It’s what I do….

After 4 1/2 years of producing corporate documentaries for a client of ours, I am proud to announce that Regions Bank, headquartered here in Birmingham, AL, has decided to share their Better Life Award videos with the general public. The Better Life Award is a peer-nominated award given to one Regions Bank employee each month that exemplifies the bank’s core values: Put People First, Do What Is Right, Reach Higher, Focus On Your Customer, and Enjoy Life.

I have truly enjoyed telling the success stories of the award recipients because we often go outside of the bank’s wall and into the lives of these incredible people. I am very grateful and proud that I can share some of their stories with you.

A good photograph to have….

In my experience as a photographer, I have taken hundreds of business-style head shots. It’s one of those essential items you need in a professional career, especially if you promote yourself as your brand. Facebook and Twitter have allowed each and everyone of us the chance to place an image of ourselves out in the open. Whether we like it or not, image has become everything.

There are many ways to present yourself to the world, from a symbol or an icon to a heavily retouched facsimile of yourself, but I find that a simple headshot – not a mugshot, mind you – gives forth an image of professionalism that is timeless. The poses can vary, but the concept stays the same. It shows off the most unique feature of you – your face. From biographies used by your company’s public relations department to a blurb in the paper regarding a promotion or award, a nice well-lit head shot portrait can send the right image every time.

This is a self-portrait I shot while setting up for a round of bio photos for a client.

Where it takes you…..Part 2

The fun part about my job as a producer/cinematographer is that I get to travel to places I wouldn’t otherwise think of as a potential destination. Our trip to Owensville, Missouri was definitely one of those trips. A small farming town just 2 square miles in area and boasting a steady population of around 2500 people, the town oozed Americana. Here’s a small video essay of what we saw:

Where it takes you…

Sometimes the work takes you places you had no idea existed. That was the case with the latest in a series of corporate documentaries that we produce. We ventured into Owensville, Missouri this week to profile one of our client’s award-winning employees that manages their location in this small farming town. It was so small that we had to travel 45 minutes north to Hermann, Missouri for proper accommodations. With an outstanding view of town in middle America that was originally settled by German immigrants, Hermann is a place where Oktoberfest and one other festival bring people from all around to celebrate the food, beer and wine of the German culture. To house all of these Oktoberfest tourists, Hermann and the surrounding area have developed a small mecca of bed and breakfast accommodations. We stayed at the Hermannhof on a hillside at the edge of town. The Hermannhof provided an incredibly comfortable stay and I will be going back to visit again.

Here is a photo of the view from the porch of our rooms.

The best weekend of the year!

It’s the Monday before the one weekend that I look forward to every year. This year’s Sidewalk Film Festival is going to be one of the best, I feel. You can check out all the details for the weekend at http://www.sidewalkfest.com. A couple of the highlights for me will be:

(1) to actually see the film I helped create the title sequence for – “Wheedle’s Groove”

(2) to watch my good friend’s band – Imaginary Planes – perform in the Sidelot area.

(3) to see one of the few feature films that was shot here in Birmingham – “Lifted”. I worked on the behind-the-scenes crew and am interested to see how it turned out. Unfortunately, I probably won’t see this because it’s scheduled at the same time as “Wheedle’s Groove”

(4) to go to as many of the parties as my old body can take.

(5) to find that one film that makes the festival for me. In 2008, it was a movie called “Cook County”.

Last year, we had a short film in the festival. This year, there are films that we had some sort of hand in – including renting space in our studio for a few scenes of “A Dread of Red”. We have tons of friends with films screening, and we’ll try to see as many as we can.

And now, we can walk under the train tracks at 18th Street and hang out at the Railroad Reservation Park to get our fill of green grass when we’re tired of the concrete jungle.

Overall, it looks like we’re in for a great weekend.