Chase Jarvis Blog

Apple Aperture 3.0 Awesomeness

2010-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

I’m usually a flag waver for artistic vision rather than gear or the tools of our craft, but this calls for an exception: just minutes ago Apple announced the much anticipated Aperture 3.0. And it’s the bomb. I’m lucky enough to have been using it for several months now.

There’s few things I think photographers will want to know about this new release. First, and most importantly, driving this software feels like you’re driving a German sports car. Aperture 3.0 has the power and grace that we’ve come to expect from Apple. Second, it’s got new features for days...

My favorites off the top of my head:

_Brushable, scalable, adjustments. Yep. They nailed it. Full selective controls on every adjustment you want.

_Video. Apple nailed this too. Aperture 3.0 has full multi-media capabilities. That’s right. Finally something that handles all those video files from your HD dSLR. Import, rate, scrub video, trim your clips. Add audio. Make a full-on MOVIE within Aperture or export to Final Cut Pro. Insanely cool.

_Adjustment presets on import. Also seriously cool. Fast. Shoot tethered in your studio and want the photos to look sexy before the model or art director can see the RAW file? No problem. This kicks ass.

_Customizable. I’m a whiner when I can’t configure my software the way I want it. No worries, here. Fully customizable.

_Best little hidden nugget you wouldn't know? The skin smoothing feature is absolutely unbelievable. When we need to smooth the skin of a model, it’s usually quite a process. Now it’s so damn easy, I’ll probably even smooth my skin up before I send pictures to my mom.

For the full kahuna, check out Apple’s Aperture page here. Since I’ve been using this software for a while, I’ve got a cameo video at Apple.com that features my Songs For Eating and Drinking series. Check it out if you've got time today. And of course, holler at me with questions or comments. I had a blast playing with this stuff, and I'm not shy on opinions.

Aperture is available today for $200 for the full version, or $100 to upgrade, with a 30-day free trial here.

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Michal Garcia Wins Trip to Our Studio from Hong Kong

2010-02-03T05:11:00.000-08:00

If you were tuned in here during the 8 weeks before the New Year, then you knew that I was giving away roundtrip airfare and accommodations to come visit us here at the Seattle studio from anywhere in the world. Here's the original post. All you needed to do? Post pictures of you with my latest book The Best Camera Is The One That's With You to my Facebook Fan page and/or my TBCITOTWY Amazon Page.

The winner? Michal Garcia. And he's really hurting my pocketbook, because we're bringing him all the way from Hong Kong. But it'll be worth it. Please give a shout out below.

Hundreds of entries came in from all over the world. I was blown away, humbled, excited, sometimes even a little freaked out. People effing basejumped while reading my book! People also jumped out of airplanes, played fetch with their dog, ATE it, fed it to insects, slept with it, played music with it, read it while buildings exploded in the background, and traveled to the farthest corners of the earth. People took it rock-climbing, camping, road-tripping, and more. They even made mock Geico ads with it. You really should take a moment to poke around some of the thumbnails of the gallery of images that came in via Facebook. And a couple hundred more here at Amazon.

It was fun, funny, and inspiring. In the end, while lots of people entered lot of images (there were some insanely creative ones that came in) and actively participated in the conversation, it was Michal Garcia--with photos of TBCITOTWY and sleeping security guards, kids playing in the street, rooftop antics and highrises in Hong Kong that took the cake. What helped him win? He entered a ton of images, he traveled with the book, he was active in the conversation and really got into it. In short, he participated deeply and had fun with it. We'll be sure to fill everyone in when he comes to Seattle...

If you haven't bought a copy of the book yet, I'd be honored if you'd drop your $13 on The Best Camera Is the One That's With You here at Amazon.. Beyond that, thanks so much to all of you who participated, and check out a few more of Michael's entered images after the jump...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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Mike Relm Slays It

2010-02-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

Not sure what "it" refers to in the title of this post, but whatever "it" is, Mike Relm's blowing "it" up. I had the good fortune of getting to know Mike last week at Sundance. His live DJ performance mixing both audio and video, was one of my highlights from the festival.

Turns out Mike is also a solid director too--one you should know about--as evinced by the video above. I'd had a similar idea before, but Mike executed it far better than what was going on in my beany little brain. Make sure to watch the whole vid to "get" it. Enjoy this viewing pleasure on a happy Monday.

After the jump, another piece Mike just directed--starring himself--to help launch the Google Nexus One phone...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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Keep up the great stuff Mike.

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Live Broadcast of Our Photoshoot Tomorrow (Friday!)

