John Perkins Book Cover
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Tear Sheets
A guy could really get used to this whole book cover portrait thing. It’s exciting to see your work in full bleed on the cover of a book. No “10 Secrets to Sexy Abs” or “How to Keep The Doughnuts and Loose The Weight” tips plastered all over the cover. This is my most recent book cover photo, and as you can see, the subject is John Perkins. I have already written about John on my blog (here), and I have now had the opportunity to work with him on multiple occasions. Love Is The Final Fight does not come out until August 2010, but the marketing is getting under way now. John is a great man with an amazing story, and although I have not read this book yet, I would recommend it solely based on what I know about John.
I hope 2010 is starting out with a bang for everyone!
Tags: author portrait, book cover, book cover photo, book cover photographer, book cover portrait, book photography, celebrity photographer, Cover Photo, Dr. Perkins, Headshot, John Keatley, John Perkins, John Perkins book, John Perkins book cover photo, Love Is The Final Fight, portrait photographer
Copper Mountain Colorado
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Advertising, Tear Sheets
Here’s lookin at you Colorado. I just wrapped up this shoot for Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado, and last week they released their new branding and ad campaign featuring Fred McGilicutty, captain of the snow patrol at Copper Mountain. This billboard can currently be seen in Dallas and Kansas City. Wish I could be there to take pictures of the actual things. If you find yourself driving through Dallas or Kansas City, feel free to wave at Fred and tell him I said hi. I hear it’s nice in KC this time of year.
I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. I feel especially thankful this year and I am very grateful for everyone who has taken the time to read my blog and take an interest in my work. See you on the slopes.
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Tags: Ad campaign, Advertising, Advertising Photographer, Advertising Photography, Billboard, Colorado Ski Resort, Copper Mountain, Copper Mountain billboard, Copper Mountain Colorado, Copper Mountain photo shoot, Copper Mountain Ski, Everyone Deserves A Snow Day, Fred McGilicutty, John Keatley billboard, Snow Day billboard
Braving The Elements
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial, Tear Sheets
Clouds I can handle, but it’s the rain that drives me crazy when I am supposed to be shooting outside. Thankfully I was photographing weather experts for this assignment, and it turns out they know a thing or two about predicting the weather.
As I was packing up to head out for what I knew would be a long day at “the office” I began to feel a little nervous about the dark clouds hanging over Seattle. After checking weather.com, my nervousness began to change into a good case of anxiety because they were predicting rain by 9:30am, and that was just two hours away. Maybe I could beat the rain and get in at least one outside portrait. The problem was I had to photograph one subject in the morning, and the second one in the afternoon. At the very best it looked like I would only get one of the subjects outside, but the show must go on. I headed over to the University of Washington where I would meet up with my first subject, Cliff Mass. My assignment was to photograph Cliff and Brad Coleman in studio for the opener, and get an environmental portrait of each of them individually. The thing that made this all really interesting was I could not get them both in studio at the same time or place. I had to set up a studio at UW in the morning, then tear it down, and set it up again, exactly the same at NOAA to photograph Brad. I had been planning this shoot for a couple of weeks including some minor styling and location scouting. This was an assignment I was really looking forward to, and I would have been really bummed if the rain forced us inside for the environmental shots.
To give you a little background on the men in the photographs. Cliff Mass was mentored by Carl Sagan while in undergrad at Cornell University. He is the author of “The Weather of the Pacific Northwest”, he runs a very popular blog, Cliff Mass Weather Blog, he is a weekly guest on KUOW radio, and he is a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington. To quote a UW press release, “He has published dozens of articles on Northwest weather and leads the regional development of advanced weather prediction tools.” Many people in the Pacific Northwest plan their weekends around Cliff’s predictions.
Brad Colman is the meteorologist-in-charge of the Seattle Weather Forecast Office. “A meteorologist-in-charge is the front line officer carrying out the National Weather Service’s mission of serving the American public by helping protect lives and property,” said Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. ”NOAA’s National Weather Service is the official source of weather data, forecasts and warnings for the United States and its territories. The National Weather Service operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and forecast systems in the world, helping to protect lives and property and enhance the national economy.”
