Original Mind Productions

The Last Few Months

2010-04-25T20:32:00.004-04:00

Wow. So there has been a bit of traveling lately, so much in fact that I have totally neglected my blog.

Portland, Oregon

Seattle, Washington

Chicago, Illinois

Madison, Wisconsin

Anaheim, California

Miami, Florida

NYC

Just to name a few. The most recent was a road trip for an ACC/United Way campaign. I was working with Myriad Media and we were shooting commercials for three different ACC schools. We did Clemson, Florida State and University of Miami all back to back.

It was a great trip to break in the new truck though. See map!

The very next was up in NYC for a two day commercial photography gig. They had me doing 15 different expressions with 12 different characters. All different gender and ethnicities. It was a great project and my favorite was the "Surprised" look. See photo!

Boxing

2010-01-10T12:24:00.002-05:00

I teamed up with Rapid Fitness in Raleigh for a collaborative shoot. I had always wanted to do a creative shoot with boxing and they were interested in getting some material for promotion.

We got together early on a Sunday morning and shot most of the day. There were two male participants and one female. The idea was to show a dramatic representation of a boxer as well as display the many options the gym offered for equipment and training facilities.

Fashion Shoot

2009-11-24T19:50:00.006-05:00

I had a great shoot over the weekend with two designers from the Raleigh area. They both made some very unique clothing and it proved to be a great collaboration to achieve some unique images. They will be used to promote the designers clothes on websites and print campaigns. The models were all fantastic and we lucked out with some really great locations. Thank you downtown Raleigh for letting us work on Fayetteville street until 2am.

Lots of sports

2009-10-06T11:24:00.002-04:00

September was a big month in sports for me and I gotta say, I had a great time with it. There is a certain energy that athletes provide naturally that really make it fun to capture and light.

I had a full day shoot for a client who runs a health and wellness magazine. We spent the day in the woods and on trails trying to capture a natural way of working out and staying healthy. We had some great models to work with, one fitness model and one professional body builder.

I also had a shoot for Vype Magazine. They are a magazine that covers local highschool sports and puts out an issue every month. I was fortunate enough to have been asked to shoot their cover for both Septemer and October's issues. The golf image is of Katherine Perry and the football players were from several local high schools.

Be sure to grab a copy of the magazine on stands now!

Salt-n-Pepa

2009-08-24T12:26:00.002-04:00

It was a true blast from the past. I do a fair bit of event coverage but this was certainly one for the books. It was G105's second chance prom and it was one of the top hip-hop group of the 90's.

It was loud, hot, sweaty, foggy and tons of fun. I was packed right in a wild crowd of fans and was even granted back stage access.

Lots to catch up on.

2009-08-02T19:01:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I have a great reason for being so far behind on updating the blog....I've been swamped with work!

There was a shoot for Highwoods Properties where they were doing a demonstration on Air conditioning units. It was a training seminar for all of the HVAC techs.

We did an interview with and IBM executive for internal use. That too was training for other employees on business strategies.

There was a video for NCSU where we followed a Master's student around all day documenting his life as a student, father and employee. We got to spend the morning with his lovely family and two dogs, Mason and Monty. Oddly enough, Mason is the name of my son and Monty was the name of my first dog.

I was also on a shoot for the triangle YMCA. It was a two day shoot where we set up shots with their mascot, The YMCA guy, and he did everything from play at the pool to gymnastics. It was a great time with the kids and the client was very fun to be around. I pretty much grew up at the Y as a child and it felt great to give back in a sense. There is one shot of my impressive attempts and blocking the sun. I ended up using 5 umbrellas but it worked great.

I also did a shoot for Duke Medical News and Communications. This was a quick 15 minute interview with a Doctor on a medical journal article.

Alright, I am off to NY to help my parents move down here to NC. They want to be closer to their grandson (and son i suppose) and also want to escape the harsh NY winters. I can't blame them, I did the same 8 years ago.

Till next time, feel free to contact me and book lots of photo shoots.

Keith

My Weekend: Video Shoot at Duke

2009-07-19T21:42:00.005-04:00

I had the chance this weekend to work with a great production company out of Chapel Hill called DDC. My friend Steve is a producer there and we teamed up this weekend to do a series of videos for the Department of Physical Therapy.

They were training videos highlighting the proper way to do stretches and exercises. It may not sound like the most interesting thing but the crew and cast were great and we had a wonderful facility to work in.

2009-07-16T11:20:00.004-04:00

So, I am horrible at keeping up with my blog. I know this and someday I will get better.

Things have been busy. The work has slowed down a bit but it has created some time for a lot of the behind-the-scenes things to take place. I've upgraded computer gear to handle the thousands of images I'm trying to catalogue.

