New York, New York

Click here or the image to watch the full photo slideshow

I posted a little preview of my recent NYC trip on my personal blog, but I figured I'd post up the full series of pics here too. More than just capturing New York from my perspective, I haven't gone out just to shoot for the sake of shooting in quite some time. In addition to that, I wanted to challenge myself in a couple ways:

1.) to capture the city that never sleeps using only my Canon 35L f/1.4 lens rather than traveling fully armed with all my gear.

2.) continue to shoot in .jpg rather than RAW to not only be kind to my lack of hard drive space (haha), but also make me increasingly strict towards my exposures right out of the camera.

In the end, I was incredibly happy with not only my photographic pursuits, but the trip as a whole. It was cold as heck, but that wasn't about to stop us from seeing the city top to bottom. It was an amazing amount of fun to finally visit New York, indulge in great food and really embrace the identity of a city so world renowned. I can truly understand why people love New York so much after they visit.

Here are some snaps from the trip, though if you want to check out all the pics from NY, check out the slideshow above. Enjoy!

2010 BDPA Awards Banquet

Click here or the image above to watch the photo slideshow

In lieu of the ever-expanding scope of UMG and what it will become in the near future, I wanted to continue the trend of collaboration that really took off in 2009. That being said, I (along with Bhargav from Channel Awesome and Mark Reyes) linked up with Justin from Mix Media to cover the 2010 Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) 21st Annual Awards Banquet here in Chicago.

The event was flawlessly pieced together - from the food, music and general ambience to the eloquent speeches and professionalism that this organization and its sponsors exude. Huge thanks to Millie Liggins (the event coordinator) for having us out for the event and congratulations to all the award winners and newly elected president - Pamela Sexton!

In typical UMG fashion, I put together a photo and video slideshow and included some snaps below. Enjoy!











BDPA is a global member focused organization that serves the professional well-being of its stakeholders. BDPA remains committed to excellence and providing a wide spectrum of resources to members, corporate sponsors, businesses, educational institutions and the community. The organization is a catalyst for professional growth and technical development for those in the IT industry. [Via BDPA Chicago]

Also, be sure to check out the video edit that Bhargav did using our collective footage here - good stuff!

Gigabytes to Kilobytes

So I think all the design, photo and video work I've been doing on my MacBook Pro of late has taken its toll. I've found myself on the go a lot more lately...especially by virtue of my recent trip to the Philippines. So my home machine (really outdated photo by the way) has been sitting pretty while my MBP has been slaving away on my client projects. Needless to say, I've got one of my four externals plugged into my MBP as we speak so I can clear out 100GB of files and resume my workflow.

As I looked though my desktop upstairs again and through my master files on another 1TB external drive, I noticed I've gone through all but 22GB of it in less than 6 months - the result of shooting RAW along with tons of vids with my 5D Mark II. Insanity!

Nevertheless, it seems that I inadvertently prepared myself for a long night before shipping off to New York for a couple days - a slice of Lou Malnati pizza (a bit of Chicago before NYC), Diet Coke, a couple indy flicks I snagged from a Blockbuster going out of business sale (SCORE!) and a snuggie.

Okay back to work!

Book Book Your Macbook

Twelve South specializes in manufacturing both useful and aesthetically pleasing accessories for your Apple gear. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - it doesn't sound original or special by any means. It seems like everyone (in the spirit of generalization) is putting out aluminum-looking, poshy dress-ups for Macs. And despite their relatively hum drum performance and build quality, these accessories sell. In some ways, Twelve South wasn't so different...until now.

Under the guise of an unassuming, vintage read is this sexy, super functional Macbook case that makes your lime green Neoprene case look like rejected fabric from Kermit the Frog rather than the protective piece it claims to be. To put it simply, this "Book Book" case is seriously cool - managing to be a perfect blend of the uber-Mac nerd and the Sartorialist. What does this mean for you? It means you can actually carry it around as a legitimate accessory because tech-y can be sexy too. To all you people who wear your cell phone in a belt holster, take notes. And really, it's smart. Thieves aren't necessarily in the market for a spine-tingling, old world novel nowadays (or really ever), so parking your $1500+ tech toy away behind a little Shakespeare keeps you safe.

So if you've got a 13" or 15" Macbook sitting on your lap as your read this, it'd probably be a good idea just to order it right now and save that Neoprene stuff for your niece's first communion felt banner.

[Images via Design Rehab]

G Handle: Product Photos

I actually had this G Handle product & model shoot awhile ago, but I haven't had a chance to post these up until recently. The concept was relatively straight forward - illustrate the "G Handle" in a few of its environments and to use the models to facilitate those illustrations. Despite this, the shoot was an absolute challenge since a majority of the shooting took place around noon and lighting was harsh. On top of this and in order to make things convenient for the models (and the time constraints), the shoot was held at a very crowded, central location rather than at a golf course itself or otherwise. SO...shooting to replicate a golf course environment, dealing with trademarks (eliminating brands off clothing/golf clubs) and "deleting" people around the area were major challenges in itself.

All in all, I think there were some very usable shots that came from the shoot, so I'm pretty happy. I can envision some great G Handle marketing materials that can come out of using some of these images. Here are a few snaps from the shoot:















On an interesting sidenote, we had some Bettinardi gear to play with on location that day...which is awesome in itself...but really cool when you've got Michael Jordan's personal putter head covers to get your hands on too!





Their website is coming soon, but for all you golf fanatics out there, keep www.ghandle.com bookmarked!

Chris Kim's Favorite Short

Just a short little diddy here...

I totally forgot to post this up after I saw it because I was too busy watching it over and over again. My friend Chris Kim linked me up to this vid on his blog and after watching it, I can really understand why it's his favorite short. Thanks again, Chris! Feel free to bombard my inbox with more short films you like, haha.

Demand "The Annual"

So awhile back I posted up a blog about a movie called The Annual. And if I'm still talking about something months after on this blog, you know I'm SUPER hyped for it. So what's the big deal?

Well, in order for the movie to come out this way in theaters is to DEMAND it online - much like how Paranormal Activity got big. And honestly, not to hate on PA that much, but this movie looks like it can blow it out of the water. Sean from The Annual sent me a link for us all to show the love for the movie, so if you're a small/medium/big movie buff and you can appreciate the indy flicks, take a sec and demand The Annual. Yeah? Okay, thanks you're awesome!

The Annual Trailer from Sean Gillane on Vimeo.