Chase Jarvis Blog

No One Wants Ordinary Photographers Anymore

2009-11-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

"No one want ordinary photographers anymore. No one wants regular photographers. They want someone that can bring some kind of special lens or special expertise to the conversation."

"You have convictions, you have ideas. They may not be perfect, but just get them out there. Give them a shot."

Want to make a living in commercial photography? The above quotes are my adaptions from some brilliant strategic minds within advertising. While I was watching this video, it occurred to me that nearly every sound bite applies equally to photographers and photography, as it does "planners", the subject of this video. Simply substitute the word "photographer" for "planner" and you'll see what I mean.

Yes the video--and the forthcoming video series over at PSFK--talks about "planners" (a position within an advertising agency that creates strategies which subsequently drives an agency's creative pursuits), but if I were you, I'd tune in to what they're saying. Because it applies to everyone in commercial art. No in advertising one wants anything ordinary anymore, whether you're a photographer, a director, a planner, or hell, even a client.

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Shooting Lights

2009-11-20T08:35:00.000-08:00

Not Shooting Lights as in photographing with strobes, but as in a new SFEAD track from The Blakes.

If you hang around these parts online, you know all there is to know about my Songs For Eating and Drinking project with my buddy Hebb. No frills, world class music, good vibes. Stills, video, audio. Here's another exclusive performance from one of those evenings this summer. Take a break from pressing your face against your camera and enjoy.

If you like this vibe, you'll find 4 new tracks over at the SFEAD site, as well as an archive of one-of-a-kind performances by musicians from Pearl Jam, the Dandy Warhols, Blue Scholars, and many others.

Happy music Friday. Have a great weekend.

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Other related posts here:
[The Blakes: Ramshackle Hearse]
[Brand New Songs For Eating and Drinking]
[Chase Jarvis RAW: [not] Getting to Portland]
[Songs For Eating and Drinking on the Boob Tube]
[Songs For Eating and Drinking #2.0 - Hip Hop]
[SFEAD: Arthur & Yu]
[New Project: Songs for Eating and Drinking...Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam]

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Chase Jarvis SHORTS: Ground Control

2009-11-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

Creating a strong emotional connection with the viewer is without a doubt the most important criterion in a successful image. Nothing will ever supplant that. Beyond that, however, there's a whole bunch of second tier, more "mechanical" techniques that we creatives can cook up to elevate our images and create visual interest.

One such technique is compositional in nature: creating cool angles and unique perspectives. It's what makes P.O.V. shots cool, it's the mojo in those classic 360 degree shots from The Matrix and the super-cool car commercials, and it's what make those slick overhead shots on Monday Night Football all really sing.

In the 2:41 of this Chase Jarvis SHORTS video, I illustrate the what, where, how and why for a contraption that we built in-house that's helped me make some of my most-asked-about...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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...(how'n the hell did you do that?) images from The Blakes music video, from Laura's Story video, and from images created for Apple, Brooks running shoes, Hasselblad Masters and others. I've used all sorts of lighting AND Nikons, Hasselblads, RED motion cameras, even the Phantom HD motion camera in conjunction with this contraption.

A quick spin thru the portfolio section of my site will reveal that I've got a good bit of use from this sucker. We call it "Ground Control". Watch the vid and you'll know why.
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Purists Beware

2009-11-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

I just recently overheard a self-described "purist" photographer ranting on about how we're all cheaters and that the photographic masters before us lacked our current luxury--even desire--to "customize" (read: manipulate/photoshop) images. It was "...all about the the composition, a beautiful subject, and a properly exposed picture".

I call horse-pucky.

Above: Avedon's instructions to his printer.

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[Via Monoscope.]

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$100,000 in 140 Seconds

2009-11-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

I can't help but think that somebody forgot to dot an i or cross a t somewhere, because yours truly has just been asked to give away $100,000 of somebody else's money. Yep you read that correctly. 100. LARGE.

That somebody is Nikon, and I'm not alone in this endeavor. I've got some accomplices: Rainn Wilson (from 'The Office') and Justine Ezarik (iJustine). The three of us have been charged with choosing one winner in the Nikon Festival: a short form video contest that was the impetus for my creating the short film above - check it out! Love your feedback... But I'm not entered in the contest - that's YOUR job. Create a 140 second video that simply shows a day through your lens.

Details about the contest, when you can pickup your 100 grand, more about my film, and a debut of Rainn Wilson's short film after the jump... [click the 'continue reading' link below]
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My Film: First of all, it was a blast making this little shortie. I hope you enjoyed. I never really named it, although the working title is Dancing with Bachzi. And it chronicles my day collaborating with 3 close friends: the amazing prodigy cellist, Joshua Roman; the slickest DJ producer I know, Sabzi, of Blue Scholars and Common Market; and the most elegant and arresting dancer I know, Ellie Sandstrom. We had a blast with this--I'll show some behind the scenes stuff in a future post.

