Jeff Berting: Man of Action The art of the action shot often eludes even the most talented and resourceful photographers. Capturing a blurred image of an athlete whirring by is no great shakes; managing to focus on bodies in motion is only slightly more impressive. But freeze-framing high-speed subjects mid-spin, -kick or -jump, at exactly the right moment, in exactly the right light … that ain’t easy. By remembering two key pieces of advice – one from a high school art teacher, the other from his wife (a fellow photographer) – California photog Jeff Berting has become a master of dynamic photography. His “Surf/Sup/Body,” “Active Lifestyle” and “Craftsmen” portfolios are filled with unparalleled examples of humans doing their thing, captured at precise angles and in moments that add beauty and depth. For a fantastic example of this you need look no further than the above image, part of a shoot Jeff was hired to do for Southern California skateboard manufacturer Maki Longboards. The image was selected as part of PDN’s recent “The Shot” Sports Photography competition, and it perfectly frames one of the moments Jeff knows so well, “when you wish your eyes had cameras in them.” “That moment when everything just lines up and comes together, so viewers can relate, whether they actively participate in the sport or are a fan,” Jeff says. “My goal with active-lifestyle photography is to capture those moments.” That always leads Jeff back to the good advice from his high school teacher (“take the ordinary and make it extraordinary”) and his wife (“don’t just use the camera to describe what you see, use it to interpret what you see”). “By taking this advice to heart, I’m constantly challenging myself to keep looking for new perspectives,” Jeff says, “to go beyond the immediate and give the work my thumbprint.” Click here to check out more of Jeff’s signature, action-packed work.
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Jeff Berting: Man of Action

The art of the action shot often eludes even the most talented and resourceful photographers.

Capturing a blurred image of an athlete whirring by is no great shakes; managing to focus on bodies in motion is only slightly more impressive. But freeze-framing high-speed subjects mid-spin, -kick or -jump, at exactly the right moment, in exactly the right light … that ain’t easy.

By remembering two key pieces of advice – one from a high school art teacher, the other from his wife (a fellow photographer) – California photog Jeff Berting has become a master of dynamic photography. His “Surf/Sup/Body,” “Active Lifestyle” and “Craftsmen” portfolios are filled with unparalleled examples of humans doing their thing, captured at precise angles and in moments that add beauty and depth.

For a fantastic example of this you need look no further than the above image, part of a shoot Jeff was hired to do for Southern California skateboard manufacturer Maki Longboards. The image was selected as part of PDN’s recent “The Shot” Sports Photography competition, and it perfectly frames one of the moments Jeff knows so well, “when you wish your eyes had cameras in them.”

“That moment when everything just lines up and comes together, so viewers can relate, whether they actively participate in the sport or are a fan,” Jeff says. “My goal with active-lifestyle photography is to capture those moments.”

That always leads Jeff back to the good advice from his high school teacher (“take the ordinary and make it extraordinary”) and his wife (“don’t just use the camera to describe what you see, use it to interpret what you see”).

“By taking this advice to heart, I’m constantly challenging myself to keep looking for new perspectives,” Jeff says, “to go beyond the immediate and give the work my thumbprint.”

Click here to check out more of Jeff’s signature, action-packed work.

Dark, Wet & Noisy with Eszter + David

San Francisco-based photography duo Eszter Marosszeky and David Matheson certainly have a knack for capturing unique, human poses. Their diverse portfolio depicts athletes twisted and contorted, tradespeople hard at work, families amid the majesty of nature, and even more examples of people being people, with all the beauty and complexity that entails.

A pair of recent ambitious photo projects falls into the first category: both shoots involved a sixteen-foot trampoline, and a whole lot of water.  First, the photo duo collaborated with Easton Lacrosse General Manager Doug Appleton to convince lacrosse star Mike Powell to show off his stuff.  The second shoot was done for cancer awareness non-profit Get In Front, and Eszter and David recruited a super talented slew of dancers from the San Francisco Ballet and Alonzo King Lines to pose for their cameras. 

The sessions were shot in their studios, some of them during an “Open Studio” event (where San Francisco artists open their studios to the general public to view their work, and in this case watch a photo shoot in progress).  Preplanning was key, as Eszter and David knew that dark, wet, and noisy can be less than ideal conditions for photography. As part of their preparation, the two rigged up some garden hoses and even more sprinklers to the studio ceiling. They played with different lighting to get the perfect feel, but after that there was still more work to be done: they needed to figure out how to safely contain the falling water so their landlord didn’t void their lease!

