The opening is scheduled for July 4th at 7:30 pm.  Hope to see you there!

Back in October I had a “photographer spotlight” article featured in Snowboard Colorado Magazine.  Always a great feeling to get some unseen images out there, and Snowboard Colorado dedicated a 12 page layout to my work- truly motivating to get that much exposure in one magazine.

It’s a free local publication centered around local talent and industry news.  They’re definitely raising the bar, with a quality higher than any other shred mag on the market.  Printing on 100lb high gloss paper, the photo’s jump off the page then right in your lap.  Already in it’s 4th issue, they print monthly Sept- May. You can pick one up at just about any snowboard shop in the state, but keep in mind they go fast with a limited distribution.

Here’s the issue and how it ran.

Thanks again to Adam and Jeff at CSM for showing the love.

]]> http://jonpaciaroni.com/blog/snowboard-colorado-magazine-photographer-spotlight/feed 0 http://jonpaciaroni.com/blog/are-you-a-bi-product-product-or-producer http://jonpaciaroni.com/blog/are-you-a-bi-product-product-or-producer#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:25:22 +0000 jonpac http://jonpaciaroni.com/?p=587

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment.

The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach.

Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today’s pop culture.

“Influencers” belongs to the new generation of short films, webdocs, which combine the documentary style and the online experience.

influencersfilm.com
facebook.com/​influencersfilm

It’s time to share a little love for good efforts.  The HALO Foundation is a non-profit org dedicated to enhancing living conditions by providing art therapy to orphaned youth worldwide.  Art therapy has proven itself as an integral part of helping HALO’s kids overcome past traumatic experiences.  It encourages them to express themselves, become more confident and develop better communication skills.  Submitted artwork created by the children is then auctioned off to raise funds for continued support.  With art programs meeting budget cuts just about everywhere these days, I wanted to support the efforts of HALO by means of photography.

This Friday I’ll be donating 15 limited edition fine art prints for silent auction.  With 100% of the proceeds will go to the HALO Foundation’s Denver Center for Youth located in Downtown’s Five Points District.  The Community Center provides art mentoring programs and educational workshops for at risk youth between the ages of 6 and 16 at no cost.  It’s a good thing…. hope to see you there.

]]> http://jonpaciaroni.com/blog/halo-foundation-silent-auction/feed 0 http://jonpaciaroni.com/blog/creativity%e2%80%a6-is-it-enough http://jonpaciaroni.com/blog/creativity%e2%80%a6-is-it-enough#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:13:58 +0000 jonpac http://jonpaciaroni.com/?p=565 Making something out of nothing is the essence of creation.  But what exactly does that mean? Where does one start?  Where’s it come from? And what defines creativity anyhow?  But most importantly… is creativity alone enough? In today’s crowded, noisy world good advertising photography must transcend just ‘creative’.

Your probably wondering why all the questions and how does this tie into the photography industry? This vid features a few guys laying out pure physical poetry in motion. Have a look while I attempt to figure that first part out.

Brilliant. In a word, this is easy to say, but hard to do. What is brilliance? It’s insightful. It works harder. There’s more happening on a deeper level…more neurons firing when you look at the work. But beyond being just brilliant, for work to get ‘noticed’ it also has another characteristic. It is…

Different. Some professional creatives roll their eyes at ‘different’ because they argue that different for the sake of being different isn’t worth much. I agree. That said, ‘different’ with brilliance works. If you haven’t seen something before–say a fresh camera angle or a unique treatment on an image or video–you’re more likely to… stop on that page. Like it or not, different is effective. But while being creative, brilliant, and different you’ll get great gigs, lots of attention and perhaps even a high five from the award people. But the real thing we should all aspire toward is…

Innovative. This comes in many forms, but my understanding of creative innovation is when you’ve created something truly unique, when you haven’t just provided a solution to the problem, you’ve asked more questions, answered those questions too and solved the problem in a way that nobody has before you. It’s more than just working harder, finding a better camera angle and shooting the ad. It’s re-defining an entirely new expectation of what’s possible. It’s the iPhone. It’s the opening sequence to Saving Private Ryan or the 3D in Avatar. It’s Warhol or Banksy. Seth Godin or Gregory Crewdson. It’s Cartier-Bresson.

And while this list might be intimidating, there’s an abundance of room in every single craft or industry for innovation. In fact, it’s required for progress. So which of us will innovate? I’m banking it’s the ones that start out with creativity, sprinkle in some brilliance, and do things differently on a regular basis…Those folks are most often standing on the edge of innovation.

Admittedly, beyond a list of things, it’s hard to say what innovation is. But if I can’t say exactly what it is, I most certainly know what it is not. It doesn’t look or sound at all like the status quo. It doesn’t resemble boring pages in a source book, or a direct mailer. It’s not f8 at 1/250th with a main light and a fill. It doesn’t feel like a 30-second spot on prime time or a headshot on the cover of Time. Innovation often seems like it’s a far cry from what pays our bills as professional creatives, but I have no doubt that it’s worth aspiring toward.

The thing I do believe is that we can get there with intention and hard work. But how in the hell can we get somewhere if we haven’t defined where we’re going? Well that’s the purpose of this post. Let’s put a target on creative innovation. Let’s figure out where we’re going and go there now.  Anyone up for South Central LA in a rain storm.  Ok, maybe not… I said I’d tie it in.

