Outside of the Norm with The Howls

The last few months have truly been a whirlwind! I finished school, moved from Santa Barbara back to San Diego (mooching free rent off of some good friends), moved into a new apartment, traveled to Kansas City for two weeks, and completed an internship with an amazing advertising photographer, Tim Tadder. Unfortunately, in the midst of all of that, I've hardly had time to shoot, and I miss it like crazy! Gladly, things are starting to settle down and I will be picking up may camera again soon. Okay, It hasn't been THAT bad... I have managed to stay somewhat productive and I've shot a few things here and there. In fact, I recently was able to shoot for San Diego rock band, The Howls. They just finished a new record and needed some photos for the album artwork. First off, let me say that the record is fantastic! I'm not sure on the release date, but watch those shelves and grab it as soon as you see it... you will be so glad that you did. The job came through my friendship with lead singer, John Cooper and their management duo, Josh Thompson and Jon Uher. They wanted something that had a similar feel to the cover art designed by one of the band members. Other than that, creative freedom was left largely up to me with some direction from Josh (also a photographer). We decided to go with a concept that brought together the look of old black and white film with the vibe of "dirty rock 'n roll". High contrast, some texture and grain, shallow depth of field, and even misplaced focus. The only day that everyone, including me, was able to do the shoot, it ended up raining. I was a bit disappointed since many of my ideas were contingent on the fact that on any given day, the chances of rain in San Diego county are slim to nil. However, we were forced to work with what we had and I couldn't be happier with the results. The texture of the rain, the reflections in the puddles, the overcast sky, and the required wardrobe (hats, hoods, gloves, coats, and umbrellas), all combined to create a completely new aesthetic. It didn't take long before our synapses began to fire afresh and new ideas began to erupt. Josh sheltered me (more importantly, my digital camera) from the rain with an umbrella as I directed the band in and out of the rain. It was a quick shoot. We moved fast and were not constrained by preconceived ideas of what we wanted. Shooting off of the cuff like that doesn't always work and it presents its own challenges to be sure, but there's something about the freedom that it brings that always seems to make it a rejuvenating experience. All this to say, this is not how I normally shoot, both in terms of the end result as well as the method performed to attain it, but I'm so glad that things went down the way that they did!

A special thanks to Josh, Jon, and John and the guys from The Howls for willingly getting soaked in the cold rain!

Here are a few more shots..

Hire the Wrong Person for the Job

If you're having a hard time finding the right person for the job... why not hire the wrong person for the job?

A recent assignment of mine was to produce an image using body paint on a person. The guidelines were wide open as far as how this was to be produced. This was a totally new realm of people photography for me, and quite frankly, one that I've never really been interested in. Day after day I attempted to come up with some sort of concept for the shoot and my all too often inept creativity failed me every time. Not only did I have no idea what I was going to shoot, but I didn't have a model booked and I couldn't find anyone who did body paint. Well, I shot a model for a different assignment last week and just happened to mention to her my current dilemma. Coincidently she was very into the art of body painting. Funny thing is, she had never applied her craft to another person, but rather had spent hours and hours in front of a mirror painting herself. She was stoked on the idea of working on another canvas, so she showed me some of the things that she had done on herself and, quite honestly, they were pretty impressive. We made a tentative confirmation on the shoot while I tried to book a model. I eventually found someone to model, but come to find out she is actually a body paint artist and had just recently started modeling "just for fun". So here we are with a great model who is relatively inexperienced at body painting, and a great body painter who is inexperienced as a model. I decided to just go with it in an effort to keep things fresh and try something new for everyone. The results were better than I even expected and I am very happy with the final shots! So I guess it goes to show that not only is the right person for the job not always the right person for the job, but also if you let go of what might obviously be the best solution (letting the professional body paint artist apply makeup on the professional model), you might get something unexpected... and it might even lead to the greatest results.

*Here's an alternate image from the same shoot.

