Category Archives: Artists

Jenna says to me a few days back as we wound our way through a playground. I’d been making little blips, squeaks and non-sensical sounds to refocus Mack’s attention back to my alpha status in the pack as we approached dog Xanadu in Magnuson. As we come ’round a bend, my blip-making is interrupted by the sight of two raptor-sized dogs being readied by their wranglers in the back of a Rav4. My tired eyes caught them rubbing fresh rabbit carcasses into the dinosaurs’ snouts to turn them on to all the fresh dog teeming out there.

I could make the case that I felt like a Matmos song: all seemingly discombobulated but with a kind of order amidst what sounds like chaos.

See, I’d been up since 5am. Perhaps one could chalk it up to the fact that the week before last I was moving into a new studio downtown in the 619 Western Bldg (4th floor North, if you’re ever around), or I’d just successfully used my Jetta Station Wagon as a 1/2 ton grip truck for a shoot with Gregg Segal for Fortune Magazine out at Amazon.

Managed to tie a couple seamless rolls up there as well.

Then last week I was down at Weyerhauser for a three day job with Toronto-based photographer Andric. Guy was supercool and articulate in how he related to the creatives and the client on set. He said things like ‘after shooting this test, what I’ve been able to deduce is that the angle of the road. . .’ His images are whimsical and surreal, and in ten minutes with photoshop, he can turn the ordinary into some pretty far-outness.

With that kind of surrealist whimsy flying around, on the tech scout day, I had some downtime here and there. Earlier that morning, while looking for Weyerhauser, I meandered around the area and found a Devry University. While killing some time awaiting further instruction from my producer, I decided I’d usurp the role of a guy interested in attending their technical college.

Really wanted to take photos inside, but thought I’d get weird looks as if I were a spy for ITT or something. Basically, imagine a slew of JROTC, FFA, and/or Science Club guys/gals finally finding a place on earth to call their own. I do have to say though that Devry University has really nice facilities.

In further support of my scatterbrain-ness, I literally was in or had driven about six to eight different cars last week in some capacity or another: My Jetta Wagon, a Dodge Caravan, a Suburban, a Ford Edge, a Chevy Malibu, a Nissan Quest, another Suburban and finally Jenna’s Prius. This shot was taken from the driver’s seat of my Ford Edge. Andric is the guy in black atop some scaffolding taking a shot of me that will eventually find its way into the Wall Street Journal.

Then, to wrap last week up, I was back out at Amazon again. Only this time it was with Joe Pugliese of LA for Wired Magazine again featuring Mr. Bezos. Being a Wired subscriber, I can’t wait to get my hands on that issue and take a peek at the results, as Joe is a film shooter.

In other news, its a time of “ones.” My one year anniversary since leaving a job at a production company for freelancing full-time and things couldn’t be better! Grasshopper say don’t be afraid to jump out there and get wet. If you’re talented, hard-working and able to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you’ll be fine in personal and professional endeavors. Also, Michael Clinard Photography and Bolog Me with Cheese: Michael Clinard’s Blog are Number One in search engines!

Hooray! And Jenna and Mike are swing dancing like crazy! We were just out at Century Ballroom for prom a couple weeks back and had a blast. If you’re ever looking to take some great dance lessons, I’d recommend hitting up Triple Step Studios in North Seattle. Below you’ll find an image of us taken in the mirror, completely pooped from the night out at Century. . .

More always,

Mike