Abe Vigoda

Wow, I absolutely cannot believe that it’s December already! Time flies when you’re busy, and we have been very busy here at Snap. Clothing shoots, food shoots, furniture shoots and a few personal projects thrown in has made for a busier than expected – and most important, fun end of the year.

Which reminds me, come the new year it’s always time to replenish the jokes (actually we do that every other year, but either way, it’s coming up this year). I recently heard two that are too bad for even me to repeat, so I would like to do a “Joke Go-See”. Send us your best dumb jokes, and if we use them on the air, you could win a valuable prize!

Our last contest – the Abe Vigoda look-alike contest – was such a huge success, that we know we can get some great responses. So, what are you waiting for? Send in your dumb jokes! All of them! We can’t wait.

Now, for those of you thinking “Boy, they spend a lot of time telling bad jokes at that studio”, I just want to assure you of a few things. One reason that we even have the time to tell jokes, good or bad, is that we are very good at what we do. Photography is second nature to all of us, and the crews that we work with are equally talented and professional.

At Snap Studio we strive for three things: To partner with you for the long term to help ensure success of your business; to give you the highest quality images possible; and to keep our shoots lively, fun and professional. (In other words, the 80’s are over and you don’t have to put up with prima donna’s any more)

And if that means throwing in a bad joke or two to make the day a little more lively, hey, I’m all for it!

BTW - Go back to our website and download the capabilities brochure. That will spell out our vision and how dedicated we are to the craft of photography.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for reading!

Oh, wait a minute, did I ever tell you the one about the hamster, the goat and the UFO? Well, that may have to wait until you hire us!

Adria

I must apologize for the lapse in writing the blog, but I’ve been up very late every night doing a crossword puzzle.

GREAT NEWS!!! Snap Studio has landed a fun new client – Ariat International, the leading performance footwear and apparel brand for equestrians around the world. We just finished up a great week of shooting for their Spring 2010 catalog, and we are looking forward to shooting the next go-round soon. Thank you Ariat team, this is a great project and we are excited to partner with you for years to come.

In other news, we have just begun pre-production on a fun new cookbook. This long-term project is the realization of a number of people on the Snap Studio team, and we are very fortunate to have such a talented and motivated crew. It seems as though those interviews last month have paid off. Stay tuned for more news ahead – we have high hopes for the coming year.

Well, that's all the blog that's fit to print. Sorry it’s so brief, but I need to get back to business. By the way, does anyone know a 5 letter word for Constantine’s horse?

Confidence

You know what's funny? I have come to realize that interviews are easy. Showing our portfolio, talking about the great work we do here at Snap, etc… easy. It wasn’t always like that, obviously, but with so many years under my belt and so many times that I’ve sat and talked about myself, it has simply become easy. I have complete confidence in my abilities, and can back anything up with my work and actions.

The funny part is – why now? Why not when I desperately needed the work – like when I was starting out and struggling. It’s not that I don’t need work now, of course I do, but I really needed it then. Why couldn’t I walk into a CD’s office back then and just chat about what I do with complete ease?

OK, as I’m typing about 15 different answers are coming to me, and they are all obvious, but still, I wish I had this kind of mojo 20 years ago. (I could have used it in situations other than business too!) Whoever said youth is wasted on the young was absolutely right.

Of course, sometimes things do fall a little flat, like last week when I was doing the rounds and showing the portfolio. I was rambling on about how I’ve been doing this for 20 years and it’s all second nature to me when I stopped and said to the CD: “Now’s the time when you interrupt me and tell me that I don’t look old enough, or ask a rhetorical question like “Wow, 20 years? Did you start when you were 9?”

She looked at me like I was from Mars.

Fortunately I was able to recover and continue on for the rest of the interview without another corny joke (although I was really tempted to toss out a pirate joke at the end)

I guess this kind of confidence comes from only one thing: experience. I have worked with enough people to know who is talented, and who is faking, and I am fortunate enough to work with a team of people here at Snap who are honestly the most talented and creative people I have ever met.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right – this is a little self-serving. But here’s the rub, I truly believe it. I am probably the least talented person on the team (that’s why I’m the one writing the blog) and I feel that I can photograph circles around anyone in the Bay Area. I’m certain that in truth, that is an exaggeration, but it is how I feel. And it’s that confidence that makes the interview process so easy. Kinda a viscous circle.

So, the moral of the story, if there is one – bring it on! Let’s sit down and talk about photography because even though you can’t tell from this blog, I love to talk about photography. Maybe next week I’ll write more about it.

Oh, and by the way... stay tuned in the coming weeks to find out the success stories of the latest round of interviews.

Rules

So, I just found out recently that there are people out there actually reading this blog. This truly puts the pressure to be witty, intelligent, and informative. Considering that in my first draft I spelled “intelligent” wrong, this may be more of a challenge than I initially considered. Nonetheless, I shall endeavor to make this blog as interesting as I can.