I really can never seem to delete photos. There are only a handful from each shoot that make it to the finals but I still keep all the negatives. I guess I feel like someday they might be useful.

I've been able to toss around some creative projects that i'd like to do. One is a series of portraits of boxers mixed with some edgy action shots. I've always enjoyed that kind of stuff and I think my style would work well with the subjects. Right now i'm trying to figure out where I want to do the shoot and who would be willing to volunteer their time.

I'm also working with a fashion designer on doing a shoot for their clothing line. I really like the idea of teaming up with another artist and trying to provide them with useful imagery, while at the same time building up my commercial portfolio.

In the meantime i'll continue to take pictures of my wife and I's ever growing child, Mason. Everyday is a new adventure and he provides great opportunities for photography. He's even starting taking his own pictures (makes daddy proud.)

United Way Photo Shoot

2009-06-17T11:50:00.003-04:00

My most recent shoot was a print campaign for United Way of the Triangle.

The shoot was originally scheduled in May, but due to me rear-ending someone and totaling my wife's car, the shoot had to be postponed.

No one was hurt, except the RAV 4, and the shoot came together. We had a great group of volunteers show up for the shoot. The theme was citizen to superhero and was to show everyday people with different backgrounds coming together to "Live United".

All in all a great shoot with what I think are great results. I am proud to have been a part of it and can't wait for more work that makes a difference.

Keith

2009-06-07T15:48:00.003-04:00

So I had the recent honor of spending some time with

a local band called Negative I. We found each other when I was searching for a musical group to do promo pictures for. It took a while for the schedules to line up but it finally did and the results were great!

We were able to get a full day at a restaurant called Mosaic Wine Lounge. It was a great looking place and provided a wonderful location for a photo shoot.

One of the best things about this shoot was working with a theme of culture. We had an American and Moroccan as the main subjects and we really got to play with the Moroccan theme. Houda, the lead singer, brought some great wardrobe for the shoot. I've posted a solo of her in Moroccan attire, complete with a Moroccan set and a duo shot on studio gray.

If I could find a way to make a living shooting musicians I think I would love it. It is a great combination of working with people, giving it a commercial feel and adding some edge.

My First (commissioned) Maternity shoot!

2009-05-11T21:24:00.003-04:00

So, since my wife was pregnant, I had not done a maternity shoot. This was my first paid one and while I don't usually do these, I did have a fun time. I feel like I try hard not to fall into the wedding/children photography pool that seems to be way to0 big. I think the biggest difference here was that I got to do it my way, my style, and the client loved it. So, cheers to the first Maternity shoot and I wouldn't mind another!

Brier Creek Magazine

2009-05-04T08:18:00.002-04:00

So my latest and largest project just came to an end and was submitted last week. It was three days of shooting and a good deal of computer time but I think it turned out well. It was my largest commercial project. It is supposed to be a 4-6 page spread plus the cover shot for Brier Creek Magazine. The story is on getting back in shape and included photo shoots at Generations, Earthfare and Brier Creek Health Club.

I have been doing promotional materials for Generations Salon for a couple of years now but this was the largest project. Not a lot of difficulties with the shoot, they run things pretty smooth over there.

Some out-takes from the shoots...

2009-04-23T16:50:00.002-04:00

Ok, trying to put a bunch into one blog so I can keep it updated. I love when it's busy but it leaves little to no time for blogging. So, this week.... Filmed the CEO of Caterpillar, Filmed the CEO of Burts Bees (not pictured) and the Monkey helped me pack for a photo shoot (thats him in the trunk). Things to come, shooting a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday and a huge photo shoot for a local band called Negative I on Sunday (pictures to follow). Have a great weekend!

The Unveiling of 30 Million Year old primate fossils.

2009-04-15T22:36:00.003-04:00

So my job brought me to a very interesting place recently. I was to document the unpacking of fossils sent from Egypt and conduct some interviews at the Division of Fossil Primates in Durham, NC. I was working with Steve, a producer and editor out of Chapel Hill. I had a chance to grab a quick portrait of the Head Curator Prithijit Chatrath. He was as interesting as he looks! I have no pictures of the fossils because I found the people to be more interesting.

2009-04-07T15:19:00.000-04:00

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Brain Surgery!

2009-03-20T18:14:00.002-04:00

Big three day film shoot for Duke Hospital. It was my first medical video and it was fascinating. I definitely am not cut out to be a doctor but the outfits are great.

Mason discovering the wonders of the backyard.

2009-03-10T14:30:00.002-04:00

First Blog

2009-03-10T10:25:00.000-04:00

This is the first of many blogs to document the happenings of Keith Papke and his company Original Mind Productions.