Tag Archives: Cool Things

On the Road – Knoxville

Written by Michael. Posted on July 15, 2011. No comments.

Working on the East coast this week, and first stop was Knoxville.

It holds a special place in my heart because my dad used to take my brother and me to University of Tennessee football games every year up until the sixth grade when we moved to Alabama. I fondly cherish those memories.

My dad never took me to Ciderville Music, so I absolutely had to stop there.

It’s where I found the most amazing portrait bust of Johnny Cash ever drawn.

Absolutely had to stop at Yee-Haw Industries, too. . .

I miss Tennessee, but remembered very quickly part of the reason why I left. . . like 90 degree weather in about 100% humidity.

Ah, the allure of the South. . .

More always,

Clinard

 

April Spiel Prom Photos

Written by Michael. Posted on April 11, 2011. 2 Comments.

A buddy of mine and his wife had me out to the Granite Curling Club in gloomy Seattle a couple weekends back for their annual Bon Spiel.

I’d often heard amazingly debaucherous/revelrous stories and when they said, ‘we got this annual prom thing we do and wonder if you’d like to do photos,’  I jumped at the opportunity.

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Gotta admit I absolutely love the image above. To me, there’s a semi-presence to the whole thing that is as much of a portrait of the night as any other image might have been of the attendees.

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Back when I graduated from Art School, my first job out was working for a high school picture place in Memphis, TN called Jimmy Alford Studios. Saw a host of crazy things then, and Benj (above) brought those memories flooding back.

The lad couldn’t hear much of my direction on account of 1) the loud music and 2) the associated fog brought on by adult beverages.

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Of the funny things said, the most notable quote of the night was “my drinking team has a curling problem.” Enough of one I’d say to warrant an attack on the hapless disco ball that wore the battle scars in the form it’s missing glassed sections.

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Much thanks to Granite Curling Club and all who allowed me to take their photos. . . god only know what mistakes were made that evening.

More always,

Mike

How I Richard Dreyfuss an Idea

Written by Michael. Posted on February 23, 2011. 2 Comments.

Not too long ago, the photo editor of Real Change got in touch and asked if I could photograph a baked potato to help illustrate the ongoing Nickelsville story here in the Pacific Northwest. He said it can be “as loaded — butter, sour cream, chives, bacon bits? — as you’d want it to be.”

While it seemed pretty straightforward, I’m always looking for an opportunity to turn the everyday on it’s ear. After some rumination in the sketchbooks, it hit me like a lightning bolt: Richard Dreyfuss, son!

A couple days later, my wife was hitting the sack for the night and saw me sitting on the couch, surrounded by brown paper shopping bags, some crumpled pieces of printer paper, aluminum foil, scissors and tape. . . truly not an ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ kind of occurrence here at the Office of Michael Clinard.

Sadly, no photos of that event, but I venture to say it looked a lot like the above in her mind.

Needless to say, I got in studio the next day to refine the look. Below are a few outtakes with the final.

Missed being in the studio lately as I’ve been shooting more people on locations rather than product and still-life.

The approach here was to document the construction with little to no fanfare: straight, direct, almost banal. I really couldn’t be more pleased with the results.

More always,

Mike

Mouth Watering Rainbows

Written by Michael. Posted on February 8, 2011. No comments.

I’ve been at it again. . .

Just got off Whidbey Island working an interesting assignment, and my buddy Kristian and I spotted a Double Rainbow back enroute to Seattle via the Clinton – Mukilteo Ferry.

We were so giddy, no way we could resist jumping out and capturing the beauty. . .

Kristian’s like ‘yo make it so it’s going in my mouth, and I’m eating it. . .’

Yes sir, Kristian. Yes sir. Was so completely razzed about these, I just had to post straight away. . .

More always,

Clinard

A cookie a day makes Bill Rugen stay (at the table)

Written by Michael. Posted on January 16, 2011. 3 Comments.

If you don’t believe me, then head over to his Consumed blog and wade through the immense tag cloud to locate ‘Cookie.’

Been awhile back but it might have been about 14 months ago when Bill started talking about the project over one of our many Burgermaster Power Lunch meetings. I said ‘go for it,’ and the rest is history.

So to honor his momentous feat documenting every single thing he ate for an entire year, we got together a couple days into the new year to celebrate the end of the project in pictures.

It’s been fun to see the Consumed project evolve and witness all the attention and whatnot he’s been getting over the last couple months. Must confess that I won’t miss waiting until Bill’s composed his shot from across the dinner table.

We can now dig into our scrumptious plates of Burgermaster goodness together and in synchronicity. Amen!

Not soon to forget the people that helped along the way, Bill gave credence to his wife’s fantastic cookie-making ability in this CBC interview. And yes, I too can attest, she’s a veritable baking savant when it comes to some of her cookie pairings. . .

Congrats again, friend. I say this is O.K.


Photo above by Bill Rugen

Photographed President Obama

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on October 22, 2010. No comments.

Was making my way home yesterday morning after wrapping up a quick editorial job and was confronted with traffic barricade after traffic barricade in our little neighborhood of Wedgwood.

Jokingly, I asked a stander-by if the President was in one of those houses to which she calmly replied, ‘yes.’ In a move straight of Nascar, I angled the car into the first available spot and joined the droves of anxious-ites willing to brave to the cold just to get a peek of the man himself and the baby elephant he was attempting to corral for a homeowner.

Below are a couple photos. It’s my hope that one day I’ll be closer than 30 yards away when capturing this stuff. . .

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With a baby elephant on the loose, many folks showed up to catch a glimpse. They’d heard President Barack Obama was around, too.

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People photographing the ‘Baby Elephant Containment Unit of Greater Seattle’ on NE 75th St and 40th Ave NE in Seattle.

