The Creative Spark Preview| 00:00 | (music playing)
| | 00:02 | Nick Onken: The more you shoot, the more you learn,
| | 00:04 | you know, that either will or
won't incorporate in the next shoot.
| | 00:07 | (music playing)
| | 00:12 | I mean style is everything.
Style is why people hire you.
| | 00:17 | Getting to know your camera so
you're not thinking about it.
| | 00:21 | I can focus on the creative stuff, and I
don't have to think about technical stuff because
| | 00:25 | that's what I'm paid to do is the creative stuff.
| | 00:26 | (music playing)
| | 00:31 | So this is my inspiration wall.
| | 00:33 | Deconstructing that photo helps you figure
out what you like, and you can incorporate
| | 00:38 | that into your own work.
(music playing)
| | 00:40 | Photo Trekking was birthed out of the travel
photos that I've taken over the last few years.
| | 00:45 | And the travel stuff that you're seeing
here, I've never really been paid for.
| | 00:48 | You know, working with charities or
shooting my own personal work on vacations or, you
| | 00:52 | know, walk around with a
camera, that kind of thing.
| | 00:55 | You never know, it could turn into a book,
and that's kind of what happened.
| | 00:59 | >> Nick's photos are the story of Pencils
of Promise. In a lot of ways it's also the
| | 01:03 | emotion of Pencils of Promise.
| | 01:04 | It's going to tell our story going forward.
| | 01:07 | (music playing)
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Nick Onken, Travel and Lifestyle photographer| 00:00 | (music playing)
| | 00:03 | Nick Onken: I guess photographers,
we tend to shoot our life.
| | 00:06 | You know, a lifestyle
kind of breeds out of that.
| | 00:09 | (music playing)
| | 00:15 | For me, I just like to shoot things that I
see, and it's just kind of everyday things
| | 00:20 | that people do and turning it
into an actual picture.
| | 00:23 | (music playing)
| | 00:30 | I was a designer, and it was just like, you
know, sometimes I would need textures and put
| | 00:33 | a few things on my website.
| | 00:35 | A lot of it was like tighter, close-up shots.
| | 00:39 | And then I decided, I was like, I can pitch
this non-profit client of mine to, say, go
| | 00:44 | build a photo library in
Africa. That's what I did.
| | 00:49 | It was definitely kind of an
experimental growth period.
| | 00:53 | I still didn't really know a
ton about what I was doing,
| | 00:56 | but I think with the graphic design background,
it kind of helped me visually think of what I wanted.
| | 01:00 | I mean, I started just kind of grabbing some
attractive friends and I was like, "Hey, I'm
| | 01:06 | trying to like figure out this photography
thing. Would you be down to like
| | 01:10 | go out and I can shoot some pictures of
you?" And after I start doing more of them,
| | 01:15 | the concepts of what I was
doing was more than just the models.
| | 01:18 | It started to be about the
lifestyle, and it just started slowly evolving.
| | 01:22 | I was looking at different
photographers' work and kind of like seeing what they were
| | 01:25 | doing, and that's how kind
of the lifestyle evolved.
| | 01:28 | (music playing)
| | 01:32 | The first advertising campaign I got
through an ad agency was Secret deodorant.
| | 01:37 | They loved the energy in my
work and wanted that moment.
| | 01:39 | And it was a shot of this girl
jumping into a pool at a pool party.
| | 01:42 | She's carefree and fun,
| | 01:44 | and I think the art directors saw those
carefree moments in my work, and that's what they wanted
| | 01:48 | on their concept.
(music playing)
| | 01:51 | Kristen Ingersoll: I'm so glad you're here to talk some stuff today.
Nick: Talk about some fashion.
| | 01:57 | Kristen: Talk about some fashion.
Nick: Some lifestyle.
| | 01:59 | Kristen: Nick is, I think, well, unique.
| | 02:01 | He's, he's special, and I think that
people have to be on the lookout for that.
| | 02:08 | He's courageous and creative,
and he takes risks.
| | 02:13 | I think that's very important.
| | 02:14 | But he has a good eye.
| | 02:16 | And he also has some quirky concepts, which
I think can be tied into anything that you're doing.
| | 02:23 | Kristen: Oh, a weekend getaway. That sounds great.
