AN AMERICAN CLASSIC

I first met Jerry Johnson, my wife’s grandfather, back in the summer of 2002 and I can truly say that I’ve enjoyed every minute of his company over the past ten years. I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than over a piece of homemade pie at Casey’s, his favorite stop for lunch in Klamath Falls, Oregon where Grandpa Jerry spent his entire life.

I’ve fished with him and Grandma Lois off of the Brookings, Oregon coast, hiked with him in the Redwoods to see one of the largest trees on earth, and fired his vintage arms at the shooting range. I’ve enjoyed countless stories of his adventures…from hunting big game to snowmobile racing to a career spent on the Burlington  Northern Railroad.

What is most memorable about Grandpa Jerry is the way he was always so well put together, a hair never out of place, shirt and pants without wrinkle. Exactly 2 years ago in October of 2010 I had the pleasure of photographing Grandpa Jerry and his prized 65 GTO. He had the car custom built to his specs back in 1965 and to this day the car is as well put together as he always was.

Last night all of my time spent with Jerry turned into cherished memories…he is no longer with us. He has definitely left a lasting impression on me and will be truly missed. This weekend as we make our way up to K-Falls to celebrate Grandpa Jerry’s life, you’ll find me at Casey’s having lunch and a piece of pie in his honor.

-Ryan

Light Trails

The fall issue of UCSD Extension magazine was just released and we couldn't be happier about the cover image. With our subject being the president of San Diego's CONNECT, Camille Saltman, our concept was based on the innovative information technology sector that she works with. We pitched an idea for a long exposure portrait that would capture light trails to Monica Doyle from UCSD, being the great client that she is we had her immediate buy in.

After picking the gel colors for the light trail and doing some light tests it was time to start expierimenting. My biggest fear during the whole process was to not hit Camille in the head with the LED light as I waved it around her in the complete darkness of the studio. She was a great sport, sitting statuesque shot after shot, her expression never changing. During our time together I learned that Camille's father hails from my native Trinidad & Tobago, great common ground for the photographer/subject relationship.

A side note... I have quite the portfolio of Bobby light test images, but this one above ranks up there for me in the top three. Check out the shoot behind the scenes video below.

-Ryan

BRACE YOURSELF.

Photography + football, things couldn't be better! We've been tight lipped around the studio for the past month on an exciting project, a new football knee brace from Bledsoe geared towards high-school lineman. We were in studio with our lineman talent and all around great kid, Jake Ashby from Torrey Pines High. We spent an afternoon with Jake donning the NZONE braces and Bledsoe uniform. After being behind the camera for 2 hours he said two-a-days are less painful...

Buchanan Design did a great job designing all of the collateral pieces for the NZONE Braces.

 

DEEPAK CHOPRA COVER

I was excited to receive the Spring 2012 issue of the UCSD Extension magazine today, back in October of last year we shot Deepak Chopra for the second cover. As a global leader and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, Dr. Chopra was speaking at the Scripps Seaside Forum as part of the Atlantic Live event. The plan was to photograph him before or after his presentation, but having a flight to catch as soon as it was over Dr. Chopra graciously gave us a 5 minute window before his scheduled start. Bobby and I scouted the location the week before so we took our 5 minutes and made the image above. Without the luxury of time we fired an SB900 through an EZbox camera left and a second SB900 bounced off of a white reflector at camera position, all TTL and within 10 frames we had our cover shot.

But I was put into action immediately following our shoot, Dr. Chopra asked me to photograph him using his blackberry so he could tweet it. Check out the image here. I think I'll stick to using a Nikon... you be the judge!

-Ryan

LEE ANN KIM COVER

A couple months ago we had the pleasure of photographing Lee Ann Kim for the cover of the current UCSD Extension magazine. Counldn't have asked for a better subject, as a former Channel 10 news anchor she's used to being in front of the camera. Nowadays you'll find her directing the San Diego Asian Film Festival, an organization she founded back in 2000. You can read the article from the magazine here.

We also photographed the upcoming spring cover for UCSD, but we've got to keep our lips sealed on this one. As soon as it's hot off the press we'll post images from the shoot!

-Ryan