LUKE COPPING

Special Thanks to Logan Schott, Molly Hoeltke, Nicole Barry, Christiana Christiano, Liz Bukowski, and Martha Welnowska

Required Reading is a weekly listing of all the bits of visual inspiration, cool videos, news, hip links, and miscellaneous information that rattles my head during the week. The stuff that’s worth bookmarking and gets my brain-juices flowing.

Above: Yours truly, on set a few weeks back, trying to look serious with poor results. 

• This is what happens to innocent bystanders when you trust a photographer with an industrial strength wind canon.

• I really enjoyed Kathryn Shulz’s missive on being a night owl writer.  I think all creatives have had those desperate and explosive moments of creativity at 4:00 am, I know I have.

• I re-read this a few times this week when things got hard, when I was trying to get some deadlines finished in spite of the fact that I should have been in bed resting and trying to recover from the nasty stomach virus I came down with this week ( Danielle LaPorte’s blog has become the first stop on my reading list ever since I picked up her book The Fire Starter Sessions)

• Is scientific curiosity part of our nature that leads to understanding and creativity? Is originality different in science vs art?

• What do  you do when you start to hate your own blog?

• And people complain about Photoshop now? dig into these before and afters from Pin-up paintings of the 1950′s.

• If you are going to play it safe it is time to quit.

• A very cool collection of vintage portraits of young royals in India over 50 years. 

Taken from the front row at the BSC Runway event where I was one of the judges for the student design competition last month.

Two very different stylistic takes on portraits of the amazing Casey Bitzberger.

This was a very playful shoot – in addition to the formal portraits that we created there was also large number of iPhone and mobile images from the production – of which the above was my favorite.

And Finally!

Just us having fun shooting video on my phone after the shoot.

Casey and I having a Gaze Off! after the production wrapped.

She won…

Special thanks to Nicole Barry and Tom Newton.

Sitting outside on my patio on a sunny day, listening to Gary Numan, drinking tea, and enjoying what seems like my first bit of downtime in ages –  I came across this sunset portrait I took of Holli Arnold a few weeks ago and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Images from a day spent at Red Rock Canyon in April – one of the most amazing natural areas I have ever visited (second only to the amazing glaciers and mountains around Vancouver B.C.)

EMT and Fire Lieutenant Gabe Cassuci from the Bellevue Fire Department called me a few weeks ago to talk about creating some portraits for an advertising campaign that they had coming up to recruit new volunteer fire fighters for the department. I am always excited and happy to photograph firefighters and other emergency workers – so me and my team packed up our gear and headed out for the Bellevue fire house to spend a day creating a series of black and white portraits of the brave men and women of the Bellevue Dept.

The images above are two of the first from the series that will be featured on a series of billboards, posters, displays, and online recruitment uses over the next year.

Required Reading is a weekly listing of all the bits of visual inspiration, cool videos, news, hip links, and miscellaneous information that rattles my head during the week. The stuff that’s worth bookmarking and gets my brain-juices flowing.

Above: Logan Schott on set last week, getting ready for the shoot. 

An interesting story from Rodney Smith about how he reacted when someone tried to spring a last-minute contract change on him | The End Starts Here

Moving backwards at its best – a camera that converts visuals into descriptive text | Fstoppers

In a bit of a DIY mood lately, I can’t wait to mix up a few batches of thus homemade chalkboard paint in a couple of different colors | A Beautiful Mess

A really cool video from Mike Monteiro on client relations a developing a stronger sense of empathy for those you are working for/with while still staying true to your process. | Typo

Looking for some new stuff to read/listen to, dig into this list of the 100 or so blogs that Warren Ellis reads every week. | Warren Ellis

Nothing made me laugh this week like Pentagram Sam did | Coilhouse

Jennifer and Whitney – The creative team behind Halo, a new luxury salon – taken during a shoot for their launch campaign.

This one goes out to all the creatives who are working hard every day…

I just slipped back into a habit I have fought hard to avoid for weeks… months even. One that all sorts of creatives suffer occasionally.

Earlier today I had sent out a new round of email updates to subscribers and to my contacts list. Not ten minutes later I found myself staring with glazed eyes at a screen of statistics as I leaned ever closer to my monitor with obsessive interest. If this was an 80′s sci-fi movie it would have been the point where I toppled right through the screen into the comically terrifying netherworld of some hack screenwriter’s interpretation of the internet.

