making the suggestion, I fully realized I was tripling my workload. But a full workday in Miami is like a day off in NYC, so I wasn't worried. I had a fantastic time exploring and photographing the property. I shot for twelve hours and we laughed our asses off the entire day. Here are a few of the final images. You'll have to go to www.fontainebleau.com to see the rest.The President and COO, Philip Goldfarb, surveying his domain from the expansive back patioDirector of Spa Operations, Josie Feria, relaxing in a corner of the 45,000 square foot spaLeo Carrillo, VP of Facilities, standing among the massive cooling units that run up a nice $3 million per month billMy new BFF Mary Barrett, VP of Operations, next to the world famous "Cheese Wall" (yes, they actually have a wall that's very famous, and they've named it after a milk-based food product)Jeffery Klein, VP of Operations, Food and Beverage, overseeing another evening of madness and mayhem in the popular Blue BarAneska Arrocha, General Council, and Alina Molina, VP of Human Resources, at opposite ends of the sprawling lobbyKevin McKee, Chief Financial Officer, outside the "Presidential Suite," where all the Presidents stay when they're in Miami Finally, Dana Hagendorf, the woman who made it all happen, looking out over the stunning propertyThe day that began at 7am finally ended at 7pm, but my time with some of the executives wasn't over. We continued late into the night, but I won't divulge any of the sordid details. You know the expression:"What happens at Fontainebleau stays at Fontainebleau."
In Atlanta I went down to the hippie throwback neighborhood, Little Five Points, looking for a location for Dancers Among Us. It was dusk and I had two ballerinas who looked like they stepped right out of a Janis Joplin song- Claire Stallman with Atlanta Ballet and Amanda Farris with The Georgia Ballet. I was immediately drawn to a store called Serpentine Exotic Pets. I had grand visions of Amanda dancing with a twelve-foot python, but we soon discovered that the store was actually part of a movie set. The latest Ben Stiller film was also looking for a 1970’s vibe, so they decided to “enhance” the already authentic storefronts. If it’s good enough for Ben Stiller… Amanda is a fantastic jumper, so I wanted her leaping towards the dramatic red light in the doorway. She looked kind of lonely there. She needed a friend, but I wanted to save Claire for another photo. As I usually do in these situations, I relied on serendipity to provide me with just the right person. I looked around. Nobody. The place was dead. Hurry up Serendipity, I’m losing my light. I took a few more photos, looked behind me again, and this is what I saw- It’s just completely bizarre how this always seems to happen to me. I must have been a monk in a former life. Carlee agreed to join the photo. Nice, but the shot didn’t really make sense. Why was Amanda jumping? I was stumped. The light was going fast. Carlee reached into her pocket. “I have bubbles.” I was a monk who saved a busload of drowning schoolchildren... Fun! I loved the concept, but there was still something missing. They looked a little isolated out there. It should be more like a party. “Do you mind if my friends join in the photo too?” Carlee asked. … and the schoolchildren all had puppies and kittens with them. Perfect! That’s a wrap. Let’s move on. There’s nothing else here. “Have you ever photographed fire throwing?” We stopped in our tracks. Carlee’s friend Mick was offering his skills for another photo. It sounded intriguing, but I had no idea what he was talking about. He gave us a demonstration. How do I say no to that? This was becoming a very memorable evening. I looked for a new location. Around the corner I found a store called Fearless Weirdos. Seriously. I asked Claire to put on her pointe shoes and a colorful dress and to strike a pose that suggested she was stopped in her tracks. We put everyone into the background, and Mick started throwing fire.After we got the shot, Claire tried her hand at fire throwing en pointe! Take a look at this video by Will Day to see how she did.Thank you yet again, Serendipity. Posted by
In January I was invited to participate in a photographer's discussion about creative inspiration, hosted by Carbone Smolan Agency (CSA), a leading brand strategy and design firm. The purpose was to create a Canon app to help inspire photographers. In a blog titled, "Photographers Who Inspire Me", I wrote about the thrill and disbelief I felt sitting on the panel with some of the world's leading photographers. It just couldn't get any better.Until now. A few weeks ago I received an email from Paul Pierson, CSA partner and design director."Dancers Among Us was a real inspiration to us. It was such a pure expression of a photographic idea that is then expertly translated into a great series of images. I'm introducing the Canon app for the first time at PDN PhotoPlus on October 28. I would love to use one of your images as we demo the app. Do you have some time to come back to the office so I can show you how the app turned out, and how your image inspired us in creating our inspiration machine?"Holy s@#t! Did I mention that the panel was filled with an awesome array of talented photographers who presented stunning, inspiring images? To be included on the panel was enough of an honor. To be selected as the inspiration for the app blows my mind.Fortunately I never mentioned that I shoot with Nikon.When Paul showed me the app, I was truly impressed. It's called Canon Idea Mine, and it will definitely help photographers evolve and expand their ideas. If you're stuck for an idea, the app can generate billions of unique image concepts from scratch in just two taps. If you have an idea, the app helps you create an inspiring to-do list for executing the idea. Since presenting the app to the world on Friday, Paul has received an extremely high degree of interest. I'm not surprised. When it's available later this year, I'll download one for myself. And not just because I inspired it! Posted by
