Naslund Studios

Often I am fortunate enough to work with not just talent, but people who have worked hard to achieve and build their talent. Ashlee Deupree is one of those I would work with again and again. The TRAITS project I have been working on over the last two years focuses on placing talented and driven individuals in their element and capturing that moment when they truly are ‘in their element’.  This is a behind the scenes video of just that.

Ok, not really to the death; heart arrhythmia at worst.

About 24 hours ago, I challenged one of the best wedding photographers in Eugene, Mark Longstreet, to a duel.  It went something like this:

“I’m calling you out. It’s time to reach outside what’s comfortable. Winner or failure, the next time you are behind the lens, I am daring you to let it all out. I want you to produce an image that makes you say “I can’t believe I shot that!” WE always say that we want to make that hero of an image, well here we go. The next time I shoot, I’m going balls out, and the next time you shoot, you go balls out; we share the images and see who wins.

Game?”

Why would I do this? Good question. The answer isn’t that I don’t think Mark shoots well, he does EXCEEDINGLY well. Nor is it that I feel that I am entitled to do this or am bored. This is for one reason and one reason only: to get better, the both of us. By challenging Mark to try to beat me while I try to beat him, we are forcing ourselves to bring our ‘A’ game. And in this friendly competition we’re going to create outside of what is comfortable to us. This will prove to be interesting!

Here’s the catch, I need judges. So I am giving everyone out there to be the judge of who made the better image, Mark or Myself. This will be held on March 30th on Facebook. Everyone is invited to participate, please do. At the very least, you’ll witness some spectacular work.

Thanks,

Eric

This is George Lois. For those of you who don’t know George, he is not the funniest guy on the room. Nor is he the most likable, most punctual, smartest, articulate, or romantic. In fact if you were watching tv in the same room with him, you could only tolerate 10 minutes of him before leaving in disgust.

This is because when advertising was creative, he was the most creative one in the room. From “I Want My MTV”, to making Tommy Hilfiger a literal overnight household name, George has spent the better part of 50 years challenging the status quo.

Vanity Fair squashed every idea he had for a cover for 6 months and finally accepted one. The editor was so hesitant to run it, he ran an editor’s note on the inside page; a disclaimer that he had nothing to do with it.

At the end of that year, Vanity Fair doubled had their subscriptions.
And they doubled again the next year.

For my fellow Creatives, if you want blown out of the box you’re in, pop a squat for an hour and listen to Uncle George. And if you can’t get enough, buy ART & COPY on DVD.

Seriously.

http://bigthink.com/georgelois#!video_idea_id=19840

We have heard over the last few years that our daily newspapers are beginning to disappear, magazines losing so much money that some are ceasing to exist. The latest being Newsweek; a greatly respected periodical just lost it’s base’s attention somehow. Now, it’s valid to believe, and widely accepted that print, both in information and advertising, is giving up to video; a more digestible way to be communicated to.

Might we suggest an alternative view.

Don’t. Be. Careful.

Careful has landed you right where you are; stagnant. Be promiscuous. Not in the facts of a story, but in it’s delivery. Print in a different mode; when was the last time you heard a news story told in third person? Never. There’s an opportunity there. Stop hiring the safe kids from safe colleges to write your story, and risk it on a young adult that is 100% self-taught and could change the game forever, if you lent her your canvas.

Less and less do we see a cover shot that doesn’t have a celebrity on it; what used to attract so much has now become commonplace, and for far too long. If you’re an editor, be risky! Find a photographer that you trust and give them free rein. Tell them to ‘move’ you, and watch what they can do! They’ll have people in the supermarket saying ” Holy shit! Did you see the cover of that magazine!?” And that my friends is word-of-mouth marketing; the most powerful and least expensive advertising of all.

And if by some chance you are hiring lesser talent in an effort to save money, that’s being too careful. You can’t afford not to hire the best you can.

Over the summer, two great people, Dave Pistor and Amanda Cooke wed. They had hired their still photographer (not my strong suit) but still wanted something more. I decided to make my wedding gift to them a little video about their day. Well, the little video became three total and I have to admit I had an absolute blast from capture to credits.

I thought I would share this little vision I had about them on their very special day.

Very soon we will be witnessing entry-level cameras with more ability than the professional ones from just last year. We are already seeing photography lighting secrets revealed, photoshop techniques shared and even sacred camera settings put online for all to see. Believe it not, this is actually good for our industry.

This is because your vision is king. Extrapolate the camera betterment and secrets-revealed plot, and it very quickly becomes apparent that we can all take the same pictures. But there is one small irrefutable difference that exists. Queue vision entrance. Our ability to see the world differently from others is a gift, no matter what our role in life is. Making wine, taking pictures, or interpretive dance–it is YOU showing others what YOU see.

I love experiencing what others create and the senses they stimulate. It teaches me something about that person. If you have a pic that moves you, really moves you, or recipe or something else that you’ve created that you might want to share, please do. Start with posting it either here on the site or even on the Facebook link that will follow.

Remember, fear not, fret not. All the great equipment in the world can never replace what we have between our ears or behind our chest; our vision, and the courage to bring it forward.

Whether we have just moved locations, have undertaken a new job, or welcomed a new child into our home, we will feel more comfortable when we get back to a routine; a cycle of events repeated most days that ultimately becomes our “autopilot”, making life easier. A cycle of things we just don’t need to concentrate on to get though the day.

For Creatives, routine can be a killer. And while I’m not saying you need to make every day different, if you find yourself in a creative block, there is a direct correlation to being in a routine for too long.

I’ve got it down to wake-up, shower, breakfast, commute, work, commute, workout, personal time, bed, repeat. Seems pretty fast and pretty boring. As well I am guilty of allowing the ease of routine to numb experiences.

As Creatives, we have no reality of where ideas come from, but I would venture a guess that a large part of them are due to that which we experience; see, hear, feel and think. But if you are tuned out to what is around, so you can get through the day, what are you really noticing? Granted there are several distractions that come into our routine, and perhaps that is what we are trying to tune out.

I recommend going against that urge to block these things out. One at a time. Personal time is the easiest to begin with. Instead of watching a show or climbing onto the internet, build something. It doesn’t matter what it is; a piece of furniture from IKEA, a rock formation in the back yard, or rearranging your bedroom or living room around. Throw your routine for a doozie. You will become more alert, notice and have to think before doing. That is the key to your creativity. To think.

Yes it will be uncomfortable, something most of us vocally deter from, and maybe this entry should have been titled ’Comfort ability and Creativity’ since it is the passé behaviors of being too comfortable that gets us into a rut.