**In case you're interested, the first photograph was shot using one strobe with a 40º grid about 5' directly above the model's face. The model laid on her back, supported by her elbows and looked directly at the light. The image was then rotated 90º to the right because I thought it had much more impact (it feels as thought the model is moving through the frame).


The second photo was shot with a beauty dish as key (camera left) and a 5' octabox as fill (0º camera axis, and about 7' in front of the model)... and yes, that's me in the middle of the catchlight.

Cosmetic Hardlight

Above is the select from a shoot that I completed last week. My assignment was to use hard light to sell a cosmetic product (eye shadow) with a beauty shot. I'll tell you one thing, producing a beauty shot using hard light is not an entirely easy procedure. You certainly need to have the right model and a great makeup artist. Thanks to Morgan Polk (model) and Chantal Louise English (makeup artist) for helping make this shoot a success!

Technical details:
Key light: One strobe, bare bulb, 0º camera axis, approximately 7.5' high.
Edge Light: One strobe with large soft box, 135º camera left, approximately 5.5' high.

20 Expressions

I'm working on a new concept called 20 expressions. The idea is to explore different human emotions within a single space with a single subject and then to repeat this many times over with different subjects in order to get a broader look into what different people do to display the perceived "normal" physical reaction to a real human emotion. One of the most interesting, and also most difficult, aspects of this project so far is to realize all of the different subtitles and intricacies of how the face and the body can move and contort in order to express certain feelings and then applying that knowledge to directing a person on exactly what to do. It can be very challenging trying to draw out emotions that aren't actually present, but unfortunately I've worked with some pretty talented people so far, like actor/model David Namminga (featured above), and working with talented people like that always makes things run smoother and definitely makes my job easier.

By the way, if you're in or near the Santa Barbara or San Diego area and you're interested in participating in this project please let me know. You can contact me through my website at marknagel.com

Smell . Taste . Savor . Repeat

I just finished an 8 week intensive course on food photography and with it a small book of images produced, in most part, for that course. Above is the cover of the book. I must say that I was somewhat, and pleasantly, surprised at how much I enjoyed photographing food. It wasn't necessarily just the subject matter, in fact food can be very frustrating considering the ridiculous amount of tedious styling that goes into making food look like something that the viewer might actually desire to consume. And that's not even to mention the fact that during long shoots when you're practically famished, especially towards the end, it almost amounts to sheer torture to be intimately focused on the very thing that your weakened body is yearning for that it might attain some relief from your self-induced state of hunger. What I enjoyed most was developing ideas that would center around a concept concerning each particular shoot, and then finding ways to bring that concept to fruition through still imagery. I would love to write more on that, but I haven't gotten much sleep over the past few days, and I'm beginning to nod off in front of my computer screen. Anyway, I was fairly happy with the outcome, so I thought that I would share some of it here. I did write a forward for the piece which goes like this:

Food is a very interesting thing. It has the ability to move us into action or freeze us in our tracks and demand all of our attention until we can concentrate on nothing else. It can conjure up countless emotions within the human brain as it forces us to recall one of a million different memories. It can be dreaded and it can be joyously anticipated. It can bring families and friends together and foster the creation of new relationships as well as the growth of those already in existence.

It is no wonder why we are drawn to the subject. Perhaps it is because food is absorbed by every one of our senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and even sound. Perhaps it is because of the memories it conjures in our minds, like when the smell of a freshly baked apple pie takes you right back to your grandmother’s warm, sunny kitchen. Perhaps it is because our bodies have a basic human need to be sustained by it. Perhaps it is because we are cognizant of the pleasure that is about to ensue as we sink our teeth into that delectable dish. Or maybe it’s just because our own history is wrought with food being synonymous with good times. Whatever the reason, food plays an integral roll in our daily lives. Whether it's a croissant and a cup of coffee on the porch in the wee hours of the morning, or the pinnacle of fine dining on a Saturday night in the big city, food is very much a part of who we are.

