Jul 17
Photography by Billy Rood | figphoto.net
Model – Kate Ryan | elite chicago
Styling by Danielle Sove
Hair by Anthony Baltazar
Makeup by Jessica Mazik
© 2009 all rights reserved
Feb 20
February 6, 2009 marks the third year in a row fig media has been involved with PAWS Chicago’s annual fundraiser, Animal Magnetism. I’ve been involved with PAWS Chicago for the last 2 years and lead the fig event team, which provided the music and photography for the evening. Fig photographers, Brian Carey and Melissa Martens, created a scene where guests had their pictures taken with their pets. With fig’s unique artistic edge, the photos are guaranteed to be one-of-a-kind keepers that will be hanging on guests’ walls for years. Myself and Brent C. Rolland, were on the wheels of steel, getting the crowd dancing with an eclectic mix ranging from classic rock to hip-hop and pop. The last two years, we’ve also provided projection services, showing photography taken during the night while incorporating a logo reel and live auction items. This year, I decided to do things a little different. Instead of projecting the photography, I mixed in music videos and subtle effects behind the PAWS logo during dancing. This added a more club-like feel for dancing, which fit in nicely with young crowd.
When I heard about how this no-kill animal shelter was making a huge difference in the Chicago area, and I wanted to know what I could do to contribute. At first, it was just playing music at their events. As my relationship with PAWS grew, I became more involved in the organization as a whole. I’ve volunteered at their shelter, ran with their 2008 Chicago Marathon team, participate in their professional board, and coordinate with them on their events. It’s really hard for me to tell them “no.” They have an amazing program and are making a big impact in the number of animals killed due to homelessness. I feel honored to be part of their organization and for fig to have had such a strong relationship with them.
–Jonathan Hood, operations manager, resident artist
Feb 06
From the minds of James Gustin, Tim Musho and fig films team we are starting a unique documentary about Marc Hauser and other influential artists in the Chicago area. We are calling the project Influences or Hauser (name is still up in the air). The way it works is first we start with Marc and do a short doc and then ask him about other people in Chicago that we should talk to that has made a mark on Marc (no pun intended). An ideal would be we do as many short docs until we get a 90min film. A little info about Marc Hauser is that he is one of Chicago’s finest photographer. His photographs have been seen in Playboy to Rolling Stone and he has shot Woody Allen to Michael Jordan. A couple of weeks ago we started the doc by shooting Marc at his studio. We are now in the process of editing down the footage and going on to the next influence Tony Fitzpatrick. Stay tuned for some more details.
Jan 16
Lumen Club
Unicast Step&Repeat @ Lumen w/o Lights
Unicast Step&Repeat w/ Lights @ Lumen
fig I previously did a gig at Lumen on thursday night for Unicast, providing photography of the event and the step & repeat. It was an event to launch their Chicago “district” and what a better way to celebrate @ Lumen. Lumen is a great club and I love working with them, but because of light, it can be difficult to shoot especially at night. So for the step and repeat, Brian and I provided lighting and used flashes for the candid and event coverage shots…
Sometimes it is even more of a challenge in these clubs because if you do autofocus on your camera it is very difficult to keep focus. But if you use manual its so hard to see what your focusing on. So either way you choose to shoot, its important to look at the shots and make sure you have something in focus. This is an example of how dark it is at Lumen and how important lighting can be. Also Alison at Lumen is great, I love working there and it has been a great source of work and relationships. We previously shot the annual Jenny Yoo fashion show and I hope to continue shooting there.
Actually we’ll be doing another fashion shoot there at the beginning of February. More to come…
by billy rood