The Contest: I'm psyched that Nikon has stepped up like this and is legitimately backing us creatives! Props to them. They're letting Rainn, Justine and me choose one filmmaker to hand 100 grand cash AND letting you pick a second winner who will receive $25,000--the people's choice award. And both winners also get a Nikon camera kit.

What would you do with the winnings? Whatever you want, of course. Wouldn't it be killer if the winner of either prize (but especially the biggie) would take a year off and do something creative with the money, something that they loved?

The basic guidelines for the contest are simple. Between now and December 15th you create and submit a 140 second film. Starting on December 16th, us judges begin sorting through all the submissions and announce a winner in January.

I shot my little flick on the Nikon D300s, but you can use ANY camera. That's right. Nikon is cool enough to recognize that not everyone uses Nikon. In truth, it's one of the reasons I'm psyched about this contest. Nikon has created an environment that supports ALL photographers and filmmakers, regardless of equipment or format.

The thought of getting to drop a huge pile of cash into the lap of someone from this community has me beside myself. I'll be keeping tabs on the submissions and stuff through the course of the festival. You can do so via the contest site, @nikonfestival, or via it's Facebook page.

In the meantime get out there at build a movie around YOUR DAY. Be it serious, funny, emotional or otherwise, just go for it. As a parting nod, I just had to embed my fellow judge funnyman Rainn Wilson's vid. It's simultaneously hysterical, bizarre and smart.

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My "Trade Secrets"

2009-11-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

[Update: just got an email from Zeke at Trade Secret Cards. He wanted me to let you know he's already sold about 25% of his inventory in just 3 weeks. He's hoping to have unloaded the 5000 number by the end of the year... Let me put some of that money back into the photo industry... He's also posted a YouTube clip of a photo tip I gave him from the interview here.]

I love it when people--especially members of this community--take ideas and run with them. This one is no exception...

A couple months ago, I was approached by blog reader and founder of a company called Trade Secret Cards, Zeke Kamm. He had a business proposition: He'd come to Seattle, pick my brain about various different pictures in my portfolio and then he'd put together a pack of 22 glossy, high-end cards that illustrate "how to" re-create each picture. Soup to nuts. Diagrams, equipment used, what I was thinking, etc. He sells 'em and gives us cut.

We agreed to his proposal and for about $20 you can--starting today--buy these illustrative card packs here at www.tradesecretcards.com or at national photo retailers like Midwest Photo. Cool idea on Zeke's part - 100% his thingie.

And, fwiw, what's with our 10%? I'm giving it away. Here's the fun twist. I'm putting 100% of our cut back into the photo community. Zeke has printed 5,000 sets of cards. They go for roughly $20 each. So if my math is correct, we'll give every dime of $10,000 bucks back into photo community if Zeke sells all his cards.

How shall I put this money back into the community? You tell me. I'm all ears. Let's not put the cart before the horse, of course, we've got to help Zeke sell these cards, but I'd love to get your ideas in the comments below about how you'd like to see the money spent back into the community. My 10% is actually your 10%.

Another card example and link to other cards after the jump. Click the 'continue reading' link below.

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And lastly, if you like the Trade Secrets concept, Zeke has also done a set with my good friend David over at the Strobist community. Buy those too, also available at the Trade Secret Card site.

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Toronto and NYC This Week

2009-11-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

Short notice is the best notice. If you're in Toronto or NYC this week, I'd love to cross paths. Here's what I know:

First. This Thursday November 12th at 7:30pm I'm excited to be giving a chat about creativity on behalf of the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators. Open to the public - please tell your mates. I'll also be signing The Best Camera Is The One That's With You. Books will be on sale there as far as I know. I'm speaking at the Gladstone hotel, reserve your tickets here. Some sort of social debauchery or requisite tomfoolery will surely follow.

Second, I have some business in NYC on Friday and Monday. Which leaves me mostly free on Saturday and Sunday (November 14 and 15). As such I'm thinking of getting people together to take pictures and be social. Actually, slightly more formal. A free "underground" event of sorts. If you're interested, pay close attention to my @chasejarvis twitter handle and my Facebook fan page. I'll post details there soon. Hope to see you.
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Help-Portrait Is A Good Thing

2009-11-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

I wrote about Jeremy Cowart's great idea for a collective "give back" holiday project earlier. Behind the scenes, Jeremy and a handful of fellow photogs have been doing some legwork. There's now a Help-Portrait site with more information and inspiration. We're all planning to help. Please consider getting involved. Tell us below that you plan on it too, and then begin to organize your efforts and/or efforts in your area now.

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The Blakes: Ramshackle Hearse [Video]

2009-11-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

This one has been a long time coming.

Today, I'm happy and proud to share with you my first foray into music videos. It's a video for The Blakes titled "Ramshackle Hearse." You may remember my love affair with the band. Ever since I put their track "Don't Bother Me" behind Chase Jarvis RAW: Advance Testing the Nikon D90, I've been enamored with their rough pop sound.