Once the shooting conditions were ideal (and risk-free), Eszter and David began to shoot their subjects twisting, turning, and posing in mid-air as water cascaded down around them from the ceiling.  During the shoot a live audience of onlookers watched as the photographers battled loud fans, exhausted dancers, and the difficulties inherent in being understood through fairly thick Aussie accents—and, of course, everything was wet.

Despite the chaotic nature of the shoot, there’s a singular peaceful beauty in the final photographs: something about the water droplets frozen in place around the front-lit dancers makes them the perfect crystalline complement to the chiseled perfection of their human forms. 

The photographers love the creative opportunities that using a trampoline for a shoot affords them, and they’ve used a similar concept for many other projects. “What I love about using the trampoline is that it affords a lot more freedom for the subject, and tons more latitude for the photographer,” explains David.  And creatives love it too: The duo’s raw talent and the fun and beauty of their shoots have clients jumping at the opportunity to work with them.

Click here to check out a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot and see more of Eszter and David’s work.

Overnight Sensation: Dan Wagner Can’t Sleep, Again

The night belongs to Dan Wagner.

His latest self-published photography book, Insomnia: The City That Never Sleeps (August 2012), is drawing significant attention (Joel Rose, author of The Blackest Bird and Kill Kill Faster Faster, calls Dan “as sure-handed and accomplished a storyteller under whose spell we…could ever hope to fall”). Insomnia takes an unblinking look at nocturnal New York, and now the Huntington, NY-based photographer is putting a night-in-the-city sequel to bed.

Dan is the creative force behind two previous photography books: Few Are Chosen: Photographs 2010-2012 (February 2012) and Never See Nothing: Photographs (May 2012). While his artistic skill is evident in all of his collections, there’s a clear edge to this native son’s love affair with his city. “Images illuminated by my 30-year-old Sylvania flashbulbs are emblazoned on my overstimulated brain,” he says in the Insomnia intro, which goes on to explain his fascination with nighttime in The Big Apple.

“I toss, turn and wonder what’s happening at Webster Hall in the East Village, if there’s a good crowd of club-hoppers at the West Side Meat Market, or how Steven, my favorite bouncer at The Fat Black Pussycat, is doing,” Dan writes.

That same passion will fill the next edition of his black-and-white Insomnia series, expected later this year. “Because city nightlife changes with the seasons, I’m already planning new night shots,” Dan says. “In fact, just thinking about the moments I’ll catch as snow falls on busy New Yorkers is already keeping me awake.”

Click here to see shots from the first Insomnia collection and other examples of Dan’s signature work.

Laughing With Bob Stevens

Nobody can accuse photographer Bob Stevens of lacking a sense of humor.

The Southern California photographer (and filmmaker, writer and painter) has catalogued plenty of “serious” work – his portraiture shines, his “Stories from the Streets of Los Angeles” portfolio captures the spirit and diversity of a great American city and his commercial work featuring boats and motor vehicles skillfully and professionally portrays the beauty and power of those machines.

But this is an artist who’s not afraid to smile. Bob’s a wonderful reminder that great art doesn’t have to be somber or even particularly meaningful – sometimes, great art can just be funny, especially when it’s created by an artist with a keen eye and whip-smart sense of the absurd.

Evidence of Bob’s funny bone fills his outrageous “LMAO” portfolio. And his seriously-hysterical approach is also on full display in his recent collection highlighting the strange life forms inhabiting the famous Venice Beach Boardwalk.

“I’ve long been fascinated by the Venice Boardwalk,” the photographer says. “So I set out on a sunny fall day to capture the unique personalities that roam this concrete strip along the sand.”

To manage some control of the wicked-bright and always-moving California sunlight, Bob created a “sort of mobile photo booth” – though this led to the mistaken assumption by many of the milling artisans, performers and pedestrians that Bob wanted to charge for the privilege of taking their portraits.

“They were pleasantly surprised when I informed them that I would print an image of their choice with my battery-powered printer immediately following the brief ‘session,’” he notes. “I like to say that you can’t make this stuff up … and this is definitely a one-of-a-kind place with one-of-a-kind people.”

Click here to check out more of Bob’s pleasantly surprising, one-of-a-kind work.

