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AN AMERICAN CLASSIC

Detour Photography — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:29:27 +0000

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

Detour Photography — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 22:32:00 +0000

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.

Detour Photography — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 22:39:00 +0000

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

Detour Photography — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:13:00 +0000

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

Detour Photography — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:05:15 +0000

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

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Detour Photography — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:17:12 +0000

So our building is getting a facelift of sorts, workers have been in and around prepping for a new coat of paint. Last week they started bringing in scaffolding and now the atrium is completly wrapped in metal pipe and weathered floorboards. Opportunity for a visually interesting worker portrait... and a great fit for the Buchanan Design Brand Workers.

Other than a couple of wierd looks from tennants roaming the hallways our impromptu shoot with Bobby in full Brand Working gear came off without a hitch. The image you see above was shot using an SB-900 through a Lastolite EZY Box camera left. Check out a behind the scenes look below.

-Ryan

DESERT OASIS

Detour Photography — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:50:39 +0000

Last week Wednesday was out of the ordinary. Instead of arriving at the studio at 8:30 am, I was fighting back the yawns on the way to a 6:30 am flight out of San Diego. An inspirational day in the desert was in store, the annual Buchanan Design retreat had Vegas in its sights. Not the reckless abandon that immediatley comes to mind but a quench for our inspirational thirst.

Instead of black jack tables and roulette wheels we hit antique stores and bone yards. The Neon Museum is devoted to preserving the Las Vegas design-history, it was a graphic designers dream. Larger than life typography around every corner, it was inpirational overload! The old signs scattered about made for some interesting visuals, the stories that these pieces of history had to tell. Hats off to the folks who are keeping these Vegas icons alive.

And what Vegas trip would be complete without some great food, the Mesa Grill was our last stop. Grilled grouper, tender pork chops... my mouth just watered. Thanks to Bobby for putting together this day-trip to refuel our creative batteries.

-Ryan

HARD HAT AREA

Detour Photography — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:37:49 +0000

A few weeks ago we were called upon to create portraits of the Buchanan Design crew for the launch of their new website. Hard hats and overalls is not something you'd expect to see in a design studio, but they're a welcome site at the BD headquarters. They're a visual representation of the BD motto, "What makes a brand work? Work." And that shows to be true in their portfolio, have a look for yourself on Buchanan Design's new website. And check out the rest of our portraits when your there! www.buchanandesign.com

NYC On Location

Detour Photography — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:37:03 +0000

After double checking our equipment list and making sure everything fit we left San Diego today at noon for New York. Long Island to be exact. Now that we are on the ground in the big city first thing is first... Find some good food! Gotta fuel up for our 8:30am shoot tomorrow!

-Ryan

MOSAIC GALLERY

Detour Photography — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:07:00 +0000

We recently returned to Higgs Fletcher & Mack, a law firm downtown, to photograph some of their new employees for the mosaic lobby gallery.

Last year we spent 3 days with the the good people at HFM. Photographing all 140 employees, from lawyers to receptionists to mail clerks... everyone at the firm. I walked through the gallery and looked at the images that we made about a year ago. It was like seeing old friends again, recalling certain moments from our short time together.

The portraits on display show the people that make one of San Diego's oldest law firm's tick. A pretty cool way to give everyone the recognition they deserve.

-Ryan