Below are a few of my favorite pages from the book...

Goodwill - Perception vs Reality

A recent assignment of mine was entitled "Perception vs. Reality". The idea was to visually show something unexpected (the reality) that may contradict the typical viewer's preconceived notion about that particular product or brand (the perception). The idea of "Perception vs. Reality" was made popular by Rolling Stone Magazine back in the early 80's. They began a campaign of advertisements that featured a double page spread. On the left was the perception and on the right, the reality, and each was literally labeled as such. For example, one such ad featured a typical, long-haired hippie on the left standing in front of a micro-bus (perception being that their main readership consisted of hippies) and a young Wall Street executive on the right (the reality being that their readership consists largely of young professionals... I guess you could say, "yuppies").  For this assignment, I photographed an ad for Goodwill (above). I decided to take a little bit less of a direct approach (which would say, "here's the perception, and here's the reality"), and instead gave the reality only, which would be a sharp contrast to the typical perception, and hinted at the perception just with the copy. I wanted to make a simple, clean image that would easily draw a contradiction between what the viewer sees and what they would normally think based on the brand name alone.

Andrew Wyeth and Art Appreciation

A recent assignment of mine was to create an advertisement based on the look and feel of artist Andrew Wyeth. To be honest, I was not previously familiar with his work, or who he even was for that matter. But after researching Wyeth and his art, I can now call my self a big fan of his paintings. I am drawn to his muted, desaturated color palette that he often uses as well as the warm tones in a lot of his scenes and even the texture of his brush strokes (particularly in his outdoor scenes). What captured me most, however, was the way that he often depicts his human subjects facing away from the viewer and at the same time communicates a depth of emotion, by body position and posing alone, without even being able to see the subjects face.

Now, I am, by no means, an expert when it comes to fine art paintings. I don't know the big words to use when "critiquing" someone's art (I don't have experience in the field of fine art to be able to accurately judge someone's work anyway), and I don't have a vast knowledge of art history (though I'm working on it). But that certainly does not mean that I, as a visual thinker and a creative person, can't properly appreciate his art. I'm afraid that there exists a bit of snobbery within certain fine art circles that says, "If you don't use the right words and pick apart the right things within a certain piece of art, then you don't really know what you're talking about and you can't properly appreciate this art." You know what I say to that? "That's a bunch of bulls#$t!" I believe that all it takes to appreciate art is looking at it and letting yourself be moved. Maybe it calls up a memory in your mind from when you were younger, appreciate it for that. Maybe it makes you sad for some reason, figure out why and appreciate it for that. Maybe it brings you joy, maybe it makes you nervous, maybe it makes you angry, maybe it turns you to compassion. Appreciate it for those things. Maybe you're blown away by the talent of the artist: his color palette, his subtleties, the way he depicts emotion, or paints light and shadow… appreciate it for those things. The point is, you can appreciate art at any stage of the game whether you call yourself an artist (or a critic) or not, and don't let anyone else cause you to think differently. I digress…

The photo above was created as an ad for Fidelity. It was designed as a two-page spread with a tagline and subhead on the right hand side. You can click the image below to see the completed ad.

