Jake Locker For Men’s Health
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Celebrity, Editorial, Tear Sheets, Video
If you haven’t seen the September 2010 issue of Men’s Health yet, pick it up now. I have 6 full pages featuring my favorite football player, Jake Locker. This was my second time working with Jake, and he is one of the most kind and down to earth people I have photographed. Now, I know what you are thinking. Did he bring his pet coyote to the shoot this time? No, he didn’t.
So, what’s up with the helmet? And as big as this kid is, how can there be a helmet that is too big for him? I think it was a lineman’s helmet. Before the shoot, I requested a ball and a helmet. Someone from the university brought us one helmet that happened to be several sizes too big. It wasn’t until we were shooting that I asked Jake to put it on, and we discovered it wasn’t the right size. I’m totally fine with mistakes like that, though, because it turned out to be my favorite picture from the shoot. Fun and unexpected. Outtakes are the best!
For those of you who don’t know, Jake was recently ranked by ESPN as the number one college player in the country. These rankings are subject to change, but he has a legitimate shot at the Heisman this year if things continue to go well for him. As a Husky fan, I hope things go well!
I have been working with video a lot more lately. Some behind the scenes, and also a few photo and video assignments, as well as video only. I really like how this video turned out, and it should give you a little glimpse into how I work on an assignment like this.
Special thanks goes out to Men’s Health Photo Editor Mark Haddad for this assignment. I would also like to mention Affix Music which is a great resource for licensing music for slideshows, video’s etc. Amazing customer service! They are in the process of rolling out some new license options which will be even more specific in addressing the needs to photographers working with video.
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Tags: athlete portrait, behind the scenes, BTS video, celebrity photography, college football, college quarterback, editorial photographer, football photography, Huskies, Husky football, Husky quarterback, Jake Locker, Jake Locker photography, Jake Locker picture, Jake Locker portrait, John Keatley, John Keatley video, license music for video, Mark Haddad, Men's Health, music licensing, Pac10, photo shoot video, photography video, portrait photographer, Seattle, University of Washington, University of Washington football, UW, UW Huskies
Medical Marijuana Pusher
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial, Tear Sheets
Seattle Weekly gave me a call last month with a cover story, and it was so intriguing and different from what I am used to, I couldn’t pass it up. The subject is Steve Sarich, and it is going to be very difficult to give good description of him without going on for several pages. Fifty-nine years old, former Penthouse photographer, used to date Anna Nicole Smith, currently dating a 20 year old aspiring model, medical marijuana grower and seller, and he is surrounded by an entourage of young “volunteers” in their 20′s and 30′s, including a personal cook who is really good! I photographed Steve at his new home in the foothills about 40 minutes outside of Seattle. He moved there after a home invasion at his previous residence, where he was sprayed by a shotgun blast just before he shot one of the intruders.
When I arrived at his home, I was greeted by a large pit bull and I honestly thought it was over. I may have thrown my hands high in the air and yelled something. Not really sure what holding my hands above my head would have accomplished had I been attacked. Then, I was mistaken for a “patient” and presented with some options. After quickly explaining I was the photographer and not a patient, I was introduced to Steve and got a tour of the compound. I know there are some new laws and marijuana is legal with a prescription, but apparently it is legal to grow and sell it now, too. Growing up with the understanding that marijuana is an illegal drug is a hard concept for me to shake. All through the day I found myself wondering, “Could I get arrested if this place gets raided right now?” Not to mention, guns make me a little uncomfortable.
“Marijuana’s never been on a path to greater acceptance than it is now. But to Steve Sarich, the change just isn’t coming fast enough. With his guns, brash manner, and retinue of followers who look too young and healthy to be in need of weed, Sarich is the enfant terrible of Washington’s medical marijuana movement.
Sarich doesn’t exactly shy away from confrontation. Where many activists believe that a quiet, non-profit model of providing pot to patients will keep them in the good graces of legislators and law enforcement, Sarich’s vertically-integrated enterprise has unabashedly mixed medical clinics with pot brownie sales, and scoffed at the legal limit on plants. And sent taunting emails to cops while he does it.” – Nina Shapiro, Seattle Weekly
The cover shot is a perfect example of his brash attitude and confidence. I asked him if he had a particular strain he wanted to hold and his eyes lit up. He had just created a new strain of pot and named it “Alloway 420″. Roy Alloway was a Bremerton drug cop who is notorious for his aggressive tactics. He retired shortly after this issue came out, but I’m sure his retirement had nothing to do with this story.
Pretty crazy stuff. If you want to read more, it’s long, but it is an interesting article about Steve and medical marijuana.
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Tags: cover shot, editorial feature, John Keatley, marijuana pictures, medical marijuana, Portrait, portrait photographer, pot pictures, Seattle Weekly
2010 PDN Photo Annual
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Awards
Wow, how exciting! My website, www.keatleyphoto.com was just published in this years PDN Photo Annual as one of the top photography websites. In addition to the magazine, all of the contest winners and judges can be seen in an online gallery. When my current website went live last year, I was feeling really good about my chances of getting it into PDN thanks to the excellent work of my graphic designer Greg Lutze. I entered it into the competition, but never heard anything back. When I saw on Twitter the winners were being notified and I didn’t hear anything, I figured I didn’t make the cut and I put it out of my mind.
