Braun's World

Recently I had the chance to shoot one of my favorite Dallas Bands....ODIS. I've loved these guy's music for several years now, so I was pretty pumped when Larry, the lead singer, asked me to shoot them.

The direction from the guys is that they wanted this RAW.."just us".."this is me" kindv shots. No smoke or magic or uber lighting. If you are somewhat familiar with my work you know I like to explore the possibilities both in camera and in post. (computer software). WHAT NO PS, NO MASKS....NOPE. Oddly enough I felt liberated and challenged. It's good to be challenged.
Larry (Vocals)


Kindv kicking myself for not shooting some behind the scenes fun. Being the oldest of 3 brothers, makes me pretty at home with hanging with guys...doing guys stuff. Yes we had a nerf gun shoot out and Rob the guitar genius showed us how he could barely escape death while busting some sweet moves on the skateboard in the studio. My brothers and I all live pretty far away from each other now so just hanging out with these guys made me miss them quite a bit.
Mike (drummer)

While shooting we jabbered on about our favorite Bruce Lee Movies (Enter the Dragon...DUH) and the local Dallas music scene.
Rob (guitar)

Lighting: Imagine this!!! Subject 3-5 ft in front of the white backdrop.
An, AB1600 through a large octabox right behind me elevated pointed down. Another pointing at the back drop behind the subject. WOOWWWWW. 2 light was used.

Bristen (Bass)...(FYI Ashton Kutcher stole his sig look from Bristen)


HUGE THANKS TO Studman SEAN for all the help.

Have Fun and keep shooting!

Braun

Here some amazing video's that truly inspired me. Some technically, other's esthetically, and another competitively. Let me know what you think!
Land of Talk, "It's Ok"

Land of Talk - It's Okay from Saddle Creek on Vimeo.

One of my favorite photographers, Andrew Zuckerman's "BIRD Film".

BIRD film from Andrew Zuckerman Studio on Vimeo.

Behind the Scene of Andrew Zuckerman's BIRD Film

BIRD Behind the Scenes from Andrew Zuckerman Studio on Vimeo.

This cool vid from photographer Alexx Henry for a "future" Outside Magazine. Amazing!

These past couple of months have been pretty crazy. Finally home for a little bit. Sorry I haven't blogged in so long. Let's catch up!!

Lately I've been working on huge projects with my mentor Robert Latorre with his camera system....THE BIGGGG FREEZE. Our latest adventure was a couple of shows for the band CREED.

Robert Latorre with his Big Freeze at the Houston Creed show. Can you count all 3 rigs??

Tech low down. We used 48 Nikon D700's, 42 Nikon D300's, and a ton of the original film freeze system. It just so happened to break a World Record of Most Camera's used in a live production. Total of 250!! (breaking Jusin Timberlake's of 42...Sorry JT) Here is a guy from the guinness book of world records they flew from London to verify the system. He liked it a lot.





The lead singer Scott showing off his skills on how to blow stuff up. "This is how I torch and melt Nikon cameras! AHHHH!!!!!"


The Real Rock Star....TRAVIS!!



The footage came out amazing...I will post after Creed's DVD comes out.
Photographer/Production tip #11...Never publish the work before the client can...takes all the surprise out of the fun.
Photographer/Prodcution tip #93...When the Pyro Tech's yells.....PRYO TEST!...Seriously watch where your standing!

THE ENTIRE FREEZE TEAM DID AN AMAZING JOB! It was my honor to work with everybody!

Video from my new Iphone 3gs. Love this thing!!


Keep Dreaming and Keep Shooting!

Braun

Amazing new Nike video. "Exploit Yourself". Here is the commercial and the "Making of" short. (reminds me of my morning runs ;) ) Enjoy!

The Runner -Exploit yourself- from BLR_VFX on Vimeo.

MakingOf -Exploit Yourself- from BLR_VFX on Vimeo.

Recently I've been asked, How's Business? How are things?
Is this out of general conversation manner or genuine interest? Sure.

Anybody that is watching the news, or (like I do) read headlines of papers as you walk by, they know that the economy is suffering. Budgets are being cut. Money isn't flowing like wine anymore...right now. Is this the end? A lot of people are hanging up their hats as creative professionals. I get it. Things are hard.

OK what do we do? Maybe Nike isn't blowing your phone up? Are you at the point where they should? maybe so, maybe no. But what this little "time out" lets us take a moment to be still, to look at us, our profession, our skills....with a little more clear mind. USE IT.

One of my favorite sayings is from Walt Disney (the man), KEEP MOVING FORWARD...._________________(fill in the blank with any excuse) KEEP MOVING FORWARD, but ____________________(another excuse) KEEP MOVING FORWARD, another _____, another ______. Are we getting it? KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

The only real currency in this world is time. Ask any Billionaire laying on his death bed, and I promise he will trade his fortune for more time. Luck favors the prepared. I truly believe that. I can't tell you how many time I should learned that (the hard way).

Keep Moving Forward. Get Creative. Maybe clients aren't paying big money all the time. But think about this. When the time comes, Are they gonna spend their money on the guy that has been sitting in his room all day waiting on them. OR will they go with the person constantly putting out new work, fresh ideas, creative concepts. Which professional do you think will stick in their mind? Build your brand, your name, your work. I believe in you!

Have fun. Keep the faith

(SNEAK PREVIEW to one of my new personal projects)

Recently I had the great privilege of shooting an amazing entertainer. Sam the Magic Man. A VERY gifted magician. Seriously, when the guy makes you flip your card up (facing the floor) and its one, snaps his fingers, and then its another... that will make you think twice about what is real in this world. But besides his fantastic gifts, he is as funny a person as I have found.

Recently Sam has turned his attention to modeling....and being a not so horribly ugly guy...I'm sure he'll turn heads doing that as well. The above photo was shot with my favorite car in the world. My Dad's 1982 Porsche 911. I grew up in that car, and somehow it show's me my dad more than any picture could. He loaned (hesitantly) the sweet German to me for the shoot. Sadly we didn't have much time to really spend much time shooting it. But I'm not done with it yet. ;)

Contact Sam: 214.384.5049

Find the joy in all that you do. Be a blessing.

Braun