Nick: Like, a weekend getaway with a hot couple.
| | 02:28 | Nick: Maybe they're, maybe we'd go up to like an
old cabin or something in the Catskills or...
| | 02:34 | Kristen: That sounds good. You know what?
| | 02:35 | That is something that is
definitely for Cosmopolitan.
| | 02:37 | Nick: Yeah (laugh).
| | 02:39 | Kristen: And the countries would love it, so...
Nick: Cool.
| | 02:43 | Kristen: He's very good at bringing out the
best in the models, and he enjoys it.
| | 02:50 | He's a creative mind, and it's fun to with
people like this. And you know that you'll
| | 02:56 | get something good.
| | 02:59 | Nick: Yeah, so I'm looking for
something for the model today,
| | 03:02 | maybe like a rock 'n' roll T-shirt, something,
maybe one or two pieces that we could kind
| | 03:06 | of add into the mix.
| | 03:08 | I mean style is everything.
| | 03:11 | Style is why people hire you,
| | 03:13 | like, how you see, what
your vision is for creative.
| | 03:15 | And it comes down from like the way you choose your
clothes, the casting, like how you see, how you pick talent.
| | 03:20 | You know, the types of locations, the
types of colors, the types of clothing that you use,
| | 03:25 | the type of light that you use,
| | 03:27 | all those are part of the ingredients that
actually make up how you see, how you see the photo.
| | 03:34 | So your style, and then that's what people
will buy in the end is, in a sense, your decisionmaking.
| | 03:40 | (music playing)
| | 03:43 | Yeah, do that again.
| | 03:44 | Mouth open just slightly. There you go. Great. Nice.
| | 03:50 | Part of it is people skills.
| | 03:52 | It's learning how to kind of build a rapport
and like, you ask them questions, you kind of
| | 03:56 | get them to feel comfortable with you.
| | 03:58 | Then you kind of run them around a little bit.
| | 04:00 | And just having them run around and jump, and
part of that wasn't even what
| | 04:04 | I wanted to shoot.
| | 04:05 | It was more trying to make her forget
about what's going on, and then she kind of
| | 04:09 | gets warmed up and used to it.
| | 04:11 | And then the other part is just like
you've got to know your camera so you're not thinking about it.
| | 04:15 | I can focus on the creative stuff, and I
don't have to think about technical stuff because
| | 04:19 | that's what I'm paid to do is the creative stuff.
| | 04:23 | Okay, go. Good. Cool.
Little flirty smile.
| | 04:37 | That was another challenge, was being able
to contrive a moment that felt completely
| | 04:42 | carefree and natural, and everything was, like,
preplanned and preproduced, and I had
| | 04:47 | to figure out how to do that.
It took a while.
| | 04:52 | Actually, stay right there. That light's great.
| | 04:59 | After a while you start to see a common
thread in all your work, and pretty soon it's like,
| | 05:03 | oh, that's totally a Nick Onken shot.
| | 05:06 | Style comes a little bit more from maybe the
lighting and the energy, and then that translates
| | 05:14 | all across the board from my lifestyle to
my travel. And the more you shoot, the more you learn.
| | 05:20 | You make this decision and then you
look at the photos afterwards, and you're like
| | 05:26 | wow, that didn't work.
That's why you grow every time.
| | 05:27 | So you learn things from every time that you
shoot that either you will or you won't incorporate
| | 05:32 | in the next shoot.
(music playing)
| | 05:38 | Photo Trekking kind of was birthed out of
travel photos that I've taken over the last few years.
| | 05:45 | At this point, I've been to forty-five countries.
| | 05:47 | And I mean, the travel stuff that you're
seeing here, I've never really been paid for.
| | 05:52 | It's more, you know, non-profit, you know,
working with charities or shooting my own
| | 05:56 | personal work on vacations, or going to
visit friends and I'm walking around with a
| | 06:01 | camera, that kind of thing.
| | 06:02 | You never know; it could turn into a book.
| | 06:05 | And that's kind of what happened.
| | 06:07 | Well, I guess overall, in general, part of how I
shoot as a photographer is very moment-driven,
| | 06:12 | very, I see, like, natural
moments and I try to catch those.
| | 06:16 | And so when I'm looking, when I'm traveling,
I'm looking for you know, here's, say, for instance,
| | 06:22 | this kid just running and jumping
across these concrete blocks.
| | 06:28 | And he just like has this motion
about him that's like a moment in time.
