Is January already over? Somebody pinch me, this cannot be real! It has been an exciting month in the Keatley offices, and it looks like it is only going to get better from here! Last month John proved to be a very popular guy around town, with many great blog and editorial mentions regarding his work throughout last year. Some of the more notable ones, well worth a read are the City Arts feature that you can see here, and the interview Mull it Over did, seen here. Very exciting.

In addition to John’s photography getting some great attention, the blog has too. Photoshelter’s 2011 round-up gave mentions of the blog, one for John’s VSCO Film review, and the other for the ever-popular Christmas photo and Woodsman short film that accompanied it. If you haven’t watched it yet, do, and if you’ve already seen it, you probably want to again so, here’s the link.

Plenty more great projects in the works, so stay tuned!

Hi Everybody! Just a quick post to introduce myself and express how excited I am to be joining the Keatley Photo team! I’ve recently taken the role of Marketing Director, and couldn’t be more ecstatic about both the role, and the amazing people (and animals) I am working with. I mean, who doesn’t want an adorable 2 year old with self-styled hair and a fist full of Cheerios waltzing past your desk from time to time to keep things light? Or a precocious Pomeranian greeting you in the morning? This all on top of the amazing artistic environment of working with John. We have some fantastic projects planned for this new year, and even in week 4, things are off to an amazing start of exciting endeavors. We are diving in head first, and I cannot wait for you to see the results as they unfold! So, hello Keatley fans, it is nice to meet you, and know this is not the last you will be hearing from me. Oh, and even though I often introduce myself as Elizabeth, many of my friends call me Izzy, so feel free to do the same. Happy New Year!! –Izzy

I hinted at a fun assignment I was working on last month on Twitter, and now I am excited to to be able to share the images with you.  I had a lot of catching up to do when I first got the assignment to photograph Murray Stenson from Art Director Jane Sherman at Seattle Weekly, but it didn’t take long for me to find out that Murray is widely regarded as the best bartender in the country.  Don’t believe me?Just ask Esquire, Playboy and Tales of the Cocktail.  It felt like when you get a new car, and all of a sudden you realize that just about everyone else on the road has the same car as you.  As soon as I got this assignment, it seemed like everyone I knew was going out to get a drink from Murray.  Apparently I was the last person to know.  I was quite excited to not only photograph Murray, but to also have a drink from him.

I did the shoot at Canon, which is a new bar in Seattle where Murray works, along with an all-star group of bartenders led by Jamie Boudreau who is also the owner.  There is a bit of a wait to get in, but I can tell you the wait is well worth it.  I filmed a short video of Murray mixing and explaining how to make an Absinthe Julep, which you can see below.  And yes, I did get to drink it after we were done filming.  Someone had to, and I didn’t want it to go to waste.  We did have to do 2 takes, but thankfully my assistant handled the second one since we were dealing with 124 proof.  For what it’s worth, I made sure the video was the last thing we did so my pictures wouldn’t be out of focus.

Although Murray has been written up in many other magazines, this article is the first time he has told his story.  It was written by Mike Seely, and is a really fascinating read.  Here is the link to the article if you are interested.  Along with the video, I also included a few behind the scenes pictures at the bottom.

Thanks to Jane Sherman for working with me on this, and thanks to Murray and Jamie for being such gracious hosts and subjects.  Photo retouching by the fine folks at Gigantic Squid.

Behind the scenes pictures by Lonnie Webb.

We just gave away a Vanguard GH-100 Pistol Grip Ball Head, a Think Tank Urban Disguise 40 v2 camera bag, and now we will be wrapping up what I like to call “Second Christmas” by giving away two copies of Visual Supply VSCO Film.  For those of you who are not familiar with VSCO Film, it is an incredible film emulator that plugs into Lightroom and ACR to make your digital images look like film.  Another benefit of VSCO Film is that it doubles as an incredibly fast workflow for editing your digital images.  I wrote about my experience with the emulator a few months back, and you can read my review of VSCO Film here.

All you have to do to enter and win a copy for yourself is ReTweet our contest tweet with #keatley on Twitter, or like AND comment on the contest post on the Keatley Facebook fan page.  After that, you are entered to win!  One winner from Facebook and Twitter will be randomly selected tomorrow, January 20th at 4pm.  Be sure to check back tomorrow to see if you won.

Thanks to everyone for participating this week.  It’s been fun hearing from many of you, and even more fun giving some awesome gear away.