Ready, here it goes:

My rules for traveling:

Never eat in a restaurant that revolves. Philadelphia airport, believe it or not, is one of the best in the world. Rub soap on the hotel bathroom mirror before you shower and it won’t fog up. Always have your pockets full of change. The words “public” and “restroom” are two words that should have never been put together, and... never play cards against anyone whose first name is the same as a city.

My rules for photography:

Anything goes. When you hire me, you own me for as long as it takes, and whatever it takes. After all these years it's still fun, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Never speak to me when a song is on the radio with the words “summer” “sailing” “drifting” or “dreaming” anywhere in the lyrics.

My rules for driving:

See below posts

My rules for life:

When you’re thirsty, it’s too late

Shout outs

Greetings everyone, and happy October! Halloween is on its way, and you know what that means – it’s a bad time to go on a diet!

I have to say that I love this time of year – the weather changes (except in The Bay Area, where it’s pretty much the same all the time), leaves change color (except in The Bay Area, where we really don’t have very many deciduous trees), and everyone hunkers down and watches football on the weekends (except in The Bay Area where everyone is outside, and doesn’t pay much attention to football).

The other thing that happens is that the holiday craziness in the studio subsides to a dull roar, making way for fun projects like the gig we did for Cost Plus World Market PR last week. I love shoots that are collaborative, creative and fun. It’s as though the whole team can feel it too – and I must say that I work with one of the greatest teams in all of photography. It is truly enjoyable when everyone feels part of the process, and it makes my job very rewarding.

So, after a long holiday season, a big shout out to Sid, Bronwyn, Elena, Doug, James, Gillian, Caroline, Allen, Ching, and everyone else that comes in and out of our shoots. Thank you! You all are the best.

Also, a big shout out to another integral, but missing member of the team. Todd is off to Tokyo for the month, teaching Yoga. (Although he’ll never see this since I know he doesn’t have internet in his 8 tatami apartment, and is too afraid to go the internet café to check his emails). Good luck Todd, we miss you – and work on those biking skills while you’re gone!

Skiing in Hawaii

When I was in 10th grade, my physics teacher laughed when I told him that, on certain cold days in winter, you could ski on the Big Island of Hawaii. He also told me that a rainbow was merely an optical phenomenon that is caused by sunlight shining onto droplets of moisture in the atmosphere, creating a multi-colored arc. As a photographer, the study of light is kind of a hobby of mine, so while I know that Mr. Ruskin was technically correct, I also know that he was missing out on something a great deal more essential to life than what physics can present us. But, when I was called in for a parent-teacher conference midway through the year, neither my parents nor Mr. Ruskin were impressed with my interpretation of what rainbows were, or rather, could be. The "D" that I received in physics class that year did two things for me: it taught me that I would never become a physicist, no matter how hard I studied, and it taught me that things are not always as they appear, and that no matter what the cost, it is always worth looking at the world in a different way. Fortunately, Mr. Ruskin's class was followed by my law class, taught by Mr. Akey. Mr. Akey was hippie through and through, and accepted my truths of rainbows, among other things. We dissected John Lennon's "Imagine", and talked about how cool it would be to ski in Hawaii, and even though we were studying the law, he is the one that started me down the path of becoming a photographer. Still, whenever I see an amazing arching rainbow (as I did this past weekend), my imagination soars, my creativity sparks, and eventually I can't help but think back to Mr. Ruskin's class, and feel sorry for him.

Arrrr ?

For me the biggest disappointment of the week was that “international talk like a pirate day” happened on a Saturday. Usually, if it falls on a weekday, that is a great day in the studio. As it was, no one said anything all week with the slightest twinge of “arrrrr”, and life went on as though there never was anything called “international talk like a pirate day”, which is a sad irony.

On the upside, ACORN is being investigated for promoting using HUD money for prostitution, John Edwards is about to admit he fathered the child of his mistress, the GOP is reportedly considering changing its initials to NO, "the age of stupid" is simultaneously premiering live across the country, and the Jets beat the Patriots. Wow, what a week!

I don’t know if I ever mentioned that my grandmother invented fitted sheets – you know, the sheets with the elastic corners? Yep, she invented them, but just never told anyone about it. She swore up and down that that was her idea. But I have a friend whose grandmother, in 1941, had a premonition about Pearl Harbor – but she didn’t get it until Dec. 8^th.

I was wondering if anyone wants to weigh in on this video. Read the comments underneath, they are very interesting. I have to tell you that I used to work at the World Trade Center, so even though I was in California for 9/11, I have a connection and can understand a certain sensitivity to any parody of the event . That being said, I laughed alot when I watched this: http://gizmodo.com/5359078/when-you-think-about-it-the-death-star-was-stormtroopers-911

Let us know what you think