Back at UW, it seemed like it would start raining any minute, so I asked Cliff if we could change the schedule a little and shoot the environmental portrait right away because I was nervous about the rain. Embarrassed as I am to admit, it never occurred to me that I was working with one of the top experts in weather. When I told Cliff we should try to shoot outside while it is still dry, he promptly responded, “It’s not going to rain.” “It’s not?” I asked. “No. The cloud cover will begin to burn off at 10:30, and by 11:30 we will have clear skies.” And he was right. Take that weather.com! Once we finished at UW with Cliff, it was off to NOAA to photograph Brad. By the time we got there, the skies were opening up, and it looked quite different than just a few hours before, as you can tell in the pictures.
From this point on, I will include a weatherman on all of my bids. First assistant, second assistant, makeup artist, stylist, and a weatherman. Oh, and a falconer. I recently learned about the benefits of having a falconer on set. If nothing else it can be very entertaining, but that’s a story for another time.
A fun fact I learned on this assignment is Houston, New York, Miami and Boston all get more average annual rainfall than Seattle. We win the prize for most cloudy days though… Bummer.
Special thanks goes out to Robyn and Seattle North Face for the clothes. And also to Mandy for painting some amazing clouds which were not used in the final.
This is a video of Cliff explaining some weather basics. I like how he explains things in terms anyone can understand. Plus he has soothing voice.
Tags: Atmospheric Sciences, Brad Colman, Cliff Mass, editorial portrait photography, Environmental Portrait, Headshot, John Keatley, Pacific Northwest weather, portrait photographer, Portraits, Seattle photographer, Seattle weather, Studio Portrait
Sarah Palin Portrait - “Going Rogue”
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Celebrity, Commercial, Tear Sheets
I am pleased to announce I was hired by Harper Collins to photograph Sarah Palin for the cover of her new book “Going Rogue“. If you watched even just a few minutes of TV this week, or used the Internet, I am sure you have already seen the book cover. ”Going Rogue” has not even been printed, and it is already the #1 best seller. It still feels a little surreal to me that my portrait of Sarah Palin is on the cover of her book. Just about every television network in the country has been airing the book cover and analyzing what it means. Why the clouds, why the smile… My favorite reference so far was on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, but only because he mentioned me… kind of. He talked about the portrait of her on the book cover, and then quoted “the photographer”. It was a fake quote of course, and he didn’t actually say my name, but that is pretty close to being on The Tonight Show… (Here) is a link to the video. It’s in the first 3 minutes of the episode.
The photo shoot only happened three weeks ago, so this is all still very new and exciting for me. After much planning and scheduling, I put together a crew and flew up to Alaska for six days to photograph the former governor. It was supposed to rain the entire week we were there, but we ended up getting blue skies and puffy white clouds the entire time. After a few days of scouting and prepping, I shot for three days straight. The last day we went to Hatcher Pass which holds a lot of meaning for Governor Palin. I had already scouted the pass a few different times, and I knew exactly where we were going to shoot. Every last detail was in place. After shooting at the base of the pass near a river, we caravaned up to the top of the pass where we were planning to shoot the final location. Half way up, I noticed the beautiful light that was sweeping across the valley, and the clouds that were developing on the horizon. I told the driver to stop, we had to change our plans. This last minute change ended up being the final setup we would do with her, and it also ended up being the cover image.
I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on this project. It is not very often that an assignment comes along to photograph one of the most polarizing figures in our country. Let alone the chance to photograph that person for her book cover. I would like to thank Harper Collins and Sarah Palin for working with me. This was a really big opportunity for me professionally, and I enjoyed it immensely. I am excited to see what happens next.
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Tags: book cover by John Keatley, book cover photo, book cover photographer, Celebrity, celebrity headshot, celebrity photographer, celebrity photography, Celebrity Portrait, Going Rogue, Going Rogue book cover, Going Rogue photo shoot, Going Rogue picture, Governor of Alaska, John Keatley, Palin photo, photo shoot with Sarah Palin, picture of Sarah Palin, political photographer, political photography, political portrait, portrait of Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin at home, Sarah Palin book cover, Sarah Palin cover portrait, Sarah Palin Going Rogue, Sarah Palin in Wasilla, Sarah Palin photo shoot, Sarah Palin photographer, Sarah Palin picture, Sarah Palin portrait, Sarah Palin portraits, Seattle photographer, Wasilla AK
Goodbye Greg Nickels
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial, Tear Sheets
The end of the Greg Nickels era is near. Seattle mayor Greg Nickels has run this town for the past 8 years, but recently he removed himself from the Seattle mayors race, leaving two new guys to duke it out. I have photographed Mayor Nickels several times over the past few years, and he has provided me with some good imagery. I am going to miss photographing his intensity, but maybe the new mayor will prove to be a good subject also. It’s not like this is good bye though, since we are neighbors with the Nickels family. I could always walk down the street and borrow a cup of sugar.