Rafael Astorga Goes Hard in Brooklyn Last fall, photographer Rafael Astorga spent more than a week inside a moving-van-turned-mobile-studio-turned-refrigerated-truck (long story) on the streets of Brooklyn, NY.  Armed with a skeleton crew, some studio gear, and a rack of Brooklyn Nets apparel, he photographed more than 200 Brooklynites who were happy to mug for the camera as they welcomed the basketball team to their new hometown. Tapped for the project by Adidas Global Creative Director Eric Vellozzi, Rafael shot hipsters, wiseguys, journos, poets, cooks, co-eds, ballers, rappers, DJs, and grannies to create the ultimate snapshot of Brooklyn’s famous swagger. Casting took place in real time at some of the borough’s most iconic locations, including Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Bowery.  Speed was the name of the game: the shoot flew from the get-go. Casting, photography, processing, and publishing all happened out of the truck, all on the same day. Adidas NBA Marketing Director Mitty Arnold was even on site to instantly approve images for the company’s official social media venues, while participants blasted their portraits all over social networking sites. In the weeks that followed, portraits were displayed on JumboTrons in Times Square and both within and on the exterior of Barclays Center, the home of the Nets. Adidas also released select portraits in a series of regional print and digital advertisements as part of their “All In” campaign.  Check out Rafael’s website and FoundFolios portfolio for additional images and more information on this awesome shoot.
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Rafael Astorga Goes Hard in Brooklyn

Last fall, photographer Rafael Astorga spent more than a week inside a moving-van-turned-mobile-studio-turned-refrigerated-truck (long story) on the streets of Brooklyn, NY.  Armed with a skeleton crew, some studio gear, and a rack of Brooklyn Nets apparel, he photographed more than 200 Brooklynites who were happy to mug for the camera as they welcomed the basketball team to their new hometown.

Tapped for the project by Adidas Global Creative Director Eric Vellozzi, Rafael shot hipsters, wiseguys, journos, poets, cooks, co-eds, ballers, rappers, DJs, and grannies to create the ultimate snapshot of Brooklyn’s famous swagger. Casting took place in real time at some of the borough’s most iconic locations, including Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Bowery. 

Speed was the name of the game: the shoot flew from the get-go. Casting, photography, processing, and publishing all happened out of the truck, all on the same day. Adidas NBA Marketing Director Mitty Arnold was even on site to instantly approve images for the company’s official social media venues, while participants blasted their portraits all over social networking sites.

In the weeks that followed, portraits were displayed on JumboTrons in Times Square and both within and on the exterior of Barclays Center, the home of the Nets. Adidas also released select portraits in a series of regional print and digital advertisements as part of their “All In” campaign. 

Check out Rafael’s website and FoundFolios portfolio for additional images and more information on this awesome shoot.

William Geddes: Keeping it Real

William Geddes developed an interest in the visual arts at an early age when he discovered a talent and passion for both photography and lighting design for school productions. Though he’s spent years perfecting the science and technicalities that underlie his profession, he knows better than most that the best photography is not created by more technology and technique, but less.

That’s the theory behind “The Designers,” a series of lifestyle portraits that’s been William’s central preoccupation of late.

The award-winning lifestyle photographer—recent honors include the Canada’s Northern Lights Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism and Photography—has completed advertising/publishing assignments for A-list clients including JC Penney, Samsung and LG Electronics. It’s his pet “Designers” project, however, that showcases his favorite approach and greatest skill: “A natural ease,” William says, “and a sense that you can enter into the lives of the people in the images.”

The portraits are not candid shots; the subjects are most certainly posed but they’re posed in their own space, in their own clothes, in their own comfortable ways. It’s a reality, according to William, that you just can’t fake with props or clever lighting … and it’s paramount “for authenticity.”

“If the subjects are too conscious of my presence, and the camera’s presence, and the lighting, that creates a block,” he says. “I want all that technique to disappear.”

When it does—when it’s just William’s lens and a person in their comfort zone—that’s when “the subject shines,” the photographer adds.

Click here to see more of “The Designers”, and other examples of William’s less-is-more style.

Irene Pena Goes With the ‘Overflow’ in Costa Rica

You’d expect a fashion photographer like Irene Pena to be creative, and she is. What makes her unique, though, is her eye – and her ability to inject equal parts motion and emotion into her work.

Irene – who counts fashion and yoga photography among her top genres, right alongside lifestyle – put this skill to good use in a recent project combining fashion and fine art, titled “Desbordamiento” (The Spanish word for “overflowing”). Working in Costa Rica with a Holga camera, Irene teamed with local fashion designer Angela Hurtado Pimentel on a concept designed specifically to break fashion’s sometimes strict parameters.

“The concept behind the design of these dresses was the idea of ‘overflowing,’” notes Irene, who is herself a native of Costa Rica. “Fashion can become a rigid mold that sets boundaries for behavior, but people cannot be contained entirely in any of these molds. They simply spill out.”

