Obi (Wons a Photoshoot)

Well, not really. My mom did. The problem with doing so, is that he thinks my camera is a toy and wants to play (if you haven't seen proof of this...click here). It's pretty hard to take pics of your dog when he thinks you're going to throw the camera so he can fetch it...or when he thinks you're just going to chase him around with it. So! I've been trying to get him more used to the camera being around lately. What happens now? Check out the post "training" video here.

So now instead of thinking my camera is a new toy, he puts down everything he's doing and just stares at you. Which is a good thing at times, but I'm trying to capture him doing the cute things he was doing before! Soon enough I'll get him to where he needs to be, haha.

Anyway, here's a quick teaser of what is to come:


(a brief moment where he was distracted by food and not my camera)

35L was my friend today.

Jimmy & Jessica (low res)

Here's a low res sample of the Unscene Media Group (UMG) + David Lai Photography collaboration. Stay tuned for high-res!

A Little Preview

So I had an idea for a photoshoot that I wanted to try out as soon as possible. The whole concept was based upon a fabricated story between two lovers - separated by distance connected through memory and longed for by heart. David and I ended up shooting our new friends from the Misha Media event - Jimmy and Jessica. Here's a teaser shot of what is to come:

Photo Manipulation

Erik Johansson, a young talented artist from Sweden, creates remarkable images by digitally modifying photographs that he took himself. Check out some samples of his work:

Via Toxel

Will you...

Totally professionally unrelated...but I thought it'd be worth a share. So PSA Formal is coming up (April 4, 2009) and I thought it best to make use of my 5D Mark II in popping the question (no, not THAT question). Check it out & hope you like it! Click here or on the screenshot below to watch it!



I would have uploaded to Facebook, but I have a feeling they would have taken it down because of the music, haha. Anyway, feel free to leave comments & questions here or on Vimeo.

Unscene Media - IND Collection

Click here to watch in high res! (will open in new window)
Song credits: A-Trak feat. Lupe Fiasco - Me and My Sneakers

Misha Media Photo Slideshow

Click here to watch in high res! (will open in new window)
Song credits: M83 - We Own the Sky

Misha Media Photo Meet n' Greet (recap)

First of all, I just want to throw out one more THANK YOU to Michele & Andy of Misha Media for putting together this photo day. What'd you miss if you weren't there? Let's recap.

Before we officially started shooting, there was time for some good old fashioned meet n' greet activities. The usual nervous tension was broken by not only mutual interests and friendly, outgoing faces, but also by glorious pizza and drinks. Thankfully, the ongoing war between Canon and Nikon was put on hold for the day. Anyway! As we settled into our chairs, Michele and Andy started an image slideshow showcasing our own work which turned out to be a very wide spectrum of novice to seasoned expert. It was great to see how other people saw things through their own viewfinders before actually getting some knowledge thrown at us. A "baseline" if you will. Afterwards, we got the low-down on camera basics - all the good stuff a photographer should know (e.g. camera settings, metering, RAW vs. JPG, lighting) and got a glimpse into Misha Media's camera bag.

Afterwards, we broke up into 3 "teams" and got to shooting. I joined David and some fellow Canon-heads to shoot along the Chicago River with Qiu. Here's a look at some of those pics:




Behind the scenes action:



After some truly inspiring scenes, we treked back up to the rooftop to reconvene with everyone before heading to location #2. After being so inspired it was hard to put down the camera and stop shooting, haha.




Gino came with me in the M3 to location #2. We had a "spirited" run with Albert from Second Print Productions in his beautiful STI (+ Mike Fan and David). Once there, we grabbed all our equipment and met up with the rest of the gang to start up round 2.

One would think it would be super hard to share a model with 30 photographers, but really, it was just a great experience to be hanging out with so many people that share your passions. Like Gino said, it was like a car meet for photographers. So fun. Here are some shots with our model:








I had a few problems getting my CS3 to read my .CR2 files, so for the sake of time, I just went ahead and processed in JPG. Overall, it was a good time, great shoot, and fantastic opportunity to meet all these new faces...with and without their gear in front of it, haha. Until next time!

Misha Media x Unscene Media

Just a short little blog post work...

