Another food review shoot for KC Mag; this time it was Michael Smith's restaurant in the crossroads. Great food and a great space - one of these days I'm going to need to actually eat there as well as take photos.
Credits:
KC Magazine
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
KC Mag; Michael Smith's Restaurant - Anthem Media
New Happenings
Well, it's been quite a while since I last posted and during that time I've had some incredible shoots for a while variety of clients but I've failed to update the killer blog you've all come to know and love.
So here's the news I've been working on getting a dedicated studio space for shooting and office out of and I think I finally am on the home stretch for it. The only remaining hurdles are an environmental survey and the inevitable appraisal. If both of those go to plan the close will be on 1/5/8 and the construction work will begin relatively soon after that.
If you want a sneak preview please give me a shout and I'll arrange it as I now have access to the space. Thanks for your patience during this time and I look forward to working with you all at 1405 SW BLVD in the near future.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Brian Harvey: Fitch
Brian is an incredible designer and I was delighted to come and photograph a couple of the brand new projects he'd been working on in Scottsdale.
"Though I could have used a local photographer to shoot our new office space in Scottsdale Arizona, I knew Alistair was the right person for the project. As I anticipated the process went smoothly and I was very happy with the results. Regardless of the location, I know that Alistair will pull off the quality I am looking for every time."
"Brian Harvey, Creative Director
Fitch, Phoenix"
Credits:
Fitch
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Oak Ridge High School - DLR Group
And for my second uber large high school project I got to fly out and photograph the new Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, TN. It's a fantastic project by DLR Group here in Kansas City. I had four long days to shoot and fly back and it took every minute with a couple of my favorite shots coming right at the end. This one weighs in at a portly 360,000 square feet (I think).
Credits:
Oak Ridge High School
DLR Group
Art Director: Ken Graham
Assistant - John Deprisco
Staley High School - Hollis + Miller
A couple of weeks ago I just spent a long couple of days photographing the new Staley High School. It was an incredible time spent capturing some wonderful images of an excellent project. The school is now up and open and congratulations to those lucky students who are now getting to spend time there. Oh yeah and for the record; it's over 300,000 square feet and sits on over 240 acres. It's HUGE.
Credits:
Staley High School
Hollis + Miller
Assistants - John DePrisco
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Architectural Design Awards Submittals - Best Practices
Architectural Design Awards Submittals –AIA Kansas City Lunch and Learn Lecture
This lecture was written for a "Lunch and Learn" presentation to the Kansas City chapter of the AIA and was presented to a full house on the 14th August 2008. The lecture was presented by Zack Shubkagel of Willoughby Design, Sean Slattery of El Dorado Architects and myself.
Introduction
The purposes of today’s lecture are:
- Identify the key phases of selecting work for and preparing entries for architectural award submittal.
- Identifying the subtle and not so subtle decisions that can vastly improve your experience of entering an architectural awards competition.
- What you can accomplish by participating and succeeding in these competitions.
- What the parallels can be from the hard work of preparing the award submittals to your marketing and PR materials.
- Prestige – there’s no mistaking the fact that by entering and winning competitions your prestige in the local, regional and national market will increase by steadily and consistently entering the same competitions and winning.
- Staff Relations – it’s a great way to improve morale, focus on design and attract new hires from in and out of town.
- Marketing and Publicity – it’s an incredibly effective and cheap form of marketing;
- By entering a magazine’s competition you can get a front cover, inside contents page and a couple of spreads (been there, done that and it cost $65 to send the entry in). This is coverage that paid marketing could never replicate while the credibility of winning in front of your client’s and peers
- Winning a prestigious organization’s competition can result in all kinds of additional press coverage where magazines and newspapers show the results and projects in press and online (such as the KC Star and AIA’s competition last year).
- In addition to the immediate publicity your firm will be able to leverage the relationships you build with editors and writers at magazines to publicize future work outside of competition entries.