(Here) is a link to the Seattle Met article in the tearsheet above. You can also click the tearsheet to view it larger, but the article is longer than the image shown here.
Tags: Conference of Mayors President, Corporate headshot, Greg Nickels, Headshots, Joe Malahan, Mayor Nickels, mayor picture, mayor portrait, mayors portrait, Mike McGinn, political headshot, political portrait, portrait of Greg Nickels, portrait of the mayor, Seattle headshot, Seattle Mayor, Seattle mayor picture, Seattle mayor portrait, the green mayor
Vince Mira Live in Seattle
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Celebrity, Editorial, Tear Sheets
I have really been looking forward to posting these portraits and videos. I had so much fun working on this assignment with Vince, and as an added bonus, the story is one of those rare page turners that doesn’t come around all that often in a magazine. For me, it’s right up there with the Wired article on Dan Kaminsky which I worked on last year. Here is the intro for Vince’s story, which is in the July 2009 issue of Seattle Metropolitan. The link to the entire article is further down.
“Billed as the Second Coming of Johnny Cash, a teenager from Federal Way wowed rock stars, morning news shows, Ellen DeGeneres, and the Cash estate. There’s just one problem: Vince Mira is done parroting the Man in Black.
There was a moment in September 2007 at the Cash Cabin, the studio built by the late Johnny Cash outside Nashville, when everyone froze. In the room were musicians intimately tied to Cash and his music—his son John Carter Cash, his bass player Dave Roe, and Jamie Hartford, who played guitar in the Cash biopic Walk the Line. Vince Mira, the Federal Way teen flown in for the recording session, had just crooned the last line of his “Cold Hearted Woman,” a twangy harangue against a cruelly apathetic succubus (“…as far as you are isn’t far enough for me”), leaving his audience speechless.
Finally, Hartford, who’d been scribbling music dictation in a notebook, dropped his pen and paper and turned to the producer. “John. Carter. Cash. Does that freak you out?” John looked up, “Yeah, that freaks me out.”
John Carter had just heard a familiar voice pour from the mouth of the teenager. The producer had agreed to record an album with the talented teen—already making a name for himself with Cash covers—on the condition that “We don’t just record a bunch of my dad’s old songs.” Now, here was Mira performing an original, but his voice, a haunted baritone, was spot-on Johnny Cash.”
- James Ross Gardner. Read the entire article (here).
Before this assignment, I had heard stories over the past couple of years about Vince Mira, the young teenager who was discovered playing Johnny Cash songs on the street. I had seen the YouTube videos from Ellen (here) Good Morning America and a few others, but I didn’t become a fan until I heard him perform live. Wow. This guy is talented. He is the real deal. There are a lot of people out there with a gimick, or who sound like someone famous. But Vince has huge talent, and he can stand on his own. His similarities to Johnny Cash provided him with a great start, but it’s exciting to see him head out on his own now and show people what he’s got.
The first video above is Vince Mira performing an original song, “I’m a Goin Back Home”. The second video is a Johnny Cash song, “Folsom Prison Blues”. Both were performed at the gum wall in Post Alley, Seattle. I asked Vince to play one of his songs so I could film it, and it didn’t take long at all for a crowd to gather. After he finished the first song, someone yelled out, “Play ‘Folsom Prison Blues’!”. Even though he is trying to get away from that, he didn’t seem to mind.
Vince has an album out now, called “The Cash Cabin Sessions“. It was recorded at the Cash Cabin Studio by John Carter Cash, Johnny Cash’s son. It’s a great album. You can also catch Vince every Tuesday night at the Can Can in the Pike Place Market in Seattle. For now at least. I don’t know how much longer he will be playing there, as he has already toured with Pearl Jam, and played on some pretty big stages.
Vince Mira - Folsom Prison Blues from John Keatley on Vimeo.
Vince Mira - I’m a Goin Back Home from John Keatley on Vimeo.