| | 06:33 | Kids, great moments, you know, running
around playing. And I grew up playing and
| | 06:40 | it's, I think it's something that I
look for and I see when I'm shooting.
| | 06:45 | (music playing)
| | 07:07 | Adam Braun: Pencils of Promise is a non-profit
organization, and we build schools in the developing world.
| | 07:13 | A friend of mine was out in Los Angeles.
| | 07:15 | He was working for a company,
and Nick shot for his company for the day.
| | 07:19 | And afterwards, they were talking.
| | 07:21 | And Nick was explaining how he had some
interest in working with different non-profit
| | 07:25 | organizations, and my friend emailed me and
said you've got to meet this guy, Nick Onken.
| | 07:30 | Nick, meet Adam. Both of you are young people,
and you are doing really interesting things.
| | 07:34 | I thought, okay, and then my friend
emailed me right after--it was just to me.
| | 07:39 | He said, by the way, you
really have to meet this guy Nick.
| | 07:42 | He's on his way to becoming one of
the top photographers in the world.
| | 07:45 | And he joined myself and our first
staff member on the ground in Laos, where we were
| | 07:50 | breaking ground at the time on our second
school, and he rode on a motorbike all around
| | 07:55 | the country with me for six days and shot
all of our initial imagery, which is now these
| | 08:00 | really beautiful kind of iconic images
that have helped Pencil of Promise grow as
| | 08:05 | quickly as we have.
| | 08:07 | (crosstalk)
Nick: Hola!
| | 08:16 | (laughter)
| | 08:20 | Adam: In particular, when it comes to shooting
photography or video, you know, it's a very
| | 08:24 | invasive process. A lot of times you've got to
get in somebody's face and capture them, and
| | 08:28 | so I was a little worried,
but Nick is a natural.
| | 08:33 | (crosstalk and children playing)
| | 08:49 | Nick: Rapido, rapido, rapido!
(children laughing)
| | 08:58 | Nick: Ok, vamos. Is this where it's going to be? Oh.
Adam: They're going to flatten this then put three classrooms here.
| | 09:11 | Nicke: Once you get them involved, then
they start running around everywhere.
| | 09:16 | You can interact with them.
| | 09:18 | It's kind of a natural reaction.
You show them the camera and then you figure out they love it.
| | 09:27 | They love seeing themselves.
| | 09:31 | Adam: Having Nick here is something that just,
it makes me happy in general because one,
| | 09:35 | he's not only a friend, but he's just an amazing
person to watch interact with kids, with children
| | 09:40 | in the developing world.
| | 09:41 | You just see him dive into these
situations and create situations where suddenly kids
| | 09:46 | will be running around him, and so watching
Nick interact with them is just incredible.
| | 09:50 | And he elicits a lot of joy that
maybe wouldn't be there if Nick wasn't here,
| | 09:54 | so that's really great.
| | 09:56 | And so Nick's photos are the story of
Pencils of Promise, the people of Pencils
| | 10:01 | of Promise. And in a lot of ways, it's also
the emotion of Pencils of Promise. And so,
| | 10:05 | you know, when you see kids with these huge
smiles--and we have our media
| | 10:09 | gallery. I wrote this kind of opening phrase
and it's, people say yawns are contagious;
| | 10:13 | we think smiles are too.
| | 10:14 | And I could only use a Nick
Onken photo to match that subtitle.
| | 10:19 | And so it's great what he's going to shoot,
and it's going to tell our story going forward.
| | 10:22 | (music playing)
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
Extended FeaturesIn depth: Lifestyle shoot| 00:00 | These are some of the issues where
they've pulled the images and published them.
| | 00:06 | It's kind of cool to see
things that are in print.
| | 00:10 | They kind of give us a list or give me a
list of overall rough ideas of what we want to--
| | 00:17 | of what they want,
| | 00:18 | but then it's kind of up to
me actually come up with each.
| | 00:20 | Once we get on that
location usually we spread it out.
| | 00:23 | We spread it over three days, three
different locations, and just spend each day shooting
| | 00:28 | whatever we could off
that list at that location.
| | 00:31 | So the last day, say for
instance, we were at a park,
| | 00:35 | and we just kind of pulled the
models and we had a prop stylist.
| | 00:39 | And kind of riffed off of it.
| | 00:41 | And kind of said, oh, let's grab this
prop and this model and this couple.