So today (actually in a couple hours), I'll be hitting up a photo day sponsored by Misha Media. Hooray! David, a frequent UMG contributor and I will be there along with 23 other photogs to hone our skills, learn a few tricks and network with the other eyes behind the viewfinder. Michele has planned some awesome shooting exercises and rounded up some models (and glorious food, hahaha) for all of us. Thanks Michele and Misha Media for putting this all together!

Can't wait! Okay time to get everything together. Expect updates via Twitter and a blog about our photo excursion.

While you're waiting, check out Michele's other site Kids on Prints and David's new blog here.

The Nothing Office

And on goes my obsession with (office) space! But this one, aside from being a really neat space to look at, has a much bigger reason to gawk. Take a look at the pictures:




Still don't see what's so special? Okay....it's all brown. Which still doesn't sound that special. But the reason why it's brown is because it's made almost completely out of cardboard. How ridiculous is that?! This one scores major points for innovation. I guess nothing is impossible.

Via Curated Mag

UMG Tees + Chicago Artist Mag Ad

I had a little creative awakening (literally and figuratively) at 4am one day and a UMG t-shirt was one of many results. Here are a few rough sketches that made the cut:






Let me know which ones you guys like the most! Leave some love in the comment section, hit me up on AIM (mike@unscenemedia.com) or drop an e-mail here. I think I will definitely get the first and last ones done up. Still some refining to do on the other ones, but you get the gist of it. Expect colorways in black, white and purple once they go to print.

I also had the opportunity to create a little mock up magazine ad for Unscene Media. I wanted to do something fresh, clean and to the point. The mag is slated to be released in color, but I figured it would be more telling in B&W. This was the result:



Defintely can't wait for this to drop! I'll be doing another (photo specific) variant in between some other new projects within the next couple days, so be on the look out.

Extra, Extra! Read All About It!

So as you may remember, Jessica (Yoshi) from Fatlace hooked me up with a great stats counter for my blog - thanks again Yoshi! I let the counter run for just over a week now to check out where the UMG blog readers are coming from. Check it out:



I'm not nearly at Yoshi status, but definitely not bad for a week, haha. Keep reading everyone! I promise I've got some cool things in the works. Also, I had the opportunity to catch up with my friend Ryan from Backroom, Inc. in the Philippines this morning. We met after the K Brosas, Pooh and Rufa Mae Quinto concert I shot earlier in the month. He passed along a message that the Unscene Media photos from the show will be featured on Showbiz Central in the near future. Thanks again, Ryan! Glad to hear the pics were universally a hit. If you missed the post with some of the pics in it, check it out here.

Design Respeck! (Part 4: Camping Edition)

I've never been a huge advocate for camping for many reasons, but these things make me change my tune COMPLETELY. Well, maybe just for a couple nights...at a campground with a shower and wi-fi. Anyway, check out these totally rad camping essentials revisited:

Eiko Ishizawa Bear Sleeping bag

"So far this is the best sleeping bag ever, made by Eiko Ishizawa a multitalented artist based n’ Amsterdam. Inspired on history of a bear who stalks tourists around the alps for a long time, moving from mountain to mountain was a pain on the ass for the hunters. The story talks about camouflage, the power of the beast and the fear of humans to the power of nature." - Fatlace

Aside from a pretty remarkable back story, this "sleeping bear" is just ridiculously cool. Going back to the first "Design Respeck!" criteria of what good design is, this bag definitely blows innovation out of the water. You can check out the first post again here. I wonder if there is a fat bear version slated for release so that it can be shared.

Via Fatlace

School of Visual Arts: Toilet Paper

This comes from the ad agency KNARF for the School of Visual Arts. It was an effort to encourage thought in all sorts of places by giving them a place to write down their ideas. Pretty awesome concept. I wonder if it's 2-ply? They have a bunch of different applications for this "think" campaign, so check out the rest of them here.