* If you are using a blog reader, you may need to visit my actual blog to see the videos show above.
Tags: Can Can, Cash Cabin Studio, Celebrity, Celebrity Portrait, Ellen, Folsom Prison Blues, Gum Wall, I'm a Goin Back Home, John Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, Music, Pike Place Market, Post Alley, Recording Artist, Seattle Met, Seattle Metropolitan, Street Performers, Teenage Singer, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Vince Mira, Vince Mira Performance, Vince Mira Singing, Vince Mira song, Vince Mira Video
Brain Rules And John Medina
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial, Tear Sheets
Mina san konnichiwa. Hot off the press, my portrait of Dr. John Medina was printed on the cover of the Japanese edition of Brain Rules.
“In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule—what scientists know for sure about how our brains work—and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.”
I photographed Dr. Medina’s author portrait and press pictures last year, just before the book was first released in the States. Since then, the pictures have been published in Harvard Business Review, Seattle Metropolitan, and Response, to name a few.
When I got the assignment, my mind started racing with ideas and concepts that I could use for a brain scientist. I had heard that John is a passionate and expressive person, but nothing prepared me for the amount of energy and intensity that John generates. The slide show should give you a pretty good idea of what the shoot was like. John sang a song, made up a science rap, and charged at me during the shoot. Oh, and ate a plastic brain. What more could a photographer ask for!? One of my favorite images was an outtake that we shot at the end. I had the idea of using a brain like that old light bulb hovering over a persons head when an idea goes off. It was difficult to keep the brain from moving (I used string) but we eventually got it in place, and that ended up being the picture that was printed on the book jacket for the author portrait.
There is a ton of online content about Brain Rules if you are interested in finding out more. I highly recommend reading the book, as well. The English version that is…unless you can read Japanese. It is written in a way that anyone can understand, and everything in the book is practical information that can be used in your daily life.
* If you are using a blog reader, you may need to visit my actual blog to see the slide show above.
Tags: author portrait, biologist, book cover, book cover photo, Brain Rules, Dr. Medina, How The Brain Works, human brain, Japanese Edition, John Medina, molecular biology, Pear Press, Portrait, scientist portrait, The Brain
The Cat Ladies
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial, Tear Sheets
This assignment really surprised me, and made a big impression on me. I’m not talking about being surprised by the locations that I shot at, or some impossible circumstances that came up during the assignment. I’m just talking about being surprised by people, and gaining an appreciation for the fact that everyone is different. Vicki and Janis love cats. As do many Americans. I am actually allergic to cats, so although I do not hate cats, I don’t really get excited about them either.
These two ladies love cats so much, they pour almost all of their time and energy into making the lives of feral cats as comfortable and safe as possible. As the tear sheet indicates, they trap, neuter, and release or find homes for feral cats.
I spent two days shooting this assignment, and on the second day, Janis drove me around her hometown to show me some of the feeding spots and cat shelters that she frequents. As we drove around, she would stop every few blocks, and fill up empty feeding dishes. I was amazed by the number of cat shelters and bowls that were hiding in the bushes, and behind businesses. Sometimes there were bowls right out in front of a business. It was a hidden world, like the Troll Market under the Brooklyn Bridge in Hellboy II, for those of you who saw it. You might walk by a cat shelter, or food bowl in public every day, and never even notice it. I can’t recall ever seeing one in my life, but there were dozens of stray cats living behind, under, and in front of buildings just within a few blocks. And all of these cats are given fresh food and water every single day by Janis and some of the other ladies who are involved. That’s a lot of money when you think about feeding hundreds of cats everyday.
While we were driving around from location to location, it really hit me. Every day, for years, these women have been caring for cats all over the city, and making a big difference. They prevent thousands of kittens from being born into difficult situations, and provide much better care for those cats that are already living without homes. While we were at a trailer park on the first day of shooting, a lady came out of her home, and thanked Vicki and Janis for what they are doing. She said that since they started fixing and caring for the cats in her neighborhood just weeks earlier, things have gotten much better. Cat’s were no longer urinating all over the place, and the frequent cat fights had pretty much stopped.