| | 00:44 | Put them together, put them over here.
| | 00:46 | And a lot of it's just thinking on the fly.
| | 00:48 | Some photos can apply to a number of different
stories, and so what they'll do is one edition
| | 00:54 | will have an idea date expectations
of a story, and then they'll go into that internet
| | 00:58 | that we--library of images that we created
and then they'll go and try to find something
| | 01:04 | that pertains to that story,
which they felt this one did.
| | 01:08 | But when all the elements come together and
just you're running around--and you have
| | 01:11 | good models in a great
location and great props and stuff, and the
| | 01:18 | models have good energy, that's what's,
where things start to come together for me, and
| | 01:22 | so you can kind of riff. And like you never
know what you're going to get, which is the great part.
| | 01:30 | So this is Bedford. This is Bedford Avenue,
runs from north probably 11th down to south,
| | 01:36 | to like Broadway, which is probably 20 blocks.
| | 01:39 | And this is like the heart of Williamsburg.
| | 01:43 | So locations are definitely key in lifestyle
just because it like it plays such a huge
| | 01:47 | part in the concept and the
textures in what's going on in the photo.
| | 01:52 | Sometimes I like to find, especially like
cool wall textures that have--that are kind
| | 01:57 | of decayed and have a lot of character.
| | 01:59 | They're kind of falling apart well.
That comes across really well on film.
| | 02:03 | So a lot of times I'll do like kind of a hard
flash with the subject against like a texture like this.
| | 02:09 | Yes, I'm looking for something for the
model today, maybe like a rock 'n' roll T-shirt, something,
| | 02:17 | maybe one or two pieces that we
could kind of add into the mix.
| | 02:23 | Something like this could be really cool,
because it's bright, and it would be like really,
| | 02:33 | kind of fall off the model really well,
like it will hang really well.
| | 02:36 | It's a little bit bigger, but it might come off
the shoulder a little bit, which would be nice.
| | 02:42 | I mean, style is everything.
| | 02:45 | Style is why people hire you, like how you
see, what your vision is for creative, and
| | 02:50 | it comes down for the way you choose
your clothes, the casting and how you see,
| | 02:54 | how you pick talent, you know the types of
locations, the types of colors, the types
| | 02:58 | of clothing that you use, the type of
light that you use, all those and the props and
| | 03:04 | all that stuff, all those are part of the ingredients that
actually make up how you see,
| | 03:10 | how you see the the photo, so your style,
and then that's what people buy in the end is
| | 03:15 | like your, in a sense, your decision making.
| | 03:18 | And which ends up being your style.
| | 03:21 | I like this, but maybe I'm thinking kind
of like you're sitting on the curb eating,
| | 03:25 | you know, eating Chinese
takeout and kind of hanging out.
| | 03:28 | But, if we see anything, like,
fun that we can grab on the way.
| | 03:32 | Model: Uh huh, yeah. No, this is cool.
Nick: Donuts.
| | 03:36 | Nick: And then, like walls, like
there's a lot of cool textures around.
| | 03:40 | We can shoot some stuff like that.
| | 03:42 | What I usually like to do when I'm
shooting personal stuff is shoot film,
| | 03:48 | so we'll probably shoot a
little Contax G2 action.
| | 03:54 | Maybe bring the Hasselblad.
| | 03:58 | The film actually just kind of forces you
to--the cameras are different so it forces
| | 04:01 | me to shoot in a different way, and there's
a texture to film that you can't really get with digital.
| | 04:07 | So, I prefer that, but when you're
first starting, your money goes towards other
| | 04:12 | things than spending it on processing film.
| | 04:15 | So now that I can afford it,
it's a lot easier to shoot it.
| | 04:20 | Yeah, do that again.
| | 04:24 | Mouth open just slightly. Yeah, there you go. Great. Nice.
| | 04:28 | Part of it is people skills.
It's learning how to build a rapport and like, you ask them
| | 04:34 | questions, and you kind of get them to feel
comfortable with you, then you kind of
| | 04:37 | them run around a little bit, and just having
them run around and jump, part of that wasn't
| | 04:41 | really what I wanted to shoot; it
was more to make her forget about
| | 04:46 | what's going on, and then she kind of gets
warmed up and used to it. So that's another
| | 04:50 | kind of technique that I like to use.
| | 04:56 | Stand up actually.
| | 04:59 | Let's get something where your
hands are kind of more up like that. Good.
| | 05:07 | All right, good. Let's head this way.
| | 05:11 | Okay, I want to do something where
you're like crossing the street here.
| | 05:16 | Nick: We've just got to.