2010-01-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

Yep. You read that headline correctly. We're broadcasting our upcoming photo gig LIVE from our Seattle studio via the ol' internet on Friday, January 29 from 10am to 6pm (PST, which is GMT -8). This is tomorrow for most of you, but today for some! This is a total experiment, but we need your help. Please read on.

The nuts and bolts: we're shooting the album cover and promo materials for a great alt country/punk band called Brent Amaker and the Rodeo. Expect 5 men in all black; 3 beautiful, scantily/sex-ily dressed ladies; in a country-punk meets modern studio set. Very free form. Very experimental. There is no "client". This is a collaboration.

How do you tune in to this new Chase Jarvis LIVE thingie? It's easy. Just go to this url: www.chasejarvis.com/live at any time during the hours specified above.

From there, you'll be able to watch the live stream from the studio. You'll be able to see and hear the entire thing, soup to nuts. Watch the set building, the styling, the shooting, the digital asset management, the gear, you'll even get to join us for lunch and some afternoon cocktails. And it's totally interactive. You'll be able to ask questions of anybody and everybody on set--all 20 of us--via twitter (@chasejarvis) and a live chat embedded in the url above. And please use hashtag #cjlive.

There's even -- you guessed it -- a... [click the 'continue reading' link below--lots more info..]
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...break midday where the band will perform a short set, just to whet your palette and keep the mood light.

The qualifier: this is in BETA. Scratch that, uber-BETA. And this is where we need your help. We need your participation. We think it might break, we think it could rock, we think it could be really interesting, but in order for us to find out the answers to these questions, we need your eyeballs, keystrokes, and your network of friends. We want you to ask questions via twitter and the chat. We want you to tell you friends to tune in and help us test out this concept. If it breaks or sucks, you'll have helped us. If it's a out of the box success (we doubt it), you'll have been there first.

Here's the rough schedule:
**all times are Pacific Standard Time, Seattle (GMT -8), everything is subject to change and probably will....

10:00am - 12:00noon Set building, talent styling, gear rundown

12:00noon - 3:00pm Full shooting mode, lots of options, experimenting

3:00 - 3:30pm Brent Amaker and the Rodeo perform a short set, cocktails

4:00 - 5:00pm Miscellaneous additional shooting, interviews

5:00 - 6:00pm Set strike/breakdown, interviews

6:00pm Off the air

Here's our the band:

You'll have to tune tomorrow in to see the rest of the beautiful talent ;) Hope to see your tweets and questions in the chat tomorrow!

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Creativity and Social Media at Sundance [Video]

2010-01-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

Whoa! Just back from the Sundance Film Festival where I was fortunate enough to sit on a panel as a part of the Twitter 140TC Conference. The panel was called Filmmaking in the Age of Twitter: How Affordable, Innovative Tools are Transforming Hollywood . On the panel was yours truly, along with Joeseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer and Hesher--new film with, gulp, Natalie Portman), Levar Burton (Star Trek, Roots), and Marcin Teodoru (Circle Films). The panel was moderated by Steve Broback.

The place was packed - standing room only - with lots of good discussion. Thanks to G-Tech and videographer Rob for sending this my way for posting! It's all their hard work that made this recording possible.
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Boom! Marko Slavnik Wins $100,000 From Nikon Festival

2010-01-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

Boom! Huge congrats to Marko Slavnik for taking home the $100,000 Nikon Festival prize for his short film “Chicken vs. Penguin”. I was lucky enough to speak with him by phone from the Sundance Film Festival yesterday to congratulate him--what a great guy. Humble, hardworking and knows how to tell a good story on film. When I asked him what he planned to do with the mooolah, his response was exactly what I’d hoped to hear. First and foremost, he plans to repay all the people who volunteered and supported his efforts to make the short. Second, he plans to stuff the rest of the dough right where you’d want a talented filmmaker like himself to put it: into his next movie. The balance of his winnings should allow him to create what he wants to do on his terms. Everybody, please give it up for Marko. Mad respect.

Boom Boom!! Much respect to the winner of YOUR choosing too. Audience choice--leading in votes and views--was Josh Friedberg for his film “New York State of Mind”, a series of gorgeous visuals of his favorite city in the world. As a former owner and founder of 411 video magazine, a video skate zine based out of southern California that he sold and subsequently folded. I learned from Josh that he intends to put most of his winnings back into the skateboarding community that has given him so much as an artist by using the money to revive the 411 video mag as a platform for himself and others to explore video and skateboarding. So cool.