- By entering a magazine’s competition you can get a front cover, inside contents page and a couple of spreads (been there, done that and it cost $65 to send the entry in). This is coverage that paid marketing could never replicate while the credibility of winning in front of your client’s and peers
- Client Relations – it’s a very nice relationship booster to be able to show your client’s that your designs win awards; some great ways to leverage that are:
- They will receive the same publicity boost you receive.
- They will have enhanced confidence in the effectiveness of your work.
- You can give them a copy or the original of the award so that they can bask in the glory.
- They will receive the same publicity boost you receive.
- Practice – simply put if you don’t start entering competitions you won’t win. It’s not worth waiting for that incredible project that you think can beat all others, it’s much better to enter the work that you are doing and learn the best ways to put an award submittal together and see what works and doesn’t so that the incredible project has the best chance of winning.
- Examine not only the genre’s that you have strength in but also the genre’s that you wish to expand in to and take risks on new clients and projects to create competition winners that broaden the firms base.
- Determine early on opportunities within the budget, the client, and the program brief that will allow you to make projects that have an award winning potential; the bottom line is differentiation however that is achieved.
- Document EVERYTHING and retain those documents. You may well find yourself recreating that killer sketch later on but it is well worth having the original to work from to create unique documentation to really narrate the project.
- The sub-contractors that might be involved in key design decisions (lighting and signage for example) should be notified that you’re aiming for a particular project to garner awards so they can participate at the most integrated level; on the flip side your sub-contractors may well actively enter your work in their industries competitions – make sure you share in the credits and document the victories in your marketing and PR efforts.
- Involve those sub-contractors that you want to document the final result. This will help in a variety of ways:
- They will fully understand the design challenges and be better able to document them.
- You will find the best sub-contractors to document the particular style and scale of project you want to enter; different writers, designers and photographers can be better at different projects – we all have specialties.
- You can estimate costs and timelines that will occur outside the design and construction phases that affect the marketing and PR efforts to fully promote your designs.
- They will fully understand the design challenges and be better able to document them.
- Don’t be afraid to publicize your project at this early stage of work; if it is unique enough those magazine editors can start planning how to cover it and the word can get to the jurors that will judge your design.
- Document EVERYTHING and retain those documents. You may well find yourself recreating that killer sketch later on but it is well worth having the original to work from to create unique documentation to really narrate the project.
- Consider photographing in-progress images in-house or professionally to document the challenges you faced and the solutions to them in progress. A huge part of architectural design is problem solving and that requires careful and considered documentation; both visual and graphical. The consideration for using a professional at this stage is to compete with those other firms in producing the best documentation possible.
- Again, work to get the word out about your design work and see if you can generate a buzz that could help your case with the jurors.
- Contact the vendors you’ll be using to ensure their availability and scout the location to learn how best to narrate the design vision.
- Design Vision
- Photos of People / Use
- Photos of Details / Icons
- Photos of Different Lighting Conditions
- Design Vision
- Gather all the final materials and comprehensively catalog them; copy and scan all originals and begin the documentation process.
- Individual entry preparation revolves around the following key issues:
- Concise narratives – tell the story quickly and make it simple to understand; the rule is 20 seconds we’ll explain why later.
- Interwoven documentation – the words, the images and the diagrams must all support each other and be consistent; less can be more if an image or diagram is redundant.
- Accuracy – double-check EVERYTHING; your sub-contractors names should be spelt correctly, you shouldn’t have typos and don’t try and slide something by them. The jurors know the process, the materials and may even know of the project.
- Research the jury – try and take twenty minutes at least to acquaint yourself with the jury; the purpose of this isn’t necessarily to pick things they like as much as avoid things they detest. If they hate cats, don’t show cats (this is a metaphor…maybe…as long as you don’t hate metaphor).
- Critique your submission – don’t just test the files to see if they work; try and set up a mini-jury of your own to review your narrative and see if it works. BE completely honest.