Model: On green.
| | 05:20 | Nick: On, on green, yeah. Let me see.
| | 05:21 | I think I'm going to shoot this way.
| | 05:23 | So I'm going to stand over
here, and you'll cross this way.
| | 05:26 | Model: Ok.
Nick: Or, actually maybe you'll cross this way. There we go
| | 05:35 | Good, cool.
| | 05:37 | And then the other part is just like, you've
got to know your camera so your not thinking about it.
| | 05:42 | I can focus on the creative stuff, and I don't
have to think about the technical stuff, because
| | 05:46 | that's what I'm paid to do is the creative stuff.
| | 05:49 | Let's see. What are we going to do with you?
| | 05:52 | Maybe we'll have you kind of
walking this way. just kind of carrying.
| | 05:55 | Model: Okay, is this all right?
Nick: Just hold it. Yeah, just like that. That's good.
| | 06:01 | Spin. Good. Cool.
All right, let's go this way.
| | 06:10 | We'll get's some where you
are looking at the camera.
| | 06:20 | Good. I like that.
| | 06:24 | We might need something with
your hamster cage over here.
| | 06:36 | Right here. Good.
| | 06:49 | Actually, stay right there.
| | 06:51 | That light's great.
| | 06:56 | Looks great.
| | 07:03 | I like to have props because it kind
of brings more concepts to the shot
| | 07:07 | and also it gets them, the talent, moving
and kind of creates fun moments actually.
| | 07:13 | That's the biggest reason. When we
were walking across the street I saw how the
| | 07:16 | light was coming this way.
| | 07:18 | Like and it, the light looking on her was
just like really nice. And when the
| | 07:22 | bubbles were flying, it was lighting--the
sun was lighting up the bubbles as well.
| | 07:25 | So that's why I like this little area.
| | 07:28 | It all looks good together.
| | 07:31 | The more you shoot, the more you learn.
| | 07:34 | You make this decision and you
look at the photos afterward.
| | 07:38 | You're like, that didn't work, so I
think that's how your eye grows.
| | 07:41 | It's the way you see, but it's also the way
that you decide what you're putting into that picture.
| | 07:46 | Nick: Good. Cool. I think we're good. That was awesome.
Mode: Good. That was great.
| | 07:51 | Nick: Good job. That was fun.
Model: Yeah.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| In depth: Website portfolio| 00:00 | Nick: When I was first starting, doing the
printed portfolios, you would have
| | 00:04 | to, when somebody calls your portfolio in,
it's like fifty bucks to overnight it to them.
| | 00:09 | It comes out of your pocket.
| | 00:10 | And the industry is definitely
shifting towards websites, because now it's a filter.
| | 00:17 | I mean, there's so many photographers out
there, and people don't have time to just
| | 00:21 | call in books or meet with everyone, so they're
going to filter you the second they see your
| | 00:27 | website, whether, do I want to meet with
this guy, does he, is it not worth my time?
| | 00:32 | So the first thing I wanted, I wanted them
to be able to see an image, like upon typing in my URL.
| | 00:39 | So, and I wanted them I
wanted my branding on it.
| | 00:43 | So I basically had my logo
type come up right over an image.
| | 00:48 | Once it loads the first image it starts
pulling up and then just cycles through.
| | 00:51 | And I can update this,
the slideshow, really easily.
| | 00:55 | I can just keep adding images to it.
| | 00:57 | I can pull. I can change the order.
| | 00:59 | It's always changing.
| | 01:00 | If somebody goes on the site twice it may
be different you know, from a week apart or
| | 01:04 | two weeks apart.
| | 01:06 | Another big feature is the full screen,
so you can almost get a full-screen experience.
| | 01:11 | And when you just leave it on the site, it's
the most like a screen saver because the
| | 01:16 | branding, the navigation's super
minimal at the top, which is a big part of it.
| | 01:20 | I want it totally image-focused.
| | 01:22 | One of the key elements to creating the
galleries was, since my work is very story-driven, we
| | 01:29 | wanted kind of a scroll.