Last week I was emailing with a friend, and he said, congrats on your site in PDN. I had no idea what he was talking about, but sure enough, my site was selected. I just thought I would share my excitement, and take this opportunity to encourage you to take a peek at one of the best photography websites of year!
Tags: John Keatley, PDN, PDN Photo Annual, Photography Website, portrait photographer
Sounders FC Goalkeeper Kasey Keller
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial
It’s almost time for my two favorite professional sports. Lawn darts, and baseball. Just kidding! Soccer and baseball. Although we may be watching lawn darts if MLS and the union don’t come to an agreement soon. Aside from that, it is pretty exciting to be a soccer fan in the Pacific Northwest right now with how the Sounders have taken the country by storm. The first game of the 2010 season will be played here against Philadelphia, the newest expansion team to MLS. And don’t even get me started about next year when the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers will join MLS. Those rivalries will be amazing!
This is a picture I recently took of Kasey Keller. Kasey is the goalkeeper and captain of the Seattle Sounders FC. From my time with him, he seems like a laid back fun loving guy who doesn’t take life too seriously. While we were talking on set, he said “I get to play a game and catch a ball for a living.” It was fun to see that side of him, but going into the shoot, I wanted to capture some of his competitive spirit. One of the Sounders games I was at last season I spent some time on the grass right behind the goal. Qwest Field is known for being a loud stadium and the fans can carry on with the best of them. But as loud as it was in the stadium, I could hear Kasey screaming instructions to his teammates over the crowd. With that in mind, I asked Kasey if he would yell at me for a few pictures. I half expected to be rejected, but he said sure and started yelling. I won’t repeat what he yelled, but it was pretty funny.
Go Sounders!
(Here) is a post with video and pictures from the Sounders billboard I shot last season.
Tags: athlete portrait, Celebrity, celebrity headshot, Celebrity Portrait, Kasey Keller, Kasey Keller portrait, Kasey Keller screaming, MLS, Portrait, portrait photographer, screaming athlete, Seattle photographer, Seattle Sounders, Seattle Sounders FC, Soccer, soccer player, soccer portrait, Sounders, Sounders goalkeeper
Nicholas Kaiser
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Editorial
I photographed Nicholas Kaiser of Saturna Capital for SmartMoney and this is the picture that ran in the January issue. It also happens to be my favorite picture from the shoot. How often does that happen!? Nick is the fund manager for Amana Funds (AMANX). The management of Amana is based on Islamic principals which means no pork, no alcohol and no financials, eliminating companies like Costco due to sales of wine and beer. While these principals are limiting, Nick has managed to bring in a five-year average annual return of 8.3%. Not bad in this economy.
The assets of Amana are $920 million and the expenses are $132 per $10,000. That’s insane! How can I keep my expenses that low? Seriously. I’m asking…
Anyway. No big story about the shoot, but I just really like this picture.
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Tags: Amana Funds, Business Portrait, CEO Portrait, financial portrait, fund manager, Islamic investing, Islamic investor, magazine, Nicholas Kaiser, Nick Kaiser, portrait photographer, Saturna Capital, SmartMoney, Washington photographer
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
Josh Smith
Posted by John Keatley | Filed under Celebrity, Editorial
That’s me on the right side, down in the corner… I’m sure Josh was standing on his tip toes. What a kidder. I am kind of a sports nut if you didn’t know, so I really enjoy working with athletes. Actually, I really enjoy working with just about everyone, but a small part of me still thinks I might have a shot at the bigs. I guess the reality of it for me is photographing professional athletes is as close as I’m going to get. Now that I think about it, I seem to get hired quite a bit to photograph the big guys. It’s probably because people know if an athlete goes crazy during a shoot or becomes too high maintenance, I can use my size to intimidate them and get the shots I need. Like when I had to smack around Craig and Paul Pumphrey on the Human Wreckingballs shoot I did last year. Just kidding Craig! I would never think about crossing you. I could probably take Paul though.
Josh Smith is a high school senior at Kentwood High in Washington State. He stands at 6′ 9” and weighs in at 270 pounds. Not bad, not bad. As far as I can tell he is currently ranked as a top 5 college recruit in the country, but I think that changes frequently.
The day before the shoot (which was for SLAM), Josh was in New York playing in the high school basketball All Star game. I am sure he is excited about what is going on in his life right now, but he seemed so calm and in control. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be in high school and get this kind of national attention. Not only that, but how crazy is it to know that there is a very good chance that you will be pro in just a few years while you are still living a somewhat normal lifestyle. It sounds to me like he is actually a little tired of all the attention, which is understandable. Anytime something big happens in a persons life, such as graduation, marriage, having a baby, etc., that event becomes an easy topic for discussion for everyone around you. It’s the big easy question that allows people to engage you in conversation without having to think about what they are saying.
In addition to basketball, Josh is playing football this year. Some might think he is insane given his potential in basketball, but he is doing what makes him happy. Can’t argue with that. You have to enjoy life, and live it to the fullest. Best of luck to Josh in his final year of high school. I am excited to see what the future holds for him, and selfishly, I would be excited if UW was in his future. Forget UCLA, Josh! :)
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Tags: athlete, athlete portrait, basketball, basketball pictures, Celebrity Portrait, Josh Smith, Josh Smith picture, Kentwood Basketball, portrait photographer, Seattle photographer, SLAM Magazine, sports pictures
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
