The Daily Edit – Friday
12.16.11

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Outside

Creative + Photo Director: Hannah McCaughey
Photo Editor: Amy Silverman
Art Director: John McCauley 

Photographer: Inga Hendrickson

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

 

Heidi: Typically you shoot products for the magazine, what inspired this new direction?
Inga: Hannah McCaughey, Outside Magazine’s creative director, and I worked together on this one. We  wanted to do something that showed a character who the viewer followed on his journey through all of the fitness myths being written about. We wanted to do something that didn’t take itself too seriously so we used the a Ken doll as our protagonist and Outside has used Ken before as a character. Photographer Chris Buck and shot a great feature for Outside starring a Ken-like doll several years back. We wrote to Chris to warn him and get his blessings, which he was kind enough to give us. Thanks Chris!!

Tell me about this shoot, where are these locations?
Ken is such a funny character that we thought it would be good to bring him back for a cameo. Ken and I would tool around town together playing dress up and finding fun locations here in Santa Fe. In fact, the shoot was so fun that I still tote Ken around with me looking for fun scenarios to put him in! It doesn’t raise too many eyebrows as long as I remember to put his clothes back on between wardrobe changes.

Are these shot with the iphone/hipstamatic or some other photo app?
Yes, they were shot on my iPhone using the hipstamatic app. Being a fictional character, Ken seemed like a good choice to illustrate the myth idea, and this style of shooting kept it loose.

I know you are a staff photographer for Outside, do you have a studio space at the magazine?
I do a lot of freelance work for Outside but I’m usually in the studio. (Outside has a beautiful studio space where I do most of the shooting.) This feature was mostly shot on location so that was a nice change of pace for me.

The Daily Edit – Thursday
12.15.11

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whole living

Design Director: Matthew Axe
Art Director: Jamie Prokell
Associate Art Directors: Alexandra Drozda, Erin Wengrovius
Senior Associate Photo Editor: Erika Preuss

Photographer: Sarah Maingot

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Wednesday
11.14.11

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Esquire

Design Director: David Curcurito
Art Director: Stravinski Pierre
Photo Director: Michael Norseng
Photo Editor: Alison Unterreiner

Photographer: Rainer Hosch

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Tuesday
12.13.11

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Glamour

Design Director: Geraldine Hessler
Photo Director: Suzanne Donaldson
Art Director: Sarah Vinas
Senior Photo Editor: Martha Maristany

Photographer:Frekerike Helwig

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Monday
12.12.11

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allure

Creative Director: Paul Cavaco
Design Director: Deanna Filippo
Photo Director: Nadine McCarthy
Associate Photo Editor: Holly Watson

Photographer: Nicholas Moore

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Friday
12.9.11


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Town&Country Weddings

Creative Director: Alexandra Kotur
Design Director: Edward Leida
Photo Director: Leslie Williams
Art Director: Effie Tsu
Deputy Photo Editor: Devin J. Traineau

Photographer: Emily Johnston Anderson

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Thursday
12.8.11

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Bon Appétit

Creative Director: Alex Grossman
Art Director: Elizabeth Spiridakis
Photo Director: Alex Pollack
Associate Photo Editor: Susan Getzendanner 

Photographer:  Anders Overgaard

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Wednesday
12.7.11

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Elle

Creative Director: Joe Zee
Design Director: Paul Ritter
Photo Director: Pippa Lord
Photo Producer: Julie Hammond
Associate Photo Editor: Louisa Parkinson

Photographer: Richard Burbridge
Styled by:
Kate Davidson Hudson

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Tuesday
12.6.11

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Condé Nast Traveler

 

Design Director: Rob Hewitt
Art Director: Andy Omel
Photo Director: Kathleen Klech
Photo Editor: Esin Göknar

Photographer: Williams + Hirakawa

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

Heidi: You are a team, how does that work? Do you shoot simultaneously or ….?
Sara: Mark and I discuss what we’re going to do in detail before we go into a shoot. We look at references, we talk about light, styling, everything beforehand. On the shoot day, Mark usually heads up lighting and I direct hair, makeup, styling, and props (if we have them). Sometimes we shoot simultaneously but more often than not, it’s Mark that holds the camera and I’m directing. To us, it really doesn’t matter. We’re both there to serve the image, and that end result is what we’re both after.