It was an honor and a treat working with my two newest pals and co-judges @ijustine and @rainnwilson. Our task was not an easy one, weeding over 1000 films down to 1 winner. Mad respect to Nikon for allowing this to be open to all formats, for providing expressly meaningful prizes (ie, not just gear, but CASH and gear), and for encourage filmmaking in general, not just their brand. AND here's to hoping Nikon believes in this enough to give us the Nikon Festival 2.0 next year. Thanks again to everyone who participated. Thanks to B&H for the D3s hookup for the festival. And overall, it was truly an inspiration to watch all this come together. Both Winner's vids after the jump - click 'continue reading'. Check them out. Love to hear your thoughts.

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Chicken Vs. Penguin by Marko Slavnik. $100,000 Winner

and the audience award worth $25,000 goes to....
New York State of Mind by Josh Friedberg

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$10,000 For 2 Images

2010-01-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

Wanna make $5000 for an image? Check it.

Hopefully you remember the campaign I shot for SanDisk down in New Zealand last autumn. The images were a blast to create and--if you recall--SanDisk was cool enough to let me blog/tweet/facebook about shooting the ads in real time, which made it the first global campaign of its kind.

We made a whole lotta videos and did a several follow up posts, and I received a ton of great feedback from this community about how beneficial this was. If that was true for you, then this might just be the gift that keeps on giving...

SanDisk has decided to give back to our community in the form of pure cash money. They partnered with the kickass crew at Freeskier and Snowboard magazines to bring you The Best Photo Sequence contest. Simple idea: the best skiing and the best snowboard photo sequence selected from a panel of judges that include the photo editors from both magazines and yours truly, will EACH win $5000 bucks cash and have their image run in the mags. Contest just started and runs thru April 1. So get your gear and some gloves and go make some magic.

[update: possible good news for international readers. we're hearin' ya about the US only thing. That said, SanDisk is being SUPER cool, there's a bunch of legal hoops to jump thru here in the US to make contests avail in other countries, but they're working on it. If the legal team can get it pulled together this week, we'll let you know. Stay tuned!]

As an aside, this is sorta cool. We had this crazy idea to create a TV show outta our trip down under making this campaign. We pitched it to The Ski Channel and Resort Sports Network and they BOTH went for it. So if you find yourselves... [click the 'continue reading' link below]
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...with on-demand cable or you're in areas where RSN is a featured program (detail forthcoming), check it out and send us your feedback. It will also be available as another episode in a forthcoming podcast, later this week.

Lots more info at www.bestphotosequence.com.

Related videos + posts from the SanDisk job to further whet your palette for $5-$10,000 bucks:

[Now You Know, Sandisk Extreme Pro]
[Photo Gear Mania]
[Chase Jarvis CURRENT: SanDisk Q&A Follow-up]
[Behind The Curtain: Guts of a Commercial Shoot Video]
[Video Report From the Heliworks Barn]
[Video: Packing Quick 'n' Dirty]
[Chase Jarvis RAW: NZ Basecamp]
[UPDATED behind-the-scenes snapshot gallery]

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Sundance, The 140TC, and Nikon Festival Cash-ola

2010-01-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

Howdy friends, quick note here...scribbling this one in remote-style from the cold and snowy streets of Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. (Check out my hat and my sweet blue steel.) If you happen to be in the neighborhood (or if you're following a lot of Twitter streams) there's a ton of cool stuff going on. I wanted to share with you a few things in particular:

1. I'll be sitting on a panel as a part of the superdope 140 Twitter Conference called Filmmaking in the Age of Twitter: How Affordable, Innovative Tools are Transforming Hollywood Also on the panel will be Lavar Burton (Star Trek, Roots), Marcin Teodoru (Circle Films), Mark L. Pederson (producer). This panel is at 4pm Sunday (tomorrow). If you are interested in attending, I have 3 seats I can give away. First 3 people to tweet @ me via @chasejarvis with the request will get put on the list. I"ll confirm you with a response, so you'll know who you are. Schedule is here if you're interested. Big ups to my friends at G-Tech for making it possible.

2. If you are at Sundance and don't give a rats arse about hearing me yap on the panel, but instead want to meetup, do a shot, put faces with names, etc, I'd love it. I'm just going to be tweeting my locale pretty regularly over the next few days. And it's a small town. If we cross paths, please introduce yourself. It'll be brief, but I love meeting people from this here virtual world in real life. [fwiw, I wanted to do a Chase Jarvis SOCIAL, but the crazy schedule and general mayhem of Sundance made it impossible. Hence the alternative here.}

3. Lastly, but not least-ly, some huge news. Rainn Wilson, iJustine and yours truly HAVE PICKED OUR $100,000 WINNER for the Nikon Festival. We will be announcing that winner from here at Sundance on Tuesday morning. Stay tuned here and at the Nikon Festival Facebook page and Twitter stream for the announcement.