It's after midnight now, and I'm holed up in a small hotel room in L.A. Sort of in disbelief, really, that I'm actually--finally--writing this post. Reason? I concepted this music video about 18 months ago on a flight to NYC. We shot it in 2 days over 15 months ago with an amazing group of people, and then wrapped it together about 6 months ago. And we've been sitting on it for 6 months now hoping to time this post with The Blakes new record release. That day is finally here. Their new album, Souvenir, is on sale now via iTunes.

Hats off to my friends at Superfad. In addition to the honor of sharing the director's role with uber-creative Will Hyde (great collaboration) and also to my pal Rob Sanborn who originally got will and I working together, the Superfad took the lead on the digital effects for this gig. They put in talent, wisdom and huge hours. And they hit it outta the park. Dreamy to work with these guys.

Want the full story on how this sucker was made? Watch this video here... Chase Jarvis RAW: Making Ramshackle Hearse.

A few juicy bits for those of you who like backstory, after the jump...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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1. This ~~short film~~ music video was a collaborative personal project. There is no "client". There's no label. The fancy budget = 0. This was entirely funded by myself and Superfad. Why do we shoot elaborate productions like this with our own money? Cause it feels good to make stuff.

2. For the techies out there, we shot this piece on the Red ONE camera and the Phantom HD camera. Amazing pieces of machinery. Editing was done in Final Cut Pro, by the uber-editor, Josh Bodnar. Josh cut the intro titles to the Showtime series Dexter. You get the picture. The dude is awesome.

3. There are cameo appearances from a dozen or more Seattle bands. What a great community the Seattle music scene really is. We managed to pull bands together from every genre to support The Blakes. If you're a music junkie like me, look for Head Like a Kite, The Saturday Knights, Brent Amaker & The Rodeo, Natalie Portman Shaved Head, Disjointed Isotopes, Hazelwood Motel, and more.

4. We're chatting with MTV and some of the music channels, so you might see it in the mainstream loop. But you might not. I love the web. And this sucker feels right online. More TK.

5. I learned a TON on this project. Knowing how much I learned and knowing my love for music AND video, I'm already looking forward to doing some more of this.

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Podcastius Maximus

2009-11-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

I've had the good fortune of being invited to join distinguished hosts on a handful of photo industry podcasts recently. Here are a few links if you might be interested in hearing us yap. Many thanks to the gracious podcasters below.

Photo Focus
Listen to the podcast here.

This Week In Photography (TWIP)
Listen to the Podcast here.

Typical Shutterbug
Listen to the podcast here.

Camera Dojo
Listen to the Podcast here.

MACiLife/KZYK Radio
Listen to the podcast here.

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Chase Jarvis TECH: Strobed Photo Sequences

2009-10-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

Of all the behind the scenes stuff we've showed in recent vids, the one techie thing that far-and-away led to the most questions from readers was the part in this video where I'm photographing X Games uber-skiers Simon Dumont, Colby James West, TJ Shiller, Peter Olenick, and Nick Heine in New Zealand using strobes at 8 frames per second. That's right. Rail slides and 100 foot airs. 8 frames per second. Strobed.

I know why you had questions.

To be honest, I too didn't think it was possible to shoot any pack at 8 fps for 40 or so frames straight, covering more than 100 feet of distance without frying something or something whimpering out. ...Which is why I tested the concept a number of ways before the shoot. The above video briefly chronicles those tests, the actual shoot, and the cool results.

More images, 2 lighting diagrams, a full gear list, and a couple more tech points after the jump...[click the 'continue reading' link below]

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Using this idea, we got results like this:

From the diagram below, you'll see that we've got one Broncolor Scoro A4s pack run off a Honda 3k generator. I've moved the heads so they're each front-lighting the rider. My VALs (voice activated light-stands...ie humans! - thx McNally for that term...) are in place and are pointing the Broncolor Unilite heads with Par reflectors at the subject (sorta like shooting a machine gun). The first of the two heads picks up the rider from takeoff to about mid-flight. The second head picks up the riders from about midway thru flight to landing, some 100 feet down the hill.

The other lighting diagram I sketched (below) outlines similar stuff to the one above. We've again got the Broncolor Scoro A4s pack, two heads with VALs, but this time we're running one of my time-tested "sandwich" techniques... a light on each side of the subject. Here, it's Simon.

And that gave me results like this:

Unreal, eh? We actually had to remove about 8 frames during the making of this composite since there was so much overlap...

For you techie's, here's a gear list:
Nikon D3
Nikkor 14-24mm lens
Nikkor 24-70mm lens
Broncolor Scoro A4s pack
Broncolor Unilite heads
Broncolor Par Reflector
SanDisk Extreme Pro card 32GB
Pocket Wizards
Aperture (to process)
Photoshop (to make layered file)
Honda 3.0k generator

Here's a link to B&H if you want to buy stuff.

What to do if this sort of equipment is outta your budget? Try renting stuff. Experiment. Use some of that birthday money from your mom and teach yourself how to use this stuff. And here's a secret: try pickup after 3 on Friday. Rent for Saturday. Most places are closed on Sunday, return gear Monday. 3 days for the price of 1. Don't tell them I told you.

