Sawyer Garn, son of Jake and Jennifer Garn.
Contax G2, Tmax 400
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No one does Halloween better than my friend Joe Tanner. Every year he is a Will Ferrell character. This year he’s Ron Burgundy?
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Recently I was given the task by friend and entrepreneur Jake Garn to shoot a t-shirt for a brand new company called “Pigtail Tees“. I knew that Jake was giving me this assignment fully aware of my difficulties to blend personal and commissioned work. When I am the entire creative force behind a project the inspiration comes easily. The ideas and final product are my responsibility alone and I remain solely accountable. When I am to produce for another person or entity I immediately feel the pressure of “what they are going for”. Jake knowing this about me gave me absolutely zero input for the shoot other than providing me with the shirt. This was truly the best of both worlds. An assignment for a company that was to be used to promote a product but whose style and execution had been left completely up to me. I chose the “I Hate Love Shirt”, called up Samantha, loaded some film and selected a dramatically low key set without any input. The shoot was short, fun and almost effortless. The great images came one after another with very little coaxing or convincing. All in all a fantastic shoot.
The lesson to be learned here is that if you have worked to establish your personal vision and style through your art, THAT is what clients are hiring you for. They may have needs and input, but they are hiring you to be the creative force, not simply a camera technician to capture their images.
What tips do you have for being able to successfully combine your personal and commissioned work?
Images shot with a Contax G2, Kodak Slide Flim and Fuji Neopan 1600
A couple of months back I had the opportunity to shoot actress Audra McDonald at the Hale Center Theater in Orem, Utah. Audra has won Four Tony’s and two Grammy’s. She was in town for a Q&A with lucky guests to promote her upcoming performance of 110 in the Shade.
Three amazing Henrie sisters all photographed in one location. It had almost happened once before but Olivia turned me down on behalf of the entire Henrie family to participate in my Peter Pan shoot. Oh well, but late than never, I give you Lilian, Monica and Olivia.
All images shot with Iford 3200 Film on a Contax 645 with available light.
I have been getting a few questions lately about how I have been doing my recent black and white work. It is incredibly simple to replicate this look.
1. Shoot in open shade. Find a spot that has very even shaded light. Add some positive or negative fill as needed, but I generally dont.
2. Load up some Kodak bw400cn.
3. Take an ambient light reading and over expose by 1 to 2 stops.
4. Click
5. Send film to Richard Photo Lab
6. The End
I don’t mean to over simplify it but there is literally noting else I am doing.
Results:
The incredibly beautiful Violet, daughter of the super talented Rebekah Westover. One of my super best friends.
Desaturated Kodak 400 on the Contax 645. 80mm f2.8
I recently acquired a 4×5 Sinar F2. I have yet to get any negatives scanned but I am having lot’s of fun with large format polaroids so far. These are all shot on Type 54 expired polaroid film.
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