Lukas did the art on the helmet and Brandon was game to throw it on.

It was such a sunny day that I was worried about heading out without any lighting gear but that is part of the fun of newspaper photography, being creative with what you have.  I hopped on my bike on Thursday afternoon, my tripod awkwardly strapped on my camera bag and sticking out into traffic, and headed down to the industrial area of Southeast Portland.  Brandon and Lukas were about to get some seriously awesome PR with an article in the Times about their publisher Skybound (launched by comic book guru Robert Kirkman).  They created Witch Doctor, a kick-ass comic.

Portland being a small town, I had previously met Brandon on one of my more memorable shoots.  He was writing a story about Portland’s annual naked bike ride for the Willamette Week and I was photographing it.  We laughed about re-creating our last encounter for this shoot.  Mostly an awkward laugh.

And so as usual, I tend to like not just the image that the Times editors choose to publish…and so here are a couple.

I like the splat at their feet. Seemed fitting for a medical horror comic.

The Brewhouse Studio concepted and shot three video spots last week for Z-Chains tire chains company.  A company with a history of a fairly conservative approach to advertising, Z-Chains surprised us when they went for our idea, which was laced with a good dose of sexual innuendo.  How do you sell tire chains with sexual innuendo you ask, oh there are limitless options, three of which we’ll be posting on You Tube very soon.  In the meantime here are some behind the scenes images from one of the shoots.  The Brewhouse Studio’s in-house producer/director Michael Ward lead the shoot and knocked it out of the park.

Michael Ward being bossy.

Sean Rawls was our director of photography. Lauren Raburn was our stalker (and our fashion designer).

2 A.M.

Mike and Sean.

Mike made them do this a lot.

Jaclyn working as the Brewhouse Studio's stand-in model.

As The Brewhouse Studio nears its official launch, we are lucky to be joined by Jaclyn who will be managing our projects.  She is a master of organization which seems to be an allusive skill for many of us creatives. For example, it took me three months to finally haul my studio gear into our space so that I can grab portraits when the mood strikes, shoot prototype product designs, and experiment with different lighting scenarios.  Now a 9-foot backdrop has been added to our decor of beer signs, enormous exercise balls, skateboards with no wheels, and two meat cleavers.

Photographing the CAP shin dig was a blast. Great music, good food, fancy peeps, and drag queens all coming together to make for a serious amount of money raised to fight HIV/AIDS. Tons of incredible artists donated work. Check out the list.

The juicy light driving through Idaho made for this bucolic scene. I like the light reflecting off the wet road.

Ara and Willa watching me shoot the farm scene.

Somewhere in Eastern Washington

The same somewhere, different light.

Working for NEEA has been my best gig in the last month.  I photographed in an enormous potato processing plant in Idaho where they asked me if I was bringing in any glass (I answered by looking down at my lenses); I stopped by the roadside near Whitefish, Montana and employed Willa and Ara to model (yes, they made it into the annual report); and they gave me free reign to interpret the themes of the shoot, which is every photographer’s dream.  I can’t post the final images from the project quite yet, but I’ll put them up after I get the green light from NEEA.