the ocular adventures of andrew jorgensen
Still Photography
American Bouldering Series Climbing Competition
Jan 24th
Last weekend I had the opportunity to travel back to my home town to shoot a climbing competition at a brand new, beautifully designed and built, indoor climbing gym. The Bloc Climbing and Fitness Center is the brain child of my good friend (and old boss) Jason Mullins. It occupies the space left empty long ago by a defunct grocery store, the vintage sign marking the liquor section still hangs behind the climbing wall to prove it. J has managed to breath new life into the old space, and a ton of it at that. Complete with state of the art climbing surfaces by Vertical Solutions, a full fitness center with all the latest and greatest equipment, and a beautiful yoga studio over looking it all, the Bloc is a blessing to those on Tucson’s north-east side looking to get fit in the comfort of a climate controlled environment.
Last weekend it was home to a regional youth bouldering competition and hundreds of the best little climbers this side of the Mississippi.. and their families. It was the last stop before Nationals and these kids were good! The event went off with out a hitch, and my bro and I were there to document it in its entirety. Below are a few selects from the weekend and links to galleries of some shots from Saturday and Sunday.
Where do I “go” from here?
Jan 4th
After getting all hyped up and inspired and jumping back on the blog yesterday i realized i needed something to do, somewhere to “go”. As per usual I have a huge list of things that are supposed to get done.. client contacts to book jobs, follow ups, general marketing stuff, site updates, tweaks to ongoing projects, the list goes on. I had plenty to do, much more than I could accomplish in a day or week or month.. but it wasn’t enough, or more accurately it wasn’t what I wanted to do. And that’s the whole point of working for yourself right? so you can do what you want?
So while i did spend some time on the mundane day to day tasks that it takes to run a small business I also found something that would make me happy, something that would keep me excited and inspired. And the best part is that it was sitting right in front of me. I launched my live music catalog and dove into the images from last years Coachella festival. For those of you that are unaware, or haven’t browsed backwards 3 or 4 posts, I have been shooting the Coachella Music and Arts festival for the last 5 years. I am one of a hand full of photographers that shoots directly for the Producers of the event which gives me complete unadulterated access to the show and allows for some great images. My main task while there is to produce a Virtual Tour full of 360 degree Interactive Panoramas to show off the event. It is used as a promotional tool both for attendees to look back at the previous years, and to help build excitement for the upcoming festival. It is a blast to shoot and also a challenge, I love doing it.
However, in addition to shooting the panoramas I shoot a TON of still shots (almost impossible not to with access like that). I shoot 4 to 5 thousand still images over the course of the 3 day festival. But because my first priority (or rather what i am paid to do) is the Virtual Tour, my time after the festival is completely consumed with running post production on the ~50 panoramas I select from for the final tour. By the time I am done with these I have had my fill of festival images and I have to move on to other projects, so my stills get tucked away and sit quietly and patiently on a hard drive (or three).
So…. short story long… this leads me to my night last night. Up till 3am editing the first days images from last years Coachella. And super stoked on it. Usually I would have thrown in the towel on the work day long before that, but I was having fun. I was excited and inspired. Not just cause I was finding some cool images that hadn’t seen the light of day, but because I was re-living one of the best weekends I have each year. If you haven’t experienced Coachella I highly recommend going. The level of production is phenomenal. The incredible main stage musical line up is just part of the weekend. There is installation artwork scattered around the polo fields that deserve a festival (or museum) of its own. There are the side stages that feature some relatively unknown artists that will be HUGE next year. The ability of the folks who put this thing on to continually book “the next big thing” year after year simply amazes me, they have an incredible accurate finger on the pulse of the music scene. On top of that you have the incredible location, beautiful weather, and thousands and thousands of great people having an amazing time, some of who are sure to be your best friends either before, during, or after the festival.
By digging up some old images that I had never seen I was able to relive this amazing experience. It excited me about my work, inspired me to do more fun shoots and to get to work booking as many music festivals as possible this summer. I guess the moral of the story is that once you get going, and you’re looking for where to go next that sometimes it helps to look back on great times and that the past can help propel you forward.
Below is one select from the bunch I went through last night. I have tons of band shots that I will share over the following days/weeks but this shot really sums up the feeling I get at Coachella.
Click here for a bunch of images from Coachella 2010
2012. One gear.. GO.
Jan 3rd
Its been several months since I have posted anything here.. bad Andrew. So I figured what better way to kick off the new year than to dust the cobwebs off the ol’ blog and get things going again.
I spent the last week and a half back home in Arizona and had some time to reflect on the past year or so and think about whats to come. Recently I have been feeling a bit stagnant with my photography work. I can’t pinpoint exactly why but I was just feeling uninspired and unexcited about the whole thing. Well, long story short, that’s all changing, in large part to some inspiration from a few fellow photographers.. Joey Lawrence, no not the woooa guy, but one of the most talented young photographers I have ever come across, and local badass Tim King. These guys are both doing amazing work around the world and loving every minute of it. Joey has huge name commercial clients but continues to use these only as a means to fund his personal projects, something I need to do more of (both the huge commercial client thing and the personal projects). Tim is killing it on the weddings and event photography scene here in SD and around the globe. While these are two areas of photography I generally turn and run from I think his work is absolutely top tier and I really respect his approach to the business and life in general. Definitely a few things to learn from this guy, check out his blog and his recent “post a day challenge” if you haven’t already.
Anyway.. enough blabbering. The first few days of the year are full of big talk and little action, so I am going to shut my mouth and get to work. And I will start by sharing a little video I threw together of my drive home from AZ. Not the most exciting drive in the world, but it represents the mindset I want to be in from now on. One gear, GO.
(best enjoyed in fullscreen HD with the speakers cranked)
Vokab Kompany CD Release Party at Belly Up
Apr 28th
Last Friday I had the opportunity to shoot a band who I have never seen before. I have heard their name and music all over the place for the last couple years but for one reason or another I had never caught a show. After seeing them perform it was clear that I had been missing out…
Celebrating the release of their new album Quit Sleep, these guys put on a performance to remember. Check out the pics below and a link to a full gallery from their Belly Up show. When your done with that head over to their website and pick up the new album, you wont regret it..
Click Here for full gallery
Click Here for the offical Vokab Kompany Website
Suite Sioux at Soundwave
Apr 27th
Had the opportunity to check out my buddies band Suite Sioux at Soundwave last weekend. Good people, great times, awesome show. These guys are definitely going places, I advise you check ‘em out asap and be at their next show..
Full Image Gallery: Click Here
Suite Sioux FB page: Click Here
