I am very excited to officially announce I am now represented by Redeye.  I spent the better part of six months doing an extensive search, including, meetings, phone calls, interviewing art buyers, etc.  After all that, the stars aligned  and I knew I wanted to be working with the wonderful people at Redeye.  If you haven’t worked with Maren or Stephanie yet, you will love working with them.  They are super lovely!  I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such hard working, fun loving, personable and honest people.  Here is to a great year ahead, and thanks to everyone for your ongoing support and interest in my work.

I feel like I am beginning to repeat myself a little, because each ad campaign I have done this year feels like one of those dream jobs.  This one for Washington Healthplanfinder was no exception.  With Obamacare rolling out I got to work with the folks at GMMB on this hilarious ad campaign.  If these images don’t convince you to get yourself some health insurance, I don’t know what will.

The first shoot (the seagull attack) took place on our own private ferry at 4:30am on a beautiful Sunday.  It was maybe one of the coolest things I have done on a shoot.  Drifting around in the Puget Sound at sunrise.  Beautiful!

The next shoot was a 4:00am call time, which feels so early to me!  Not a morning person, but the show must go on.  The skateboard crash was the hardest and most technical of all the shots.  Although my assistants might disagree since I have no idea how they managed a 12×12 and two 7 ft. softboxes on a windy ferry.

The roofing accident shot was at the end of a very long 12 hour day, but it was so fun.  The talent with the nail gun, Gabriel, had us all dying with his dialog.  I like to give people scenarios to work with when shooting this type of work.  I find it helps me work through the situation, and also helps the talent get into character and make the image more believable.  There are a lot of little details to think about on a shot like the roofing accident.  What are these guys doing?  What is happening on and off camera that I want the viewer to think about?  Are the interactions of the two guys on the roof believable?  And so on.

So for this shot, I explained to Gabriel:

You are putting a new roof on your home before the winter hits, and your good friend is helping you because he owes you a big favor (You traded him Russell Wilson for Trent Richardson in your fantasy football league.).  You are almost done with one side of the roof, when your neighbor walks by and see’s you up there.  He gives you a puzzled look because he knows you are not the handiest guy on the block.  Hey, what the heck are you doing up there!? he yells.  Gabriel looks back at his neighbor with a big smile, and says…  And this is where Gabriel took over with his improv.  ”Oh, we roofin’ man!  Yeah, we roofin’!”  ”What’s it look like we doin’ up her man, we roofin’!”  You might think over an hour of this might get old, but somehow it didn’t.  We just laughed, took pictures and, yeah, we roofin’.

Here are some of my favorite behind the scenes images from this shoot.  Big thanks to my new rep Redeye, Kontent Partners (who are super amazing people, and amazing at what they do), GMMB, Gigantic Squid, Cara Aeschliman, Gregg White, and so many more.  I am blessed to work with such fun people.

We are very happy to announce the Keatley team is growing once again.  We are officially opening up a new position in our studio for a Senior Retoucher.  We could not be more excited to find our next team member to collaborate with.  It’s gonna be a lot of fun!  If you are a talented retoucher, or know someone who is, we hope to hear from you.  The full job listing and application process is below.

Looking for a Senior Retoucher to work at Keatley Studio

Location: Our new West Seattle studio near Alki beach.

About us: We are a commercial photography studio that focuses on advertising, celebrity portrait and high end fine art photography, both locally and internationally.  Our business has steadily grown over the past twelve years, and John Keatley’s work has been recognized by multiple national and international contests and awards.  He has photographed International advertising campaigns for multiple major brands, award winning personal work, and many of the most recognizable celebrities in the world.  Editorially his work has appeared in Time, Wired, Forbes, Inc., Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and ESPN to name a few.  We consist of one full-time photographer, a full time creative producer, a part-time bookkeeper, interns, and frequently work with freelance artists on a per-project basis. We highly value creativity and collaboration, and can assure you that working here will not be dull.  Neither will the photography you will be retouching.  See further proof at www.keatleyphoto.com.