Recently I was commissioned by a local snowboard manufacturer for a team portrait shoot.  Action sports athletes tend to be my  preferred subjects; for portrait work and otherwise.  True to the elements, these guys held it down for 4 hours in the rain.  Models and make-up artists usually call it a day after 15 minutes of rain.  I really have to hand it to everyone for keeping the energy level high and laughs flowing.  The vibe definitely carried over to the lens- as you can see.  I.e bad weather = great photographs.  And more importantly; bad weather + happy subjects + happy photographer = happier art directors.

It’s no secret, but more of a reason not to reschedule that next rained out shoot that catches you flat footed.  Just remember to dress warm and keep lots of dry lens rags handy.  Now get up and get the shot!

Have you seen the recent viral ad from Levi’s of a guy walking across America wearing Levi jeans?  Peter Cote, director Sam Griffith, and the Conscious Minds Productions crew approached Levi’s jeans for sponsorship  to make it all happen.  The trip began June 17 in New York and ended July 1 in San Francisco.

Anyway, this video here shows us how they pulled it off using just one camera, a tripod, 14 days, a few thousand photos, a few thousand miles, a protractor, a string, and a bit of math. Sign me up.

You can read more about how they shot the project at Planet 5D.

The response to the “Power of Free” has been so huge that the venue needed an upgrade.  So, just a friendly reminder we’ll be at Casselman’s, not Ink Monstr on the 21st.  Same pony, different rodeo.

Hope to see you there!

Tentative Lineup:

2:00 – 3:00  Djs Mike Deez/Stretch/Daniel/Eric/Keenan – DJs

3:00 – 3:30 200 Million Years – Band

3:30 – 4:00 Next band set up

4:00 – 4:30

4:30 – 5:00 Next band set up

5:00 – 5:30 Whygee – MC

5:45 – 6:00 Next band set up

6:00 – 6:45 Astro Moveo – Band

6:45 – 7:00 Next band set up

7:00 – 7:30 Muso – DJ

7:30 – 7:45 Next band set up

7:45 – 8:30 The Pirate Signal

8:30 – 9:00 Next band set up

9:00 – 9:45 The Get down Science

9:45 – 10:15 Next band set up

10:15 – 11:00 Bukue

11:00 – 11:15 Next Band set up

11:15 – 12:00 Bus Driver

12:00 – 12:30 Next Band set up

12:30 – 1:15 The Dendrites

1:15 – 2:15 Pillow Fight

2:15 – 3:00 &One

3;00 – 4:00 Chris Specht

Artists  -  Special thanks to Melissa Belongea.  Your KILLING IT!!

Sara Ford
Tom Bond
Axel Geittmann
Patrick Hansen
Scot Lefavor
Emily Ayers
Joe Triscari
Amanda Baker
Jon Paciaroni
Mike Graves
Ryan Parker
Matt Scobey
Mike Ortiz
Bridget Mahoney
Chad Everhart
David Jones
Atsu Saisho
Andrew Hoffman
Whittney Wells
Angel Lujan
Seth Lockard
Mike Hubert
Jared King
Jon-Paul Belongea
Sandra Fettingis
Pat Milbery
Andrew Heard
Jonathan Lamb
Jon Strieby
AJ McCormick
Henry Daniel Bell
Sarah Adams
Jimmy
Kelly Monico
Pedro Barrios
Libby Wann
Patrick Duffy

….AND MORE!!

Burlesque

OOH LA LA!  Will be providing the sexiest burlesque dancers around.

Live Models Body Painting

Thats right, the whole body!!

Live Paint by Local Artists

Drinks  -  Special thanks to Red Bull and PBR

Free PBR

Free Red Bull Finlandia Vodka

Free Red Bull Cola Whisky(Jack Daniels) and Rum
Yes, you heard that last part right…. FREE booz, but no drinkin’ and driving.

Learned some painful news that we recently lost an amazing artist and true gentlemen within the flickr community.  Horst Bernhart, known as hb19 shared with us a trademark style and a creative process he made with a simple point and shoot camera.  His humorous and charismatic approach seemed to envelope his personalty into the images he made.  Whether giving us updates of the “Adventures of Woody and Chip” or a morning coffee run to Mcdonald’s, his expressive vision was one of a kind.

If his work hasn’t crossed your radar… I encourage you to browse his collections and see the possibilities of a little ingenuity with common everyday surroundings.

As for me- Horst was a daily source of inspiration within these creative confines of flickr.  My deepest condolences go out to the family.  He will be dearly missed as an artist and friend.

Unpredictability has it’s place in photography.  And long exposures take the cake in knowing exactly what your not going to get in an ambient setting,  So how long is this one?  Six months. That’s right. This surreal exposure made by Justin Quinnell shows each phase of the sun over the Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge in the UK.  The image was captured with a pin-hole camera made from a pop can with a 0.25mm aperture and a single sheet of photographic paper.  MacGyver would be proud.

Quinnell strapped the inconspicuous aluminum can to a telephone pole overlooking the Gorge, where it was left between December 19, 2007 and June 21, 2008- the Winter and Summer solstices.  This technique; known as ‘solargraphy’ shows six months of the sun’s luminescent trails and its subtle change caused by the earth’s movement in orbit. The lowest arc being the first day of exposure on the Winter solstice, while the top curves were captured mid-Summer.   The dotted lines of light are the result of overcast days when the sun struggled to penetrate the cloud coverage.

Quinnell is a renowned fine art pin-hole photographer, he stated the photograph took on a personal resonance after his father passed away on April 13th- midway through the exposure.  The picture allowed him to pinpoint the exact location of the sun in the sky at the moment of his father passing.   Not an easy thought to hang on… but the insight isn’t always as pretty as the picture.  Overall, you gotta love the artistic value to this timeline technique here (not to mention the Coke can capture method).  Good on ya Justin!