And some tech details:
_Camera set to its maximum sync at 250th of a second (fastest base sync speed for camera)
_Camera set to its highest frame rate - this case 8fps
_Camera on a tripod (for ease in compositing frames later in post production...)
_Broncolor pack output scaled to about 60% or less of full power to keep up with 8fps. Your results must vary. But you should know this is an absolutely incredible statistic. A 3200 watt-second pack at 60% (roughly 2000 w/s) at 8fps for 40 frames or more until my camera buffer was filled.
_Remember from this vid, and the vid I did last friday it's the super short flash duration that's really stopping the action - not the shutter.
_For more on the shutter/flash duration thing, check out the kissing cousin to this vid here, the Chase Jarvis TECH: High Speed Photography vid.
_We're using Photoshop to create the layered file...shooting on a tripod, laying each frame of the jump on top of the other and masking away the unwanted parts of each frame to reveal just the rider on the background...

Lastly, hope this has been informative. I hadn't intended to do a video on this, but there were so many questions about it--plus I truly didn't think this was possible--so I just had to put something together. Lemme know what you think.
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Chase Jarvis CURRENT: SanDisk Q&A FollowUp

2009-10-23T02:05:00.000-07:00

I've been on the road almost non-stop since we shot the SanDisk campaign in NZ last month, but I'd promised that there was a bit more followup to come as we wrap up post production back at the studio. In this vid, for example (in the spirit of the oldie-but-still-relevant Chase Jarvis CURRENT: 32 Questions vid) I jam through a selection of about 30 questions I'd been asked via the online channels, from creative direction to shoot concept to tech specs to gear.

And a heads up. At your request, I'll be sprinkling in just couple more vids from NZ in the next couple weeks--at least a TECH about lighting and another RAW.

Lastly, lemme know what you think of this loose Q&A video format. If it sucks, tell me. If it you're able to tolerate me yammering on, I could streamline this video work on my end of things (add it to my podcast too), answer a heck of a lot more questions than I'm currently able to via email, and it would add a layer of discourse that's currently not there. Feedback please.

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Wanna Free Trip To Visit Us In Seattle?

2009-10-19T02:36:00.000-07:00

First, a huge thanks to those of you who have sent me photos of yourselves with my new book "The Best Camera Is The One That's With You". It's been fun and inspiring and great to see the book in far-off places like Japan and Paris. Lots of new faces and some familiar ones.

But more than that, you've got me fired up. I just stumbled across this link on my book's Amazon.com page (directly beneath the image of the book) that allows you to "share your own customer images". What? This could be fun. I'd love to see more of these images, and I'd love a place for you to see them...so call me crazy, but I thought we'd pull together a little game.

First, here's what you can win:
Every week from now till the end of the year (11 weeks) I'll pick my favorite photo of someone with my book, and I'll send that person a signed, limited edition print from the book. I'd love to see images of you with the book in fun, far off places or on your couch, in the Sarhara Desert, or heck, at the Apple store (on sale there too!). Think garden gnome. Anything fun/interesting. And then, at some point during the game, I'll pick one entry that's the most interesting or fun and I'll fly that person--all expenses paid, airfare, hotel, & meals--from anywhere in the world, to spend a day with us at the studio in Seattle. We'll do lunch. And probably some other fun stuff too. "Winners" announced via Twitter and Facebook.

Second, here's how you play:

[UPDATE: the rules below outline that you must post to both Amazon and Facebook. For those of you that can only post to FB because you're not an Amazon customer, don't sweat it. But keep two things in mind. 1) Don't think of this as a crazy "competition" I'll be looking at both places to find people to send prints to... If you can't post to Amazon, I'll understand and 2) this is as much as possible about having some fun over at Amazon.com... so keep that in mind. If you can post there, please do... now back to your regular programming...]

1. Buy the book if you can or want. (Amazon. B&N.)
2. Take a photo of yourself with your The Best Camera book (or a borrowed book if you can't swing one), or just the book if you're shy but extra points for people in there, and make it fun, interesting, creative, or simple.
3. Upload that image to my Amazon.com "share your own customer images" link.
4. 'Become a fan' on my Facebook fan page. And under the "wall" tab in the 'what's on your mind' window atop the page, write your name WHERE YOU'RE FROM and a url if you'd like. Click on the 'add photos' icon.

[Click 'continue reading' link below.]
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5. Based on geographic location, fun factor, interest level or anything else that catches my eye, I'll select one "signed print" winner every week from now till the end of the year and I'll announce that weekly winner on my Facebook fan page and via my Twitter.
6. And at some point during this whole mess, I'll host one person to come visit us in Seattle - all expenses paid.

It's that easy. And remember ANY CAMERA. It's not about the camera - it's about the fun pictures of you and my art book.

Enter as many times as you like. Entries should start immediately - the week has already begun.

As an aside, I've received tweets that the book has sold out from several places, but generally speaking...
_You can find the book online at Amazon, B&N, and Borders.
_You can find the book at your local bookstore.
_You can find the book at most Apple retail stores (stoked! how sweet/lucky is that!)
_And of course, if you don't find the book at a place you want to see it, request it. That always does the author some good.