- Be careful - read every set of competition entry guidelines very carefully, a month in advance, so you can ensure you don’t end up having to pull all-nighters right before the deadline and compromise the quality of your submittal to simply deliver the entry. This way all those hard-worked materials actually meet the requirements, trust us, everyone mucks this up a couple of times and don’t let stupid be the tiebreaker.
- Concise narratives – tell the story quickly and make it simple to understand; the rule is 20 seconds we’ll explain why later.
- Preparation of awards submittals should be an ongoing process where there is a staff member assigned responsibility for gathering dates and requirements for potential competitions. It’s a great idea to keep a spread sheet with the deadlines and key deliverables.
- As you come towards competition season scan all the potential competitions and double-check your thinking to see if you’re fully exploiting each competition in every genre.
- Check that the materials you have been preparing throughout the year are fulfilling the best narrative for the project you are submitting and capture any additional materials to support your case.
- Prepare your entry early and deliver it on-time; it’s a great feeling when you know it’s all done and you’re not relying on same-day air freight and a wing and a prayer to get there on time.
- After you enter a competition scan and retain EVERYTHING; once you gathered the artwork, photography, diagrams and copy to enter one successful entry it sure is nice to quickly draw from those materials and immediately prepare a new entry without restarting the organizational process.
- The 20 second rule we referred to earlier is the amount of time (on the outside) that a jury is going to review your ENTIRE submittal; they have a huge number of entries to review and their first consideration is to weed out the also ran’s and focus on the potential winners for placing.
- This concept is fundamental to realizing your award submittal ambitions. The visual portion of your narrative has to be powerful and immediately understandable; you can have complex subtleties but you must get the basics over to that jury in an unbelievably short time frame.
- Focus on the photography and the diagrams that can get you to see the initial results in your awards submittals.
- This concept is fundamental to realizing your award submittal ambitions. The visual portion of your narrative has to be powerful and immediately understandable; you can have complex subtleties but you must get the basics over to that jury in an unbelievably short time frame.
- This may lead to a halving or an even greater cull of the entries and the next step, which can be on a different day, is to sift those maybes out and now they’ll start discussing the work between each other.
- This is where the design will really take hold as they have an opportunity to truly review it.
- This is where the design will really take hold as they have an opportunity to truly review it.
- The jury will now begin picking and placing winners;
- Now may be the only time they read the written narrative and this may well be the tie-breaker and this will be where your copy writer earns their fee.
- Also, this is where stupid can ruin your entry; check for those typos, those inconsistencies and poor grammar and arguments.
- Now may be the only time they read the written narrative and this may well be the tie-breaker and this will be where your copy writer earns their fee.
Reviewing the performance of competition, marketing and PR materials
Creating design competition entries is only part of an overall marketing effort and it is definitely worth putting the whole process we discussed today as part of your marketing effort and a means to an ends not the end itself. Here are some steps to make that work:
- When your competition entry fails think about how you can alter the narrative to make it better in the next competition.
- The best way to do this is to ask the competition organizers for jury feedback and/or placement; many competitions will supply this and if they don’t then it didn’t hurt to ask.
- Volunteer someone from your organization to be intimately involved in the process; this is the only way to really get on the inside of what happened to whom and why (plus you can also find that missing entry when it slides behind the couch).
- The best way to do this is to ask the competition organizers for jury feedback and/or placement; many competitions will supply this and if they don’t then it didn’t hurt to ask.
- When you win (hopefully more often after today) really study the entry and think about what you may have done differently to succeed this time and how to improve the number or placement of your results.
- In any competition you can see the results and study the winners, and if possible, the losers. Clear trends will emerge from the quality of the photography, clarity of diagrams, concise nature of supporting copy, overall quality of the presentation, as well as style of project and design. It’s normally obvious why things win if you can look at the winners and losers.
- Know that how you create that competition entry (the text, diagrams and photographs) may well NOT be the way you want to represent it in your marketing materials and PR entries.
- Examples may be more use of people in your photography for editorial submittals, enhancing the write-up of the project to make it easier on a magazine editor, focus on the sexier images for your marketing efforts and using a standardized template for formatting those elements when a competition entry may require a custom look and feel.
