Peter Howard Photographer, Inc.

Great time shooting Carson Kressley

2012-02-13T14:31:00.001-05:00

Last week I had the opportunity to shoot stills and video of TV personality, Carson Kressley (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on Bravo, How to Look Good Naked on Lifetime, Carson-Nation on OWN network) in his apartment in NYC for Philadelphia University. We had a blast with him from the moment we got there. I was taken by surprise when we got to his apartment and he opened the door, took our coats, and asked us if we would like anything to drink. It was so refreshing to not have to deal with a publicist or a handler. Carson was very accommodating throughout the whole video/still process and boy does he have a quick wit. Here are some shots from the shoot. And again, Carson, thanks for inviting us into your home, being a good sport, and making us laugh during our experience with you.

Just released new video campaign

2012-02-08T17:44:00.000-05:00

New, hot out of the editing suite is our latest video campaign for St Johns School of Law. This was a three day project shooting two days, fourteen subjects, in Queens, NY and one day, four subjects, in Manhattan. The concept was testimonials from faculty, students, and alumni that would be used in an interactive viewbook for St Johns School of Law. For budget constraints we kept the crew small (myself and an assistant) and had our client handle the interview. Because of the time constraints, we tried to work with available light for almost the whole shoot.

All editing was done by Brett Abramsky

Check it out.
https://vimeo.com/album/1831120

New Video Just Finished

2012-01-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

I just finished another "director's cut" with some of the video that I shot over in Switzerland for Leysin American School in Switzerland. This video encompasses student life and student experiences. The various spots were shot over a year period (spring, fall, and winter). The video was edited to give a feeling of a student travel log that would be targeted to 13-17 year old prospective students. Helping me was my trusty assistant Billy Childress.

Check it out...

http://vimeo.com/35024666

Boy Scout Motto: Always Be Prepared

2011-12-08T13:40:00.001-05:00

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

2011-10-20T14:43:00.013-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it been four months since I last posted on the blog. I guess that means I've been busy (or lazy). Summer is always an interesting time of year for me professionally because it's usually the slow time. Clients are on vacation, designers are on vacation, and we are on vacation. This summer was busier than most. Which was a good thing.
Of course everyone heard about the earthquake that hit the East Coast. We were on a job in downtown Baltimore when it hit. I felt NOTHING. I was actually in the mens room washing my hands when the ground shook. I came out and my assistant said "did you feel that". "Feel what" I said wondering what he was talking about. Around that time a door opened up and about six people came running out yelling "get out of the building we just had an earthquake". My first thought was "you have got to be sh#ting me". We walked back the the job site and everyone in there was looking out the window with this nervous look on their faces. My other assistant was there right in the thick of things looking just as nervous. I guess I would be too if I would have felt SOMETHING. It just kind of stinks that we have this natural force of nature that hardly happens here and I miss it being in the bathroom. Anyway here are some out takes from the shoot (no blurriness from the quake).

We have also been busy with higher education work. This specific shot was captured after the jazz class broke up and the student was just playing on his own. It reminded me of a smoky bar in the bayou. The video is just a sample of the sound he was belting out. A better resolution is on vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/30885173

Also new stuff uploaded to the website www.peterhoward.com. Check it out.

New Video Uploaded

2011-05-31T16:24:00.006-04:00

Hot out of the editing software, I've just uploaded a new video that I worked on over in Switzerland. My second cameraman, Billy Childress, and I were contracted to shoot a variety of video (B-roll and testimonials on white) for use in future video spots for Leysin American School in Switzerland. This is a director's cut (my interpretation) on one aspect of a certain winter activity that the school has for the student body. Known as "Ski Day", after lunch on certain days students will have the opportunity to hit the slopes and go snowboarding or skiing from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm. The school has a shuttle bus service that will take the students right to the base of the mountain. Pretty cool!

We shot many other activities as well as academics during our stay. I was also shooting still photography while there. Making the transition from stills to video and back to stills took some time to get use to but we got it dialed in pretty fast. It's important to have a good crew working with you on jobs like this. If you are only taking one other person make sure he's right for the job. Billy wore many hats those two weeks but did a fantastic job.

We had to improvise a lot on the job since we were overseas, different wattage, and baggage restrictions. The shoot on white we ended up using work lights for the background and our trusty Lowel DP and Omni lights (with different bulbs) for the main light. Just color balance and we were good to go.

Yours truly was the one filming the snowboarding and skiing while snowboarding. That was a lot of fun. Trying to keep stable while snowboarding down a mountain was trying but a huge rush.

Anyway I hope you enjoy

Till next time....

http://vimeo.com/24484575

Great Moments in Fatherhood

2011-05-16T11:33:00.005-04:00

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

2011-04-13T17:26:00.008-04:00

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

2011-03-28T18:31:00.035-04:00

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.