| | 01:31 | The sites that load in between each image,
art directors are like done. They don't, they
| | 01:36 | don't want to wait in between. They just
want to, they want to keep it going. They don't
| | 01:39 | have time, they need to click. So, my site
has really different points of navigation.
| | 01:44 | You can click right. You can click back.
| | 01:48 | You can click on a thumbnail.
| | 01:49 | Like, if you want to come here
and click to a certain image.
| | 01:54 | You can do a view all,
| | 01:56 | which shows the whole gallery in
thumbnails. And say I want to click on--
| | 02:00 | I want to see this shot right here.
| | 02:05 | This is another feature.
| | 02:06 | This is the search.
| | 02:07 | There's 2500 images in the database that I
can keep adding to, so you can search keywords.
| | 02:11 | You shouldn't have to explain to
somebody where to click and what to see,
| | 02:17 | so that's why I
incorporated just the easy navigation.
| | 02:21 | Even with the navigation in the galleries
it's, the big arrow pops up.
| | 02:25 | It's super in-your-face, and I think that
was a big key component, because it is your first
| | 02:30 | point of contact, and nowadays a lot of times
people are hiring you based off of your work
| | 02:36 | on your website, and books
are slowly getting called in.
| | 02:39 | Sending your book sent in is
definitely a different impression because it's a physical
| | 02:44 | printed format. But when I started to
develop the site, you know if I'm looking 3-5 years
| | 02:49 | ahead, probably five years from now,
books are hardly going to be called in.
| | 02:54 | It's going to be all about the websites.
| | 02:56 | So I wanted to put, invest in the website
and put as much effort and energy into it as I can.
| | 03:04 | And I mean I've I spent
more than my car on this website.
| | 03:10 | And it's definitely made its money back.
| | 03:12 | I mean, I've been hired directly based off
the website without even my book being called in.
| | 03:21 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
| In depth: Phototrekking| 00:00 | So, Photo Trekking was birthed out of the
travel photos that I've taken over the last
| | 00:05 | few years. And as I shot for the non-
profits and on vacations and from living in Paris and doing
| | 00:13 | different things, I'd gather this pretty
good-sized travel photo library and I had put together
| | 00:19 | some little promo books that I was sending
out. And my consultant that I was using
| | 00:25 | at the time, she was kind of using them as a
case study in one of her seminars.
| | 00:29 | And there happened to be a photo, a book
editor sitting in the audience, and she got it and
| | 00:36 | she's like wow, this is really cool.
| | 00:38 | I wonder if this guy would
be interested in doing a book.
| | 00:40 | So, she basically got in touch with me.
| | 00:43 | And the travel stuff that you're seeing
here, I've never really been paid for.
| | 00:48 | It's more, you know, non profit,
| | 00:50 | working with charities, or shooting
my own personal work on vacations,
| | 00:53 | or going to visit friends and
I'm walking around with a camera,
| | 00:57 | that kind of thing.
| | 00:57 | You never know. It could turn into a book.
| | 01:00 | That's kind of what happened.
| | 01:02 | We took about six months.
| | 01:03 | And I had to create an overall
table of contents, kind of outlining
| | 01:09 | all the categories that we'd talk about and
kind of create a kind of sample excerpts, which
| | 01:14 | were kind of easy, because I was able to pull
those almost straight from the blog of things
| | 01:19 | that I've already written.
| | 01:20 | Every photo in the book has a little
caption and some technical specs of what camera I
| | 01:27 | shot it with, which lens, which
focal length, ISO, and shutter speed.
| | 01:34 | The travel journals are just kind of a
little bit more in depth into one specific country
| | 01:39 | or area that I had shot in
and kind of a story around it.
| | 01:44 | At this point, I've been to 45 countries and
the first few, probably the first
| | 01:49 | ten or fifteen were just kind of exploring,
experimenting, and after I've done
| | 01:56 | it for a while, it's kind of given me a
good stride and really helped me to understand
| | 02:01 | how to operate in different countries,
how to relate to people, how to kind of walk
| | 02:05 | around and blend in with the surroundings.
