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
A Fanny Pack For Your Head
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Advertising
Say what now!? It’s not everyday that a product so life changing, and so amazing comes along. We live in a world where we are encouraged to consume as much as we want, and to take take take. That’s right, don’t worry about tomorrow, or where you will put all of your stuff. Just get more stuff! Well prepare to be sucker punched in the face, because this product is going to change the way you think and live. More importantly, it will change the way you store your stuff.
Cap-sac isn’t just a hat, it’s a fanny pack for your head. No joke.
Cap-sac launched this Spring, and they have been flying off the shelves. I know, I know. This is not your fathers fanny pack, but they have been getting a lot of good publicity, and that translates into a lot of good sales. I was hired to photograph the Cap-sac ad campaign and press photos this summer. Anytime I can work in shorts and a tee, in 90 degree weather, it’s a good shoot in my opinion. Since this was a fun one, I thought I would share a behind the scenes look at the shoot itself. Enjoy.
And since we are talking about fanny packs on your head, here is a little something extra for ya. This video contains language that may not be suitable for all audiences, and may not be safe for work. Unless you work on a ship, or a construction site. Then it’s probably not a problem.
* If you are using a blog reader, you may need to visit my actual blog post to see the slide show and video. Can anyone tell me why that is? I have been trying to figure this out for a long time, and nothing seems to work. Why won’t flash content show up in Google Reader? Ahh.
Tags: Ad campaign, ad picture, Advertising, Cap-sac, fanny pack, fanny pack for your head, group picture, press photos, press pictures, summer party
Wexley School For Girls
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Advertising, Editorial
Behold. The Wexley School For Girls. What!? An all girls school run by these guys? Yes. Wexley is a very exclusive all-girls school (Ad Agency) run by these two guys. Cal and Ian. And one of the highlights of my job is working with these fine people.
When I first met Cal and Ian, they didn’t know anything about advertising. They were a lounge singer duo in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood. I was hired by BusinessWeek to photograph them for a story about the resurgence of lounge singers in Metropolitan areas. That is how the sexy lounge singer portrait came about. At some point during the shoot, I said, ”This should be great advertising for your act.” And Ian said, “What the hell is advertising?” I laughed, but he wasn’t joking. He had no idea. I told him to look it up, which is exactly what he did. They read everything they could find about advertising, and before long they decided to open up their own ad agency.
The next time I photographed them, they were no longer singing Elton John, but they were making ads. And good ones at that.
In the last year, I have photographed Cal and Ian a few more times, as well as worked with them on a handful of ad campaigns. It’s not every day that an assignment or ad campaign comes around that allows you to work with such creative people who are willing to experiment and have fun. You might look at the quirky Wexley office, and think that it’s all fun and games. But they take what they do very seriously, and they are dang good at it too. Just look at the success the Seattle Sounders FC (a client of Wexley) have enjoyed.
I have a couple of earlier posts about ad campaigns that I have shot with Wexley. (Here) is the post about the Seattle Sounders FC billboard I shot earlier this year, and (here) is the post about the Human Wrecking Balls print campaign from late last year. In just a few short weeks, I will have some new Wexley related content and videos that I will be able to share. In the meantime, (here) is a hilarious video called “Winner Take Steve” written by Wexley, and directed by Jared Hess.
Tags: ad agency, ad agency headshots, Ad campaign, Cal McAllister, funny portraits, Headshots, Ian Cohen, Portraits, school for girls, Seattle ad agency, Seattle advertising, Sounders FC picture, Wexley, Wexley ad, Wexley advertising, Wexley office, Wexley pictures, Wexley School For Girls
Seattle Sounders FC Ad Campaign
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Advertising
There it is. My very first billboard. This is the inaugural season of the Seattle Sounders FC, the newest expansion team in MLS. Seattle is getting fired up about our soccer team, and it’s fun to be a part that excitement. The ad agency I worked with was Wexley School For Girls, which I always enjoy working with.
Now I know what some of you are thinking. Did he paint those people in the background? No. That would have taken way too long. We ended up using a cartoon modeling agency, and hired a few dozen cartoon models to stand in the background. Ok, that’s a joke. To give credit where credit is due, Rachael Ludwig is the artist who created the background art. I shot three scenes for this campaign. Fan with a scarf, fan with a flag, and crazy Sounders fans banging on a drum. The ads will be used for billboard, transit, print, and online.
The shoot was at Quest Field, home of the Seahawks and Sounders. Since we were there, I figured I would maximize my time, and take care of some additional business. I have been intending to try out for the Seahawks special teams, so they gave me a quick look. Here are some pictures from my open tackle and field goal trials. And a quick video from the photo shoot.
Lots of screaming in this video. Soccer fans are crazy!
Tags: Ad campaign, Advertising Photographer, Billboard, MLS, Quest Field, Seattle Soccer, Seattle Sounders, Seattle Sounders FC, Soccer, Soccer Fans, Sounders Billboard, Sounders FC Ad Campaign, Wexley, Wexley School For Girls
Kickin ass and taking names, and pictures…
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Advertising, Tear Sheets
I wasn’t at all surprised when I got a call to photograph Craig and Paul Pumphrey for the ad campaign for their new show Human Wrecking Balls on G4. These guys are seriously tough, and they can pretty much destroy anything with their bare hands. This kind of raw power can be intimidating, and the client wanted to make sure that they hired a photographer who could smack the guys around if need be. Usually I am hired for a job because of my style and photographic talent, but for this job I was also hired for my size and imposing figure.
Craig and Paul are really some of the nicest guys I have ever met. Possibly because they are able to release any frustrations and pent up aggression they may have by breaking things on a daily basis. Like this stack of cinder blocks for example. My assistant Mike and I flew down to LA for the shoot. It was a filming day, and the set was an old abandoned bowling alley. During some of our down time, we threw bowling balls at tv monitors, and kicked things that looked solid. Needless to say, the experience of destroying a bowling alley created some awkward inner tensions for me when I went bowling for my wife’s birthday party just weeks later.
While I was photographing Craig for the punching ad, we started debating which one of us would loose a thumb wrestling competition. I also offered to let him kick me in the head if I could punch him in the face first. Unfortunately this never happened because we were pressed for time due to the long filming schedule that day. Lucky for him.
Watching Craig throw punches, I realized that his form was completely off, and I gave him a few quick pointers. This is where my whole world came crashing down. It turns out that my form was off, and Craig knew what he was doing. What!? I have always thought that when you throw a punch you want to spread the impact across the 4 knuckles on your first. Not true. It turns out that the correct way to punch is to align your index and middle finger knuckels with your arm. Like a battering ram. Those two knuckles are where you should make contact with your target and deliver the impact. If all of your knuckles were flat on impact, your wrist would not be straight, and you could cause some serious damage to your self. So making sure that your wrist is straight and just the two knuckles deliver the impact is very important. And that is how you throw a punch.
These print ad’s are running in Maxim and Rolling Stone. The online content can be seen on the G4 website, as well as the Zune Marketplace and iTunes store. I wish lot’s of luck and good health to Craig and Paul Pumphrey!
Tags: Ad campaign, Celebrity, Craig Pumphrey, G4, Human Wrecking Balls, Maxim, Paul Pumphrey, Pumphrey Brothers, Rolling Stone, Tear Sheets, TV show
