MODERN TIMES STOP MOTION PHOTOGRAPHY

Stop motion photography is an animated filmmaking technique that involves incrementally adjusting subjects between photographs that, when knit together, make short film clips. On a recent project we used stop motion photography to bring to life beer cans and, you guessed it, their whimsical pastime of synchronized swimming. Watch video here.

In this blog post we reflect on this project with Modern Times beer to inspire others completing their own stop motion photography project.

Modern Times Stop Motion Photography

When you take stop motion photography and add winterless islands, utopian communes, and kingdoms with talking animals, fish men, and fire stones, you have a project with infinite possibility. If you also have cold beer, luck is on your side. On this stop motion photography project, Rachel Grunig and I had just that.

Rachel and I work in the wide world of commercial and editorial photography in Seattle. Rachel is a stylist with a penchant for making beautiful things. She has an unbridled imagination, and a palate for excellent beer. For a stop motion photography concept, we were inspired by the intrepid brewers in San Diego – Modern Times – and their stable of beers.

Modern Times was built from the ground up. They infuse as much forethought into their recipes as they do their products with elegant design and enlightened history. Case in point, naming their beers. For example, here is background on the infamously named Fortunate Islands beer.

For this stop motion photography project, we selected Fortunate Islands, Fruitlands, and Lomaland beer cans. Set aside the crisp, quenching drinkability of the contents inside these cans. They themselves are a work of art. Modern Times has done an excellent job with the product design, one that Rachel and I felt was worth focusing on for this stop motion photography project.

Behind the Camera

Photography for stop motion is simple so long you keep a handful of things in mind. The name of the game is consistency. First, secure the camera. Best to lock down your camera on a tripod or c-stand and use a remote shutter release to remove camera movement.

Second, settle on a consistent frame rate. For the Modern Times stop motion photography project, we decided 12 frames per second gives the beers a playful, animated movement that is not too choppy, yet not cinematic. Knowing our final video would be roughly :30 seconds, we aimed for 360 frames to complete our clip.

The third component to consider is lighting. Again, consistency is invaluable. You can use continuous, strobe, or natural light for stop motion. But be careful, especially using natural light that will change as you work. For Modern Times stop motion photography, we used strobe light.
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Once you shoot your project, consider using software programs like dragonframe or istopmotion. For this project, frames were captured tethered to a computer through Capture One software. Clips were built in istopmotion, and assembled in Adobe Premiere Pro.

 Manage your Props

The propping for this shoot was simple – we used Modern Times beer cans in a color palette that fit our stop motion concept. Although you only see two cans of each type of beer in the video, we actually had eight cans of each to choose from. Some cans had tiny dents, or smeared printing. We wanted to make sure we had the best looking cans possible.

Another key component in any shoot, especially stop motion photography, is planning. We developed and refined a very specific story line and made a storyboard for each sequence to keep us on track. Granted, there are always strokes of on-set inspiration and opportunities to refine as you shoot. Having a solid game plan helps focus your energy and prevent the shoot from going completely off-kilter.

Finally, when working with stop motion, be patient and get yourself in a comfortable position that won’t kill your body while styling. Below, I’m sitting, and that’s not because I’m lazy! For this part of the sequence, I had to move my hand in ½ inch increments, and maintain certain positions over multiple shots.

If it isn’t fun, it isn’t worth it

Stop motion photography is tremendous fun, but don’t be fooled. The work is extensive and at times tedious. Our best advice is to pick a project that excites you, one you are insistent on bringing to life. The day flew by while working on the Modern Times stop motion photography project.

We hope this blog post is helpful, and inspires you to do your own stop motion photography project. Check out Modern Times and their infinitely delicious and aptly named beers at www.moderntimesbeer.com.

INDONESIA

Fall 2017 my wife and I traveled through the Indonesian archipelago. Over a month we covered five islands. The trip was extraordinary. The photo essay below offers a glimpse into our travels and the island nation.

