LEFT: photo by Jamie Nelson for Blink Magazine, 2006.

RIGHT: An advertisement for Dexim Shoes, 2008 (not shot by Jamie Nelson).


tsk tsk! Get the lowdown on this debacle, here.

In the spirit of the splayed toothpaste, we shall splay the globe!

Seriously, this is Earth, stripped of its soil and water.

BldgBlog thinks the image has a "70s funk", but I rather like it. Especially the rainbow running down the left side there.

Aquafresh Extra Fresh

Aquafresh, Extreme Empowermint

Colgate Junior, Bubble Fruit

Colgate Maxfresh, Kiss Me Mint

Colgate Total Mint Stripe

Oral-B Stages for Kids
Bubble-Gum Magic - Disney Princesses

__

I can almost smell the princess bubblegum-tinged formaldehyde.


See more.

Don't have a mountain vista outside your window? Make your own! That's what the crafty Australian photographer Magdalena Bors would do.

Take a look.

I like how the subject slinks around in all black, like a stagehand.

more.

you can do it with a 4x5.


Always protect your subject's eyes....



et voilà:

verry nice.


Go to Rebecca Hinden's site to see more cool stuff.
__

And now, friends, a challenge for you: send me your very best red eye picture. We'll do a little gallery. Here's mine:

Very Buffy the Vampire Slayer, no?

I had an illuminating conversation the other day with photographer Monte Isom. Isom recently returned from China, where he created several Olympic-themed ads for Adidas. The one above is the big kahuna. See all those people in there? They're real people. Who needed to be cast and wrangled and directed. And then be put together all pretty through the glory of post-production.

How long did all of this take? Isom was in China for six weeks, start to finish, between pre-production, shoot days, and post-production.  And it was a production: "we shot the podium, every individual piece. We shot a scaffolding in the same way. We shot the crowd on a soccer pitch. We shot the athletes in two different cities in different takes. We shot three hundred people in the crowd and built the podium out of 60 people, and 28 extras on the podium.

Wow. What'd that all look like? Funny you ask! We've got some behind the scenes goodies. Here are the actors on the scaffolding:







Wow, how'd they get such athletic models? Here's a video of the casting session (Monte is thorough in his documentation.)




The agency Monte worked with on this project was TBWA Shanghai, and they didn't find him through Photoserve; Isom is incredibly proactive about seeking out work. He actually flew to China months before:

"When i'm not working, I go seek out work. I went to every agency in Shanghai in March, and set up meetings with art buyers and creative directors. Because in an Olympic year, everyone will use an athlete to sell a product. Going personally makes a huge difference. They're not just buying the photography, they're buying the photographer. An agency wants to know what they're going to get. I got China because I got off my ass and went to China to get work. if you want to recession-proof yourself, go to foreign markets."

Amen. Here's the soccer field where they assembled the actors:



And here's some of the shooting, in real time.




After the shooting comes the post-production. Here's some of that (it all started with a sketch):




So, we saw the finished image above, but how did it appear in Beijing and Shanghai? Here's an example:



This is one billboard. And then, Adidas got serious:



Wow, that's a big ad. Adidas created 20-story building wraps in Shanghai and Beijing.

Isom was psyched about the client's enthusiasm, and the media buy. He says it's "what you hope the client will step up and do. Start to finish, it was a cool project."

Cool indeed! Isom is now off to Europe, to meet with more creative folks and charm peoples' pants off. He must have a rep, to help him out with some of this stuff!

Nope:

"I don't have a rep. I'm repped by basically everyone I've ever met. I sleep well on planes, so it's not a big deal."


Sweet dreams. Here's one more video of Isom at work, just for fun.





See more of Monte Isom's work here.

 

Really, you can have him right in your bedroom, as soon as this week:

"The Sports Illustrated Group today announced that the iconic August 25, 2008 SI cover featuring Michael Phelps wearing all eight of his 2008 Olympic Gold Medals will be commissioned as a poster and available to a global audience. This is a first for the SI franchise.

'This cover represents photo journalism at its finest,' says Sports Illustrated Group President Mark Ford. 'Our mission is to create innovative ways to deliver sports fans our award winning content and this is the latest example. We are thrilled that this amazing image will be our first commissioned poster.' "


Mhmm, its finest, for sure. Phelps wears his trunks awfully no, does he not? Reminds me of this.


Anyhoo, get your Phelps here. And read about getting your Phelps, here.

Photo Assistant Joel Hood standing in for a polaroid for Ron, one of the Jack Daniels tour guides. This is in the Old Cave, which is now closed to the public, (ever since the lawyers went down there.)


Creative Director Nelson Eddy hung by the spirit tree in the old Dan Call house.

A Mennonite family, trying to watch the same five snakes that we were trying to watch. It was a hot day, and the snakes were out everywhere, lying on the flat rock. Falls Mill, in Belvedere, Tennessee.

Abandoned swimming pool at the old Dan Call house. Almost surreal to see an in-ground pool there.

If they ever make a live-action Super Mario Brothers movie, I know two folks who'd be perfect.

Oh yeah, I forgot.

The Conjurers, 2006

The Nanny, 2006

The Kiss, 2007



See more from the new series, and the original work, here and here.