Hope to cross paths with lots of y'all in person and lots more of you in the innernets over the next couple of days.
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When You Least Expect It, Expect it.

2010-01-21T08:52:00.000-08:00

Creative ideas don't gently glide across the artist's desk, darkroom tray, or easel comfortably between the hours of 9 and 5. Occasionally they do, but by and large they usually smash us in the side of the head at 10:56pm when the movie is over, at 12:10am after the argument with your brother or, in my case this morning at 3:56am after awaking from a startling, but amazing, dream.

To be clear, I'm not advocating not sleeping. I'm simply advocating a readiness to respond when those ideas percolate into your consciousness. In my experience--when I'm just living my life, minding my own business, but ready...no, not ready...WILLING to commit to ideas is when they come to me. It could be different for you, of course, but this is when I'm best.

The idea to put some of the first "behind the scenes" videos of photoshoots online came to me in the middle of the night.
The idea for Seattle 100 came to me at 5am after a restless night of sleep.
The aesthetics for Songs for Eating and Drinking presented themselves to me at 2am, after a long night of eating and drinking.
The aesthetic for the campaign I'm about to shoot came on a red-eye flight when I got up to pee.
The idea for uniting my iphone app, book and online sharing site came at 3am.
And so on, ad nauseum.

None of those were ideal times to motivate, but I've learned that creative ideas are wonderful, beautiful, and often rare and fleeting things--wispy as all hell, they are...[click 'continued reading' link below]
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...and so I beg you not to resist their timing. On the contrary, cherish it. Get up. Write it down. Be alone, or call your friend. Grab your notebook for a sketch or your iphone to mutter some words into its microphone. Start to scribble, type, record that video, go for a walk and develop those ideas.

At all costs, be willing to embrace them when they tap you on the shoulder. You'll be thankful you did.
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Respect.

2010-01-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

Whether you're in the USA observing the holiday from home or the office, or you're abroad and perhaps not, I recommend that you take 17 minutes and watch this video. Pausing to refresh and reflect on this history plays an important role in our present and our future approach to civil rights worldwide.

Much respect. Have a great day.

RSS readers can catch the video here.
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Chase Jarvis RAW: Innerspace Photo Roundup

2010-01-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

I really dig that we're in a new era of photography where like minded shooters enjoy gathering to learn. I prefer to shoot photos rather than give classes or seminars, but I DO like to create these environments that allow photographers to experiment, socialize, and learn together.

That's what this little evening was all about. Our hardworking crew rounded up an InnerSpace indoor skate part, handful of semi-pro skateboarders (mad respect!), a whole truckload of Broncolor lighting gear, and a keg of tasty Pyramid beer--and then we stayed up way too late shooting pictures and talking shop with photographers who had flown in on their own dime from NYC, LA, Toronto, and elsewhere. It was a real treat getting to meet a bunch of new people and rally around self-learning.

We'll keep doing these sorts of things when I can muster a free day or two. These are usually short notice based on my schedule, so following me on Twitter and becoming a fan on Facebook are the best ways to find out the where, when, how. I'm on the road more than I'm home, so if you'd be interested in me pulling together resources for one of these little underground meetups in your home town, let me know. [click continue reading link below]

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There Are No Excuses

2010-01-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

I've heard you say that there's nothing to take a picture of. I've heard you say you don't know what to make, when to make it, how to make it, what to do. I've heard you say that you don't know how to get your work "out there". I've heard you say that you don't know what to put on your blog. I've heard. I've heard. I've heard. And I promise you, I too have said all these things.

But there really are no excuses. Just make something and share it. You could make something in a day, just like these guys made this video. Or that thing, or that other thing. No excuses. These 2 guys had a wonderful, simple curiosity about a street in their home city of Toronto. So they explored it. They took a day and they made something.

Now. By itself, this isn't going to land them in a museum. Or get them an editorial job shooting for a magazine. Or a campaign. But they're not sitting in their dark basements doing nothing. They're making something. They're living the Create-Share-Sustain paradigm. They'll make this cool thing. And then another cool thing. And then another cool thing. And then, you know what? They...[click 'continue reading' link below]
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...they will get contacted to shoot an editorial job, or a campaign, or to hang in the Tate.

It's not any ONE thing we do. We might make a splash with something, but that is short lived. Just like I don't get to know you through a first introduction at a party. Or via a single tweet, for example. I get to know about you through lots of interactions or the sum of your twitter stream. It's the collection of our work--the repeat cycle of making things and sending them out into the word--that helps us illustrate who we are, what we stand for, where we're going and why.

Go make something and share it.