Via Toxel

Shooting a Piece of Forgotten Chicago

So I make a habit out of reading about architectural gossip and news on Forgotten Chicago and to my surprise, the iconic Michael Reese Hospital is slated to be torn down to make way for the Olympic games housing. As hum drum as hospitals usually appear (and are), this one is just...different. Here's a brief history lesson (as I push up the glasses on my face):

"After the Hebrew Relief Association’s hospital was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1871, a void was created for a Jewish hospital in the city. Fortuitously, Michael Reese, a wealthy real estate developer who died in 1877, left funds in his will to build a new hospital, which was completed in 1880. It was open to everyone regardless of nationality or race, the request of Reese’s heirs. Many medical innovations took place at Michael Reese during it’s operation, such as the first incubator station for premature babies. It has been known as one of Chicago’s prominent hospitals, with people coming from all over the city and beyond to receive treatment.

"The main Michael Reese hospital building was designed by Schmidt, Garden and Martin. It is a bona fide Chicago School masterpiece which has been left remarkably intact over the years."

"A humble monument (on current hospital grounds) marks the spot where the game of softball was invented in 1887. This occured in the gymnasium at the Farragut Boat Club, which stood at 3018 S. Lake Park, on the current hospital grounds. Charles Cushman photographed the Farragut Club in 1949, shortly before it was demolished."

- from Forgotten Chicago

Not only is it a legit piece of history and important architecture, new buildings on its campus were constructed all the way through to the 1970s - giving the complex a really cool progression of style. Here are some pics:




"This Gothic Revival bridge over 29th Street connects Main Reese to the Meyer House, a wing built in the 1920s to house wealthy patients in luxury accommodations." - From Forgotten Chicago

The Meyer House - where the baller patients would stay...lake view and all.

The building where softball was invented (now demolished)

A small monument recognizing where the game was invented still stands here today.

Isn't that crazy?? Anyway, before all this is officially torn down and shuffled into the history books, I really want to do a shoot of some sort here. You can check out the full article and history from Forgotten Chicago here. If not anything official, then at least a fun walk-around with friends, cameras, sketchbooks...anything! We never know when demolition will start/halt/held so.......who's interested??

A Thank You Blog

So the UMG blog hasn't been up for very long yet, but I just wanted to send a huge thank you (or rather THANK YOU) to everyone who has been reading so far! Jessica (Yoshi) from Fatlace has gotten me a bit "statically conscious" ever since she posted about her blog visitors. Thanks for the info, Yoshi!

It's strange to think that so many have been following the blog (in fact over 100k hits in February) but I am thoroughly appreciative. Lots of new, exciting projects, tips and "design respeck" to come! Keep reading & think BIG.

Design Respeck! (Part 3)

I haven't hit you guys with a "Design Respeck!" in awhile, so here it goes!

Ace Hotel: Palm Springs
Taking the definition of a desert oasis to new levels, the design gurus over at Commune have put their own spin on Ace's obsession with the organic, human feel and experience. The result? PERFECTION. It's a flawless balance between function, design and the organic, earthy experience. In other words, I've found my excuse to visit Palm Springs. I really, really want to stay here! Check out some of the photos below:

Via Wejetset

Kazuhiko Kawahara's Colliding Worlds

"Colliding or Kaleidoscope – no matter what your perspective, the impressive works of Kazuhiko Kawahara will make you look twice. By re-imaging buildings, landscapes, and other scenic habitats he turns these destinations into dreamlike visuals."

I'd gotten a bit bored of cityscape photography until I picked up my 5D mark II and new lenses. Now, I'm looking to get out "there" more and shoot cities from my perspective again. Seeing Kazuhiko Kawahara's work, though, blows the door WIDE open as far as what seemingly ordinary shots can become in a bigger idea and more comprehensive work of art.

Via Wejetset

Copernicus Theater snaps

I had the opportunity to shoot for a Rufa Mae Quinto, Pooh & K Brosas Concert at the Copernicus Theater the other day. All three of them put on a fantastic show! I have to put out special thanks to Bboy for the invite and media pass access. In case you clicked, that's him with Francis Magalona, a big time rap icon back in the Philippines who recently passed away at a mere 44 years of age. RIP Francis.

Here are some pics from the show:













Here's a couple point & shoot pics from my friend Carlo's camera backstage and in the trailer:





The shoot, meet and greets, and the after show hangout were a blast. Hopefully they (and everyone) enjoy the pics! You can view the entire set here. I can't wait for the next one!