0 opens

0 clicks

Of course there were zero results on that stats page! I had sent the email out only a few minutes earlier and the servers probably had not even had time to update the results. Normally I won’t even look at the stats from an email campaign for days after I send it out because I realize in the higher functioning parts of my brain that my clients and contacts are not sitting at their desks awaiting the very second that I send out a new promo or email update (and if they are, they are super cool and probably have amazing taste in music!). People have lives, get busy, and occasionally it takes them a while to sort through their email.

10 minutes passed.

I looked again.

40 opens

2 clicks

Damn.

Those parts of my brain capable of rational thought reminded me that there is nothing wrong with these stats this early in a campaign – that I should go to lunch and then take care of all the paperwork I had on my desk as well as a bunch of scheduling for shoots and pre-production that I was planning for May. It was at that moment that something in the lower parts of my brain snapped – that devious reptile part of me whose only concern is instinctual self-preservation through self-sabotage and the maintaining of the status quo.

I transformed from a generally hip, cool-glasses-wearing professional artist into a shaking and gaunt statistical junkie, sick with withdrawal from the instant gratification of quantifiable numbers. It set off an awful chain reaction in me as I became my own resistance-fueled Hyde.

I am not proud of what I did next.

I gorged.

For the next hour and a half I devoured every scrap of statistical data that I could about myself: blog stats, Google Analytics, Facebook likes, Twitter click-throughs and retweets, Klout, campaign statistics, and more. For ninety minutes I emotionally lived and died a hundred times as I reviewed graphs and charts of perceived victories and disappointments that in my panicked state of mind determined my sum worth. I started to tear through the stats from past campaigns, obsessed with finding some archaic universal formula that would unlock the secrets of the perfect email promo – I was after 101% click-through.

I had become a bad community theater re-enactment of the movie Pi.

There was a moment right at the end of my statistical rampage where, just for the briefest second, a particularly nasty thought popped into my head “What can I change about my work to get my stats up?” Having that thought must have caused some sort of internal defense mechanism to kick in, because my rational brain proceeded to punch my lizard brain in the face so hard that it was like a bully getting his comeuppance from the nerdy kid in a high school comedy.

Statistics are tools, nothing more.

We are so inundated with reports, statistics, and metrics that we are tempted to correlate them with every creative endeavor we undertake. Experts are always tossing off business advice linked to analytics, keywording, SEO, ROI, DMAIC, viral engagement, and other buzzwords that may work in the world of selling widgets but don’t translate well to the subjective realms of creative output. Our goal as creatives is not to create a generic product built to be the least offensive to our audience. Our goal is to create something that we genuinely believe in and care about and that is truly delightful to others or solves a problem they may have.

Changing one’s work to please the greatest number of people is like riding in the fast lane to creating something mediocre. It is as ridiculous as the mathematical formula to quantify the worth of a poem that so disgusts John Keating in Dead Poets Society. Create something because it is awesome, because you believe in it, and because if you don’t give that idea form it will rip itself out of your head in a much more visceral way. Leslie Burns wrote a great post at the beginning of the year that I have re-read almost every week since. Below is one of my favorite thoughts from it:

“Shoot/make art for yourself, as often as you can. Don’t shoot/draw/create for any other reason (like to specifically make something for your portfolio) but rather shoot for the love of shooting and for making the work that excites you. Don’t worry if it’s good or right or what you should be doing, just make some damn art (see 5.a. above). That is your job and you have to do it for your business just as much as you have to pay your web hosting bill.”

A few months later I found another blog post, this time by Promise Tangeman, about identifying your creative style and the fallacy of consciously trying to craft one based on what is popular or trendy at the time. It ended with this amazing quote:

“Your style is a bi-product of your creations, not your end goal. Don’t waste time looking for your style, because you won’t FIND it. The truth is…. you already have it. You just may need to create more in order to see it.”

Social media, statistical analysis, and quantitative feedback are valuable tools – tools that give us opportunities that earlier generations of creatives never had, but they cannot be the driving force behind your creative vision. Relying on them as your sole source of validation is a fool’s errand – correlation does not always equal causation and Facebook likes don’t put clothes on your back. You need to engage with yourself and the world around you to grow as a creative. You can’t hide behind a screen hoping that your audience amounts to nothing more than a series of bar graphs and numbers. Your audience is people, real people who matter and want to be engaged by what you love to create – so stop crowdsourcing your every creative decision to optimize statistical and social impact! We can all get sucked in by resistance from time to time like I did today, but we need to push past it and make sure that we are not crippled with insecurity when the numbers don’t add up.