And if you're liking what you're reading, I would always appreciate a rate/review of the book on Amazon. Thanks.

Please have fun with this. Spread the word. I'll love to see you getting clever with this little book (and clever with Amazon - has anybody ever done this?)

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[btw, if you're at all worried about what places like Amazon and Facebook can do with your images, then read the fine print. Would they ever use a quirky image of you with my book to "advertise" Facebook? God I'd hope so, but I'd bet my shooting finger that it would never happen in a million years. My hope is that you're not bothered by those things given the context...these are supposed to be fun snapshots of you with a quirky book ;)]

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Clean Your Room and Do the Dishes

2009-10-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or are we all a bit more creative when we have some distance between ourselves and our chaos?

Living life - be it adventure, struggle, conflict or resolution - gives us the bedrock of artistic inspiration. But if you're anything like me, actualizing that inspiration requires moments of calm.

Case in point: Just sitting here working my ass off in the studio, 10pm on a Friday night...the last few weeks have been a doozie. Crazy schedule, travel, media, Best Camera, assignments, work, deluge, family, not enough hours. Needing. Inspiration. Struggling. To come up with. Some creative inspiration for an upcoming project. Kept indulging, pushing. Longer hours. Nothing. Creatively parched.

So I went to my old college habit. The grown-up version of cleaning your room during finals before you begin to study...[click 'continue reading' link below]
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I temporarily dug outta my life's clutter. I cleaned out my inbox, cleared off my desktop, returned some voicemails, I made lists. It gave me a moment. A breath. I went for a walk in the rain, carefree for the first time in weeks. And sipped a glass of wine.

And it happened. 2 hours of calm is all it took, and whammo. Best ideas I've had in weeks.

It's often hard to see the forest through the trees, but the next time you're struggling creatively, go clean your room and do the dishes. Pay your bills and then take a walk. Get some distance from your mayhem, even if it's for an hour. I'll bet you 10 bucks you'll be better off--and more creative--because of it.

Have a great weekend. I know I will.
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Best Business Practices For Photographers, by John Harrington

2009-10-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

If chapter titles like...

_Working with Reps, Assistants, Employees, and Contractors: The Pitfalls and Benefits, or
_Transitioning to Freelance, or
_Licensing Your Work, or
_Setting Your Photographer’s Fees, or
_Releases: Model, Property, and Others

..don't get you to buy this book, perhaps my assessment of the book will:

I think Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition is essential reading for anyone even thinking about licensing an image, starting a business in photography, or dreaming of taking their photo game "pro".

Long time photographer, author, and blogger John Harrington today delivers his 2nd edition of this book in epic detail. The thought of creating this book makes my head explode because it's so loaded with details, facts, and examples. It's dry reading - but a lot of this stuff mission critical, or at least sets the stage for your understanding. John is a vocal advocate of photographer's rights. And while things in our industry are on the move, John's got a smart, conservative, and worthwhile voice for dotting your business i's and crossing your business t's. We should be thankful that he's done the work to assemble a strong reference guide. Consider thanking him and informing yourself by spending the $23 on Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition right now.

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Happy Friday: Some New Music + Fresh Visuals

2009-10-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

If you're a regular here, you'll know exactly want I mean when I say please enjoy some new SFEAD vids here on this lovely Friday, skip the next paragraph and head straight to the music.

If you've not been around for a while then you should know I'm passionate about music. And you'll want to know (or be reminded) that SFEAD stands for Song For Eating And Drinking, a project I created with my pal Michael Hebb, where we invite world class musicians to a huge dinner table in a remarkable setting, we feed them well, we encourage them to sing songs to one another, and then we record these songs--video, stills, and audio--to share them with you and the rest of the world online. It's about music, art, food and new media. See the most intimate side of some of your favorite musicians from huge bands like Pearl Jam and The Dandy Warhols and discover new music from emerging bands like Head Like a Kite, Blue Scholars, The Dutchess & The Duke and dozens more.

These tracks are from a recent SFEAD evening... above is from emerging artist the Pica Beats. Catch my stills from the recent evening, visit the SFEAD site, or after the jump catch 3 videos...Steve Turner from Mudhoney, John Roderick from The Long Winters, and Peter Holmstrom from The Dandy Warhols playing his side project Pete International Airport with Jason Adams [click the 'continue reading' link below...]

Related Posts:
[Brand New Songs For Eating and Drinking!]
[Songs for Eating and Drinking on the Boob Tube]
[Songs for Eating and Drinking #2.0 - Hip Hop]
[Songs for Eating and Drinking - Arthur & Yu]
[Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, Songs For Eating And Drinking]
[The official Songs for Eating and Drinking site]
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More Moving Magazines, This by Alexx Henry For Outside

2009-10-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

As more and more of us photogs co-mingle our still capture with motion capture, we're going to be seeing increasingly co-mingled media outlets increasingly more excited to increase their co-mingling of media.

You get my point.

