Pinkstaff Photographers is a premier boutique agency based in New York City representing a diverse group of photographers.
Steve Williams is a talented, experienced photographer of 25 years. He has seen success with clients like AT&T, Hilton, Fed-Ex, Blue Cross, Epson, Pepsi, and Yamaha. Steve prides himself on not being one to brag about his accomplishments, but he will admit that experience is a good thing!
San Francisco-based conceptual photographer Matt Sartain recently landed a gig shooting for Kendall-Jackson wine. After working with Matt on a previous job, the creative director for the agency in charge of the ad campaign knew that Matt’s style would lend itself beautifully to the look and feel that they wanted. A brief phone call later and Matt was hired for the job. “It was great to have someone know my vision and my style, and come straight to me with a project,” said Matt. “Mark (the CD on the project) knew that this was my wheelhouse.”
The ad agency had a pretty clear vision for what they wanted to show, and they presented Matt with four comps of people juxtaposed with comically large bottles of Kendall-Jackson wine. Matt knew that this was in line with his quirky style and would have no problem knocking this job out of the park. The biggest challenge from Matt’s perspective was scheduling and coordinating everything so that it could be shot in a single day.
The backdrops of the advertisements were drawn from Matt’s large library of pre-existing backgrounds which he had shot in various locations. For the actual assignment shoot, Matt scouted out parks around the Bay Area until he found the ideal locales for his photos. Having everything meticulously pre planned made things easier on Matt and his team when the day of the shoot came. “It was definitely a challenge coordinating everything, but we pulled it off and the client loved it,” recalled Matt.
Another hurdle Matt and his team faced was how to leave room in the photo for the giant wine bottles (which obviously needed to be added in post-production). “We ended up using trash cans painted white as an inexpensive stand in,” Matt said, “which worked out great.”
To see more of Matt’s whimsical work, visit his FoundFolios portfolio.
Having a pre-existing relationship with a client certainly comes in handy. This was the case for photographer Sara Remington, who landed an “epic” gig with Del Taco on the merits of previous jobs she had done for them. When ad agency Camp+King called her up a few weeks ago she was excited for the opportunity to do another editorial-style shoot for them. But Camp+King had something a bit different in mind.
“They called me to shoot a live action bit for a new line of burritos Del Taco was introducing. I was a bit hesitant at first because I had never even done motion professionally! They managed to convince me that I could do an awesome job, and I was glad they did,” remarked Sara about landing the job.
On its face, the assignment was a relatively simple one: Get a beauty shot (or “food porn shot,” according to Sara) of the different Epic Burritos being promoted. The assignment was complicated somewhat by the Hitchcockian feel that Camp+King wanted to convey. This necessitated slow pans and tight shots, so the burrito was very visible. “Burritos are not always the most beautiful of foods, particularly ones filled with mashed potatoes and only dressed on the open end.” But thanks to a fantastic production team, including a stellar food stylist, Sara was able to portray the exact feeling that her client was looking for.
Sara couldn’t have been more excited to do her first motion shoot. “The best thing was being able to take a step back and look objectively for the first time at how motion affects my business and creativity. I loved it.” Having majored in film and cinematography in college, Sara was able to rediscover her love for motion work, and plans to continue to do more. “In a few years, I anticipate a paradigm shift in my work. I’m hoping for a 50/50 split between still and motion.”
For more of Sara’s mouth-watering imagery, visit her FoundFolios portfolio.
San Francisco photographer Michal Horevaj recently did a shoot for a high end ribbon and gift wrap company called Midori. Although based in the US, the company has a decidedly Japanese lean when it comes to their branding and advertising. Going into the gig, Michal knew that this had to be reflected in his shots.
To prep for the shoot, Michal had several in depth discussions with the owner about the style of shooting that was to be done. Each year Midori has a particular theme running underneath all of their promotional material, and this year the theme is Fine Art. Looking at the final product, it’s clear that Michal was able to pull this off, as the fabulous looking photographs almost look like fine art despite being “just a product shoot.”
“I loved working with Midori because while they gave me input and direction, I also had a lot of freedom when it came to interpreting their theme.” Michal has a fairly unique approach to his advertising campaigns, shooting background imagery first and then superimposing his models over the pre-shot backgrounds. This makes for an image that definitely pops out at you and catches the eye.
The model for the shoot was the owner of Midori herself, and was a pleasure to work with according to Michal. Most of the props used in the photo-shoot are actually made of Midori ribbon. If you look closely you can see the awesome transformation of the ribbon into clothing, headgear and even sushi!
Despite working within the constraints of a small budget and limited time, Michal was able to complete the shoot in about three days. The owner was thrilled with the way he was able to showcase the high quality of their product while still keeping to the theme of Fine Art.
For more of Michal’s fantastically imaginative imagery, head to his FoundFolios portfolio.
The recent rulings handed down by The Supreme Court reinforced the idea that same sex unions have never been more accepted in U.S. society. Of course we’re a far cry from equality, but the decision to reinstate federal benefits for same sex couples was seen as a watershed moment in the gay and lesbian community. With this, there has been a noted increase in marketing trends aimed towards this oft-ignored target market. AT&T chose to become one of the first mega-companies to focus specifically on depicting LGBT people in their advertising, calling upon commercial photography veteran Tony Garcia to help them out.
The son of an art director, Tony has been shooting for nearly thirty years. From a young age he was exposed to photography, and took his interest further by attending art school and eventually realizing his dream of becoming a professional shutterbug. Tony spent years building a name for himself shooting ads for companies like Best Buy and Snapple. Recently the creative director for Radar Works (the ad agency hired by AT&T) reached out to Tony through his LinkedIn profile and pitched him an assignment: Shoot an ad campaign depicting the gay and lesbian community using AT&T services and devices.
After eagerly accepting the assignment, Tony got to work casting his shoot and scouting locations. Rather than focus on stereotypically LGBT imagery, Tony chose to have his subjects in traditional family settings during his shoot – hanging out with their kids and friends, laughing in the park, cooking, etc. “My goal was to depict this community as I would any other. It was important to show that we all have the same blood running through us. Just because a group of people has a label, doesn’t mean they should be depicted as any different than your typical, loving family.”
AT&T loved Tony’s direction and picked seventy five of his shots to run in various print and web campaigns. Beyond just a paycheck, Tony viewed this as a culturally significant advertising campaign. This is indicative of change, a positive trend of acceptance in our traditionally conservative society. And as Tony reflects: “If I can be a part of furthering that, well that’s just fine with me.”
Check out more of Tony’s great work on his FoundFolios portfolio.