Production shot from video shoot

2010-05-12T13:38:00.003-04:00

Yes, we are starting to incorporate video into our workflow. It's actually very exciting and a fun process. We were shooting testimonials for two educational clients a couple of weeks back. We shot the stills in our normal fashion and then shot the videos. Our biggest hurtle was to find an area that would be quiet enough to record sound without a lot of background noise. This shot was taken in a dressing room at a bridal salon. The student was working a co-op in an upscale shopping center. Our best solution was to shoot her someplace out of the way and quiet. It was a tight space but I think worked well for the look that we were going for. After we shot our takes we played back the audio and were amazed at the sound quality. It almost sounded like we shot her in a sound stage. I'm looking forward to more video/still projects to come. We have another one slated for next month overseas.

New Iphone images from Brazil

2010-04-08T09:29:00.007-04:00

I had a great opportunity to shoot a job down in Sao Paulo, Brazil recently for an insurance company annual report. Coming from approximately four feet of snow in the North East to ninety degree temps right when we got off the plane was a bit of a shock. Our day started right when we got off the plane and were met by our guide and client. We got a tour of the city that day so we could nail down a location for the shoot that was scheduled for the next day. Getting a tour of a city that is the fourth largest city in the world was daunting to say the least. Just getting around was crazy. We ended up finding a location that was two blocks from the subjects work (very convenient). Woke up the next day, shot the job in the morning and got back to the airport to fly out that night. A whirlwind trip, tiring, but always fun. Here are some iphone snaps I shot while on the street, enjoy.

New images for my youth sports project

2009-12-15T10:56:00.003-05:00

I just shot two new images for my ongoing project on kids in sports. This is a project that I started last year in response to the increasing pressure I see put upon kids that play in competitive sports. I know first hand because my two boys (11 and 14) play competitive soccer. When my wife and I would go to parties the conversation would always turn to people's kids and the sports they play. We as parents put a huge amount of time shuffling the kids to and from practice and games.

I decided to take a more sophisticated approach to the images by lighting them more dramatically and having the kids give me some attitude (but hopefully show underneath that they are kids). I worked a little in post production to desaturate the colors. Check my website for other images in the series.

Video short of my parapenting accident in Switzerland

2009-12-01T09:03:00.005-05:00

I just got the video from my assistant of me hitting the tree parapenting in Switzerland. If you don't know what that is, it's running off a mountain strapped to a parachute. I was shooting other parapenters and was attached to a guide. You can see me holding the camera in my left hand. This was the second run. The first run went off beautifully. We got the money shots on that run. I put a longer lens on for the second run. When we took off the chute didn't inflate all the way and we started to head down the mountain three feet of the ground. The only tree in our path and we hit it dead center. I kept saying "please bend, please bend"; it didn't. I love the commentary in French by the other guide. He's talking to my assistant and goes"oh no" right at the end. Anyway, got untangled, wiped myself off, walked back up the mountain with the guide and the parachute, and this time had a successful takeoff. You know; "no pain, no gain". Enjoy.

Another cramped space

2009-11-13T21:01:00.005-05:00

This was from a recent shoot at a hospital. We always seem to find the tightest, smallest spot when we scout and that is where I usually end up. The wall was literally right behind my camera. We were being hounded by the "Candy Striper volunteers" (they were worried that we were going to get in the way of their lunch setup) so I had to find a more secluded location. It worked out to our advantage since it had the props that we needed. I think this was a storage closet. A good time was had by all.

New e-mail promo sent out this week

2009-10-30T09:48:00.000-04:00

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Recent iphone snaps

2009-10-28T14:23:00.004-04:00

me in the cab going to the next location- NYC

Random shot before we go and shoot Tommy Hilfiger- NYC

Street scene- NYC

assistant test- Washington DC

Side trip to England

2009-10-28T12:23:00.001-04:00

While we were in Switzerland we stopped in London for a couple of days before we came back to the US. Here are some snaps.

Parapenting photos and others from Switzerland

2009-10-28T12:13:00.001-04:00

On top of the mountain

Night shot- moon rise

The Hote

Me and Billy at the top

Cows on the mountain

Lake Geneva

Looking out from my balcony on a foggy day

Beer of choice

Rafting

School at night

Over Leysin

My feet

Me getting ready to go

Let's start this thing

2009-10-28T11:56:00.001-04:00

Wow! Since it's my first entry, I'd like to share some of the experiences that I had over this summer to get up to speed.

I had a wonderful opportunity to go to Switzerland and shoot at a school that runs a summer camp. I was lucky enough to be there for three weeks in August. We had a blast (I took one of my assistants). We tried to do everything that the campers were doing. One funny thing happened to me, (it wasn't actually funny at the time). We shot parapenting (which is running off the mountain strapped to another person who is harnessed in to a parachute). We did it twice. The second time my chute didn't get enough air so we were cruising down the mountain approx. 2 feet off the ground. There was only one tree in our way and we B-lined straight for it. Of course I'm in the front so I took the full force. All I kept saying was "please bend, please bend". No go on that. But I got untangled, walked back up, turned around, and went again. You can't let a shooting opportunity like this pass you by. Here's some photos, enjoy.