And part of how I shoot as a photographer
| | 02:12 | is very moment-driven.
| | 02:13 | I see like, natural
moments and I try to catch those.
| | 02:16 | So I guess this is the tips section.
| | 02:19 | This is a shot taken in Thailand, so a rule
of thirds will to be kind of, put the subject
| | 02:26 | in your, one of the thirds of the frame,
the right or the left third.
| | 02:31 | Juxtaposition. This is a great shot just
because you've got a monkey with a cat; it's like
| | 02:37 | very contrasting.
| | 02:39 | Pattern and textures.
| | 02:41 | I love going out and shooting stuff that
has repetition and then creating a pattern out of it.
| | 02:46 | That was definitely kind of
something that I discovered along the way.
| | 02:51 | It's good to be in print.
| | 02:52 | It's good to have a book, especially
published by a major publishing house.
| | 02:56 | It's a good PR piece.
| | 02:58 | It's good creditably for getting other
jobs, or you know, people will tweet at me
| | 03:04 | and say they found my book in
Thailand and they're super excited.
| | 03:08 | You know, another person
says, "Oh I just read it, I just
| | 03:12 | read your book cover to cover on the plane
going somewhere. It really helped me travel, plan for
| | 03:16 | my travel or my trip."
| | 03:18 | So yeah, it's definitely got a lot of great feedback.
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| Building a visual brand with Pencils of Promise| 00:00 | Adam Braun: Pencils of Promise is a non-profit
organization, and we build schools in the developing world.
| | 00:06 | A friend of mine was out in Los Angeles.
| | 00:08 | He was working for a company and
Nick shot for his company for the day.
| | 00:13 | And afterwards, they were talking and Nick
was explaining how he had some interest in
| | 00:17 | working with different
non-profit organizations.
| | 00:20 | And my friend emailed me and said
you've gotta meet this guy, Nick Onken.
| | 00:23 | Nick, meet Adam.
| | 00:25 | Both of you are young people and
you're doing really interesting things.
| | 00:27 | I thought, okay.
| | 00:29 | And then my friend emailed me
right after, but it was just to me.
| | 00:32 | And he said, by the way, you really have to
meet this guy Nick. He's on his way to becoming
| | 00:36 | one of the top photographers in the world.
| | 00:38 | And he joined myself and our first
staff member on the ground in Laos where we were
| | 00:43 | breaking ground at the
time on our second school.
| | 00:46 | And he rode on a motorbike all
around the country with me for six days
| | 00:49 | and shot all of our initial imagery, which
is now these really beautiful kind of iconic
| | 00:55 | images that have helped Pencils of
Promise grow as quickly as we have.
| | 01:00 | Okay, so in three weeks is when I go down
to Guatemala, and we'd love to have you come
| | 01:06 | with us, and this is kind of the
next step for the organization.
| | 01:09 | You know, our third country, but, you know,
we haven't really been able to show to anybody
| | 01:13 | what we're doing in Guatemala yet, because
we haven't brought down anybody with
| | 01:17 | significant ability to capture.
| | 01:19 | And so really, what we want you to
do is capture the sense of
| | 01:23 | the Guatemalan people of Lake Atitlan which is
the region we'll go to, where the schools
| | 01:28 | are being built. And the kids in particular.
| | 01:31 | I mean, I've seen you
with kids in the field,
| | 01:34 | and they respond to you in a way that
just, they don't respond to most people.
| | 01:37 | So I think one of the reasons why I know
I and everybody on our marketing side
| | 01:43 | of things is psyched to get you down there,
too, is because thus far
| | 01:48 | you've seen how quickly we've grown, and a
lot of it over and over and over again,
| | 01:52 | gets brought up is the strength of the brand,
| | 01:56 | and how we've been able to kind of bring in
design and visual aesthetic, and your photography
| | 02:01 | has been a huge part of that.
| | 02:02 | And so, like, for example,
obviously, our marketing brochure, people flip out about.
| | 02:06 | And you know, right away they just,
you know they know it's beautiful.
| | 02:10 | And you know this is kind
of our biggest selling tool.
| | 02:12 | I mean, when I go to meetings, this
is all I have with me is just this.
| | 02:16 | And every photograph in here is just a knockout.
| | 02:19 | Nick Onken: I don't even think I've seen this. Oh nice!
Adam: This is the new one. We just finished this a week ago.
| | 02:22 | Adam: I mean, these are all your pictures.
| | 02:24 | So, we're now doing the Pencils of
Promise, like, picture of the day.
| | 02:28 | that we'll release through
Twitter or Facebook to 200,000 people.
| | 02:33 | But I think not only do we want to kind of
capture your aesthetic and expand the imagery
| | 02:39 | past Laos, but for example like,
right now, when I go to a meeting, I'll bring
| | 02:46 | my businesscard.
| | 02:46 | And this is hands down my
favorite part of meeting somebody
| | 02:49 | is I know, as soon as I give
them my business card they change.
| | 02:52 | Adam: They physically change in front of me.