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RACHEL YANG OF REVEL

I prefer to eat food from a bowl. Unsure why. It just makes more sense to me; you easily hold the bowl in one hand, everything melds together, you can use for drinking. When you give said bowl to Rachel Yang, you can guarantee the food she puts in it will leave you harmoniously full. Take the Short Rib Rice Bowl. For the full article and recipe, visit Edible Portland.

Rachel Yang have risen in the Northwest's culinary scene by, among many things, honoring authentic cuisine through reinvention.

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SCOTT DOLICH OF PARK KITCHEN

If you meet Scott Dolich, congratulations, you’ve met a mad scientist. Chef/owner of Park Kitchen, a picturesque restaurant in the Pearl District, Scott is down to earth yet has more tricks up his sleeve than most chefs in Portland’s illustrious food scene. One of his savory yet simple creations – chickpea fries. For the recipe, subscribe to Edible Portland.

Scott's favorite Mistake

 
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Scott Dolich

 

JOHN SUNDSTROM LARK

For years John Sundstrom of Lark has been central to the Seattle food scene. And for good reason. His recent expansion of Restaurant Lark into the his new location on Capitol Hill is breathtaking. I had the chance to sit with John and discuss Seattle, sustainable produce as the backbone of his restaurant, and how to work through the abundance of late summer’s harvest via vegetable pistou, a recipe well worth stocking away.

Season of Bounty, Edible Seattle

When asked what makes this recipe special, John said:

“This is a wonderful way to use produce in abundance. Of course chefs love to be creative, but we also deal with the economics of running a restaurant. The best recipes are a result of creative efforts to use whatever is in excess. At first glance this may look more complicated then the average recipe, but it is simple and comes together quickly.

Add whatever is fresh and ready to eat from the garden or the market. The key is to be flexible. Sometimes people get stuck in a recipe or hesitate to change it. With this recipe it is OK to make changes. I encourage it. That is the fun of cooking and the way chefs operate. A rigid interpretation of a recipe can be a barrier to people cooking. And the goal is to get people cooking more.

Kaar – The Technology Leader Kaar http://valsonindia.com/polyester-cotton-yarns/?lang=af cost low viagra always believed in its strengths and worked towards pioneering the SAP consulting segment. Improved erection cheapest levitra is a direct result of more blood flow. The fundamental remedial action of Generic Plavix valsonindia.com canada viagra no prescription you should get ensured that your body isn’t allergic to the drug ingredients. The therapists not overnight cialis soft only show the right way of body cleanse. The more we learn about food, health and wellness, the more it becomes clear that cooking is a pathway to better health, improving our environment, and supporting locally grown food. Let’s get people who already shop at farmers’ markets and cook a little to the next level of cooking – when you make delicious food with what is on hand. People cooking more – that is what I want to see.”

You can find John at Restaurant Lark 952 E Seneca St, Seattle, WA 98122, or take a closer look at his work via his cookbook Cooking Against the Grain.

Subscribe to Edible Seattle for the full article and recipe.

Sundstrom of Lark, Edible Seattle

 

FRESH FLOURS: SOUTH LAKE UNION

Fresh Flours new location

Heads Up Seattle! Fresh Flours recently opened a new location in South Lake Union. The new Fresh Flours cafe, adjacent to 8th Republican Boulevard, is an architectural treat with inviting high ceilings, outdoor seating and an tranquilo outdoor water feature. Congrats to Jeffrey Woodward, Principal with The Architecture Department, on an aesthetically simple and pleasing design.

Fresh Flours South Lake Union

I stumbled upon the new café while dropping in at Glazer’s Rentals, which recently relocated to their new location next door. The area is up and coming. Cranes are busy churning overhead bringing to light new development projects. If at all interested in getting a glimpse of what is to come for South Lake Union and the greater Seattle area, check out www.seattleinprogress.com. The interactive map is highly informative. It conveys past, current, and future development projects with plans and a status update.