Looks like Outside is along for the ride now, thus adding another solid print title to the short list of those that are doing more interesting things--either out of desperation or innovation--which is still up for debate. This cool vid from photographer Alexx Henry is his second such project if I'm not mistaken. He's got an "imagine the future..." sort of blog post that accompanies the vid here on his blog. Nice moves, Alexx.

Which brings me to my favorite thing about this sort of new media: in my experience (and I've heard here from Alexx's and many other friends out there too) the media outlets are actually interested in collaborating with their artists once again, rather than dictating to them as seemed to be the norm in the few years past.... That's a key word, collaboration. I think it yields far more interesting results. Hope this is more than a trend.

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Chase Jarvis TECH: Shooting Sequences

2009-09-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you were tuned in the previous coupla weeks to our play-by-play campaign shooting for SanDisk in New Zealand. Well, we're back in the states, digging out, editing and what not, and as promised, we've got more content from the trip to post. In this Chase Jarvis TECH, I'm responding to hordes of you who asked 1)why are you shooting so many frames? 2) why in the world are you shooting on a tripod? and/or 3)how do you create sequenced frames of the skier or snowboarder atop the stationary background?

Hope this answers all three questions and a little more. [Additional videos/links from behind the scenes in New Zealand after the jump...]

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Related videos + posts:
[Now You Know, Sandisk Extreme Pro]
[Photo Gear Mania]
[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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Unlocked iPhone 3Gs Goes to Dan Marshall

2009-09-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

In the 5 short days it's been public, thousands and thousands of images have been shot, edited and uploaded with our new iPhone app, Best Camera. Watching the images roll by on the visualizer on the phone and the site have evaporated hours of my life, and made it better. Some really impressive imagery.

Of the those thousands of images, I'm awarding Dan Marshall the fully unlocked iPhone 3Gs for this lovely image of a little girl. I tend to like more abstract stuff with the iPhone, but perhaps that's why I'm attracted to this shot. It's different from my usual and there's a great story within this image. Seems that you all liked this image as well...it's seen thousands of views and has nearly 100 thumbs ups...so our tastes are somewhat in line here. I get the feeling it could be a snapshot, a fine art piece at Yossi Milo, or the anchor to a bigtime ad campaign. Wonderfully transcendent. Consider checking out Dan's photographer page of images uploaded with Best Camera in just a handful of days. Looks like he's been using just the 3G, so now he's got himself the suped-up 3Gs. Congrats Dan.

Check out other images voted "popular" by the community here.

We now return you to your regular programming. Dan, ping me offline to get your phone.

Shoot. Edit Share.
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The Best Camera Thanks You. Big Big Bigtime.

2009-09-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

I slept 4 hours in a 65 hour stretch.

...that was in the couple days before and after launching The Best Camera ecosystem. But I loved it, because working hard to create stuff feels good. It’s not everyday that you get an opportunity to launch a book, or an iPhone app, or an online community, let alone all three. The experience has been exciting, humbling, scary and energizing all at once, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to you.

Thanks in large part to this community, in the first 24 hours after launch:
_Best Camera app debuted at #12 of all paid apps in the app store.
_The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You book, debuted at #172 of all titles on Amazon
_ www.thebestcamera.com saw 200,000 sets of eyes.

...And since that first 24 hours, it’s been getting better by the hour. Wow. I am humbled. And I Thank you thank you thank you.

Launch is fun, but it’s where we want to go with this thing now that’s important in the big picture.

Overall, I want to continue to celebrate pictures. I want to continue to grow thebestcamera.com and the visualizer in the app, into a seriously remarkable place for viewing pictures. I am blown away by what I see there everyday as you’ve been choosing www.thebestcamera.com in the sharing menu. There are currently hundreds of pictures being added there every hour. If you haven’t stared at that thing, and if you haven’t been voting from your phone (ie giving the thumb’s up) to images you like, the community has been missing your input. Give it a shot...[click the 'continue reading' link below]
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For those of you who were rightly concerned about the Facebook captioning issue, apologies abound. It was an unintended hiccup that inserted a placeholder caption ‘uploaded with Chase Jarvis’ Best Camera’. We missed removing it during testing. You should know that we fixed it within 24 hours of launch and subsequently re-submitted the refreshed code to the app store for approval. Simple work arounds are listed in the FAQ’s.

For those who want to upload to Flickr: every Flickr account has an email addy for uploading. Send to that address from the share menu in the app. More elegant solutions soon ;)

Of course there are a million ways for us to improve what we’ve created, many of which we’re already aware. If you’ve got ideas or suggestions, I want them. I am listening. That said, please don’t put them in the comments below. We’re collecting your ideas via the submission form on the support page.

While we’re gathering feedback, I don’t want to look too far into the future or into the past. After all this ecosystem is still only 2.5 days old. What I’m really hoping for is that we focus on using this shiny new toy. Just like your mobile phone camera has one button and you can have lots of fun and discover what’s possible with that one button, I’d love for you to crank on our version 1.0 of Best Camera and see what you can make it do for you. Have fun with it.