Nick: Wow.
| | 02:54 | Adam: Because--and I've learned this over time--
| | 02:56 | I hand people my business card this way
and it's no--so here's all the information, right?
| | 03:02 | Nick: Yeah.
Adam: That somebody actually needs.
| | 03:04 | Adam: But when I hand somebody my card this way
and they look at it, it's yellow and says
| | 03:07 | name and executive, they literally just,
"Oh, okay, all right, great, thanks so much."
| | 03:10 | Adam: but now I hand people it that way,
Nick: Yeah, it's awesome.
| | 03:13 | and they immediately stop and
they consume the picture.
| | 03:17 | And they most of the time will go oh,
she's so beautiful or oh, she's so cute.
| | 03:22 | And then they, they, you know,
the conversation literally stops.
| | 03:25 | They observe the business card.
Then they flip it over.
| | 03:28 | And then they kind of digest it.
| | 03:29 | And they're thinking about me and about
Pencils of Promise changes, right away.
| | 03:33 | Nick: That's awesome.
Adam: And they just go, wow, you guys have
| | 03:35 | Adam: really just great branding.
| | 03:36 | And when I put these together,
and it's same imagery, the same, you know?
| | 03:41 | Immediately, I think
we're able to convey that.
| | 03:44 | And so what I want to do is take
it up another level with this trip
| | 03:48 | and start to get like
different kind of branded imagery that can have the
| | 03:53 | same iconic--within Pencils of Promise--
that iconic image for Central America.
| | 03:59 | So almost like having multiple
cards with multiple kids, and this way--
| | 04:04 | Nick: Yeah, well, that's good for me to know.
| | 04:05 | Because that's something to
think about when we go into it,
| | 04:08 | as far as, like, kind of finding those--I
mean maybe we pull, and do special portraits of people.
| | 04:14 | Adam: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
| | 04:14 | I mean, I had actually forgot about that,
but I remember the portraits that we
| | 04:18 | did in Laos.
| | 04:20 | Like those are, that's the photography
on our walls at this point in the office.
| | 04:23 | And when people see it, I mean,
they just, they get the organization.
| | 04:29 | Adam: It's helped us grow a lot, and so.
| | 04:31 | Nick: This image is so hero.
It's like you see it everywhere, it's awesome.
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| Keeping an inspiration wall| 00:02 | So this is my inspiration wall that
we put together, well, a couple of years now.
| | 00:08 | You know, I like to look at the different
shots and think about different elements that
| | 00:13 | I like out of the shot, and then I apply those
different elements for the--that's the lighting
| | 00:17 | and the styling or the energy or the
moment or just kind of the position of the
| | 00:23 | talent, maybe the concept or the natural feeling.
| | 00:31 | And I love this one. I love the
location. I like how she's casually dressed.
| | 00:36 | It's like a very staged,
but natural-looking portrait.
| | 00:39 | This shot here, it's very outdoor rugged.
| | 00:43 | It's focused on him, but it's also
focused on the fashion as well.
| | 00:47 | But it's very lifestyle.
He's like sitting there, but those elements and
| | 00:51 | having him and the fashion and just kind
of the way it's shot is--it becomes a fashion story.
| | 01:00 | This one's got a lot of kind of editorial
moment to it without--it doesn't feel cheesy; it feels real.
| | 01:08 | And I don't really want to copy any other
photograph that's been done, but, you know,
| | 01:13 | there's always some way to pull ideas and
things that you like and spill them over into
| | 01:18 | like the photos that you're creating.
But I always pull images to show the rest of the
| | 01:22 | team, just to help communicate the
vibe of the ideas that we're going for.
| | 01:27 | And I usually say this to people that are
starting out: it's a good exercise to go through
| | 01:31 | and find images in magazines that you're
attracted to and then you pull those out and then you
| | 01:36 | kind of break those down and
and figure out why you like them.
| | 01:41 | Is it the lighting? Is it the styling?
Is it the location? Is it the talent?
| | 01:45 | You know, deconstructing the photo helps you
figure out what you like, and you can incorporate
| | 01:51 | that into own work.
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