PREPARING YOUR MARKETING PIECE. The assignment is to present four postcards for your promotion starting May 1, 2024. The postcards will be used on May 1, July 1, September 1, and November 1. This is one postcard every other month. A good schedule. For more...

CATALOG PAGE Shooting for catalog pages is a discipline that takes time and skill to develop. Colors must match, backgrounds must be similar enough that they do not distract the eye, and the lighting must be consistent. Your assignment this week is to shoot three...

THE INCREDIBLE EDIBLE EGG Yeah… it is a popular headline, but that is what the client wants. The Design Agency is located out of your area but wants you to shoot this because you have been consistently marketing to them with great work. (See, it works.) A local...

Assignment: The client is a distributor of adult beverages, and specializes in exotic cocktails. Colorful drinks in fancy glasses. From martini glasses to tall, skinny glasses, the drinks are both colorful and delivered with style in most establishments. He wants a...

Cosmetics can be a tricky subject for a lot of reasons. The design of the packaging and tools are extremely important for the branding of the items. Logos, shapes, colors, textures, and more are carefully worked and reworked to help the customer feel the experience of...

The client needs some shots for their social media. They want a lot of them. We call these shoots "Library Shoots" as you are helping them build a library of images. Usually, these are based on time and image count. For instance: Two days of shooting, with a minimum...

2020 - ASSIGNMENT FIFTY: CIGAR / BRANDY BAR FOR AN AD AGENCY PITCH THE BRIEF: https://youtu.be/xr93sYtJxLc WHAT IS A PITCH? When a company decides they want to look at a new ad agency, they let it be known (many ways) that they are ready to be "pitched". That means...

Occasionally we have to recreate a period in history for our assignment. These can, of course, run from mightily damn difficult to a piece of cake depending on our location, the demands of the client, and our access to wardrobe and accessories from the time period we...

ASSIGNMENT: NUTRITIONIST BROCHURE COVER AND SPREAD: AND EITHER A 20 SECOND MOTION GRAPHIC (REEL), OR A POSTER DESIGNED FOR A BUS STOP BOARD. THE BRIEF: A local nutritionist needs a new brochure. He has hired a local graphic designer to do it, and you are the...

THIS IS A FREE WEEK. Redo an assignment. Do one you missed. Do something you love and impress the heck out of us. These come around once per quarter. [gallery...

2023 SPRING: ASSIGNMENT THIRTY-EIGHT: A HUMAN PROP (WITH MOTION) Due: November 21, 2023 This assignment is similar to many we get in the commercial realm. It is usually for an ad or a collateral piece and it features a product, thing, item, or widget. In order to give...

INSPIRATION VIDEO: https://youtu.be/pHHEd1HCvAM   RESOURCE LINKS: PINTEREST JOSH DICKINSON JOSH CALDWELL MATHEW ZUCKER NICHOLAS DUERS ASSIGNMENT: FASHION ACCESSORIES: MEN'S WALLET OR MESSENGER BAG THE BRIEF: The company makes messenger bags and wallets for men....

ASSIGNMENT: WOMEN'S SHOES FOR LOCAL BOUTIQUE Women's Shoes. A consistently best selling accessory. Count the shoe ads in Vogue or Bazaar… a very high percentage. There is a love affair between consumers and shoes – and especially women’s high heels. Assignment: The...

This is a fun assignment: And choose two. Do not worry about the sharing ideas I have posted here, make sure you post your two images here as usual. For this class (Project 52) we use OUR OWN PHOTOS.  You will concept out and make your own shots. Read the whole page...

PLEASE READ ALL OF MODULE ONE TO UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT. CHOOSE TWO BELOW. The Creative Class: Module One Use your own photography for these assignments. Assignment 1: The Power of Simple Find an advertisement, either print or digital, that you think is overly...

DUE: OCTOBER 10, 2023 TWO IMAGES THAT RELATE TO EACH OTHER That's the assignment: Two images that you shoot that relate to each other - by YOUR influence. I guess that makes it a “Sort of a Free Shoot”. This is a portfolio-builder exercise and I need you to pour your...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZlVQtHeR9w Photographing a watch is never easy. From shiny surfaces to infinite curved angles, to glass over the face the challenges of shooting a timepiece is particularly daunting. Which is why we love to do it. And that is our...

ASSIGNMENT: CD Music Cover Art for a Celebrity This is going to be a cover for a solo artist. NOTE: you can use anyone to be your musician, and you may have to visit a Goodwill to borrow an instrument. This is a portrait/concept and the most important part to think...

THIS IS A FREE WEEK. Redo an assignment. Do one you missed. Do something you love and impress the heck out of us. These come around once per quarter.[gallery...

2023 SPRING: 29: ASSIGNMENT TWENTY NINE: BRAND SHOOT FOR SUNGLASSES DUE SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 Sunglasses are popular items, and they have tremendous markup for premium brands. In this assignment, we have been contacted by the brand manager for a new line of sunglasses in...

HOW WE ROLL We are consumed by the automobile. In most cities in the US and a lot of the cities of the world, getting around without a car or at least access to a vehicle of some kind is nearly impossible. Mass transit can help, as does public transportation – but...

SPRING 2022: 26: ASSIGNMENT TWENTY-SIX: THE INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL SANDWICH The Most Incredible Sandwich… EVER! The client, a small regional restaurant/catering chain, has introduced a new sandwich line to complement their other prepared foods. But these sandwiches are...

When we are going into this assignment we want to think about LIGHT. This is an image-story about light. Not just lighting, but light itself. The subject matter may be whatever you want it to be, but the idea of light, the capabilities of light, the structure and...

