I opened April’s Outside Magazine (Anderson Cooper’s on the cover) and saw The North Face’s latest outdoor adventure ad, and was impressed to see a credit for the photographer, Tim Kemple.
Since Tim is one of our Salt Lake City photographers, I asked if he knew how that came to be, as it’s you don’t often see photo credits outside of magazine assignments.
From Tim:
The Photo and Video director at TNF is a photographer (Brooks Grad from back in the day) and has always gone to bat for photographers and videographers. I think he is the main reason why photo credit is given. Also in the Action Sport market it is more common because it adds more credibility (no pun intended) to the validity of an image.
Kemple has shot several campaigns for The North Face (TNF), including these:
I asked him to elaborate on what he describes as a “40 hour travel marathon from the US to Patagonia” to shoot the ads:
The Summit Series Ads were from a North Face expedition to Patagonia, Argentina early in 2009. We based out of the town of Chalten and played the weather waiting game like most of the climbers do (Patagonia has notoriously rainy, windy weather)…
Patagonia sits on the edge of a big ice cap, so the weather blows off the southern Pacific across the ice cap and then hits the mountains…We waited about two weeks in Chalten for the weather to clear. You often hear stories of people going down for 2 months and never making it into the mountains…
Once we got a window, we did the 10 hour hike into basecamp, were we stayed for a week. I shot action images of the athletes establishing a new route and shot lifestyle images around basecamp when we weren’t on the wall…
And he’s also shot some of their running campaigns, for both print and video:
Pocket Wizard recently interviewed Tim, and he discusses more on his background (he was a pro climber before getting into photography) and technique on their website. They have some pretty cool behind the scenes shots there, as well: http://pocketwizard.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/tim-kemple-reaches-high/
Here in the Northeast US, most people are ready to slip into their pajamas, hot chocolate in hand, at the slightest mention of the blizzardy conditions that we’re currently experiencing.
However, some of our photographers actually make a living off the stuff! Case in point: Salt Lake City’s Scott Markewitz was just recognized by the Ski Channel as “One of the Most Influential People in Snowbiz.” They base their list on “figures in the snow-sports industry who influence. They are not just the powerbrokers—this isn’t Hollywood. This is sliding down a hill on frozen water… this is a tribute to those who help make it all happen.”
Recent ad campaigns that Markewitz shot for Salomon and Nordica.
So how did Scott make the list? They cite his 350 magazine covers for the likes of Ski, Skiing, Men’s Journal, Outside, plus he’s the the only photographer to make Ski Magazine‘s 100 Most Influential Skiers of All Time. That’s right, he’s a good enough skier that in this case he was being rewarded for more than just his photography.
Of course, winter comes to an end in even the snowiest of climes, so Scott shoots plenty of sports and action/adventure work during the other three seasons.
Scott was also recognized as one of the “World’s Greatest Adventure Photographers” by Men’s Journal, so his work is appreciated outside the “Snowbiz,” as well.
You can see more work on Scott’s website: www.scottmarkewitz.com. Stay warm this weekend!
We’re fresh on the heels from a New York portfolio visit with Publicis, Esquire and Marie Claire. Philadelphia (where we’re headquartered) is actually close enough that we can easily do a long day and come back in time for dinner – though we usually stay for drinks with clients or photographers.
Our photo editor Sean and producer Amanda (4th from right below) showed about 20 books at Publicis New York, known for their CITI, Pepto Bismol, Vick’s and other P&G print ads, not to mention a host of tv work. Unusual for our typical portfolio breakfasts, we got to use their pool table (though no games broke out, unfortunately).
We met about 25 creatives, and here’s a sampling of portfolios that stood out to them. Starting with Saverio Truglia in Chicago:
An art buyer mentioned that she likes seeing an “index page” of tearsheets at the back of portfolios, just before serendipitously finding exactly that at the back of Brian Kuhlmann‘s book:
Other art buyers emphasized how Proctor & Gamble likes to work with very bright and clean images, both still life and lifestyle.
After a quick lunch, the afternoon presented us with embassy-esque security at the Hearst Building on 57th St. After braving the freight elevator and getting a glimpse of the basement, we finally made it to Esquire and met with one of their photo coordinators for a great in-depth conversation.
She explained that they tend to look for strong conceptual still-life work, and interesting environmental portraiture. She was excited about their Augmented Reality issue a few months ago, and we talked about how with our Multimedia page we’re now marketing our photographers who are doing motion and directing work outside of still photography. She had no particular pet peeves when it comes to portfolios, but she did emphasize how important it is to have a tight edit: “I’d rather see a thin little book with great work!”
She was fond of Adam Voorhes’ still life work (we blogged about his portfolio video a few weeks ago), amongst others.
Onwards (and upwards: literally, they’re in the same building upstairs), we dropped-by Marie Claire and felt like we’d just stepped into The Devil Wears Prada. We met with one of their photo editors, who explained how their “What I Like About Me” is a great fit for Wonderful Machine photographers since they shoot all over the country. “I think a lot of your photographers have an aesthetic that would work well with us,” she said.
She particularly liked Alexa Miller’s work, who is based in Salt Lake City: “She really conveys a positive, happy attitude with her work, and that fits well with a lot of our content.” Judge for yourself:
And we ended our day with a celebrity sighting of Puff Daddy/P. Diddy, so what more can you ask for?