- Examples may be more use of people in your photography for editorial submittals, enhancing the write-up of the project to make it easier on a magazine editor, focus on the sexier images for your marketing efforts and using a standardized template for formatting those elements when a competition entry may require a custom look and feel.
- Implement a strategy that all significant projects will be documented; this may be a tiered system depending on how important a project is for your long term marketing and PR. Once you know how you will narrate projects, visually, diagrammatically and in text, you can dramatically foreshorten the time you take to fully utilize your design talents.
- Document EVERYTHING; and bring that documentation to bear in creating a true narrative design entry.
- Every element of your design and award submittal should differentiate you from your competition.
- The best design competition entry will narrate the design; the solution, the success, the failure and the final creative result. Focus on that narrative and make it concise; think of the 20 second rule.
- Approach the entire design and construction and completion phase with a goal of creating a competition entry.
- When you enter the competition phase improve your odds and enter several pieces; it’s a little like a lottery in that more tickets can yield more prizes (although it helps if you know the winning numbers before hand).
- Learn when you succeed and learn when you fail and make an even better entry for the next go around.
- Go back to your office right now and build that system where your work is reverentially documented and the efforts and toil will be harnessed to bring rewards, work and prestige flowing in.
- Above all the process is a competition; great designs can fail to win awards through sloppy award presentation materials. Utilize professionals when you can and really concentrate on a comprehensive but targeted submittal.
- Enter the Central States Awards using this advice and be shocked, yes SHOCKED, at your success.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Seth Gunderson: Sullivan Higdon & Sink
Seth and I have known each other for quite a while through the Ad Club of Kansas City and I've really enjoyed the experience of getting to know him; so I was delighted when he recently contacted me to capture the new Shatto Milk Soap packaging. It's some great design work and a wonderful product...although I'm not sure if the photographer is always right, my wife certainly doesn't agree.
"I approached Alistair about shooting some milk soap packaging. All we really needed was a few straight on shots of the product. Alistair was so enthusiastic about doing some shots that were a bit different, that it was impossible to say no. And, of course, the photographer is always right. Everything came out beautifully and the client couldn't have been happier."
"Seth Gunderson, Art Director
Sullivan Higdon & Sink"
Credits:
Sullivan Higdon & Sink Advertising
Kristen Fisher: AIA Kansas City
I have been working with Kristen and the AIA in Kansas City for over a year now and it's been a wonderfully beneficial relationship. It all began with the presentations I've been giving for their membership on architectural photography and has now grown into me shooting their latest advertising campaign.
"It is always a pleasure to work with Alistair. His knowledge of the industry and attention to detail show in the fantastic results. Often times we have asked him to turn around a project in a very short time frame, and he is always up to the task. We look forward to working with him on our next project."
"Kristen Fisher, Communications Director
AIA Kansas City"
Credits:
AIA Kansas City
Monday, August 4, 2008
Neil Steiner: TouchPoll KC
Neil is a fantastic fella that I've known for a couple of years throught the Freelance Exchange and has been a wonderful source of referrals and was a pleasure to shoot.
"This bloke is GREAT! His work speaks for itself. 100% PROFESSIONAL! Whether or not you need help with a business or personal photographic project, Alistair will make sure that everything results in SATISFACTION! I highly recommend Alistair Tutton Photography."
"Neil Steiner
TouchPoll KC"
Credits:
TouchPoll KC
Friday, August 1, 2008
Samantha Murray: DLR Group
Samantha is an incredible designer and a fabulous client; plus she's English so we don't need a translator to work together! But on a serious note the Spa project was a fantastic interior and I'm really excited at the future interiors we'll be photographing together this year.
"Working with Alistair on "The Spa Tuscano" shoot was a joy: pure and simple."
"His obvious love of photography shines through in both his personality and his work. Alistair's attention to every detail, his patience, and his understanding of the personal investment a designer has in a project makes him one of, if not the best, photographer I have had the pleasure of working with."