While she often uses cutting-edge techniques and clever creativity to give her subjects a sense of motion, Irene found that Hurtado’s designs did that by themselves. “The restrictive silhouettes in these dresses are won over by this overflowing of textures and volume,” she says.

In a way, Irene adds, Hurtado’s dresses are “a representation of our inability to conform.”

“These dresses aim to discover that the fashion system can be subverted to create meaningful and carefully handcrafted pieces,” she says, “as unique as the people who may wear them.”

Click here to see more of Irene’s dynamic imagery.

Late Bloomer Zach Ancell Discovers a New Track

When he was a child, Zach Ancell was no Ansel Adams. He wasn’t given a camera as a life-changing gift. No older relative inspired him to the visual arts. He didn’t know early on that photography was his gift or his professional destiny.

In fact, he was “halfway through” college, he says, before he recognized photography as something he loved and could excel at professionally. While attending the University of Oregon on a track scholarship, he picked up a camera and started shooting portraits of his teammates. Soon he was shooting athletes on other Ducks teams, and then things came into sharper focus.

“I realized it was something that I’d love to do with my life,” Zach says.

As his portraits made the rounds, Zach took on a project chronicling the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which Oregon was hosting. After “some time, a few emails and some marketing on my end,” the university recognized his talent and hired him to shoot other Ducks teams and athletes for marketing materials and other purposes.

A few short years later, Zach is enjoying life as a commercial sports photographer. He’s completing work on several promotional images for the U of O’s 2012-2013 teams and already planning new campaigns for the 2013-2014 seasons.

And he serves as a strong reminder that you never know what life has in store – and that sometimes, the best artists aren’t born, but created.

“Growing up, I was the athlete, not the artist,” Zach says. “So it should come as no surprise that when I finally discovered my passion for photography, I naturally coupled it with my passion for athletics.”

Click here to see more of Zach’s sports-themed art.

The Finer Things: Ryan Heffernan’s “White” Album Ryan Heffernan shoots many kinds of photography: portraits, sports, travel, lifestyle and all manners of unique advertising content. So UBS knew it was getting a pro when it tapped Ryan to create conceptual imagery for its annual limited-edition fine-art piece, “Thirteen.” Ryan’s portfolios may sound routine (plenty of photographers list “travel” and “sports” among their top genres), but they’re anything but. Everything he shoots, from basketball players’ shadows on a playground wall to New Mexico tourism ads, has a top-shelf finish, a sense of art’s finer side. So when UBS called in October and asked the Santa Fe and San Francisco-based photographer to illustrate 13 events ranging from the Salzburg Festival (a prominent music and drama celebration) to Art Basel (a four-decade-old international art show based in Miami Beach, Hong Kong and Basel, Switzerland), Ryan knew precisely how to attack the project. “The book showcased a number of unique UBS-sponsored events throughout 2013,” he says. “Working alongside talented creatives and designers from UBS and Scholtysik Niederberger Kraft in Zurich, we set about illustrating 13 of the most conceptual events.” Ryan quickly decided the job had two main requirements: Each image would have to be motivational, in its own way, and each would play off the color white. “Given the importance of the color white in the UBS brand, our creative thread was to target naturally white environments,” he says, noting he paid just as much attention to identifying and photographing “inspirational environments … that were at once both vast and intimate.” “Incorporating the human element into these unique locations expanded the opportunity for metaphor and messaging,” Ryan adds, while reinforcing UBS’s strategic theme of “staying in touch.” The end result was a collection of artworks firmly in Ryan’s wheelhouse: crisp, rousing and dramatic, from white go-carts racing across Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats to breathtaking New York City skylines to the stunning mountaintops of Zermatt, Switzerland. Click here to check out more of his UBS work and other selections from Ryan’s next-level portfolios.
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The Finer Things: Ryan Heffernan’s “White” Album

Ryan Heffernan shoots many kinds of photography: portraits, sports, travel, lifestyle and all manners of unique advertising content. So UBS knew it was getting a pro when it tapped Ryan to create conceptual imagery for its annual limited-edition fine-art piece, “Thirteen.”

Ryan’s portfolios may sound routine (plenty of photographers list “travel” and “sports” among their top genres), but they’re anything but. Everything he shoots, from basketball players’ shadows on a playground wall to New Mexico tourism ads, has a top-shelf finish, a sense of art’s finer side.