(thx for the tip @jacoblied)
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You Decide Who Wins $25,000

2010-01-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

I dunno what you've got planned for today and over the weekend, but if you've got a spare 140 seconds, head over to www.NikonFestival.com and watch the 50 best 140-second video submissions that we've whittled down from more than 1,000 entries. There are some stunning shorts in there.

I'll be gathering virtually with fellow judges Rainn Wilson (The Office) and Jusine Ezarik (iJustine) to try to nail down who we're giving the grand prize of $100,000 bucks to, but...

In the meantime, I'd love to know that YOU'RE watching this weekend as well. As a reminder, there's a $25,000 audience award where YOU decide who wins. It's based on number of views AND number of votes each video gets. I'd love for you to weigh in. There really are some brilliant pieces that deserve the 140-second watch. Hell, you could watch all 50 vids in less than the time it takes you to watch The Hangover for the 4th time, 2 episodes of Dexter, or 3 re-runs of The Simpsons. Hope to see your comments.

Enjoy and have a great weekend.
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Hamburger Eyes

2010-01-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

First real day back in the saddle after the holidays? Steal a few minutes and watch this vid.

It's not a requirement to love photography as much as the next person, but I love seeing people who love it as much me, my friends, and these guys do. It'll probably remind you why you love photography too. Viva Hamburger Eyes.

(via lensculture)
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Some Bye Bye 2009 Lists

2009-12-31T19:32:00.000-08:00

Some off-the-top-of-my-head favorites for the year that was 2009.

5 Worthwhile 'Best of 2009' Photo Edit Posts From Well-Known News Sources
Best News Photos (boston.com)
Wall Street Journal
Time Magazine
National Geographic Traveler
Reuters

15 Bands I Listened To A Lot In 2009 (not necessarily from 2009)
The XX(Young Turks)
Grizzly Bear (Warp)
Animal Collective(Domino)
Visqueen(Local 638)
GIVE Seattle (www.giveseattle.org)
[...the rest of the music list and lots more lists after the jump. click the 'continue reading' link below for more good lists...]
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(music continued...)

Kings Of Leon(Sony)
The Cave Singers(Matador)
Cold War Kids(Downtown)
Mad Rad (Out For Stardom)
Head Like A Kite(Mush)
Blue Scholars(Self)
Common Market(Self)
Hey Marseilles (Self)
SantiGold(Downtown)
White Lies(Polydor UK)
Bon Iver (Jagjagwar)

5 Popular Posts From ChaseJarvis.com in 2009
The Best Camera: iPhone App + Book + Community
Shake Your Tree Today
Deconstruct This Photo
What Are You Going To Shoot Today?
Chase Jarvis TECH: Strobed Photo Sequences
$100,000 in 140 Seconds: the Nikon Festival

2 Posts That Made Great Waves From Some Other Photo Friends
Zack Arias "Transform"
Jeremy Cowart "Help-Portrait"

1 Great Photo Exhibition I Wished I'd Seen When I Was in NYC Last Week
Robert Frank Looking In. The Met NYC.

5 Non-Photo Blogs That Always Did Me Right in 2009
PSFK
Daring Fireball
Wooster Collective
Seth Godin
Neatorama

And I could go on forever, but I'll spare you. You've got some stuff to add to these lists, I know you do. Or better yet have other lists to share? Tell us all in the comments. Happy 2009. Bring it on, 2010.

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Green Screens and Greener Pastures

2009-12-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

This is a 2009 sample reel from Stargate Studios. Hollywood all the way. Some of the shots from this video reel are certainly better than others, but that's not my point.

My point is that this technology is becoming increasingly more available and affordable for still and video production, and is soon to be everywhere. Heck, we even used this technology pretty extensively in The Blakes music video we released last month (thanks to Superfad's post-production chops...). That was a legit production my most measures, but certainly not Hollywood. And I'm guessing that this video highlighted some familiar scenes that--before watching it--you wouldn't have guessed were virtual.

Having just viewed the latest blockbuster movie...[click 'continue reading' link below]
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...that's all the rage, Avatar in IMAX 3D (loved it btw...didn't think I could embrace the blue people, but went on to love it, noting it will forever mark a change in cinema...), and read a review that spoke of manufactured worlds as 'gimmicky', I can't help but run to the defense of the integration of imagination and technology.

Are there really people out there that think this is somehow less than amazing, cool, and enabling?

Unlike my earlier post, Purists Beware, this doesn't have historical precedence from the "masters" pre-dating Star Wars and the mid 1970's. But is it any less virtuous because of this? Will creative professionals somehow exhibit less "vision" because they're no longer leaving their studios and back lots, traveling the world, and getting into adventures of their own?

