There’s no doubt that Santa Barbara is a city that is historically rich as well as visually one of California’s finest places to spend time living, or in our case on location shooting. The city has been host to top tier dog shows since 1919, when the city's first took place in the Palm Ring of the Belvedere Hotel.  The times may have changed but the dogs are still prestigious and continue to rank as some of the best in the world.

We spent a weekend last August capturing imagery for Purina and their “Pro Plan” line via Colle+McVoy at the Santa Barbara Kennel Club show.  It was a display of the best of the best competing for top rank in their respective categories.  Groomed to the nines, these canine paragons put on quite a show, with no shortage of visual energy to spend time capturing over the course of the two-day event.

We have shot a number of similar projects for Purina and this was the first where video was added as an element of our production and workflow.  We plan to share the director’s cut in a future post, offering a deeper look of life in the arena as well as how our spontaneous style of shooting was such a compliment to a fast paced project of this nature.

This week kicks off a 5 city tour to include Brooklyn, NY, New Orleans, LA, Denver, CO, Napa City, CA, and Detroit, MI.  This will be one of our most varied productions as far as multiple stops for a single project.  Spring is on and we are looking forward to life on the move, connecting with past as well as new prodution crew and talent in each of these markets.

Proud to grace the pages of Photo District New's 2014 Photo Annual.  Image selected features Highway 1's Bixby Bridge, shot amid last summer's tour up the Pacific Coast Hwy from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  Thanks PDN!

El Bosque is a personal project, a story of a man exploring and contemplating life amid the woods of Central Park.

As is typical of most personal projects, El Bosque came to life taking varied turns at each stage beginning with the morning hours shooting stills and video, as described in the Vol. 1 post.  After my return to Minneapolis the project continued to evolve throughout the post-production process.  Edited by Nathaniel Schmidt, the wide screen / split screen format offered a unique, less conventional style for combining shots and imagery.  Once visuals were in place, we asked copywriter Charles Youel for insight and support in crafting words that might ultimately be read as voiceover.  Charles offered the following thoughts after one of our first visits:

When we first met to watch the film, I think I mentioned that my instinct was to use a quote. There are a number of reasons for that. One, I think that using a quote will help keep the film from feeling like an ad — it lends a certain sincerity and gravity. I also think there's a timeless quality to the scenes, in that they feel like they could be happening almost any time during the past 40-50 years.

In response Charles suggested the writings of Henry David Thoreau, which matched up well with eloquent passages from a bygone era that still have relevance in our time.  The voice was destined to be one of wisdom and age looking back on a youthful, less obvious time.

We opted to try a voiceover read of Thoreau’s passages in both English and Spanish.  As you’ll note we went with the latter as it seemed to fit well with the visuals and ended up as a nod to Jason Hurt (the film’s subject) and his grandparent's latino lineage.  

Enjoy the cinematic narrative, losing yourself to the rhythms of Thoreau in Spanish.

As we finally approach the descent on winter’s slope, looking forward to the slide into spring, here is a selection of stills from a personal project shot in a kinder weathered Central Park, NYC. 

The project came about from a portfolio showing visit to New York in the early months of 2013.  Following our usual approach of exploring an environment with a subject or two, the story most often comes together on location with a few initial ideas to springboard the creative.  NY-based actor Jason Hurt and I set off into the woods of Central Park with limited time, a few props and ideas nestled in our pockets and minds.  The result of our time together in the park has become “El Bosque,” a tale of visuals loosely woven around the writings of Henry David Thoreau. 

When it comes to personal shooting, I enjoy getting into the grit of a subject and pushing the boundaries to explore new territories.  In this first look I am pleased to share the experience through the still images of the story and look forward to sharing the second installment in the form of a cinematic narrative.

Backpacks, backyards, microscopes and classrooms embody the wide range of props and destinations from a recent production for Target's "Take Charge of Education / TCOE" campaign.  Produced in colloboration with Minneapolis based little, this was a shoot ripe with color, light, textures and of course energy and emotion from our talent.  A great cause to rally behind, TCOE is an ongoing intiative endorsed by Target which has donated over $387 million to K-12 schools since 1997. 

South by Southwest is underway and we’re pretty stoked to have a presence at one of the country's most innovative events. Proudly partnering with Austin-based Traveller Denim, the short film above profiles the Traveller brand and their philosophy + approach to ‘bespoke’ custom-tailored jeans and apparel. 

Made by hand, following American tradition, Traveller Denim uses vintage industrial machines and the finest Japanese and Cone Mills selvedge ‘to bring you the best pair of jeans you’ll ever own.’ 

The film will premier at the Big Blind Ramble Music Festival, a party hosted by Traveller Denim as part of the 2014 South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Conference.

At the onset of last summer a project for Lowe's "Never Stop Improving" Fall Recruitment came up through local agency Little here in Minneapolis. The project involved a range of talent from young to old representing an aspirational, pioneering spirit throughout all scenes of the lifestyle imagery. Over the three shoot days we made our way across several locations in the metro including residential, park, lakeside, and wooded area. The stills and accompanying motion edit offers a glimpse of visuals captured throughout the production. 

We’re excited to present “Head to Head” the motion spot from of our latest—and most ambitious—spec project, a still and motion based profile of worldwide brand Adidas. We continue to push the boundaries of our experience, equipment and collaborators to create new work outside of our current portfolio. Head to Head is a first for us, a unique and creative undertaking by our team and local industry partners.  (You can check out the still images in our first post, Adidas | Head to Head | Vol. 1.)

This project was shot in one evening—a total of four hours—with many collaborators and a mishmash of audio, lighting and camera equipment. The hustle and bustle on set had the buzz and energy of a film production, where everyone has a very specific job tailored to their expertise. In this industry, for increased efficiency and reduced budget, we often find ourselves wearing many different hats on a shoot. This was a unique opportunity to perform very specialized roles, as the credits acknowledge.

Right away, it’s obvious that the setting of this story is gritty and minimal, and the last thing on the minds of our athletes is dropping the paddles and calling game. In the shadow of their highs, nothing else matters but the opponent across from them. Dramatic lighting showcases the intense energy of the scene, the driving action behind the simple narrative of these two dedicated, semi-professional table tennis players. It ignites a fierce sense of competition between the two players—and a concentrated passion for the game.

In the upcoming weeks, we’ll release another installment of our series Behind the Lens, featuring the production behind Head to Head. You’ll get an insider’s look at all the equipment, talent and techniques that made this shoot possible. On this project, and many others, we were lucky to work with some of Minneapolis’ top creatives.

As always, we extend a special thanks to our production partners:

Produced and Directed by Jonathan Chapman/JCP


Production - Bobbi Peacock


Assistant to Producer - John Fontana
Edit - Nathaniel Schmidt


Assistant Director - Tony Franklin
Director of Photography - Alex Horner
Aerial Photography - Picture Factory
Second Camera - Eric Schleicher


First A/C - Jules Ameel
Talent - Ahmed Zain/Henry Klaverkamp
Behind the Scenes - Nathaniel Schmidt / Bill Hickey
Art Department/Props/Wardrobe - Alison Hoekstra

Lighting - Michael Handley / Tasty Lighting Supply
Location Scout - Anne Healy 


Production Assistant - Angie Marasco
Production Assistant - Nicole Klein
Production Assistant - Jaclyn Greeman
Color Grading - Jonathan Chapman
Original Music - Nick Mihalevich / Cape Status
Foley Artist - Nick Leisenheimer