How long were you at this location?
We spent about two days in Cabo. Traveler sent us to two hotels and we bounced between them to get the cover shot and the interior shots.

Did you know the cover line prior to the shoot, if so did that influence your creative process?
We knew it was for the Reader’s Choice Awards. We wanted it to feel celebratory and graphic. Kathleen Klech suggested the balloon which she saw in another one of our images on our website and we agreed it would be a great component for the cover.

The Daily Edit – Monday
12.5.11

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New York Magazine

Photography Director: Jody Quon
Art Director: Randy Minor
Senior Photo Editor: Lea Golis 

Staff Photographer: Danny Kim

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Friday
12.2.11

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Foam

Art Director: Gigi Kalika Jack
Production Designer: Edyn Elliott-Barber

Photographer: Charlotte Wales

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Thursday
12.1.11

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Snow

Art Directors: Vicky Hodges, Jaclyn Rymuza
Photography Editors: Paul Love, Mildred Mattos

Photographer:Brian Mohr (landscape/action)
Photographer: Brooke Slezak (portraits )

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Wednesday
11.30.11

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Men’s Health

Creative Director: Robert Festino
Associate Art Director: Dena Verdesca

Director of Photography: Brenda Millis
Deputy Director of Photography: Jeanne Graves

Photographer: Don Flood

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Tuesday
11.29.11

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Entertainment Weekly

Design Director: Amid Capeci
Deputy Design Director: Heather Haggerty
Photography Director: Lisa Berman
Deputy Photography Director: Sarah Czeladnicki
Deputy Photography Director, West Coast: Richard Maltz

Photographer: Sam Jones

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Thursday
11.24.11

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Oprah

Creative Director: Adam Glassman
Design Directors: Priest+Grace
Photo Director:
Katherine Schad
Art Director: Jaspal Riyait
Deputy Photo Director: Christina Weber

Photographer: Fernando Milani

Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit – Wednesday
11.23.11

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Town&Country

Creative Director: Alexandra Kotur
Design Director: Edward Leida
Photo Director:
Lesley Williams
Deputy Photo Editor: Devin J. Traineau
Photographer: Gentl&Hyers

Food Styling: Susie Theodorou
Styling: Kim Ficaro


Note: Content for The Daily Edit is found on the newsstands. Submissions are not accepted.

The Daily Edit Interview – Patagonia Catalog Winter 2011

Heidi Volpe interviews Patagonia photo editor Jenning Steger.

Up at dawn for a sunrise cliff session, Carston Oliver seizes the moment for some Wasatch air time. Alta backcountry, Utah. Jay Beyer

Heidi: What a bold move to put a spread photo by Oskar Enander in the catalog, was that a hard sell since the rider isn’t one of your ambassadors?
Jenning: No because the photo is so stellar it did not leave much room for discussion, it’s a fantasy photo, ambassador or not everyone wants to be him. I admire and respect the Chouinard’s for having the courage to let a commercial entity operate with a photojournalistic heart. It’s more about the spirit of the photo rather than the logo being seen. This is why I love my job.

Riding light. Yves Hüsler, Engelberg, Switzerland. Oskar Enander

 

How many people work on producing this catalog?
Lots, we are an ‘in house agency’ more or less, so we touch almost every aspect of the project minus cranking the wheel on the press and licking the stamps.

The main group consists of:

Catalog project coordinator
Merchandiser
Graphic designer
Photo Editor
Copy Editor
Product photo shoot- studio, stylist, photographer, clothes steamer
Creative Director final sign off
Production
Color Separator
Printer

How do you submit work for consideration? I can’t imagine you can get back to everyone who submits work.
We work primarily on ‘spec’ meaning a photographer submits images on the speculation that we might purchase them. We sometimes offer up-front assignments if the story involves: a Patagonia athlete/ambassador, an original idea, or has an environmental focus. We try our best to get back to everyone but it’s impossible. That being said one of my favorite things about this job is communicating with photographers. I pick up the phone and call to chat as often as I can, its an important part of being successful at this job, communication is key so we can meet our photo needs. The use of social media has helped, customers can post photos to our Facebook page. The rest of our pro photographer’s submit via FTP. We strive to be a paperless dept abd are always trying to improve workflow to be more time efficient, so we have more time to edit.