Nonsense. It's not a substitute for vision. It will create a new world of infinite possibility for the independent and most day-dreamy of creatives--even within the most cost-conscious of productions. And if you want a part of it, it's either in your court already or just around the corner.

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Create. Share. Sustain.

2009-12-26T07:23:00.000-08:00

We used to require permission from others to put our work into the world with any sort of scale. That permission came in the form of getting hired to shoot a news story, a magazine feature, or an advertising campaign. "They" sat up in fancy corner offices and if you were good...no, scratch that, good AND lucky...'they' would say 'yes' and then you'd be permitted to share your work with the world.

Not any more.

It's the first time in the history of the world that you can share your work with any sort of scale--whether that's a photograph, a video, a story, or whatever you're making--without anyone's permission. What are you waiting for? Spend your own time and your own money. And hit post, publish, share, send, or whatever makes the software push it out into the world.

Create. Share. Sustain.

No, seriously, what are you waiting for?...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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Why is this important? Because I think that making stuff over and over is the key creativity. And especially the key to creativity to the next era of media. And especially for creatives. Don't be fooled. It's painfully simple. The road may be a long one, but it's certainly not complicated:

Create. Make something. A photograph, a video, a poem, a piece of software.

Share. Send your thing out into the world. Post it to your Facebook, your blog. Tweet it. (And still share it with your mom).

Sustain. Start out by waiting tables. Or keep your day job. Or sell your spouse's socks on ebay. Or do something out of the genre of what you want to do until you can afford not to do it. Or do all of these so that you can keep creating and sharing without requiring "permission" from anyone.*

And repeat. Create. Share. Sustain. Repeat.

And soon enough, if you so desire, and if you listen to yourself and your network--your creating and your sharing will become your sustenance. Whether it's via Kevin Kelly's 1000 true fans, or whether it's some new adaptation of your vision, you will have the ability to sustain yourself in connection with a sea of like minded people.

Never mind the man in the corner office.

[If you give a rip, the first time I formulated this create-share-sustain into any sort of a cohesive thought was here:
Video: Consequences of Creativity and the ADCD. I've preached it a billion times since then, but written the words here on the blog, curiously, until now.]
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Chase Jarvis FRAMES: 21,112 Party Pictures

2009-12-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

Typically, the end of each year marks a time for celebration.

In that spirit, each autumn our studio has an anniversary party where we celebrate with our clients, business friends and co-collaborators. It's an eclectic mix of about 600 people, from graffiti artists, restaurateurs, musicians, ad execs, city officials and the whole spectrum in between. Everyone lets their hair down and unwinds with the mission of having a darn good time.

This year's event was no exception, however something rather exceptional DID happen.

For a bit of childish fun, we set up a photo booth using state-of-the-art camera and lighting equipment and captured 21,112 photographs in under 5 hours. That's more than 1.5 images every second--the camera shot almost continuously for the duration of the party. That's gotta be some sort of bizarre record or something... The resulting "movie" of those photographs tells a pretty funny tale. Please indulge me here in a little bit of goofing... If you're not hip to some intermittent debauchery, some tomfoolery, and the occasional PG-13 flasher, don't watch this. If you're lighthearted and have been there before, watch and enjoy. And stick with it. Just when you think it's on repeat, somebody ups the ante... [click 'continue reading' link below]

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Huge thanks to everyone for celebrating with and and especially to the bands that played our party:

The Presidents of the United States of America
Head Like A Kite
Hey Marseilles

Links above take you to their iTunes pages. Already looking forward to next year's shindig. Also thanks to Cantinetta, Pyramid Beer, 42 Below Vodka, Molly Moon's Ice Cream, Jones Soda, Small Lot Co-op Wines, Mark Naficy, Stuart Hallerman at Avast! and everyone else who helped pull off the evening.

For those techie types, this kind of firepower is only made possible with the Nikon D3, Broncolor Scoro A4s lighting, and SanDisk Extreme Pro 32G card. Check out my gear page if you're interested. Huge thanks to those folks as well.

Have a great weekend.

[And if you're interested in embedding this video, feel free. You can get the Youtube window to format vertically by changing the height to 740 and width to 480 (or anything on that proportion.)]

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Head Like a Kite: "Director's Cut"

2009-12-14T22:31:00.000-08:00

Introducing "Director's Cut" my latest music video and the latest track from the electronic duo Head Like a Kite (this time featuring MC Tilson).

If you're a photo/video lover, a music aficionado, a do-gooder or any combo therein please pass this along. We created this pro-bono and it's my hope it'll inspire you and your friends to pull out $7 for 30 exclusive tracks from Seattle's hottest bands as a part of our GiveSeattle.org project. Included in this uber-affordable compilation are exclusive tracks from Fleet Foxes, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), and many more. And a reminder that 100% of sales--every cent of that 7 bucks--goes directly to Art Corps and Seattle area food banks.