"I know that even if I am not awake at the crack of dawn shoot, Alistair will make sure that we get the best shot with the best light and that it will be staged perfectly. Our goals for the shoot are Alistair's goals and I have no doubt that he will always ensure that those goals are not just met, but exceeded."
"Alistair captured the essence and beauty of the Spa and did it right the first time ~ without the need for digital enhancement. This, along with his amazing talent, sets him apart in my opinion."
"I consider Alistair an important part of our team and I am looking forward to completing more projects with him in the future."
"Samantha Murray, Interior Designer
DLR Group"
Credits:
DLR Group
Townsend Incorporated; Wall St. Omaha - Matt Shepherd Ad.
So I apparently completely spaced on posting this earlier in the year. Old age is creeping in. Anyhow, this was another wonderful shoot with Matt Shepherd for Townsend Development for an incredible new condo project in Omaha. It'll be an entirely new build condo tower in the heart of downtown and is truly stunning. I can't wait to see the finished project.
Credits:
Townsend Incorporated
Matt Shepherd Advertising and Design
Art Director - Matt Shepherd
Assistant - Neil DeKrey
Matt Shepherd: Matt Shepherd Advertising and Design
Matt has been a fabulous client over the last couple of years; we've worked together on promoting Townsend Development's series of condo projects in Kansas City and Omaha.
"I have hired Alistair on many occasions. He is always great to work with and the images are top notch. Great shooter and a good guy!"
"Matt Shepherd, President
Matt Shepherd Advertising and Design"
Credits:
Matt Shepherd Advertising and Design
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Stephen P. Herchak: DLR Group
Stephen and I just finished a mammoth undertaking of formalizing the relationship of DLR Group with their existing and future photographers; the purpose of which is to ensure high quality imagery that is delivered in a timely fashion. It was great fun to help produce the piece and I think it will help the whole group nationally.
"Alistair has been a fabulous resource to me in my education on the special nuances of digital photography and how the end product differs compared to the scans from transparencies I was previously acquainted with."
"He was always willing to field my many pesky questions quickly, all with good cheer and humor. Not only was he able to get me to understand the issues involved, but he did it in a way I could pass on to other people, some of whom with no previous experience of the photographic process so they could understand and apply that information as well.
"This knowledge was a tremendous aid in our push to improve marketing efforts -- once you got past his accent, of course."
"Stephen P. Herchak, Senior Graphic Designer
DLR Group Marketing"
Credits:
DLR Group
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Nicholas Segura: Spyn Design + Marketing
I recently worked with Nicholas on capturing a whole bunch of new models for 385 Talent; it was tremendous fun and the talent is exceptional.
"Alistair is a GREAT photographer. Recently our models at 385Talent.com needed some shots and Alistar was very professional and accommodating. We got great shots, files, and appreciate the help!"
"Nicholas Segura, Partner
Spyn Design + Marketing"
Credits:
Spyn Design + Marketing
385 Model & Talent
July Cover - Kansas City Homes & Gardens
The Barker residence has finally been featured in Kansas City Homes & Gardens and the best part was I got the cover; thanks Andrea. This was a fantastic shoot and I love the look of the cover shot they selected.
Credits:
Kansas City Homes & Gardens
Art Director - Andrea Darr
Assistant - Neil DeKrey
Leavenworth Apartment - Kansas City Homes & Gardens
I had a great shoot with the wonderful Andrea Darr of Kansas City Homes & Gardens; which was incredible fun having had a chance to be on their cover this month. The subject of the shoot was a unique apartment, home to Meredith Timmons, her lovely daughter and extremely photogenic cat, located in downtown Leavenworth with a fantastic photo studio, Misty Bull Photography, immediately below it. Thanks to everyone for all their help.
Credits:
Misty Bull Photography
Kansas City Homes & Gardens
Art Director - Andrea Darr
Assistant - Adam Windle
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
New Portfolios
Woohoo! I finally got around to linking all the new portfolios to the blog site; you can use the menu bar above or click on the links below and please give me feedback on what you think of them.