Fresh Flours South Lake Union
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8 Republican Boulevard     Fresh Flours South Lake Union

 

BACKCOUNTRY PHOTOGRAPHY: PLACES SELDOM SEEN

Summer months in the northwest are an ideal time for backcountry photography. With long days, clear skies, and endless ranges among the Olympic and Cascade mountains, opportunities to explore abound. Fellow photographers reach out with great interest to go into the backcountry, but are unsure where to start. Packing and preparation can be overwhelming. If you enjoy wildlife, landscape, or night photography and getting to distant places seldom seen, this post will serve as launching pad for your next backcountry photography trip.

Backcountry Photography

Backcountry Photography: Before you Go

When preparing for a backcountry photography trip, first thing first, check the weather before setting out to a trailhead. The weather makes or breaks a trip.

Time in the backcountry quickly becomes unpleasant if weather turns and you are unprepared to deal with it. To start, I identify 2-3 different areas I want to photograph in opposite directions. A couple days before heading out I choose the one with the best weather. Clear skies with minimal light pollution is preferable. However, if you are shooting sweeping landscapes – cloud cover can add dramatic effect to final images. It all depends on what you want. If you are chasing night shots of the milky way, for example, avoid light pollution and cloud cover. Resources I will typically check include this light pollution map and clear dark sky – an excellent website with 48 hour clear and dark sky forecasts for different North American locations. Weather Underground has proven time and again to provide accurate weather forecasts for backcountry photography in the pacific northwest.

The Sacred Backcountry Photography P-illars

Preparation and packing – the Sacred P’s – are religion for Explorers. The same applies for backcountry photography. Two concepts that guide my preparation and packing process are 1) you can handle anything so long as you are prepared and 2) there are always trade-offs, so choose what is best for you.

Blue Glacier Ascent, Hoh River Trail, Olympic Peninsula

Preparation

When planning your backcountry photography trip, it is awfully satisfying to zero in on a mountain, valley, or ridgeline on a topo map and spending the next 24-48 hours ascending and photographing it. Yet hiking that mountain begins well before you ever step foot at its base.

Backcountry photography in distant places requires a high degree of self-reliance. Simply put, you are responsible for going in and coming out with everything and everyone you set out with – safely. This requires a high level of physical and mental fitness to endure long days of hard work carrying heavy equipment. For example, to climb 1,500 feet of elevation with 35 – 45 pounds of equipment, figure it will take five sets of 300 foot climbs, each taking 15 – 30 minutes of non-stop work.  Having a realistic understanding of what it takes to gain elevation and distance is crucial for a successful backcountry photography trip.

Packing

There are always trade-offs with backcountry photography. Each additional piece of equipment you bring expands the scope of what can be captured. It also adds to the ever-growing weight in your pack. Before you set out, make a list of every piece of equipment for hiking, staying overnight, and capturing a specific set of images.  Once the list is laid out, go through each item and determine if it is a NEED versus a WANT. A need is an item required to accomplish the goals of the trip with a safe return. A want is something that adds value to the trip (i.e. a pillow or binoculars) but isn’t required. Below is a sample packing list. In the interest of carrying as little weight as possible, I ruthlessly distill needs versus wants.   Remember, every pound counts.

Packing List

Backcountry Photography Camera Equipment

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A mix or all of this equipment fits compactly into my backpack. I usually wrap the equipment within my sleeping bag for protection. The trade-off being my time is strictly divided between hiking versus shooting. Stowing gear deep in one’s pack makes it time consuming to pull out and setup.

Blue Glacier Ascent, Hoh River Trail, Olympic Peninsula

The gear list dramatically expands for expeditions including pack animals. When you carry the gear yourself, I ebb on the side of less is more.

Bringing to light images you set out to capture is extremely rewarding, especially when it involves a degree of fortitude and planning to go out and achieve it. Backcountry photography is time well spent, even when you come back empty handed. Hopefully this information gets you closer to exploring and photographing safely in backcountry.