Two weeks ago I received an inquiry from Dana Hagendorf, VP and Chief Marketing Officer for Fontainebleau in Miami, one of the world's top resorts."Can you fly down to Miami next week to shoot our executive portraits?"My calendar is booked solid until January, with an overflow of people on the waiting list. I cannot accommodate any disruption in my schedule, so I had no choice but to say..."Sure." I even added two days to shoot for my Dancers Among Us book. I'm no fool. As I expected, the resort is lavish and stunning and immense- well deserving of their premier standing in the industry. However, I did not expect to enjoy everyone's company as much as I did. I discovered that "cool executives" is definitely not an oxymoron. I assumed they wanted a standard corporate headshot approach- find a nice location and have each executive come to me, basically replicating the same photo every time. Instead, I proposed a unique idea- photograph each executive in a different environment, choosing a location that matches the individual's expertise. As I was making the suggestion, I fully realized I was tripling my workload. But a full workday in Miami is like a day off in NYC, so I wasn't worried. I had a fantastic time exploring and photographing the property. I shot for twelve hours and we laughed our asses off the entire day. Here are a few of the final images. You'll have to go to www.fontainebleau.com to see the rest.The President and COO, Philip Goldfarb, surveying his domain from the expansive back patioDirector of Spa Operations, Josie Feria, relaxing in a corner of the 45,000 square foot spaLeo Carrillo, VP of Facilities, standing among the massive cooling units that run up a nice $3 million per month billMy new BFF Mary Barrett, VP of Operations, next to the world famous "Cheese Wall" (yes, they actually have a wall that's very famous, and they've named it after a milk-based food product)Jeffery Klein, VP of Operations, Food and Beverage, overseeing another evening of madness and mayhem in the popular Blue BarAneska Arrocha, General Council, and Alina Molina, VP of Human Resources, at opposite ends of the sprawling lobbyKevin McKee, Chief Financial Officer, outside the "Presidential Suite," where all the Presidents stay when they're in Miami Finally, Dana Hagendorf, the woman who made it all happen, looking out over the stunning propertyThe day that began at 7am finally ended at 7pm, but my time with some of the executives wasn't over. We continued late into the night, but I won't divulge any of the sordid details. You know the expression:"What happens at Fontainebleau stays at Fontainebleau."
In Atlanta I went down to the hippie throwback neighborhood, Little Five Points, looking for a location for Dancers Among Us. It was dusk and I had two ballerinas who looked like they stepped right out of a Janis Joplin song- Claire Stallman with Atlanta Ballet and Amanda Farris with The Georgia Ballet. I was immediately drawn to a store called Serpentine Exotic Pets. I had grand visions of Amanda dancing with a twelve-foot python, but we soon discovered that the store was actually part of a movie set. The latest Ben Stiller film was also looking for a 1970’s vibe, so they decided to “enhance” the already authentic storefronts. If it’s good enough for Ben Stiller… Amanda is a fantastic jumper, so I wanted her leaping towards the dramatic red light in the doorway. She looked kind of lonely there. She needed a friend, but I wanted to save Claire for another photo. As I usually do in these situations, I relied on serendipity to pro
vide me with just the right person. I looked around. Nobody. The place was dead. Hurry up Serendipity, I’m losing my light. I took a few more photos, looked behind me again, and this is what I saw- It’s just completely bizarre how this always seems to happen to me. I must have been a monk in a former life. Carlee agreed to join the photo. Nice, but the shot didn’t really make sense. Why was Amanda jumping? I was stumped. The light was going fast. Carlee reached into her pocket. “I have bubbles.” I was a monk who saved a busload of drowning schoolchildren... Fun! I loved the concept, but there was still something missing. They looked a little isolated out there. It should be more like a party. “Do you mind if my friends join in the photo too?” Carlee asked. … and the schoolchildren all had puppies and kittens with them. Perfect! That’s a wrap. Let’s move on. There’s nothing else here. “Have you ever photographed fire throwing?” We stopped in our tracks. Carlee’s friend Mick was offering his skills for another photo. It sounded intriguing, but I had no idea what he was talking about. He gave us a demonstration. How do I say no to that? This was becoming a very memorable evening. I looked for a new location. Around the corner I found a store called Fearless Weirdos. Seriously. I asked Claire to put on her pointe shoes and a colorful dress and to strike a pose that suggested she was stopped in her tracks. We put everyone into the background, and Mick started throwing fire.After we got the shot, Claire tried her hand at fire throwing en pointe! Take a look at this video by Will Day to see how she did.Thank you yet again, Serendipity. Posted by
In January I was invited to participate in a photographer's discussion about creative inspiration, hosted by Carbone Smolan Agency (CSA), a leading brand strategy and design firm. The purpose was to create a Canon app to help inspire photographers. In a blog titled, "Photographers Who Inspire Me", I wrote about the thrill and disbelief I felt sitting on the panel with some of the world's leading photographers. It just couldn't get any better.Until now. A few weeks ago I received an email from Paul Pierson, CSA partner and design director."Dancers Among Us was a real inspiration to us. It was such a pure expression of a photographic idea that is then expertly translated into a great series of images. I'm introducing the Canon app for the first time at PDN PhotoPlus on October 28. I would love to use one of your images as we demo the app. Do you have some time to come back to the office so I can show you how the app turned out, and how your image inspired us in creating our inspiration machine?"Holy s@#t! Did I mention that the panel was filled with an awesome array of talented photographers who presented stunning, inspiring images? To be included on the panel was enough of an honor. To be selected as the inspiration for the app blows my mind.Fortunately I never mentioned that I shoot with Nikon.When Paul showed me the app, I was truly impressed. It's called Canon Idea Mine, and it will definitely help photographers evolve and expand their ideas. If you're stuck for an idea, the app can generate billions of unique image concepts from scratch in just two taps. If you have an idea, the app helps you create an inspiring to-do list for executing the idea. Since presenting the app to the world on Friday, Paul has received an extremely high degree of interest. I'm not surprised. When it's available later this year, I'll download one for myself. And not just because I inspired it! Posted by