If you're a photo/video nut like me and you want to know more about how we made this little video inside a video, complete with behind the scenes photos, hit the 'continue reading link' below.

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1. Concept/Treatment. Ever felt like you're staring in the movie that is your own life? The drama, the celebration, those stranger than fiction moments. Life can be a mysterious state where you're sometimes not sure if you're awake or dreaming. The lyrics to this song are a stream of consciousness about precisely this. I wanted some visuals to match. Some elements to match reality, some that don't make sense, and some that toggled Tilson (the guest MC and "star" of the vid) both IN and OUT of that state.

2. Mood. Head Like A Kite are all about a party. They're all sorts of crazy talented, but they don't take themselves too seriously. It's refreshing. And it was important to them the the video reflected that. Hence the "cartoon-y" feel to the video.

3. Constraints. Given a. that we're making this video as a part of our holiday project to raise awareness for our fundraiser; and b)that we've set some "loose" parameters on ourselves and other vid makers for the project that we want them to be simple enough to be shot in one take or thereabouts.

4. Mechanisms. The mechanisms we used to create all three of above are pretty simple: First, we filmed a path in an around our studio WITHOUT the lead character except for the very beginning and the very end (so he could pop in and out of his life), but WITH the band popping up in various places, timed with the chorus.

"I close my eyes so I can watch the dreams suspend night. All of this time the movie reels spin in my mind"

That was shot in 3 takes.

Second, we sewed those 3 takes together into one movie. We made it black and white and we projected it a screen, at life-size proportions.

Third, we put MC Tilson in front of that screen and filmed him "inside" the projected video while he delivered the lyrics and moved throughout the lifesized world we created according to a series of choreographed moves that had him moving in and out of doorways, up stairs and around corners. We made it just real enough to make it believable but seem to the trained eye that somethings just not quite right (ala the awake/dream state.

Hope you dig. Here's some photos to show you our setup.

Please visit www.giveseattle.org and download our #1 selling album in Seattle right now for just $7. Help those less fortunate and get some great new tunes.

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Chase Jarvis TECH: Underwater Camera

2009-12-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

I'm going to the bottom of a pool and I'm taking my Nikon D3 with me.

If you're curious about taking your dSLR underwater, I assure you it's safer and easier than you might think. In this vid, I lightheartedly kick off a new series of pictures (a fun and growing project) AND I show you the gear we use to get it done.

Bloody Marys optional. Watch the vid, details after the jump... [click the 'continue reading' link below]
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Some hurdles and how to jump em:

1. Can't get my camera wet: GET A HOUSING
I have an underwater housing for my Nikon D3/D3s/D3x made by AquaTech. It rocks. They're a tad pricey, but worth it if you're doing any underwater work on a regular basis. Here'a B&H link to my AquaTech rig - different lens covers are optional. And Remember if you can't afford to buy, but want to play around consider renting them from local camera shops like Glazers.

2. Don't have a pool. CRASH YOUR NEIGHBORS
I don't have a pool either, but I have some friends that do. Erin and Norman were gracious hosts - all I had to do was ask (and bring the BBQ fixins). Obviously, most lakes and oceans are free for you to swim in as well...

3. Don't have scuba gear. JUST SNORKEL OR RENT GEAR.
I don't own scuba gear, but I rented the whole tank setup for around $50 bucks.

4. don't have a subject: FIND ONE.
Surfer buddies are good. Belly floppers are good too. Canine friends would be interesting. Big fish in a pinch.

4. Don't know how to make a bloody mary. FOLLOW THIS RECIPE.
Get yourself some 42 Below vodka. Good stuff. Some tasty tomato juice or organic bloody mary mix, in a pinch, some Mr.T's. Dash of tobasco. And for those who think the drink is complete, think again. Here's the secret ingredients that my grandma taught me (I swear): tablespoon or two of dill pickle juice. Celery salt and pepper. Generous squeezing of lemon and/or lime. Pickled asparagus spear. And put some chunky salt on the rim if you can swing it, ala margarita style. Olives are gross and should be left out (and banished from the earth).

Hope this helps you enjoy some underwater shooting. Happy Friday - have a great weekend. Special thanks to Head Like a Kite for the music behind this track. Check them here on iTunes.
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Chase Jarvis RAW: Nikon Festival BTS

2009-12-09T05:40:00.000-08:00

Meet the stars of my Nikon Festival video: Joshua Roman (cellist), Saba Mohajerjasbi (Sabzi playing the Beat Gorilla), and Ellie Sandstrom (choregrapher/performer), and check out how we made my 140-second film in just a day and a half.

