I decided to write this eBook for a variety of reasons.

1. I have a pretty lucrative business based on shooting Lifestyle images and video and I want to share some of my knowledge with emerging photographers and clients.
2. It is frustrating for me to see people marketing great products and services using mediocre images.
3. It is tiresome to see talented photographers and videographers not earning to the degree that they should be earning.

Check out The Lifestyle Shooter.

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Timelapse from the Great Lawn at the BING National Tailgating Championships at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona.

Last month while filming the BING National Tailgating Championships at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona, my assistant and a few others kept remarking on how visually ugly the Stadium was. I do not share this opinion but am instead intrigued (and mildly infatuated) at the design and the story behind the huge & impressive structure that is so visible from the air as you fly into Phoenix. My wife informed me that it was designed by non other than the great Peter Eisenman.

While at the New Orleans stop for the BING National Tailgating Championships I stayed on a few days to hear a talk by Elizabeth Morse of Mekanism on web video, at the The Ad Club of New Orleans (the 2nd oldest Ad Club in the USA). While at a trendy-groovy-snobby cocktail bar that evening (that served a most delicious Hendricks Martini), I overheard a pseudo-intellectual waxing poetic in reference to the architecture of downtown New Orleans & the French Quarter, and how disgusting the “edifices to huge corporations” are! I could not believe what I was hearing. If it wasn’t for the scrumptious libations and the great entertainment from observing the libation-mixing-girl behind the bar flirting with my friend, I probably would have left.

Living in the DC area, I am surrounded by monuments to many giants of our western culture, from the many soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to many great leaders (admittedly some with questionable integrity). Whether we like it or not these are a few of the giants who’s shoulders we ride on as we turn a corner into a new decade. The political mudslinging of recent years from either the abject stupidity of the right, or the downright ineffectiveness of the left, has perhaps been a distraction from the necessary appreciation of the rich heritage (and custodial responsibility) we have inherited as a citizens of the western hemisphere. If you think about it, there are respect-worthy Giants all over the place, even if their legacies sometimes seem like shadowy ghosts from the industrial and pre-industrial eras.

For me, the New Year and Decade is rung in with Otis’s song and Aretha’s voice:

RESPECT.

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Changes in temperatures and changes in moods.

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More on the River Story that I shot earlier this year can be found here.

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I made this photo a while back when my friend John Freitas launched from Whitwell, TN during the annual Team Challenge, Cross Country competition in the Sequatchie Valley. It made the centerfold of Hang Gliding and Paragliding magazine this month. This valley is gorgeous especially this time of the year. Brings back good memories when I had more time to fly and more time to enjoy this part of the world.

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This new reel piece was inspired by some contemporary architecture, a quote from this book and some fun days shooting.

I have been exploring some new directions, textures and ideas, both in motion and stills. I am fascinated by the wrestle between contemporary and traditional as experienced by the main character in Rand’s book. And, in the context of the recent “Creative Exodus in Adland”, the question is which advertisers will raise the bar on creativity & innovation, and which ones will continue to squeeze as much as they can out of old, tired traditional channels and unrealistic budgets.

This music video is the result of two weekends of photo/video walks, some studio shots with bella Lauren, and some great sounds from Anders Trentemøller, which arrived on Pandora while I was out jogging! Thanks to Superstition Entertainment Network GmbH for licensing this song. This was a lot of fun!

“Moan (Trentemøller Remix Radio Edit)” performed by Trentemøller
Written and produced by Anders Trentemøller
Lyrics by Mikael Simpson, Vocals by Ane Trolle
© published by Copyright Control
℗ & © Poker Flat Recordings
Original version appears on the album “The Last Resort”
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Next month – looking forward to it!