For those in this community who have written me asking how you might help this app further succeed, the answer is pretty simple: 1. tell your friends online and in the real world; and 2. rank the app and write a (hopefully glowing ;) review in the iTunes app store. That’s in large part how other people in the world discover and buy apps.

And the same goes for the book....the initial rounds of The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You are beginning to arrive on your doorstep from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. For those of you who sent email and asked to further help out...just like the app, please tell your friends and rate/review on Amazon, B&N, Borders. Thank you thank you.

Lastly, wanted to remind you that on Monday, September 28, I’m choosing my favorite picture that’s been uploaded to www.thebestcamera.com and giving its creator a brand new, unlocked (yes unlocked) iPhone 3Gs loaded with the Best Camera app. I’ll ship it anywhere in the world. Hope to see your photos there this weekend.
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The Best Camera: iPhone App + Book + Community

2009-09-22T04:20:00.000-07:00

Today I’m really pumped to share with you the results of many months of hard work, a whole lotta fun, and--in many ways--a dream come true. It’s a trifecta of projects that I’ve just launched moments ago:

Introducing:

1. Best Camera = An iPhone photo app that allows you to shoot, add creative effects, and share your images more simply and powerfully than ever before. Virtually limitless creativity, and the ability to share photos directly from Best Camera to Facebook, Twitter, via email at a new iPhone photo sharing site, www.thebestcamera.com. I’ve poured all my experience into creating this app, and I’ve partnered with my ubersmart software developer friends, Ubermind, to bring you Best Camera. Read more and/or buy it from iTunes here.

2. The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You = A book of my iPhone photography from around the world. The first of its kind. It’s both a playful celebration of mobile photography and a serious artistic endeavor. It’s the production of my ideas and the way I see the world. It’s real and it’s RAW. I hope you dig it. Learn more and/or buy it here on preorder now - should be shipping this week.

3. www.thebestcamera.com = This is the hub of this ecosystem and a new photo community. It gives you the how-to videos for the app, the nuts and bolts of the book and is the support and feedback center. But most importantly, it’s a living, breathing feed of images from around the world created with Best Camera iPhone app. From within the app share your iPhone work here at the first photo community of its kind. Buy the app, login from your iPhone and join the revolution.

That’s right--you’re getting the picture--each of these elements is tied together with that goofy-but-strangely-sticky phrase I ~~inadvertently coined~~ rallied a while back, "The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You". This is the first ecosystem--app, book, community--of its kind, and I’ve put a heckuva lot of work into creating it. I’m dying to know what you think.

A complete video tour, some informative links and a free, unlocked iPhone 3Gs after the jump... [click the 'continue reading' link below]
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If you buy the app, book, or both and like what you see and experience, please consider doing the following things:

a. Tell your friends. Unlike my commercial photography, this is entirely a community-based endeavor and it depends on your patronage and good will to succeed. If you believe in this, please spread the word.

b. Rate the app and the book at iTunes and Amazon or wherever you purchase. Being in your favor is in large part an indicator of how good of a job I’ve done in creating this ecosystem, and it tells those who aren’t in your immediate network what you think. I want it to be fun and I want it to be good and I want it to evolve. Your feedback matters.

c. Participate in the community. Snapping photos everyday with my iPhone changed my life. I am more in touch creatively now than ever before. It’s contagious in the very best way, from professional artists to my 63-year-old mother. Take pictures and share them. It can change the world.

And here's some fun that might get your attention: On Monday Sept 28th, I’m choosing my favorite image that’s been created using Best Camera and posted to www.thebestcamera.com , and I’m giving away a brand new, unlocked iPhone 3Gs, loaded with the Best Camera app. That’s right. I look at your pictures, I like one, and then give you an unlocked iPhone 3Gs loaded with my app. Can’t wait to see your photos.

Here's a video tour of the iPhone app Best Camera:

Lastly, lots more details and behind the scenes to come this week. Until then, some helpful links:

[Buy Best Camera app via iTunes.]
[Buy The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Borders.]
[Visit www.thebestcamera.com, the hub that tells you more about the app, the book, and the community.]
[Visit the new iPhone portfolio on my website, created entirely using Best Camera.]
[Big thanks to the gentlemen of Mad Rad for their track on the video. Buy their beats on iTunes here.]
[And of course a huge thank you to my development partner Ubermind, and my book publisher Pearson/Peachpit. You guys/gals rock.]

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Photo Gear-Mania + Shamwow

2009-09-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dozens of you chimed in last week about wanting to see some of the gear we were using in New Zealand for the past 10 days, so here's the bounty. Might sound funny, but it's quite stripped down for us, based on the creative direction that you saw here.

Regardless, hope you get your fill here... and the Shamwow reference is just a funny pop-culture, infomercial joke. We like to soak up our spilled beers with Shamwow, but don't clean your lenses with it! More NZ wrap up still coming...

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Now You Know: SanDisk Extreme Pro

2009-09-14T04:45:00.000-07:00

If you've been following along here during my play-by-play for the past 9 days, you already know...

