Cat Herding, Part Three-Brand Awareness

Well, it's been a great ride.  Here is the third installment of my Cat Herding Series.   This was so much fun to work with such unwilling subjects.  

This all started with me trying send some specific messages to potential clients about my understanding of their needs.  With branding being the buzz word of the day, it needed to be addressed.  What better play on words than to actually use a branding iron for the connection.

The copy that Lara Lowman, my wonderful wife, wrote for all of the segments works so well, with this last one being no exception.  Here is a link to the whole piece, if you didn't get it.  

By the way, we really didn't actually brand these little guys, Photoshop did it.

http://www.bardwrisley.com/mailimages/CatHerding_V3.html

Stay in touch!

Cat Herding #2

Here we are with our second image from the Cat Herding series.  As you can see, the world of cat herding can be pretty dirty and exhausting, particularly when it is a 100 degrees.  But despite the challenges it is rewarding as you can see by the expression on Monica's face.  Job well done!

We are feeling blessed that those hot days are passed and it actually cool at night these days.

Tomorrow shooting some portraits for a consulting firm and, if you can believe it more CATS!  This time for the Austin Humane Society's new calendar.  Then off to Atlanta to shoot for IDI and Cousins Properties.

Herding Cats

This summer was a busy one! I took the chaos of moving and turned it in to a promotion that was just sent out last week. If you didn't get it, here it is. Big events like moving and large production assignments are like herding cats.

My friend Monica Faucheaux, the beautiful woman in the image, and I were having coffee one morning...she was needing some new imagery for her book and I was trying to come up with a promotional concept for the fall. I wanted something that said "Texas" to cement in the folks in the Texas market that I was present. It needed to powerful, production heavy and, even more important fun...if it ain't fun, it's just not worth doing. Herding cats popped into my head as we were talking, and off we went.

So during the hottest summer in Texas history, me, Monica, Tara Cooper (makeup), Destry James and Brenda Lindfors (assistants) along with the help of our cowboy in residence Dan Mitchell with the location provided by Kaare Remme, in San Marcus, we shot a series of three images to tell the story for the "National Cat Herding Association." In post production, we secured the help of Whitney Hanson at the Austin Humane Society to help us wrangle a few of the furry beasts for a shoot there. Allison Hughes came in at the end to help with the Photoshop work.

All in all, everything went purrfect during and after the shoot, and of course, the folks at the NCHA were thrilled! Be looking for the next two installments.

Catching up

It has been a busy year with a lot of travel, mostly from Austin to Atlanta, but also to Dayton, Orlando, Rome, and Florence. I guess one of my new years resolutions should be to keep up with this blog.

As promised, here is the group shot of Peachtree Planning we do almost every year for their annual advertising campaign.

I suppose going to Italy was one of the years highlights to celebrate my father-in-law's 80th birthday. Visited Rome (the Pantheon, above), Florence and then landed in a small farm called Caminino where we stayed for a few days enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and good food. Caminino is a family owned olive orchard and vineyard. The original building was started around 1060 A.D. Here is an image from the orchard with an fortified out building.

The new year is starting off well. Leaving for three assignments in Atlanta next week for Equifax, First Data and an individual portrait as well.

I have produced a book of my commercial portrait imagery that should be going to press soon. This will give me a good tool to introduce myself around Austin.

Let's talk soon.

Finally it's made!

There is nothing like a move to get you to catch up on things you have been meaning to do. Since we have just moved our principal residence to Austin (and still keeping my home in Dahlonega for my frequent visits), I have had this image made into a 3x4.5' print mounted on plexiglass. It looks fantastic. I have shown it to SOHO Myriad Gallery in Atlanta, and they thought these types of images have some promise for use in hotel lobbies where a bit of the outdoors needs to be brought inside.

Let me know what you think. There are many other images from our sailing trip that I am hoping to have enlarged like this for use in large public spaces. I am also offering them in a limited edition of fine art prints.

For those of you who were unaware of our move, all my clients can still have the benefit of my services with no changes. I am expecting to be in Atlanta at least a week a month (it was two in January) to service their needs and to take time to visit with both clients and friends (and maybe even an occasional motorcycle ride). All of my telephone numbers are remaining the same. The only thing that has changed is my mailing address which is now, P.O. Box 50136, Austin, Texas 78763.

I just got back, in fact, where last week we shot for two of my regular clients. One client was Peachtree Planning. We photographed the whole company, about 125 people, for an image that will be used for their annual advertising campaign. It was chilly, but the session came off without a hitch and we dodged the rain. I will post that image once it is published in their new campaign.

Class at the Georgia Aquarium this month

Photography Class at the Georgia Aquarium

Making images at the Georgia Aquarium is no small feat. I have once again teamed up with the Georgia Aquarium to teach full day class on getting good images when you visit the G.A. The class will be held the weekend of September 20th.

The class offers one the chance to have instruction time (held at the Aquarium on Thursday the 17th) to get all the information you will need to then spend about 4.5 hours uninterrupted at the Aquarium (the first 2 hours of which we will be by ourselves on the morning of September 20th) capturing the images you always wanted to get of this other world below the water line. After the shoot, we have a catered lunch, a critique of the images you made and a behind the scenes tour of the Aquarium. Check out this link for all the details concerning times, cost, and camera suggestions. http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/supportus/photography.aspx

I hope you can join us!

Great news! The Family Church & Farmin' show has found a new venue for June. The show will be hung at BlackStock Vineyards and Winery (http://www.bsvw.com/) located at 5400 Town Creek Road, Dahlonega, Georgia USA. Their phone number is 706-219-2789.

The show will go up around the first of June and be up for about a month. During the month of June there are a couple events there at the winery. The weekend of June 7-9 there is the 2nd Annual Fine Wine Festival where you can tour all the wineries in North Georgia. Then the weekend of June 19-21 is not only Father's Day weekend, it is also a celebration of art through out the northern counties of the State. The winery will be having special lunches and dinners along with their great wine as well! So come on by sip some wine, eat some food and enjoy the show.

Family, Church & Farmin'

My show at the Kryder Gallery in Dahlonega has been up for a month now and will be up until the 26th of April. To find the gallery go to http://www.krydergallery.com/. If you can't make it to the show, you can purchase the book I have made of the show. The book contains the images and quotes from the subjects illustrated. Have a look at http://www.blurb.com/ and search by my name or by the title, Family, Church and Farmin'-Living Off the Land in Lumpkin County.

Here is sample image from the book. Let me know what you think.

Bard