Portfolios:
Main Portfolio
Architecture
Food
Persona
Monday, July 7, 2008
KC Mag; Columnists Portraits - Anthem Media
We had a wonderful Sunday photographing the KC Magazine Columnists the week before last and got to work in the Power & Light District and the Plaza. Thanks to all the columnists for their time on location and all the businesses for their wonderful hospitality.
Credits:
KC Magazine
Assistant - Ryan Yoakum, Adam Windle and Jacklyn Acker
Dogtastic...
Here's the whole clan. If you haven't met the team they are Sequoia, Aine (pronounced Awyna) and Bigsby. They're very good fun and this was all from a mass dog shoot at the studio.
Accardo Arts District
Another great shoot for the Accardo Arts District. This time we got to photograph the SHS building exterior and the interior of the Broadway sales office (that's now available for lease) as well as the 310 W 9th building. Some great buildings and congratulations to the Accardo folk for their ongoing preservation efforts.
Credits:
Accardo Arts
Art Director - Chris Accardo
Assistant - John DePrisco
Townsend Incorporated; Wall St KC Pool - Matt Sheperd Advertising
We had a ton of fun over the weekend hanging out at the newly opened pool at Wall Street KC. It's a superb facility and could almost tempt me to consider a condo (if it weren't for the three dogs, a cat and a horse I have to consider). The pool is a fantastic addition to the project and it's really popular with the residents. Thanks to JD for the beer and mystery party of folk for the asian ribs - definitely made for a fun shoot.
Credits:
Townsend Incorporated
Matt Shepherd Advertising and Design
Art Director - Matt Shepherd
Assistant - Ryan Yoakum
Shine Spa - Urban Times
Urban Times led me to another new location that I hadn't seen before, this time it was Shine Spa. A wonderful spa located right in the heart of Westport. It's got a great mix of services from traditional spa treatments through to yoga.
Credits:
Shine Spa
Urban Times
Assistant - Bryce Napier
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Shatto Milk Soap - Sullivan Higdon & Sink
After a lot of consumption of their product it was nice to get a chance to photograph it. If you haven't tried Shatto Milk then I have to recommend you do; it's quite simply fantastic and with the launch of their new milk soap products I had the chance to work with the team at SHS to capture their new packaging designs.
The copy is fantastic, as is the product, check them out at a retail outlet near you.
Credits:
Shatto Milk
Sullivan Higdon & Sink
Art Director - Rose Gaynor and Seth Gunderson
Copaken White Blitt and LMA - Hillcrest Bank
This was great fun with a new client; Hillcrest Bank. We captured some imagery of their clients at Copaken Blitt and the Livestock Marketing Association to put in their Annual Report. There's a whole bunch more great photography from the employee shoot coming up.
Credits:
Copaken White Blitt
Livestock Marketing Association
Hillcrest Bank
Art Director - Terri Monrad
Assistant - John DePrisco
KC Mag; Wine Cellar and Nursery - Anthem Media
This was a strange combination; a wine cellar followed by a nursery. Two great locations and a lot of fun on the shoot. Thanks to the home owners that welcomed us in and the artisans that helped create these wonderful home features.
Credits:
KC Magazine
Assistant - Bryce Napier
Remiss - Aine
Well, it was a tough month, hence a little slow down in blogging. I've had some great shoots and those will be rapidly uploaded after this post. After twelve wonderful years our beloved dog Remiss unfortunately passed away. She has been my wife's constant companion since she was weaned from her litter mates and has been a wonderful friend to me since we first met four years ago.
Of course we couldn't stay a two dog family for long and Angela soon found a gorgeous Great Dane puppy that we've fallen in love with and named Aine (pronounced Awyna).
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Linda Buchner: T2
Linda and I worked together to capture the incredible new interior of Take Two's studios. It's a fabulous project and she was an absolute pleasure to work with.
