Digital Dark Room

I first started printing black and white prints over 21 years ago. I have always loved the challenge of bringing the best out of an negative. Now that the digital age has replaced my enlargers and trays of smelly and sinful chemistry, I still have fun in the darkroom. It's different, but boundless. Photoshop is such an amazing program. Just when I think I know a lot about PS, I find a new canyon to explore and realize there is still so much to learn. And that is what makes it fun.

Dual Life "Style" Photography

At the end of last year, I shot a campaign for Johnson and Johnson Acuvue Contacts. The concept revolved around the idea that people who wear contacts have a life "styles" based on wether they are wearing their contacts or their glasses. This was a fun challenge technically in that the faces and attire are shot in two shots and composited into one. Quirky and fun. It's pretty weird to see what people look like with and without glasses in one glance. But add all the product type, logos, and the miles of legal stuff and it's a really cool ad.


You can see the background build here.




Client: Johnson and Johnson
Agency: Integer
Art Director: JB Leach
Stylist: Nicky Lee

Inspire Magazine

This portrait was shot for Inspire Magazine for a cover and spread assignment.

ART DIRECTOR: Sheila Schirz

Grand Opening Party

Wow! What a party! Thank you everyone who came. It was great to catch up with a lot of old friends and clients and to meet some new friends!

There are some thanks that need to be given to friends and family who helped out in the 11th hour to make the party great.

Thanks to AIGA and ADCD for sponsoring the FAC!  Don't forget the ADCD Annual show is coming up!  The deadline is extended to May 29!

I have rad parents.  My mom came in the week before the opening and helped watch my kids while I worked about 100 hours to make some deadlines and get the studio ready for the party.  On the day of the opening, both my parents helped clean and touch up paint.  Towards the end of the party when the 5 cases of beer and a keg were tapped, my dad made a beer run to keep the party rockin'.  I want to be like you guys when I grow up!

I'd like to thank Deven Gores for some last minute metal work that I couldn't get to.

A shout out goes to Passion Flowers.  My neighbor Barb gave a gift of life to a very grey and industrial space... a huge palm plant!  It looks great!

Kudos go to Ian Cooke who filled the studio with the gift of sound.  Ian's music was the perfect fit for creative conversation and I saw several people getting serenaded with their own personal concert.

Thanks to Greg from Healing Waters who had a table set up with information about his awesome company who helps bring clean water to people in third world countries. Healing Waters has sent me to Guatemala and to the Dominican Republic to shoot marketing photography. I asked Healing Waters to have a presence at the party because of all the thousands of pictures I have taken in the past few years, these make a true difference. I hope some of you got some information from Greg about the dire need for clean water and how we can help.

Thanks to Marco who brought the Villa Real Taco Truck!  The tacos were delicious and a huge hit!

Thanks to my assistant Randall Bellows for these pictures and for encouraging me through the long and sometimes stressful process of renovations.

My endless thanks go to my beautiful wife Christie!    When the caterer I had planed to cater the FAC couldn't make it a the last moment, Christie came up with sushi and snacks for about 50 hungry creatives who showed up for the happy hour after work.  

Behind the scenes, Christie is my rock.  She has been a constant source of encouragement and vision for me.  We have sacrificed a lot of time and money to make this dream come true and Christie has been graceful through it all.

Finally, thank you everyone who came!  There was no RSVP for the event so I had no idea what the turnout would be.  We had over two hundred people show up and the studio was packed from 5:30 pm to 11:30 pm.  Thank you Denver creative community!

-Bryce

Grand Opening Announced

My friend Rick Messer has made a couple of snappy Grand Opening Party Invites out of a recent test I shot. Thank you Rick! Check out his site... he's phenomenal!

The Art Director's Club of Denver and AIGA are going to sponsor an FAC at the studio followed by the big party. Details to follow.

Studio Progress

Finishing touches are going into the studio and we are ready for action! This is the main shooting bay and I'm quite proud of how far we have come!

In search of the perfect Grip Truck

If you know me, you know I geek out on the idea of the perfect grip truck. For years I have been searching for the right combination of capabilities for my studio. My goal is to have a 4x4 vehicle that can get me and my gear to hard to reach locations as well as to shoots in the city. But there are challenges of finding the perfect truck or van.

If I go 4x4, I sacrifice the gas mileage of a Sprinter Van. If I go with a van, could it get to where I want to go? EarthRoamer and Sportsmobile come close, but are (in my opinion) priced way too high... I don't think $250K is the best choice for this economy. Are you kidding me?

However, I've been talking to a guy named Marc Wassman who is in the beta testing stage of a new camper that comes pretty close, called the XP Camper. The price is more reasonable than the above options.

What also makes the XP Camper attractive to me is that it is removable from a flat bed utility truck. In other words, Marc can attach the camper mount to almost any sizable truck frame and the camper can be removed when you want to leave it behind. This would help a bit with gas mileage when you don't want to haul it around.

The XP Camper is a pop up camper, but it is mostly a hard shell, which is attractive to me for cold weather. Other pop ups are made with fabric that just won't do. My only other concern is if the camper can be configured in a way that would allow for storage for enough equipment. The access door looks a little small and may not be wide enough to get gear in and out. Marc tells me he can arrange the camper to suite my needs.

But for now, this is the best I've seen! Check out these pictures and the link to the XP Camper Website.

Recycling photo gear

I totally want one! Wristbands made from old camera gear. What a great way to recycle the old paperweight!

Break it in Easy

It's 1:15am Sunday night and I'm going to squeeze in a blog entry before finally get some rest after a full working weekend... following a marathon couple of months. This is all new work shot in the new studio. What do you think?








I hope to have some time coming up to fill this blog with new material that's been collecting dust since December. I have some amazing stuff shot, but can't get to it. If I can find the time soon, it will be amazing blog material from a campaign I just finished for Johnson and Johnson Acuvue contacts.

George Karl, Nuggets Coach

George Karl proved to be a gentleman when I shot him for 5280 Magazine's March issue.
Art Directors: Mike Leister, Alese Pickering Becket
Photo Editor: Steffanie Woodword

Here is a very short little time lapse of the shoot. This is pretty typical of editorial jobs... get in, set up fast, shoot, and get out.