Boy Scout Motto: Always Be Prepared

I never made it all the way through The Boys Scouts. The farthest I got was getting half way through The Webelos. I did like the blue uniforms in Webelos with the patches and the sash. I just couldn't put all the energy into Boy Scouts at the time.

It's funny, one thing has always stood out for me that came from those years way back when: Always Be Prepared.

A perfect example was a couple of weeks ago. I was hired to shoot a group shot for an international hotel chain. After seeing the mock up and an example of what the client was looking for I was thinking this will be a simple minimal lighting shoot. I'm bringing two assistants because we budgeted for two. On the drive down I'm telling the assistants that this shot should not take long and should be a simple lighting set up. We brought every light that we have "just in case" but I'm thinking "no way, one light, done".

We get to the location and the first hurdle is clearing the cars from the set (parking lot) which was to be the background. Second is picking camera angle and moving the scissors lift into position. Third is dealing with the wind which just happened to pick up and the temperature which was rather chilly. At this point I realize what I thought would be an easy shot turns into something a heck of a lot more involved. Luckily (after talking with my assistants that morning) we had everything we needed. The group shot of twenty-five employee's shot from above took six lights, various clamps for support in the wind, heaters, and some fun loving people. Here are some production stills from the shoot.

Time to catch up

Great Moments in Fatherhood

The first words (saying dad), the first successful potty experience, the first day of school, first soccer goal, first base hit, the list goes on. These are those proud moments in my life as a dad.
We just had another milestone recently when both of my sons had to shave for the first time. Needless to say I wasn't ready for it but my wife pressed me into the process after buying all the supplies. Both of these guys were rocking the "latino stach" (my wife is latin). My younger son was reluctant to lose the look saying it added to "his look". In the end we got it done. It really made me realize that we are getting older. Now the older one is starting to drive. Practicing with a stick shift is definitely an experience. My poor Honda CR-V. Anyway here's a shot of my son before the big shave.





We had the opportunity to photograph down in Arkansas for a couple of days at a college recently. This was during all of the unsettled weather that the south mid west was having.
This was a shot of a cloud formation while we were driving to shoot at a location in a stream. We were worried about getting the shot in before the downpour. The cloud almost has a reverse funnel going up instead of down. We got our shot (three people taking samples of water) by working quickly and giving good direction. The sky opened up five minutes later. Later that evening I watched in fascination the storms moving across Arkansas on TV. The stations had Doppler radar on for the whole night giving detailed info to various counties that were in the path of the numerous tornadoes that were forming. Coming from the East Coast it was definitely a different experience. We were lucky to not be hit but a town approx. five or so miles a way was not so lucky.




Last but not least, check out the website. I've posted new work up in the Education portfolios from some of the educational jobs that we did this spring season.

Enjoy
Until next time...

Just Checking In

My assistants and I have been very busy since the last time I posted. Most of the work has been along the I-95 corridor. We've been up and down so much I think we've put a groove in the road. A couple of trips to NYC, a couple to Philly, throw in some in Baltimore, one stop in Delaware, have been our MO for the past couple of weeks. Just trying to keep my head above water.

One project I wanted to share was one I recently completed for LIM College. Based in NYC, LIM specializes in majors pertaining to the fashion industry. In addition to working on their admissions photography through CCA, an agency out of Albany,NY, we were contacted to work on a series of NYC transit ads. The concept was "where business meets fashion". Real students and faculty were cast and asked to bring/wear apparel that epitomized the concept. In addition to the still shoot on white we shot video at the same time of certain subjects to be used in admissions pieces.

Everyone brought their own style and personality to the shoot. Some will come in with preconceived ideas of how they should look and others would just stand there with no idea. It's my job then to get them relaxed and to pull that uniqueness out while our "models" are standing in the sterile environment of a white background. I also wanted the experience to be stress free and fun since it was the first time posing like this for most of the subjects. In the end I think we shot twenty some subjects and all were fun to shoot. This is a sample of some of the ads.

Until next time......













Actual ad on the subway (thanks to Stacy Lautzerheiser, awesome designer) for snapping this shot.