About you: First and foremost, we are looking for a Photoshop master who can hit the ground running.  Someone who is persistent, motivated, organized, creative, and passionate about retouching.  This position offers the opportunity to make your mark on an exciting business and help it grow.  Skills that are required for this job: self-motivated/driven, detail-oriented, organized, relational, flexible, strong retouching skills, looks at the big picture, committed/responsible, an appreciation for creativity, always trying to improve, and a sense of humor.  Your job duties will immediately include: Retouching, compositing, image prepping, color correction, digital asset management, digital tech on shoots, production, organizing and maintaining the photo archive.  This job is a full time position.

Are you the person who can look at an old neglected house and, only see potential?  Then you would be our ideal candidate, someone who is a dreamer, and can make ideas into reality.

Are you the person who always has the urge to create, experiment, and collaborate with others?  Then you are the person we want because that’s exactly what you will be doing.

Are you the first among your friends to get the flu shot when winter approaches?  Then you are the person we are looking for, who is always ahead of the curve and has gotten things done before others even realize it needs to be done.  Organization is important!

Are you the person who brings doughnuts to work every Friday?  Great!  We like Top Pot Old Fashioned’s…

You will be a key contributor and play a pivotal role in the success of this business.  Although we are a small business, we are involved in some really big projects with far reaching impact.  We hope your role in this work will give you great personal satisfaction.  We are looking for someone who will bring their own ideas and vision to the table.  We want you to grab hold of opportunities and find ways to explore and improve upon already existing ideas with your own.

Qualifications:

College degree is preferred, but not required.
Employment or volunteer experience that can demonstrate and highlight your work ethic and ability to get things done.
Must be flexible, dependable, and a hard worker.

How to Apply:

Send an email to john@keatleyphoto.com containing your resume (inline or attached as a PDF) and short cover letter.  A link to your website or a site with your retouching work.  You may also attach jpg images of your work if necessary.  Also, answer four (4) of the following five (5) questions in your response (your pick).  A short paragraph on each should be sufficient.  All inquiries will be replied to and kept in confidence.  In your email, please also provide your desired compensation.

1. We are big believers that details make all the difference.  Tell us a couple details about your car (or the bus if that’s how you roll) that you especially like or dislike.  And then tell us what you would do differently if you ran Ford or Metro King County Transit.

2. Pretend you have 3 hours to complete 5 tasks, but you know there is only enough time to properly complete 3 of the tasks.  What do you do?

3. What is your favorite TV show?  Describe what you like about it, and why it is your favorite.

4. List two statements, rules, or principals that you have found invaluable in your life/work experience, explain why they are so important to you, and list examples of when they have applied.

5. How would you handle a situation at work where one of your co-workers who you work with closely is making you feel frustrated?

• Location: West Seattle, Washington

• Compensation: Depends on qualifications

• This is a full-time job

• Please, no phone calls about this job!

• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests

I am so proud to be included in the 2013 PDN Faces contest.  Both of these portraits were selected and are in the September issue of PDN.  I know what you are thinking.  That is a whole lot of fur…

I first photographed Macklemore and Ryan Lewis two days before the Heist was released.  It’s hard to believe that was a year ago now.  A lot has changed since then.

My other furry friend is Colonel Meow.  If you are not familiar with him, he is only one of the most famous cats on the Internet.  So there you have it.  That being said, he was terrible to work with.  He showed up late, was rude and inconsiderate, and he reeked of Scotch.  I have nothing kind to say about him.  But I do like this portrait, and I am glad I won a contest with it.

Silver Bowllet ya’ll.  Now I can add barber / hair stylist to my resume.  Let me know if I can update your look for you.  We still have a few spots open this month.  By appointment only.  No walk ins…

If you spend some time snooping around my site, you will probably find 4 or 5 pictures of Brian disguised with various different hair styles.  All the credit for this hair style goes to Brian and Jess.  Love you guys.