How much of this catalog was spec?
90% of the Patagonia Winter catalog was built on ‘spec’ photo, the parting shot was on a company partnership trip to Alaska and we had some staff photographers around the same day the photo of Forest on page 17 was shot.

You can see some video of that day here:

Patagonia ambassadors Ryland Bell and Josh Dirksen earn their turns with the Deeper crew. Mare’s Tail, Fairweather Mountains, Alaska. Greg von Doersten

When helicopters and high production costs come into play, that shows a level of drive on the photographers part since you don’t cover that cost and in essence these are personal projects. Are those photographers hard to find?
I think since we don’t operate under a typical commercial photo structure most of our photographers have some personal interest vested in their images, it goes hand in hand with working on spec. You would not work on spec unless you loved what you do, because there is some risk. For Patagonia, finding photographer’s is never hard, because we treat our talent really well, but I guess it would be a lot easier to find a commercial photographer where all elements are mostly controlled. I always encourage photographer to embrace personal projects even if they take years to accomplish. To fund the big expeditions a photographer might have a variety sponsors all chipping in to pull the trip off financially, this can complicate things, but is necessary in some instances to join forces for the greater good.

How much direction do you give the photographers, if any?
We rarely set up shoots, of course this varies per project and purpose of shoot and image needs. If we do offer an up-front photo contract we get a general who, what, where, where, why from the photographer, and then supply a basic shot list, art direction and product. From there we let the photographer run with it and embrace their creative eye.

Holly Walker leaves her signature on Shuksan Arm – one year after a major stroke. Mount Baker, Washington. Re Wikstrom

We had a good snow season this year, does that makes your image pool richer?
Yes, especially for ‘backyard photos’ which are always a pleasure to see. It was a fantastic season to be a photo editor in North America on 63 page color winter action sport catalog. I had a blast with all the eye-candy and loved to see the high snowfall combined with a late season which yielded insane photos. Also the chica’s stepped it up this last snow season, one of my favorite photos in the catalog is on page 44 of Holly.

How much post do you have to do on these images?  Of course Photoshop is a no-no as your visual approach is more photojournalistic.
We do very little photo manipulation, every once in a while we take a logo out to keep us legal if we were unable to clear permission (this is how we differ commercial vs. editorial, logo permission, model releases etc are mandatory. We had to try to get Tropicana logo permission last week, the big corp companies are different than the outdoor industry, its hard and time consuming). In the 5 years I have worked here I have removed 1 snowflake coming out of a rider’s nose and 1 rock at edge of the frame for type legibility so very little to no photo manipulation. What you see is what the photographers saw and shot. Each frame is a piece of original art and I am not the artist so I have no right to alter. We are kind of old-school like that, we like well composed images that are captured in camera vs. in computer (post).

We do about 2-3 rounds of color with our separator fine-tuning how image will print on our recycled paper, next to or in-line with what color product etc.

Seth Lightcap waits out a storm in the Fairweather Range. Alaska. Tero Repo

Who are your new riders this year for the ski/snowboard team?
In addition to our fantastic team already in place we welcomed, Forrest Shearer, Josh Dirksen, Carston Oliver, Aidan Sheahan and Ryland Bell. Check out our entire ambassador roster here:

Jay Beyer’s work is heavily featured in this issue, is that a new find for you?
Jay Beyer has been contributing to Patagonia for the last four years, but in the last two years we have been publishing him a bit more regularly. It’s been fun to watch him grow as a photographer, he is a pleasure to work with and gets the Patagonia quest for authenticity.