After my shoot with Vicki was over, I thanked her for what she is doing. Her work may not affect me directly, or at least in a way that I would have ever known about, but it is so good to see people caring for others (cats in this case). Trapping cats, and feeding them is not something that I will ever do, but I am thankful that there are people who do. That’s what I love about photography. I get to meet so many different people, and experience life from so many different points of view. I can just imagine what I would have thought when I was younger about “cat ladies”. Remember when so much of the country would laugh at “tree huggers”. I’m grateful for a new perspective. If everyone could find just one small way to care for people, animals, or the earth ,the changes would be great.
I have just been thinking about these things lately. Interestingly enough, some of my work has allowed me to experience first hand the needs of others, and what some people are doing to help. Thanks for reading.
You can read the entire article about TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) (here).
* If you are using a blog reader, you may need to visit my actual blog to see the cat slide show above.
Tags: Cats, Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project, Feral Cats, Janis Newman, Neuter, Seattle Metropolitan, Stray Cats, Tear Sheet, TNR, Vicki Farretta
Big Fish In A Bad Economy
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial, Tear Sheets
* If you are using a blog reader, you may need to visit my actual blog to see the slide show of outtakes, and just for fun shots.
If I were starting a multi-million dollar company, I would do everything in my power to recruite Jeremy Lewis to run the show. He was a thrill to work with, and a great guy to boot. Jeremy is the CEO of Big Fish Games, and I recently photographed him for the May 09 cover of Seattle Business Monthly.
He seems to have found a good balance of taking business very seriously, but at the same time enjoying life with a good sense of humor. And I think that shows in these pictures. As further proof, I was intrigued by the fact that he is reading a biography on Charlie Chaplin, and drawing inspiration from Chaplin’s business savvy. “In both good and bad times, he did the same thing: He made enjoyable, safe, mass-market entertainment at a great value. He was a true business leader for his times.”
It takes a lot of creativity to find business inspiration from such an unlikely source as Charlie Chaplin, but I like that kind of “outside the box” thinking. Maybe we could send some of that kind of thinking to the Auto and Financial industries.
Big Fish Games is now the leader in “casual games” and they are quickly growing, despite the slumping economy.
“After netting $85 million in revenue and growing by about 70 percent last year, Big Fish doesn’t appear to be slowing down. This January, Lewis says the company’s subscription base grew 111 percent faster than it did in September 2008, when the stock market crashed.” - Randy Woods and Julie H. Case for Seattle Business Monthly
Click here to read the entire article in Seattle Business about Big Fish Games, and other companies who are thriving despite the economic downturn.
Tags: Big Fish Games, Big Fish Games CEO, Business Portrait, Casual Games, CEO On The Cover, CEO Portrait, Cover Photo, Jeremy Lewis, Online Games, Seattle Business Monthly, Seattle photographer, Seattle Studio, Studio Portrait, Tearsheet, Video Game CEO, Video Games
Read This Blog And Win $10,000
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Advertising, Tear Sheets
It turns out that you actually have to buy a Match 4 Lotto ticket for your chance to win $10,000, but you may not have known about that if you didn’t read about it on this blog. Right? So technically you can win $10,000 by reading the John Keatley Blog…
Ok, so enough about winning money. The pictures above are from the new Washington State Lottery Match 4 ad campaign that I recently shot with Cole & Weber United. I have always enjoyed Lottery ads because they often incorporate quirky humor, along with fresh creative concepts. I got my first taste of working with the Washington Lotto a few years ago. It was also the first ad shoot I had ever done. Publicis was the ad agency working on the account at the time. It was a smaller scale job, mostly running in newspapers, and point of sale, but ever since then I have wanted to do more with the Lottery.
That’s what made this so fun and rewarding for me. It’s a client that I have been seeking out, and I was selected specifically for my brand of photography. I was given the freedom to “do what I do”, and that always seems to bring about the best end product. Same story with the Sounders FC ad campaign that I recently shot. Go Sounders by the way! Undefeated!
These pictures are of the members of the Match 4’s. A singing group comprised of stereotypical Washington locals who are so excited about winning $10,000 that they just have to sing. That’s not the official concept actually. I just made that last part up.
Tags: Advertising Photographer, Cole & Weber, Cole & Weber United, Lottery, Lottery Ad Campaign, Lotto, Lotto Ad Campaign, Match 4, Match 4 Ad Campaign, Match 4's, Print Ad, Seattle Advertising Photographer, The Match 4's Ad Campaign, Wa Lotto, Washington Lottery, Washington Lotto, Web Ad