Now go make something awesome.

Supreme General is getting ready to release a new album this summer and the Buffalo born rapper wanted to create a visual persona for this series of images that was very different from his past promos. Inspired by his own service in the military – Supreme and I talked about creating something that touched on his own experiences as a soldier, writer, musician, and artist to create something that mixes classic and modern styles to tell a very different story than the images that have accompanied his past releases.

This was photographed on the site of an old demolished outdoor nightclub on the Lake Erie shore called The Pier, which was torn down years ago.I actually have some  personal recollections (albeit fuzzy ones) of it as the scene of a particularly nasty concussion I received during a concert that got out of hand a few years ago.  They have since turned the area around it into a number of dog walking trails, bike paths, and open fields, but these remnants of the foundation and asphalt parking lots remain.

(Check out a Preview track of Supreme General)

Every now and then the color starts flying during a shoot…

Required Reading is a weekly listing of all the bits of visual inspiration, cool videos, news, hip links, and miscellaneous information that rattles my head during the week. The stuff that’s worth bookmarking and gets my brain-juices flowing.

Above: An Instagram snap of Casey Bitzberger taken after a small video and portrait shoot a few nights ago. (I may make a sadly funny cameo in the video)

I am so happy that Nubby Twiglet shared this link on her blog yesterday – these designer curated music mixes have been my constant soundtrack the past 24 hours. | Designers.mx

Six eye-opening filmmaking tips from David Fincher that have made me rethink several elements about my approach to photography this week. | Approaching The Tyrannosaur Paddock

For the past few weeks John Keatley has featured a series of posts about his recent trip to the Philippines for Arts Aftercare to photograph a story about human trafficking and sexual slavery. Take the time to visit his blog and see these images. | Keatley – Arts Aftercare

Tiny, bite size bits of inspiration from the 99% Conference. My favorite is “The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” by Fred Wilson | 25 Quotables

This music video from Crowns & Owls plays with so many of the 80′s film tropes that I love. | Its Nice That

This article about compartmentalizing lunch from the rest of your work is very interesting, especially for anyone like me who has had to teach themselves the hard way the importance of taking a break sometimes. | Don’t Eat Lunch At Your Desk. 

A group of German garbage men have converted dumpsters into pinhole cameras to make long exposures of the neighborhoods they work in. | Fstoppers

You and Who is a great concept started in Buffalo NY to help people shop with meaning – For every shirt of theirs you buy they will give one someone in need. Their designs are very very cool. | You and Who

This video evokes those perfectly fuzzy idealized summer tinted childhood memories – it is kind of magical | Coney Island Love Letter

Ken Hermann’s series of images of coal miners in India are beautiful | Photography Served

Doing a quick bit of shopping to restock the studio fridge with the necessary provisions to sustain life.

What are your “can’t live without” snacks for the studio or work?

The last day of winter was a bright and sunny seventy two degrees so I decided to enjoy the weather and moved my shoot with Dakotah outside after our in-studio production a few weeks ago.

Required Reading is a weekly listing of all the bits of visual inspiration, cool videos, news, hip links, and miscellaneous information that rattles my head during the week. The stuff that’s worth bookmarking and gets my brain-juices flowing.

Above: Musician Supreme General on location during a promo shoot for his new album to be released this summer. 

My friend Scott Gable has been busy photographing the antique medical oddities of Dr. Touma’s Medical Museum in West Virginia. His Behance gallery of antique instruments and curiosities makes me a little jealous – some of these items are so cool I wish they were decorating the studio space that Scott and I share.

I had a moment of delirious excitement when I saw the VICE had conducted this interview with filmmaker and author Kenneth Anger – the director of amazing short films like Rabbit’s Moon and Lucifer Rising that I became enamored with in my teens and still greatly enjoy watching today.

As I was getting ready to post this edition of required reading I realized that this is the third time in as many months that I have featured the work Of Andrew Shaylor. I keep stumbling across his work and really connecting with his aesthetic without actively seeking it out – one of my favorite feelings is when I fall in love with the project first without realizing who actually photographed it until later to find out it is an artist I am fond of – and this series on the Hells Angels is no exception. 