 

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY PRESENTATION

A project to rethink professional photography presentation during a website redesign – www.mornick.com.

mornick.com website

Professional photography presentation via the mornick.com website

Change is Constant

In professional photography one thing is certain – change. Styles, trends, the definition of what is and is not ‘professional’ in the world of photography swirls in a circle of reinvention. And this, in my humble opinion, is good. Ten years ago the creative sector could not get enough of deeply-saturated-uber-edited-dreamlike photographs from phenoms like Tim Tadder and Erik Almås. Flip through their portfolios and you will see it took a team of extraordinarily talented people to pull off these photographs. Tim and Erik pushed the field of visual storytelling by creating excellent imagery. Their work is still excellent, yet the style is no longer the flavor of the moment.

Take Alice Gao, a lifestyle photographer based in NYC. Mercedes recently hired Alice Gao to shoot an entire campaign with – you guessed it – an iphone. Alice’s style expresses a clear intelligence and elegance. It is best defined by its simplicity – the precise opposite of what Tim and Erik taught us about ‘professional’ work. Alice is as busy as any of us working hard to make beautiful imagery. She and others are pulling the field, styles, and trends, in a new direction.

Pick up the latest issue of PDN magazine and you’ll see this direction. Understanding it is important, because it informs not only what advertising agencies, editorial clients, photographers, and other creative companies think is professional, it also conveys how ‘professional’ photography is presented.

Professional Photography Presentation on Mornick.com

Professional photography presentation is almost as important as the work itself, so for the past three months, I’ve worked with media artist, designer, and experimenter Nick Hardeman to rethink professional photography presentation on the web. Below are five criteria that drove our design.

  • Phones first. In 2015 we crossed a tipping point in the world of internet searching. According to Google’s internal data, more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan. This trend will only continue. So when you design a website, anticipate most people who will visit via a mobile device.

  • Backend managementAs a photographer you want to spend as much time behind the camera and as little time managing your site. So, you want a smart content management system (CMS). A handful of companies offer template websites specifically for photography portfolios. They may look beautiful but behind the scenes are a nightmare to manage. Pay attention to the details. For example inquire about security, storage limits, where content is stored, how metadata is handled, and how content is created, updated, and posted. Of all the CMS available on the web, I recommend wordpress. Excellent backend management, no monthly fee, and everything is customizable based on your needs.

  • All about photographsScreen real estate is the amount of space available on a display for a website to present information. As we discussed how to use screen real estate it became clear everything should be devoted to imagery. Surprisingly, it takes real effort to present photographs as large as possible and then get the hell out of the way.

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mornick.com website

Depending on your browser window, photographs will snap to full frame, taking up all of the screen’s real estate.

  • Infinite scroll. Through Nick’s infinite wisdom we prioritized visitor experience for professional photography presentation based on what people do when on a portfolio site. The main activity is, you guessed it, scrolling. So we decided to make scrolling uninterrupted. No end of album. No back to main menu. Just keep the good times scrolling.

  • Keep it simple. It is important to understand the latest styles and trends in professional photography presentation, but it is even more important to stop investigating, put down the computer, take a long walk in the woods, and come back with an eye towards keeping it simple. People who hire photographers are busy. Real busy. They don’t want to spend time on a portfolio site that is flashy, clunky, and has every imaginable bell and whistle. Every time I suggested the latest and greatest effect, plugin, or feature, Nick would quietly hold up a hand held stop sign, and we’d move on.

Simple info page that briefly describes Matt Mornick.

Simple info page that briefly describes Matt Mornick.

 

mornick.com website

Click bottom left ‘info’ button, and a brief description of the photograph or album will appear over the image.

Hopefully this gives you some insight before you rethink your professional photography presentation. Check out the result of our efforts at www.mornick.com.

 

 

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