Meet CHVRCHES.  Pronounced Churches.  I got the chance to work with photo editor Deborah Dragon at Rolling Stone a couple of weeks back to photograph this up and coming Scottish synth-pop trio.  My photo is out in the current issue of Rolling Stone.  The one with Miley Cyrus licking herself on the cover.  Yeah, that one.   The shoot took place in Minneapolis at the legendary First Avenue Theatre.  In the mens bathroom…  The CHVRCHES debut album is out today, and it’s pretty awesome.  Here is the Amazon link to the album: CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe  Enjoy!

I am a huge fan of Jeff Garlin.  I really liked his work going into this shoot for NY Times Magazine, and I am an even bigger fan after working with him.

My friend Sara Coates was recently cast in a movie called Laggies.  They just wrapped up filming, so it should be in theaters next year.  On one of the first days of filming, Sara sent me a text message with a picture of Jeff.  ”I’m acting with Jeff!”  I immediately thought to myself, “I would love to photograph Jeff Garlin!!!”  That was a Sunday night.  The next day, I got a call from my rep Julia, and she asked me if I wanted to shoot an assignment for New York Times Magazine.  The answer to that question is always yes, and then she said, “It’s actor Jeff Garlin.”  No joke!

This is actually the 3rd time this has happened to me in my career.  Anthony Hopkins, Annie Leibovitz, and now Jeff.  So naturally I am a big believer in the power of positive thinking, and “putting it out there”.  I always tell my daughter, you’ll never know unless you ask.  And now, she has learned the benefits of asking for stickers at any store we walk into.  Who knew Chevron had stickers.  But that’s another story.  I can’t take all of the credit for many of the great opportunities I have had come my way, but this is the type of job where you have to make things happen, and tell people what you want.  Even if it’s just declaring to your wife on a Sunday night while watching Netflix that you want to photograph one of your favorite actors.

Jeff walked into the shoot with a Leica around his neck, and I knew right away this was going to be fun.  Thank you New York Times Magazine, Gabrielle Plucknette, Clinton Cargill for a wonderful assignment, and thank you Jeff for bringing the magic!

Here is the photo and interview of Jeff Garlin that ran the NY Times Magazine.  I was thrilled they chose my favorite image.

A couple weeks ago we had the sudden urge to wrangle 20 pups into our studio for a day of doggy photography. Here are a few of the outtakes. For more, check out the dog portfolio on the website.  It’s been a fun challenge working with animals these past few months.  I also just shot my first major dog food ad campaign, so more on that shortly.  For now, enjoy!

Wait!  You mean, there is a 3rd cosmonaut outfit?  I’m going to need to wear that…  It only makes sense.  It will help me understand my subjects and connect with them better.  I’m a method photographer, what can I say.
It seems like it was just yesterday I was in this very same room at Wexley School For Girls with Cal and Ian for my first shoot with them.  They were flexing on the white baby grand piano.  It was magical.  Since then, we have done I don’t know how many shoots together, but this is definitely one of my favorite ones.

Thanks to AdWeek for a fun assignment, and thanks to Wexley for keeping the magic alive.

The three cosmigos.

Click the image above to watch the full interview.

It’s those three words every mother dreams of hearing.  Well, maybe not in all cases, but this time its pretty exciting.  And I’ll admit, I am still pretty giddy about this opportunity.  Thursday of last week, I was featured on New Day NW (King 5), along with Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, and designer Jonathan Adler.  Thank you to Su Ring, Meeghan Black, and Mark Klebeck for your amazing support and interest in what I do!

Thanks for watching everyone!  Hopefully next time I am on TV, I will be talking about my new iPhone Portrait book.  :)

Me and my girl on our way to the King 5 studio.

With Seattle Seahawk Richard Sherman backstage.

Thanks Meeghan for a great interview!