It's been a while

Wow! I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last posted. I've been very busy since then. I'll condense this and not ramble on. Last year was an amazing time for me as a photographer. We landed one of the largest jobs I've done in my 25 years of shooting. In May of 2010 we started on phase one of a seven phase project for the USDA. We ended up shooting throughout the year and completed the project in February of this year. The concept was building a photo library that related to healthy eating, lifestyles, and choices for lower to lower-middle class families. Also included in this project was building awareness of breast feeding that we shot for WIC. The production was huge. We shot in houses, schools, hospitals, cafeterias, grocery stores, and parks. We casted an army of talent young and old throughout the year including pregnant moms, newborns (2 months old), and nursing moms. It was a lot of fun. Every 4-5 weeks our rambling crew of fifteen (assistants, props and sets, wardrobe, hair and make-up, food stylist, producer, art director and yours truly would meet at the newest, scouted, and approved location. Most phases were 4 days of shooting, 2-3 weeks of production. It was great working and hanging out with a such a professional group. Good karma goes a long way on a multi day shoot especially when everyone signed on for the whole project. Samples of the work are on my website www.peterhoward.com, click on USDA portfolio. Here's some happy snaps on some of the phases.



Billy with Ginny


Grant in power pose in the grocery store


Fun at school

Food stylist with elephant mask, Hmmm....


Boys will be boys part 1


Part 2


Billy- green grocer


Put some country in this here shoot


A moment alone


Feeling left out


BUTTernut squash


My dog made the model cut


I was also able to go back to Switzerland three times last year and once this year shooting for one of my clients over there. The last trip my assistant (Billy) and I went over early to snowboard for a week. The conditions were not the best (lack of snow) but we made the best of it. One of the things we did while there was shoot video of students from the Leysin American School (my client) skiing and snowboarding. I decided it would be more realistic if I rode right next to them filming the whole time. We got some cool footage. I must say it worked well on runs with no moguls. Some of what we were shooting were videos of various students talking to the camera on white. We ended up using shop lights from a local hardware store that was down the mountain, white balanced them, and supplemented with our Lowel lights (after buying 220 bulbs for the lights). It worked great. We kept the cost down for the client and didn't have any problems with voltage (220v110). Here are some snaps from our last time there.


sunrise over Leysin


me out when it's dumping


Billy in Zermatt


on the cog train heading through the mountain to the top


no snow


Billy on the lifts


Swiss pride


toilet in town-love the color



I think one of the most fulfilling jobs I did last year was photographing Andy Griffith at his home in North Carolina. We shot an ad campaign for Medicare using him as a spokesperson. We arrived the night before and met for a production meeting at one of the local restaurants. One point that was brought to my attention right away was that Andy does not like having his still picture taken. Inside, my brain is going "that's just great", but my response is, "no worries here, most people I photograph don't like having their picture taken". I went to bed that night thinking how we will expedite the shoot quickly but get what we need. The next day was beautiful, crew call at 7:00 am. We arrive at the home around 8:30 am. The film crew is already setting up (shooting commercial at the same time). One thing I forgot to mention, my assistant Billy is from Mount Airy, NC, the birthplace of Andy Griffith. He will be my trump card. Andy is in another part of the house chillin so we chill. I realized right then that I 'm in the house of an American icon. I grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show when I was young. I had my boys watch to give them a sense of true Americana. Looking around the house one can see and feel the history; it was simply amazing. Well Andy comes down the hall in his wheelchair and says hi to everyone. I think people were nervous to talk to him. I noticed the regular greetings but nothing more. My assistant notices that the granite in the kitchen looks like it was quarried from Mount Airy. He comes up to me and says "this stuff is from Mt Airy". I see my in right then. I say "let's go and ask him". Billy and I go up to Andy when no one is watching. Billy asks where the granite is from and Andy replies "son, it's from a small town called Mt Airy, you've probably never heard from it". Billy's reply is "I grew up there". After that we talked to Andy for a little while, mainly small talk. When it was time for me to shoot (we shot him on three separate locations after the TV shoot) Andy's wife was always near to make sure he was comfortable and happy. When we wrapped our still shots his wife gave me a big hug and kiss and thanked me for being nice and genuine. I'll never forget that. Afterward, when everyone was leaving I sat with Andy and his wife and asked him about a specific picture I saw on the wall. It was a painting of his old agent. We talked for 30 minutes or so about the old TV days, how he got into the business, and the way things are now. I left there with no doubt in my mind that I had met and talked to a true American Icon. Here's an out take from the shoot.

That's about it. I could go on but wanted to just touch on some of the memorable ones. Till next time.