Could the nature of a rainbow be the perfect model of human consciousness? I think Ricardo Manzotti’s ideas could easily be applied to the nations of creativity as part of the natural process of the world which creates a new whole rather than something distinctly separate from it.

Wow! what a cool concept for a music/promo video for Benga’s I will Never Change- a stop motion live waveform of the song created using individually cut vinyl records.

A simple and elegant use of shapes and design to express complex philosophical theories. These are beautiful in their execution and effectiveness.

I have, at times, been guilty of committing many of the sins chronicled in The Curse of the Freelancer - but I have been trying to tackle these issue more and more readily to make myself less susceptible to these panic moments that many freelancers suffer. But Isaac Hindin-Miller does have some great insights on how to work through these feelings and get back on track to making things happen. I think it’s just the shot in the arm that freelancers and small business owners need from time to time.

It is really weird to me to see fellow photographers who seem legitimately perturbed by the commonality and widespread use of camera phone apps like Instagram. I find these apps to be great fun and a medium unto themselves for exploring a more casual and instinctual type of image making than what I normally produce in my professional life. This aggressive rejection is indicative of the fear and reactionary attitudes that I sadly find all too common among photographers. However this article that subtly parallels the rise of Instagram and the decline of Kodak does bring up some interesting points about how the landscape of not just of image making, but the mindsets behind imaging technology has changed over the last few years.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of seeing Colleen Wainwright speak for a second time. Much like the first time I saw her, I left completely inspired and energized by her stories to go home and create something awesome. You should definitely be following her Communicatrix blog if you are not already.

Found while out scouting farm locations for an upcoming project.

Off the plane from all the color and noise of Vegas and right into the studio for this beauty assignment – Clouds of pigment were flying during a fun session that found my subjects Holli and Hillary covered in color by the time they left – Holli liked the result so much that she decided to wear it home after the production wrapped.

Maybe it is all the bright lights and neon of Vegas having an affect on me, but I want to drown myself in color lately.

Models: Holli Arnold + Hillary Snyder

Makeup: Nicole Barry

Required Reading is a weekly listing of all the bits of visual inspiration, cool videos, news, hip links, and miscellaneous information that rattles my head during the week. The stuff that’s worth bookmarking and gets my brain-juices flowing.

Above: Fashion writer, stylist, educator, and event producer Erin Habes and former Prada VP Joseph Incao at Victory Studios in March styling one of my productions. 

I picked up a new book this week called Design is a Job by Mike Monteiro from Mule Design. You might remember Mike’s popular Creative Morning’s video F*ck you. Pay Me. Though the book mainly targets designers, so many of the points it makes are universal and applicable to photographers, film makers, and creatives of all stripes. This book is a must read for creatives who have ever found themselves dealing with feelings of guilt or insecurity about what they charge their clients. You might need to abstract some of the specific ideas to make them apply to your particular field – but this short, entertaining, and informative read has kept me hooked  all day.

What ever happened to the days of making something you cared about and that other people found interesting? | How To Get More Likes On Facebook

Ze Frank is back with a call to action for all those who are just beginning or beginning again, sometimes a big dose of positive thought and the acceptance the reality isn’t as bad as we sometimes think it can be is all you need to find a reinvigorating manifesto and start kicking some ass. I have watched this every morning this week.

Although I feel a little bad for laughing at some of the posts where people just don’t have a handle on Facebook, the sheer insanity that can pop up on this site keeps me coming back when I need to kill a few minutes with some laughter. | Old People Writing on A Restaurants Facebook Page

Insights and laughs from one of my favorite comic minds; John Cleese, on being creative and living a creative life. | Five Factors to Make Your Life More Creative

100 years of the fascinating aesthetics, dreams, interpretations, and hopes of the Russian Space Craze – Both real and imagined. 

The Chuck close video is great, but the line later in the post about not cord sourcing your decisions is much-needed advice for those seeking constant and instant social media acceptance of their creative endeavors. | Lessons From Chuck Close

I love Art-o-mats - the idea of retrofitting a vintage cigarette machine to sell unique pieces of small art to the masses is one of sheer brilliance. I get throughly excited every time I see one.