Do your new athletes also bring in new photographer’s since many of these images are authentic? Meaning it’s a good powder day with your friends, and you capture it.
Yes and no, it goes both ways. For sure ambassadors bring new to Patagonia photographer’s to the photo dept as well we sometimes try to connect the dots between some of our core snow photographer’s to the ambassador’s depending on location, riding style, etc.  I also do my homework and am always looking at photographer names of shots I adore in the top editorial mags. Group dynamics and safety are very important in any trip so I can make photographer suggestions to an athlete but it has to happen naturally and there has to be a trust relationship. Some athletes come with their own set of photographers and we honor that relationship and look forward to collaborating with new talent.

Dressed for the occasion. Patagonia skiing ambassador Lorenzo Worster genuflects into the Incredible Hulk Couloir. Bridgeport, California. Christian Pondella

I’ve worked with Christian Pondella over the years, he is such a solid photographer and athlete. What do you enjoy about working with him?
The things that stands out the most for me is he is a true ski mountaineer photographer. It’s one of the few sports where the cameraman has to have the same skill set as athletes/rider to get the shot.

The photographer has the burden of humping in the camera on his back or skiing with a brick on his chest. In order to correctly shoot they have to essentially ski the same line safely and quickly, they must always be two steps ahead. He isn’t afraid of a little bad weather and submits comprehensive XMP data which makes a big difference. Our photo dept receives over 60,000 unsolicited images a year, (less than 1% of those are published approx).

Four feet of blower equals hero snow for Carston Oliver. Mount Baker, Washington. Jay Beyer

The shot of Carston on Mt.Baker is pretty sick, how did Jay get that image?
I enjoyed seeing Jay’s Mt.Baker photos as we see a lot less Cascades ski imagery than we do of AK or Utah so it’s refreshing.  Grant Gunderson has been up there for years producing exceptional work. Grant is somewhat responsible for putting Baker on the world ski map through his photos. Mt. Baker holds the record for the largest single-season snowfall in the world (1999, proximity to the ocean and prevailing west winds). I also like Baker partly because it’s the anti-resort, I am much more comfortable publishing an in-bounds photo of Mt. Baker than a shot off KT-22 one of the best chairlifts for terrain access in North America. Something about the Baker crew seems so tough, raw and real. We like gritty photos here at Patagonia.

I remember one discussion I had with Jay regarding winter photos. Almost every photo shoot he went on he was by himself, meaning not joined up with a film crew to shoot for the day. It’s good for the athlete when there is a film crew and still photographer but not necessarily good for the photographer. Last year Jay primarily shot by himself, meaning no film crew, just an athlete or two. It’s a bit of a risk on the photographers side but I admire him for having the confidence to skip out on the larger production. For Jay in my eyes, it was more about the skiing than the shots and it worked, he got the sweet shots cause his head and heart had the spirit of skiing. I appreciate photographer’s who are not afraid to shoot in bad weather, life isn’t always bluebird, a sense of atmosphere is good.

Here is what Carston had to say about that shot:
That photo is actually kind of an interesting one, because it is in a slack-country zone at Mt Baker that gets skied all the time, but I don’t think that particular little flute has been shot or skied before. 
It’s on the wall of a popular chute, but is located right at the end of a mandatory straight-line, so nobody skiing the chute ever notices it because they’re going too fast to focus on anything other than what is immediately in front of them. Also when approached from above, it’s pretty much a cliff that either gets aired, or passed by to get to a pretty rowdy pillow line. 

This shot was taken on the first day of our trip to Baker last winter, and I was showing Jay around because he had never skied there before. The only reason we found it was because I sent Jay down the chute on our first run while I went to ski the pillows. He ended up side-slipping down it instead of just pointing it like everyone else, and looked up to see this perfect mini-spine/flute. He then shouted to me to ski it, guided me into it from below, and shot it from a spot tucked up against the wall of the chute. 
It’s pretty cool how a new set of eyes can find a new feature in a zone that get’s skied so often, particularly when almost everybody through there ski’s past within a few feet of the thing.

Check out their new iPad Snow app for more images, avail for download in iTunes.