Who I've been shooting for: SanDisk
Who I've been shooting pictures of: a few of the world's best athletes
What I've been shooting: skiing and snowboarding
Where I've been shooting: Queenstown, New Zealand
When I've been shooting: dawn till dark
How I've been shooting: fast moving action, motor-driving, naturally lit and strobed

The only thing that's been missing has been the why. Until now. SanDisk has just today announced their new line of of flash memory cards, the SanDisk Extreme Pro. That's what these images have been about.

Atop this post is a super rough mockup of one of the campaign images I've been working on. Here, Colby James West does a Cork 900 Tailgrab. You can expect to see some more shots like this hit the media this autumn. I think the creative direction does a pretty clear job of illustrating the point, eh? Simple, clean, and an obvious story.

And I have to say, I've been working my butt off all week, but it's been interesting because, unlike shooting most other jobs like automotive, energy drinks, or running shoe gigs, I actually get to use the product as a part of my craft. I don't know much about speed tests and all that technical mumbo jumbo--that's best suited for labs in Silicon Valley and press releases, but what I do know is that I never waited on these cards, and I shot 25-frame RAW file sequences all day without running out of storage. For this sort of high-volume, high-energy environment, those are game changers. And I was only shooting the 32's...they're shipping 64GB cards as well.

Watch the video after the jump below, and you'll see how much fun it was working with these amazing athletes. You should also listen for my shutter, motor-driving, as it'll clearly demonstrate that shooting with these cards was sort of like shooting a machine gun that never ran out of ammo. Enjoy the vid, but there's still more to come. Lots of editing, more behind-the-scenes shots, outtakes, post production, and a few lingering videos from our work down under [click 'continue reading' below to see the video...]

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Thanks Common Market for the music in the vid. Check them out here on iTunes.

Related posts:
[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]

Get my every move: Follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter
Get exclusive content: Become a Fan on Facebook

Chase Jarvis RAW: Freeskier Action NZ

2009-09-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

[Update: reposted the above vid in a refreshed post here since I had new work from the campaign to show and since SanDisk just made an announcement. But do check out the crew vid below - takes a village to make something like this come together....]

As promised, we've dug out from all the data and our primary function of actually shooting this SanDisk campaign enough to show you an initial look of the actual work. These video clips aren't deliverables for us, but rather they're cool, quick and dirty behind-the-scenes clips highlighting the scenarios from which our still image deliverables will come. Although the finals stills won't be selected for weeks--when we get back to the ranch and work that out with the client, AD's, etc--this stuff here should give you a wicked sneak peek, and we'll be sure to post some obvious outtake stills when we get another tiny breath in our schedule.

Given that one of your biggest questions is always "how do you get access to work with particular talent, whether it's a fashion model, a celebrity, or--in this case--a world class skier or snowboarder?", I thought I'd rope in my good friend Christopher Jerard to help introduce this clip. Why? Because the short answer is that models come from a variety of sources. Sometimes we work with modeling agencies--we like a look or a vibe, and we book 'em. Celebrity stuff often comes via assignment and thru a lot of publicist and media/client back and forth. But HERE, I've reached out to Jerard -- he runs both Freeskier and Snowboard Magazines. Christopher has been our liaison to the snowsports superstars: Simon Dumont, Peter Olenick, Colby West, TJ Shiller, and JP Auclair. Watch them in action in the above video, then learn more about them and the rest of our awesome crew for the SanDisk job in the video below: Chase Jarvis RAW: NZ Crew. That's right, two RAW vids in one post. A two'fer if you will....

First, big Ups to my homies from Common Market for the music in the action vid above- they always crush it. Check them out here on iTunes.

And lastly, before diving into the crew vid: in response to all the inquiries pouring in via Facebook and Twitter, the video dSLR that we're using to pull most of this together is indeed the new Nikon D300s, shooting 720 HD video, complete with the 'auxiliary audio in' that we've been asking for...(and we're using this Rode Stereo Video Mic). We are fully digging this setup. Here's the B&H link for all y'all to oogle.

Thanks again to SanDisk for letting us share all this stuff. Mad props.
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Related posts:
[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]

Get my every move: Follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter
Get exclusive content: Become a Fan on Facebook

Quick Video Report From NZ

2009-09-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here we are, already more than half way through our job here. Great stuff today, again working with some of the best skiers and snowboarders in the world. This little recap vid, shot at 9pm last night--just before heading back to the villa for some data wrangling--shows me pretty darn tired, but still kicking. I'm on camera with my friend Chris Jerard from Freeskier and Snowboard magazines. Chris is our subject matter expert and snowsports industry liaison.

I feel like we're finally dialing in our separate and additional workflow for sharing this stuff amidst all the other priorities we're balancing. So that should mean that we'll be able to roll some serious outtakes and a wave of more videos here tonight and tomorrow and the next day.

Planning to bust out a quick vid that answers a bunch of the questions you've been sending my way, so now's a good chance to shout 'em out if you have some--via comments or twitter, per usual.

If you can't see the vid, take a peek here at the vid link on my Facebook Fan page. For those requesting more youtube -- that's coming soon, I promise.
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