So when UBS called in October and asked the Santa Fe and San Francisco-based photographer to illustrate 13 events ranging from the Salzburg Festival (a prominent music and drama celebration) to Art Basel (a four-decade-old international art show based in Miami Beach, Hong Kong and Basel, Switzerland), Ryan knew precisely how to attack the project.

“The book showcased a number of unique UBS-sponsored events throughout 2013,” he says. “Working alongside talented creatives and designers from UBS and Scholtysik Niederberger Kraft in Zurich, we set about illustrating 13 of the most conceptual events.”

Ryan quickly decided the job had two main requirements: Each image would have to be motivational, in its own way, and each would play off the color white. “Given the importance of the color white in the UBS brand, our creative thread was to target naturally white environments,” he says, noting he paid just as much attention to identifying and photographing “inspirational environments … that were at once both vast and intimate.”

“Incorporating the human element into these unique locations expanded the opportunity for metaphor and messaging,” Ryan adds, while reinforcing UBS’s strategic theme of “staying in touch.”

The end result was a collection of artworks firmly in Ryan’s wheelhouse: crisp, rousing and dramatic, from white go-carts racing across Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats to breathtaking New York City skylines to the stunning mountaintops of Zermatt, Switzerland.

Click here to check out more of his UBS work and other selections from Ryan’s next-level portfolios.

Rock Lobster: Michael Raabe Goes Deep Los Angeles-based artist Michael Raabe has taken his share of industrial landscape shots, built a well-earned reputation as a skilled underwater photographer, and brought his videography talents a long way, but it’s his dynamic sports-based photography – the muscular hoopster hanging on the rim post-dunk, the sweat beads dripping from the boxer’s hard face, the soccer player framed midway through her spinning kick – that really showcases a master at work. During the recent filming of the pilot episode of Harbor House Life – a hunting/cooking show that puts viewers what Michael calls “face-to-face with the ocean’s tastiest creatures” – the photographer combined two of his best genres, blending the motion-filled action shot with the cool blue of an underwater photo. While shooting free diver and U.S. spearfishing champion Dan Silveira about 50 miles off the California coast, Michael snapped amazing images of his subject wrestling a 7 1/2-pound lobster. While the gigantic crustacean is impressive in its own right, the shots’ lighting and composition are simply amazing – a fortuitous combination, Michael notes, of the right place, the right time and the right geology. “It was quite a rough day at sea, but we found this small rock formation that had an arch with perfect conditions,” the photographer says. “The arch happened to have a hole in the middle of it, which created the light rays that shined through the water.” It was a lengthy battle between man and beast since the lobster was tucked deep in a rock crevasse and wouldn’t come out without a fight, but Michael’s skills – and Silveira’s – combined beautifully to create a series of amazing images. “Dan had to go down a second time and fight the lobster for what seemed like an eternity,” Michael says. “That allowed me to take advantage of the situation and capture these pictures.” Click here for additional shots of Silveira’s duel in the deep, plus more of Michael’s action-packed imagery.
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Rock Lobster: Michael Raabe Goes Deep

Los Angeles-based artist Michael Raabe has taken his share of industrial landscape shots, built a well-earned reputation as a skilled underwater photographer, and brought his videography talents a long way, but it’s his dynamic sports-based photography – the muscular hoopster hanging on the rim post-dunk, the sweat beads dripping from the boxer’s hard face, the soccer player framed midway through her spinning kick – that really showcases a master at work.

During the recent filming of the pilot episode of Harbor House Life – a hunting/cooking show that puts viewers what Michael calls “face-to-face with the ocean’s tastiest creatures” – the photographer combined two of his best genres, blending the motion-filled action shot with the cool blue of an underwater photo. While shooting free diver and U.S. spearfishing champion Dan Silveira about 50 miles off the California coast, Michael snapped amazing images of his subject wrestling a 7 1/2-pound lobster.

While the gigantic crustacean is impressive in its own right, the shots’ lighting and composition are simply amazing – a fortuitous combination, Michael notes, of the right place, the right time and the right geology.

“It was quite a rough day at sea, but we found this small rock formation that had an arch with perfect conditions,” the photographer says. “The arch happened to have a hole in the middle of it, which created the light rays that shined through the water.”

It was a lengthy battle between man and beast since the lobster was tucked deep in a rock crevasse and wouldn’t come out without a fight, but Michael’s skills – and Silveira’s – combined beautifully to create a series of amazing images.

“Dan had to go down a second time and fight the lobster for what seemed like an eternity,” Michael says. “That allowed me to take advantage of the situation and capture these pictures.”

Click here for additional shots of Silveira’s duel in the deep, plus more of Michael’s action-packed imagery.

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