Big Leo artists have adopted Instagram en masse – be sure to follow everyone for quirky, fun, and beautiful updates! Here are a few images from the artists and from our team. And that just scratches the surface – so many of our favorite photographers, art directors, and client friends are on there, too. Check it out!
Last year Brian Pineda lit out for the territories like a photojournalist Huck Finn – all the way to Sri Lanka. No assignment, no problem. This is the kind of self-assignment we really encourage, for a million different reasons. A way to see the world, recharge your creative batteries, find photos that no one else can find, push your own personal and creative limits. The list goes on and on. So it is just bonus that when he got back, Afar magazine picked up some of the images for a little story that Brian himself wrote.
And Brian is already talking about his next trip this summer – Nepal! Tickets in hand, he is ready for yet another adventure. Need any shots from the Himalayas? He just might be in the neighborhood, ready to rock…
David Land packed up his gear and traveled all the way down to Haiti for this shoot on Carribean Craft for West Elm and HandEye Magazine. I feel like there was a time when it seemed that all manufacturing was moving towards bigger and more volume and lower quality, when buying from a company meant buying something that was mass-produced. But now, with such greater connectivity, the companies are able to go back the other way, towards crafts that are handmade. It is now easy to get in touch with people who make crafts in small batches, and easier for them to get in touch with larger companies. This helps the craft producers, it helps the local economies, and it means that overall the quality of the goods is going to be so much higher – all the way down to the quality of life of the people who make them. Not to mention the fact that David could go down with a streamlined crew and highlight the creators of this particular craft, then share it all over the world in this video. Inspiring from start to finish.
James Worrell teamed up with stylist Carrie Purcell to shoot this beautiful work for Ethel M chocolates, just in time for Mother’s Day. The perfect gift for that wonderful mom in your life, who raised you from the very beginning. For her, life is like a box of chocolates: it always tastes better when you give the gift to someone else. Repay her in kind!
This classic story comes from a stylist who just heard it in the prop house rumor mill – so we can’t really vouch for its authenticity… but here goes. Long ago in the halcyon days of magazine publishing, when the expense accounts flowed like champagne down the marble steps of a penthouse suite, a stylist was busily packing up props at home to ship to a shoot. Everything was wrapped and carefully boxed up, the boxes were taped, and the assistants packed them in the cargo van to drive to the shoot, somewhere in the snowy wilds of frozen New Hampshire. I think you can see where this is going…
Somewhere along the way, at a random rest stop in remote Massachusetts, the lowly assistant turned off the van and went to fill up the tank when she heard what sounded like a cat. And it was coming from the back seat. I can’t even imagine the look of creeping horror that came over her face as she searched through the boxes and realized that the cat was somewhere inside the props! At this point the only natural course of action was to get out the box cutter and very delicately open the top. Huge mistake. The cat launched out like a jack in the box, mad as hell, and sprinted out of the van and somewhere into the dark woods behind the gas station.
At this point, there is really one rational course of action. Walk away and pretend you didn’t see anything. Kidding. Probably. But no, this was the most loyal of assistants who would go to the ends of the earth to retrieve a scared and confused cat from the haunted woods that were probably filled with zombies. So, she spent the next 3 hours frozen to the bone trying to find that damn thing. And finally, miracle of miracles, she did. It had gone back to the station and was inside drinking a bowl of milk on the floor, and had probably been there the whole frickin time. Back in the box and back on the road, the cat spent the next week enjoying tons of attention on set while the assistant quietly kept her walking pneumonia to herself. And so, the moral of this story: get a dog!
Jim Bastardo has photos in the new Martha Stewart special Organizing issue – it is a nice little book that has great ideas on saving space. Maybe it just all our stylist friends but tchotchkes start to band together in a mob of angry objects that threaten to storm the peaceful calm of any apartment. Jim puts them in their place with an epic run to the Container Store and some nice lighting. Now we have photo proof that a room can be nice and organized, at least for a day. A girl can dream…
Colleen Picciotti of Dyad Photography shot this story for Instyle magazine, on those fab accessories that hide deep within your closet and only come out in the hour of greatest need. Nothing to wear? A white tuxedeo jacket can transform any outfit. A pleated skirt, a bright handbag? Just don’t put them all together at once, unless those are the only 3 things in your closet, in which case, rock on.
Every so often, you get that call for a dream job. Elegant and complex editorial for Town & Country magazine? Check. Legendary photographer Art Streiber? Check. Total freedom to rock it out however you want? Check. Stylist Hilary Robertson was called, and she rose to the occasion in a massive 10-page-long continuous spread that featured a complex storyboard to make sure the story all lined up. We’re happy to feature the images here but it really needs to be seen in print to be appreciated. Truly an affair to remember!
Scott Horne brings the indoors out in this great little video for One King’s Lane. Scott, along with style director Elana Frankel and co-founder Susan Feldman, brings his creative approach to a space that is normally not so livable. The comforts of indoors out in the fresh air of the backyard wilderness, all with a beautiful touch of style and class. From sketches to planning and then bringing the terrace to life, Scott has always had a knack for intuitive solutions. Now, all you have to do is invite some friends. If you style it, they will come!
James Worrell has a fantastic post about portfolio editing over on his blog ‘Less is More.’
“YES, I still have a printed portfolio. All technology has done for me is allowed me to adapt my portfolio to more platforms, i.e. web, iPad, etc. I used to have 12 printed portfolios, now I use less than half that. A magazine hasn’t called in a “book” in over three years now, but agencies sometimes still want them. And my agent, Big Leo, takes them to portfolio meetings where having a tangible thing to touch still has value. And to be honest, printed portfolios are really nice when done well.”
This echoes what we believe about portfolios – in this day of electronic everything, a printed portfolio is what sets you apart as an artist. Anything can look decent enough on a screen, but when an image is printed large on paper and you can feel and see it in your hands, there is no cheating. Even the tiniest defects become magnified. And it goes the other way – when an image is top notch and printed well, it shines. It really lets the client see directly into the photographer’s eye and how they would render a new project. A nice web site lets you get in touch with new clients, but a great portfolio will always close the deal.
Be sure to read more on James’s site about his process – he has been printing a long time and has great insights. While it may seem daunting to edit and produce, there is nothing more important than landing a rock solid portfolio on the desk of a creative.