Reminder: there's still 6 days for YOU to enter your 140 second film into the Nikon Festival and let yours truly--along with Rainn Wilson (from 'The Office') and Justine Ezarik (iJustine) decide if your vid should capture the $100,000 cash prize. I'd love to see your entry when submission period ends and my judging begins at midnight on December 15th.

For more deets visit www.nikonfestival.com, the festival's Facebook page. To stay tuned in, you can also follow the festival on Twitter via @nikonfestival.
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What Are You Going To Shoot Today?

2009-12-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

Get out from behind the computer and shoot something you've been dying to shoot today. It's easier that you've lead yourself to believe, it costs less than you think, and is more fun than you remember.

In fact, tell us all in the comments below what you're going to shoot today or tomorrow or this weekend. Don't be worried that someone's gonna copy you, because it won't happen. If you're doing it right nobody CAN copy you.

I'll tell you right now, in 10 minutes I'm going to begin shooting a music video and some stills today for Head Like A Kite.

But what are you going to do? Who's got the huevos to tell us all? (Trust me this is for you, not somebody else. Just engaging your brain and writing the words is half the battle.)

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Introducing GIVESEATTLE.ORG

2009-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

The holidays are a time for cheer, but they're also a time for giving. As such I've joined forces with some friends here in Seattle to help bring you GIVESEATTLE.ORG.

GIVESEATTLE.ORG is simple: we've compiled more than 30 amazing tracks from some of Seattle's best bands/musicians and wrapped it into one compilation that is downloadable for just $7. And 100% of the money goes directly to support Arts Corps and Seattle Area Food Banks. (Yes you read that correctly 100% goes to those in need).

Please download this amazing compilation NOW at www.giveseattle.org. And also important: Please tell your friends. This music is not to be missed.

To promote this unique form of holiday giving online, a handful of us are making music videos. We're aiming to...[click 'continue reading' link below]
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...make these in one take, or close to it, with zero budget. These creative restraints are resulting in some really simple, beautiful concepts. This is the first one, featuring the band Fences, directed by Brad Curran over at CityArts. (Separately, you may recall us featuring Fences as part of our SFEAD project too...beautiful stuff).

We'll release one video each week or so throughout the holidays. I'll be posting them all here. I hope you enjoy.

The list of partners who have come together to create this is too long to mention here, but please check them out here on the GiveSeattle.orgpage. Happy holidays and please give your $7 in exchange for some great new music.
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Stop Worrying About Your Business Cards

2009-12-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

In case you're still more worried about your business cards and your website than your photography, Leila Courey, Art Buyer at Leo Burnett will set you straight:

I don’t mind if photographers want to bling out their promos for extra attention as long as the quality of the work goes along with it. What I don’t dig, is photographers spending what looks like a ton of money on business cards, expensive promos or portfolios meanwhile they really need to spend more time crafting their work.

When an artist is more established, or has been off the radar for a while, I can understand wanting to brand/re brand themselves to let it be known that they’re still available for assignment but even still, this won’t sway me. It’s all about the work.

Now that we're clear on that, get out from behind the computer and go shoot something. [click the 'continue reading' link below]
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[Via the awesome Heather Morton Art Buyer. Collage above was a rebranding study by Michael Clinard.

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Anarchy and The Value Of A Photograph

2009-12-01T09:30:00.000-08:00

Fabien Breuvart pulled off what I would call a ~~lovely stunt~~ great piece of performance art last week in Paris. He and a half dozen accomplices scrounged up several giant garbage bags full of anonymous vintage photos and--in a fit of anarchy--dumped these thousands of photos into a huge pile in front of the VIP entrance of the posh Paris Photo 2009 gala underway at the Louvre.

Inside the event, some of the worlds most valued photographs were aiming to fetch $60,000, but thanks to Breuvart, the international art crowd seemed more attuned to pile of vintage photography amidst cries of "free photos!" out front...seemingly a choice to stay outside to collect, even cherish, free and unusual images that had "no value", rather than sip champagne and salivate over art whose value was chosen by others.

Is it tomfoolery or a breath of fresh air to see culturally-literate adults scavenging for pictures on their hands and knees as if they were kids and the pinata had just exploded at a birthday party. Is this a story about a stunt, about the power of photography, the maligned "value" of what the art market assigns to be worth our attention?

Video of the anarchists in action after the jump...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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(Note: the vid is in French, but that doesn't keep you from understanding the "event" perfectly. You clearly get the sense that it's there's a disconnect present between value and no value, whos who and anonymity, the posh and the streets.)

[via the lovely blog Lens Culture.]

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