Inspiration and Fine Art Photography

I was recently on vacation back in my homeland (rural Kansas, south of Kansas City). There are many things that I love about where I grew up. We lived in one of three houses on our street when we first moved out to the country, surrounded by miles of gravel roads connecting farmlands and empty fields that seemed to go on forever. I was eight years old. There is something very romantic about growing up in the country. You feel like you have the run of the land... almost like you own it... your own little kingdom. Exploring the woods beyond the hill, navigating the river for miles beyond, chasing cows, skipping rocks, and finding a cave that we so creatively named "the rock" was all part exploring life "on our own", sort of a rite of passage, I guess. Smells of campfires and the summer rain are still so fresh in my mind after 20 some odd years, as are sights of thunderstorms, burning-red sunset skies, and fields that flashed all night long with a million soft, green, strobes from the tiny tails of fireflies. I mention all of this because after so many years of living in the city it was quite an inspiration to be back home again at the end of November. It was cold and everything had gone into its respective hibernation for the months of winter. The leaves had fallen, much of the grass had died, many of the birds had migrated, the crops had been harvested and their beds laid bare. Everything seemed so... still. There is something very sad about that, but there's also something beautiful. I think it has a lot to do with the anticipation of the spring. Just as there is a time for life, beautiful, green, new life, there is also a time for death and I believe that beauty can be seen in that just as well.

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. (Ecc 3)

Enjoying the brief season of decay--the quiet, the cold, the solitude--while we wait for the rebirth of spring can be a cathartic and renewing experience. Okay, maybe I've gotten a little deep here, maybe not, but at any rate, thus was my inspiration to delve into some of the photographs taken during that week as well as the video that I shot during the same trip (http://vimeo.com/17626954). Here are a few my favorite photos. I am also working on a storefront where I will be selling these and other fine art pieces. I'd like to have it up in the next couple of weeks, so please check back. Until then, enjoy these, and let me know what you think.

601

The video below was done in collaboration with Matt Perko, Bryan Markwardt, and Joseph Mitchell as a final project for the motion picture class that I just finished at Brooks Institute. I'll leave any interpretation of the content up to you, but I will tell you a bit about the shoot. If you'd like to read more, continue on after you watch.


601 from Mark Nagel on Vimeo.

The hardest part about this shoot was getting the weather/time of day to cooperate... actually, it never did. We had less than a week to shoot, but had to get all of the shooting done in one day. The original vision of the film required an overcast sky, and, as you can imagine, in Santa Barbara, that's fairly hard to come by. We had one day that had a partly cloudy outlook, that is until the morning of the shoot... not a cloud in the sky. We were prepared for this and got to the beach to set everything up well before dawn so that we could get the predawn light before there was any directional sunlight contaminating the scene. As the sky began to break to day we realized that any amount of cloud cover was not in the cards, so we had to shoot quick! There were no "take two's" and everything was shot within about 30 minutes. It was a crunch, and in the end we didn't get all of the shots that we had hoped for, but we made it work, and I think it was a success (I guess you can be the judge of that).

A second thing that I would note is that none of the sound on this film... none.. was captured in camera or at the scene. All of the sound and sound effects come from royalty free samples and loops that were either downloaded from the Internet or found within Soundtrack Pro. Putting together the soundtrack was a project in and of itself, but a good experience, and, coming from a musical/digital audio background, it was fun to delve into multi-track editing again.

It has been really fun to jump into video production over the last couple of months. It has been a good break from the norm and good practice at where I believe, at least partially, the industry is heading. If you are a photographer and haven't tried your hand at motion picture yet, please do. I think that you will find it an easy crossover, and I believe that you will have a lot of fun turning your photographic vision into moving pictures.

Forgotten

I am currently taking a class in motion picture. It has been really fun for me to switch gears a bit from stills to motion. And now that there are pro-grade cameras out that will do both amazingly well I see this as a viable part of my future. Here is my first personal project shot solely on the 5d Mark II. The imagery in this short film, both stills and video, was captured almost entirely within an abandoned farm house in Kansas. I stumbled onto it when driving through the country with my dad. I was immediately struck with a strange feeling while walking through the remnants of lives that seemingly just disappeared there. The feeling was partly mysterious and curious and partly sad. Many things were still in tact and there were definitely signs of family life (children's books, toys, Christmas ornaments, dolls, trophies, books, an old TV in what was once the living room, etc.). It was really quite an amazing place and I'm still not quite sure what to make of it, but I couldn't help but to document it. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you are in some way moved.

Forgotten from Mark Nagel on Vimeo.

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