Be sure to check out more of the great products from Visual Supply, Think Tank, and Vanguard as well as follow them on Twitter for updates, and new offerings – @VisualSupplyco, @thinkTANKphoto, and @VanguardPhotoUS.  Good luck everyone!

We just gave away a Vanguard GH-100 Pistol Grip Ball Head, and now it’s time to give this bad boy to some lucky winner.  Behold, the Think Tank Urban Disguise 40 v2 camera bag.  It’s an awesome camera bag that converts to a messenger style bag with tons of pockets and compartments to store all of your gear.  I have been using Think Tank bags and organizers for about a year now, and I am a big fan of many of their products.  You can find out more about Think Tank and this bag on the Think Tank website, and be sure to follow Think Tank on Twitter (@thinkTANKphoto).  All you have to do to enter is ReTweet our contest tweet with #keatley on Twitter.  You will be automatically entered to win!  The winner will be randomly selected tomorrow, January 19th at 4pm.  Be sure to check back tomorrow to see if you won.  We also have 2 more great prizes we will be giving away on Twitter and Facebook tomorrow, so even more reason to check back.

It’s that time again, we have lots of great photo stuff to give away, so get ready for a week packed with daily contest giveaways! We are going to kick things off with a Vanguard GH-100 Pistol Grip Ball Head, which allows for quick positioning of your camera when using a tripod. You can check out more about it here, and be sure to follow Vanguard’s awesome tweets (@VanguardPhotoUS).  All you have to do to enter is ReTweet our contest tweet with #keatley (which is probably why you are here reading this in the first place!). You will be automatically entered to win! The winner will be randomly selected tomorrow, January 18th at 4pm.  And be sure to stay tuned, we will be announcing new giveaways throughout this snowy Seattle week.

I woke up this morning to get a Twitter mention and early Christmas greeting from @Strobist that my portrait of Annie Leibovitz is on the new cover of Spanish Esquire.  That’s an awesome Christmas present, and my first Esquire cover as well.

Big thank you’s go out to Redux Pictures (Lori Reese and Jesi Bevis, who tirelessly represent my stock archive and editorial assignments) and Esquire.

Esquire Spain
Editor in chief: Andrés Rodriguez
Creative director: Clara Montagut (her design department runs this great blog / found via CoverJunkie.com)
Photo Editor: Diego Martinez

Merry Christmas, everyone.  I hope you are able to look back at 2011 with fond memories, and look forward to 2012 with excitement and anticipation.  That’s how I am feeling right now.

Here is the highly-anticipated 2011 Annual Keatley Christmas picture.  It feels so good to have this one in the can, and to finally get to look at it.  (You can click on the image to get a closer look.)  This year, we are living the good life, up in a tree, because that’s how we roll in the great Pacific Northwest.  Sorry to break it to you, but red flannel is the new cheesy Christmas sweater.  I know, just when you finally got around to planning that sweater party.  It’s not too late to trade ‘em in for flannel and an axe though.

As you may remember, in last years picture, we were with our yeti in the middle of Fargo.  (You can see all three of our Christmas pictures by filtering the posts with the ‘Keatley Christmas’ category.)  It went over pretty well, and because of that, I put a lot of pressure on myself to repeat or even outdo it this year.  Long story short, I over thought the whole idea and couldn’t come up with anything for about 5 months.  This has been a year of great learning and growth for me as a photographer.  I have had some things I had to really wrestle and struggle with for a good part of the year, but in the end, I feel like I came out with a much better perspective and idea of who I want to be as an artist.  It was only after I made some of these realizations that I was able to come up with this idea.  It was a difficult, but worthwhile process, and  I love how this picture turned out.  I think it’s a lot of fun to look at, and something I am really proud of.  Our dog, Oliver, on the other hand, well, he is just glad to be out of the tree.  In hindsight, it is also probably really fortunate that we did the yeti last year, because I can just about guarantee Isla would have passed out from screaming if we tried that this year.  She was so young last year, she didn’t have a clue what was going on.

If lumberjacks and outdoor types sound familiar to some of you, it is probably because of my short promo video, The Woodsman, shot earlier this year.  You can watch it at the bottom of this post.  It is worth pointing out, that lumberjacks and woodsmen are not necessarily a tight knit group, but they have been known to fraternize from time to time.  All that to say, for me, I guess you could call 2011 the year of the lumberjack / woodsman.  Who knows what 2012 will bring.  Stay tuned.

It’s been really fun to hear from so many of you about how you look forward to our annual Christmas picture.  It means a lot to us, and it makes it that much more enjoyable for me to work on knowing how much some of you enjoy these.  I am already looking forward to creating next years.  Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you will like, tweet, or share this if you enjoy it.

