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ok, so I get asked all the time, “who are your influences, who do you look up to?”

This is a great question. In one of my favorite design books MTIV by Hillman Curtis he says one of the most important things any designer can do is fall in love with a master and fall in love with contemporaries…. or something like that… The point is you need to be influenced by others. Little one man islands out there just do not survive in this industry.

With that said, here is a look at some influences you may or may not know, but all of which are having a huge effect on my creative process right now.

CONTEMPORARY\\Port City Community Church

My One Word | Joe Hawksworth - “Thought” from Port City Community Church on Vimeo.

These guys have it going on. I don’t know why no one in my circle has ever heard of these guys but they are pushing the envelope of church production right now. I love the attention to detail they have in lighting and color grading on their projects. It is obvious these projects are well thought out and executed with a strong team. Love their work.

CONTEMPORARY\\ Jonathan Youngblood

Ok I chose the druggie looking picture…. (sorry Jonathan) I assure you no narcotics were at play in the making of this portrait… Jonathan is a college friend that has pushed me creatively for about 8 years. You can check out some of his work and thoughts here. Jonathan continues to blow me away with making the ordinary look awesome. He has an amazing sense of style in photography, music, and web design, and at the end of the day is an all-around stand up guy.

MASTER// Michel Gondry

What can I say about Gondry? He is an extreme innovator. He creates entirely new systems of production just to make the ideas in his head work. He is not afraid to fail and ultimately stays true to his own creative vision above all else. One of the biggest things I picked up from Michel was his sense of rhythm and timing. His background as a drummer becomes obvious in most of his music videos. Whether it is a White Stripes video with the kits appearing on each beat or a train ride with the background hitting perfectly on beat, the guy is a genius.

MASTER\\ Trey Ratcliff

Trey is a true HDR master. He travels the world and shoots some of the most amazing shots I have ever seen. I check his site out almost daily. Trey has an amazing color palette paired with a great sense of composition that is pretty much unbeatable. I can get lost in his shots for long amounts of time. Trey, you’re a master.

There are so many more that I could mention, but we’ll save that for another post… Who do you follow? Hopefully you can think of a few… if not, it might be time to come off that high horse a little bit and realize there are others out there that can blow you away…. (unless you’re Gondry)

I put up a big album today with a bunch of shots from Kauai, go and check it out Here.

Welcome to Minneapolis.

I packed my bags last night about midnight as my wife Rachel slept… left the house at 4:30 AM and spent the day running around the twin cities. This is my first shooting trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul and I have to say I’m really impressed. The city is so clean and well laid out. We ate lunch at the coolest little place called Ike’s…

Incredible burgers, awesome atmosphere, my friend Dave and I enjoyed a great lunch and good service. So why are we in Minnesota you may ask? To shoot the hip hop pastor himself Efrem Smith…

Should be some good times, we’re hitting up the hip hop service tomorrow and plan to do a bunch of interviews before a quick edit and a flight back home. More updates to come.

Honeymoon pics are coming soon, but for now, something to tide you over until the regular posts returns…