"Alistair brings a HUGE level of fun to all his projects and activities. Because of his great positive attitude, smart and precise decision-making skills, and amazing eye for detail while setting and composing each photograph, Alistair is a terrific partner for any visual communications project. His volunteerism for the Kansas City Ad Club is truly commendable."
"Linda Buchner, Director of Sales and Marketing
T2"
Credits:
T2
Friday, May 30, 2008
Urban Photo Safari 2008; I'm a winner! - Alistair Photography
The results are out and yea verily I'm a winner...a joint winner. There ended up being over sixty entries and the other winner was a fantastic location portrait by Kevin Sisemore. It was an absolute pleasure to participate in the Safari and it was great fun to see all the different views of Kansas City. Thanks to Doug for organizing it, the guys at Indicia for hosting it and of course everyone for participating.
Great fun and make sure you're there next year!
Credits:
Urban Photo Safari 2008
Kevin Sisemore
Dog - Bigsby
Thursday, May 22, 2008
KC Mag; Amuse Bouche and Summer Sweets - Anthem Media
Woohoo! Foodtastic; I had a great afternoon today cruising to a couple of wonderful Kansas City restaurants and capturing some fabulous food items. I got a couple of excellent assignments at City Tavern and Melbee's and I really enjoyed working with the chefs and staff at both places - thanks for all your help.
Credits:
City Tavern
Melbee's
KC Magazine
Kevin Fullerton: Springboard Creative
Kevin and I recently collaborated on his own website imagery and the Art+Copy Cheeky Awards collateral; he was an absolute pleasure to work with and really committed to the unique creative that we captured.
"While Alistair's great eye was what initially made me want to work with him, it was his highly-collaborative style that made me choose him. I came in with what I wanted, and he "plussed" it. What he added to the process made the final result exceed my expectations."
"I also work with Alistair on the Art+Copy board. He did an outstanding job as special events chair. He launched our newest event, the lifetime achievement award recognizing a creative individual in the Kansas City advertising community. The event was a huge success because Alistair threw himself into the project. I've seen him do that on several things. He just doesn't know how to do anything half-way. I look forward to a long working relationship with him."
"Kevin Fullerton, Owner / Creative Director
Springboard Creative"
Credits:
Springboard Creative
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Urban Photo Safari 2008 - Alistair Tutton Photography
This was a wonderful day; I've seen the event for a few years but I always manage to miss it. So this year I was really happy to see a link to the event before the event at flow14. I had a great 14 hours zipping around the map and checking out locations new and old and wrapped it up with a shoot with the ever photogenic Bigsby.
Credits:
Urban Photo Safari 2008
flow14
Dog - Bigsby
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
George Weyrauch: Blacktop Creative
George and I recently collaborated on a "Lunch and Learn at the Kansas City chapter of the AIA. It was a wonderful experience; from drafting the presentation to actually delivering it in person I really enjoyed working with George and I really appreciate his ongoing support (especially now I'm shooting for Blacktop).
"How many photographers do you know that can stand in front of a professional organization as a photographer and speak to branding? In first Q08, I had the pleasure of preparing and presenting a speech to a large group of professionals at Kansas City chapter of the AIA on 'Branding and Photography' and I was blown away by how as a photographer, Alistair gets branding!"
"I have been in this wonderful world of Advertising for over 20 years and have only on a few occasions met a photographer that when hired to do a photo-shoot for a client wanted to understand the brand first before he ever looked into the lens. He captures and promotes, visually, the brand of each client that he works for. Alistair is an ultimate professional and an incredible person to work with. If you have not taken the time to see his work, do it now at www.alistairtutton.com."
"George Weyrauch, Director Business Relationships
Blacktop Creative"
Credits:
Blacktop Creative
Friday, May 9, 2008
Eckhart Tolle - Unity Magazine
Today we got the wonderful experience of working with Eckhart Tolle in a shoot for Unity Magazine. He's a best selling author in the Oprah Winfrey book club and simply a fabulous person. I'd definitely recommend taking a look at his book.