Photo Retouching by Gigantic Squid.

12/23/2011 UPDATE: The position has been filled.  Thank you so much to everyone who helped spread the word and for your interest.  Merry Christmas.

We are looking to hire a marketing director, and I thought I would post the job listing here in case any of you are interested, or know anyone who may be qualified and interested.  The requirements and application process are described below.  Thanks in advance for your interest, and for passing this along.

Location: Currently we operate out of a small home office in West Seattle, but construction of a new West Seattle studio is underway and near completion.

About us: We are a commercial photography business that focuses on editorial and advertising photography, both locally and nationally. Our business has steadily grown over the past ten years, and the photographer has been recognized by multiple national and international contests and awards.  He has photographed Fortune 500 CEO’s, National bestselling book covers, and many celebrities.  His work has appeared in Time, Wired, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, and Glamour to name a few.  We consist of one full-time photographer, a part-time office manager, and frequently work with freelance artists on a per-project basis.

About you: We are looking for a business-minded individual who is passionate about marketing, social media, and networking, who wants to make your mark on a business and help it grow.  Skills that are required for this job: self-motivated/driven, detail-oriented, organized, relational, flexible, an appreciation for creativity, and a sense of humor.  While this job will start as a part-time position (20-25 hours a week), through your efforts and tireless pursuit, the position can grow to full-time.  Your job duties will immediately include establishing a yearly marketing plan, managing the blog and social media, developing relationships with current and prospective clients and sponsors, handling press inquiries, and scheduling speaking engagements.
Are you the person at a Christmas party who can walk up to someone you don’t know and have an interesting conversation?  Then you would be our ideal candidate, someone who is great with people, and can make a great first impression.
Are you the person who can persuade a vacation rental owner with a no-pet policy to allow you to bring your pet?  Then we need you, because your strong communication skills and persistence will help us achieve and even exceed our goals.
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.

You will be a key contributor and play a pivotal role in determining the direction and the success of this business.  This job has tremendous growth potential, and we hope great personal satisfaction.

Qualifications:
College degree required
At least one year of marketing experience (internships included).  However, if you blow us away with your resume, application, or interview, we would be willing to look past this.
Must be flexible and a hard worker
No third party agencies/recruiters

How to Apply:
Respond to this ad with an email containing your resume (inline or attached as a PDF) and cover letter.  Also, answer three (3) of the following four (4) questions in your response (your pick).  A short paragraph on each should be sufficient.  All inquiries will be replied to and kept in confidence.
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. A new bakery opened up in your neighborhood three weeks ago, but nobody is going to it.  If you were the owner, describe what you would do to attract customers, and keep them coming back.
3. What do you like about Arrested Development, and give us your opinion on why it was cancelled.
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.

• Location: West Seattle
• Compensation: Depends on qualifications – but negotiable
• This is a part-time job with great potential to become full-time.
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Go Huskies!  Ok, so I didn’t go to UW, but my wife did if that counts for anything.  Over the past several years, I have learned to enjoy Husky athletics because of my strong sense of Seattle pride.  I follow the football team a little more closely than the basketball team, but it was still really fun to photograph Lorenzo Romar, the Husky men’s basketball coach.  He is one of those people who commands your respect when he walks into a room, but I also found him to be very kind and personable.  I think a good gauge of success is when strangers carry around giant cardboard pictures of your face.  That’s when you know you have really made it in life.  Something I think all of us should strive for.

How was work today honey?
It was great!
Did you get that promotion they promised you?
No, but my manager did hold up a big cardboard picture of my face at lunch.
Oh, that’s wonderful!  Congratulations honey.
Yeah, it was awesome!

Many of you have asked about editing commercial work with VSCO Film, and how it looks with images lit by strobe.  I busted these images out after I started using VSCO Film, and gave them new life with just a couple of clicks.  All three of these images were lit with strobe, so hopefully this gives you an idea of what is possible.  I think it works just as well with strobe as it does with natural light images.  If you are unfamiliar with VSCO Film, it is a film emulator that plugs into Lightroom or ACR and makes digital images look like film.  Not to mention, it is an incredibly fast alternative to Photoshop actions and other Lightroom presets.  It really is an amazing tool for photographers.  So far I am editing images 10 times faster than I was before, and I am getting better results.  Here is the VSCO Film review I wrote last week.

I used Kodak Portra 400, and Orange Skin Fix + on these images.  You can see a cool video tutorial and find out more about VSCO Film here.

Material Connection Disclosure