THE BOYS OF SUMMER Baseball… played the world over, this game is one of heroes and villains, intrigue, and skill. “The Boys of Summer” is a term used for baseball players, and I think a play or movie too. No matter, we are using it as the title of this assignment....

SPORTS DRINKS. All the rage and a multi-billion dollar business. And so many terrible ads... sigh. The creative team "I know what we'll do, we'll just put the bottle on a white background cause that's all we need to do and we aren't feeling all that creative today -...

The job at hand is to create a photograph for a brochure cover. The client is a financial services company. They help people take the mystery out of financial planning. The point of this brochure is to discuss the fluctuating currency markets between Asia and the US....

A brand new assignment: A Flatlay shoot for a consumer magazine. BRIEF: Three themed images for an article based around how the summer changes the home, and the environment within. The assignment is based on an article in Magnolia, Fall, 2022. Consider this a study in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iQyHRPcqHshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f20_7g63bRkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bogJHG_ErUImage above: "Chocolate Indulgence" by Sam Breach. (How Was This Made?) A local restaurant has decided to run a special on chocolate on...

18: ASSIGNMENT: PIZZA: WONDER FOOD OF THE GODS THE BRIEF: What the client wants is a shot of her pizza as a homemade favorite. They use all traditional ingredients, and they use fresh ingredients whenever possible. They add little twists to the popular pizza dish by...

What a terrific video above. Make sure you watch it at least once. AN EDITORIAL PORTRAIT THE BRIEF: This is an editorial portrait. It is specifically for a regional magazine and it is all yours creatively. This is far more of a challenge than it may seem at the first...

This week we turn back to the three wine bottle shoot of alast week, but now instead of shooting one (or two) images to capture the scene, we are going to shoot all the items separately and assemble them in Photoshop. First, it will be important for us to establish...

ASSIGNMENT: WINE / BOTTLES FROM LAYOUT THE BRIEF: A double spread ad for a local restaurant to run in a local magazine. You have this layout sketch from the art director. This is a rough look at how they want the image. It is your job to present the image perfectly...

Assignment : Illustrating An As Yet Unwritten Magazine Article Your marketing has paid off, and the magazine wants to see a pitch from you. A pitch is something you do to them. A pitch is generally a story idea you have and want to shoot, or something that you think...

THIS IS YOUR FIRST FREE WEEK You have a multiple-choice assignment. shoot a previous assignment you think you could do much better. shoot an assignment you didn't do. shoot something amazing and blow our minds. If you need an assignment, here ya go: The coolest...

NOTE: THIS CLASS HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8 AT 6AM PACIFIC DUE TO TECHNICAL ISSUES. Good Afternoon, "My name is Arthur Dyrektor and I am the creative director at De Luxe + an e-commerce venture specializing in luxury fashion accessories for men and women....

SHINY OBJECTS DISSECTED: We know whether something we are looking at is shiny or not. We always have… it’s part of what I call visual literacy and we develop it quite young. Shiny things reflect light a specific way. Shiny things show us how shiny they are by what...

PETS AND PET SUPPLIES ARE A HUGE BUSINESS Many times when we are shooting, our job is to take something rather mundane and make it look like something really special. A pet toy or accessory for instance. (NOTE: If you Google it, you will find a bazillion images that...

BORING AND MUNDANE ITEMS PHOTOGRAPHED TO LOOK AMAZING Sometimes we have to shoot boring stuff. And that can be really easy. Sometimes we have to shoot boring stuff and make it look really cool, or awesome or inspiring – at least inspiring enough to lead to a purchase....

​ASSIGNMENT: A POUR SHOT THE POUR SHOT You can use beer, or wine, or lemonade, or root beer, or ginger ale… Whatever you want to pour. The brief: A close-up of a pour shot… it can be from oblique to the camera to straight over top. It must show an interesting ‘splash’...

ASSIGNMENT EIGHT: CUTLERY In this assignment we will tackle cutlery as a high-end chef's tool. Things to think about when shooting cutlery: The texture of the blade.Show this by making sure you have a continuous highlight on most of the blade. This highlight will most...

ASSIGNMENT SEVEN: A COOK IN THE KITCHEN This is a special assignment: One that will include a person and some food. Make it serious, make it fun… but make it interesting. I know there are people shooters in the group, and there are table top shooters… as well as food...

A FULL PAGE AD FOR A LOCAL FLORIST ... AND YOU ARE THE ART DIRECTOR. https://youtu.be/EmOgfTs3aP8 This is a short description assignment. A brief is all you get. BRIEF The magazine is 8.75 x 11.25 size. Portrait view Full Color The client wants a bleed shot (edge to...

ASSIGNMENT FIVE: "THE ROOTS OF POWER" It means many things to a lot of people. From politics to personal to some sort of allegory for anything they like or dislike. For us it means… Gardening. For us, the “roots of power” is a garden shot in your style. It is to be...

This is a ‘Table Top” or still life food shot. The assignment: an image to accompany a simple recipe for an InFlight magazine. Those are the little monthlies that most of the airlines have in those seat pockets. Some are good, some are not. This is one of the good...

A LITTLE SOMETHING TO HELP US PLAN We are going to start our business planning, but not in the dry “business school” sort of way. We aren’t in business school – we are photographers. Planning our business means that we have to also think about what we do as...

ASSIGNMENT: PROMOTIONAL IMAGES FOR A COFFEE SHOP BRIEF Your town or area just got a new Coffee Bar in a newly gentrifying part of town. Because you are doing your marketing right, you knew it was opening soon (business licenses are posted in the newspaper) and did...

Our first assignment is what I call the “eat the frog first” assignment. (If you have to eat a frog at the meal presented to you, eat the frog first gets the worst out of the way and you can enjoy the rest of the meal.) Works the same in most other areas of life. For...