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The press junket was there looking ‘just so’ showing off this year’s must have item: laptop in transport to wherever you’re walking.

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Mayor McGinn was in attendance and pulled out a Larabar he had in his biking shorts.

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Gov. Christine Gregoire tried her best but was rushed away when her husband lobbied her for the Denny’s ‘all-you-can-eat’ breakfast buffet that ended at 11am.

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President Barack Obama decided he’d come out and handle it. In fact was told later by a friend, that his exact words were “hold up, I got this.”

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With the baby elephant back in it’s baby elephant sleeping quarters at the Foss residence, Obama decided he’d caravan over to UW’s HecEd and give a speech just for the ‘Hec’ of it.

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People losing their minds over the President’s ability to handle baby elephant corralling.

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Everyone disheartened by their inability to capture any photos of the baby elephant. Thankfully, they got a couple of the President ‘gettin’ it done.’

A Portrait as Michael Clinard

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on April 16, 2010. 1 Comment.

So I’m starting this new series that’s a little kooky.

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Gave my buddy Knuteson a call and he was more than game to help me out.

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Had a great time shooting it, and it’s fun to see the results.

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Stay tuned as there should be more of these bad boys in the coming months.

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More always,

Mike

postscript: Lucien says ‘sure, I can help you out on that, but you’re going to have to do something for me. . .‘

“Doing Math in Your Head” series

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on March 22, 2010. No comments.

I’ve had an idea knocking around for quite some time about a portrait series showing folks doing simple math in their head. Think I was interested in the idea that no matter how comfortable you are at computing digits in the brain, the simple act can indeed yield some interesting portrait results.*

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Seen above is Muna, a graphic design friend kind enough to sit for me as the first subject of the day. I realized pretty quickly that math was not Muna’s strong suit, and she had no problem telling me about it. Wanted to push it another layer, so I got a few more folks into the studio who do math pretty much the entire day.

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This is Kasey, my favorite teller from the local bank where I do most of my financial business. They’re the nicest folks and when I ran the idea by them, they jumped at the idea of sitting for these left-of-center portraits.

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Here’s Cat, manager of the bank. She was always at me about getting that business account. When I came through on that for her, I told her she owed me one. She’s a sport and delivered quite exceptionally on that promise.

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And finally, Sam, the lone guy at the bank. Don’t think he’s smiling because there’s a 5:1 ratio of guys to girls. Oh no, it’s because he was the quickest calculator in the bunch.

Several interesting projects in the works, so stay tuned for new posts over the next couple weeks.

More always,

Mike

*quick note on the project: the left panel image was captured from behind the camera by way of cable release. The right panel image was captured about a half-second to second after by way of ‘capture’ button on a tethered laptop by a completely different DSLR system set up in profile to my subject. Diptychs composed from chronologically symmetrically-sequenced images from either capture system.

Two views of my desktop and two of my upcoming specs

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on February 4, 2010. 2 Comments.

I’ve been working on an upcoming post to this blog that’s quickly becoming a dissertation on cost, value, and worth. Quite frankly I need a break; something a little more lighthearted.

Thought I’d show you how hectic it’s been over the last couple weeks by taking a look at my desktop.

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I’m really not the kind of cat that goes off and let’s his desktop go to pot. Better still, I’m not one that goes off and does the kind of thing I’m about to disclose, but what the heck . . . I just made me a desktop folder and threw everything in it. Yes, that’s right ’88 Econoline-style.

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After doing so, my mind is ten times sharper, and I’m getting things done in lightning speed. I feel like Clark Kent/Superman as if Lois Lane were coming over for dinner and I’ve got five minutes to prepare. Which to me, Superman, is more than enough time to do the dishes, change the sheets, cook poultry with my laser beam eye capability and make fresh churned ice cream with the aid of blizzard-cold breath.

Nowhere near as harrowing, but I did pull some imagery together for the annual ASMP Seattle slideshow highlighting the work from our membership here in the Pacific NW. Below is my submission in beautiful, rolling .gif animation.

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In other news, be on the lookout for a relaunch of my website showcasing an updated portfolio. After working very closely with Amanda Sosa-Stone last month, I’ll soon be adding new work along with some gems that were hidden in the rough. Super excited by the collaboration, and I’m eager to see how things continue to pan out during the year.

On a personal note, I’ll soon be in possession of a slick, new pair of hand-carved wooden spectacles from my close friend and colleague Mr. Scott Urban of Urban Spectacles of Wood. Heading out there in several months to shoot his lookbook, but in the meantime, he sent me a couple mockups.

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Think they’re about 5-10% too small, but I’m just happy to have a new pair after being without since June when some crafty kids on an Ecuadorian bus lifted my other frames.

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More always,

Mike

I shot this Sunday.

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on October 14, 2009. No comments.

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. . . among other things with a local rock trio by the name of Happy Birthday Secret Weapon.

Saw the gents play at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard a few months back in support of Levi Fuller’s ‘Ball of Wax’ project and was blown away by their performance.

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We got to talking about influences, and two came up: 1) Hella and 2) The F*cking Champs.

The image above had us laughing on account of it’s remarkably sublime homage to the snarky, self-mythologizing album covers the Champs were known for.

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With titles such as ‘Nebula Ball Rests in a Fantasy Claw’ and ‘Thor is Like Immortal’ or ‘I am the Album Cover,’ the Champs had a pretty good sense of humor much like the gentlemen of Happy Birthday Secret Weapon.

In addition to our image above, the guys helped me with a triptych concept that I’m still working hard to complete, so that I may get it up on the blog and soon-to-launch website.

In the meantime, you should go out and give their music a listen.

More always,

Mike