Credits:
Eckhart Tolle
Unity Magazine
Art Director - Toni Lapp
Assistant - Bryce Napier
St. Mary's Episcopal Church - Urban Times
We had a chance to check out one of Kansas City's oldest surviving buildings today. With its 120th anniversary coming around the corner St. Mary's is a beautifully restored symbol of the architectural magnificence that Kansas City was founded on. For this shoot I got a chance to play around with the HDR inside of PS CS2 - those acronyms stand for "High Dynamic Range" in "Photoshop Creative Suite Two". Which basically means I let the computer munch it's way through a dozen or so images to blend the extreme lights and extreme darks in the space. They came out pretty well; but I'm going to see how Photomatix (another software for this type of thing) works out.
Credits:
Urban Times
Assistant - Bryce Napier
Sunday, May 4, 2008
KC Mag; Dream Jobs - Anthem Media
Just finished up a doozy of a series of environmental portraits. It'll be in the June edition of KC Magazine. This was a wonderful article based on people and their "dream jobs". I must admit it was fun meeting the head brewer at Boulevard, walking out on the grass at Kauffman and checking out the Presidential Suite at the Speedway. But of course my favorite is ChefBurger - I love the food, the space and the branding.
Credits:
Boulevard Brewery
ChefBurger
KC Royals
Kansas Speedway
KC Magazine
Assistant - Bryce Napier
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Townsend Incorporated; Brandeis - Matt Shepherd Ad.
Another great trip to the Northern wastes of Omaha and this time I got to see a whole bunch more of the downtown nightlife; it's pretty darn good. Especially when it's not 14 degrees outside! We also had a fantastic shoot.
The Brandeis building is an incredible piece of architecture that's having a fantastic overhaul. It's a former department store that turned into an office building that then had a bit of a down stretch. But now things are looking up. The big highlights, beyond the great condos, are the two huge atriums and the top floor that is entirely open.
Credits:
Townsend Incorporated
Matt Shepherd Advertising and Design
Art Director - Matt Shepherd
Assistant - Ryan Yoakum
Sunday, April 27, 2008
DIFFA - Dining by Design
Following on from photographing Richard Manes' birthday I was invited to capture the 2008 DIFFA Dining by Design event. This is a fabulous event featuring a whole series of tables designed with extremely unique themes. The ticket sales and a silent auction all raise money for the DIFFA charity and it's a staple event in the Kansas City social calendar.
Credits:
DIFFA Kansas City
Assistant - John DePrisco
Friday, April 25, 2008
Garmin Dining Facility - PGAV Architects
We just wrapped up a new shoot for PGAV. This was really good fun; the shoot had to happen at lunch time in the working dining room so that we would have food and people. Oh yeah and we had to light it. We got it done, with time to spare. Thanks to Garmin for all the help!
Credits:
PGAV Architects
Art Directors - Daron Bennett and Megan Laffoon
Assistant - Ryan Yoakum
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Neil Steiner - Outtakes
Sometimes it's the outtakes that are most worth sharing; here are a few from a recent shoot with Neil Steiner.
Credits:
Touchpoll
Assistant - Bryce Napier
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Westlake Ace Hardware - Blacktop Creative
In the start of a year long project we spent a long night making a beautiful Westlake Ace Hardware store absolutely perfect. We tweaked and teased it and showed it in just the right light to ensure that the new signage, designed by Blacktop Creative, would be shown in context. Throughout the year I'll be capturing new signage and merchandising set-ups as the seasons change and new ideas hit the shelves.
Credits:
Westlake Ace Hardware
Blacktop Creative
Art Director - Kevin Garrison
Assistant - Ryan Yoakum and Neil Dekrey
Friday, April 18, 2008
Brandon Woods Retirement Home - studioSIX5
Here's a brand new client! StudioSIX5 is a fantastic interior design firm based in Austin, TX. We just completed the first shoot that was a renovation of an existing facility in Lawrence, KS and we have another project coming up in the next few weeks.
Credits:
studioSIX5
Assistant - Ryan Yoakum