Comments on: Miller High Life Campaign

By: Alan Matthews

Alan Matthews — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:00:26 +0000

I’ll follow Mike Folden’s comment (sup Mike?) Yeah this is great stuff – my first thought was “hey he’s using a lot of lights!”

How did you get the dog in there? Shot seperate and composited?

By: Mike Folden

Mike Folden — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:59:46 +0000

I dig this series. I think it’s important to step outside the box and experiment with other styles. I’ve learned a lot doing that. Usually not on a big job but what the hell? If you have the skills than why not? Good work man.

By: Nick Gion

Nick Gion — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 02:50:24 +0000

Well, growth comes from applying something different to something you normally do. Hats off! It’s a great drill to do something different.

Doesn’t hurt when there’s a paycheck involved ;-}

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:11:01 +0000

hi Nick,

How did you use the 6 profoto packs and 12 heads to light this shot? Did you do the retouching on these yourself or did the agency retouch these?

By: nickonken

nickonken — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:09:14 +0000

@theon, It looked pretty close to this in camera. The client did their own retouching and enhanced the original files.

By: nickonken

nickonken — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:08:22 +0000

@claude, Obviously it should be done sparingly. In this case, the agency knows my work well and they usually hire me for what I normally do. It’s very rare that this happens, but sometimes it does and since you’re getting paid, why not? Typically unless the agency has a relationship with you, they probably won’t ask you to do something this far from your style. This wouldn’t go under my regular portfolio, but show up as a tear. You can always try and do things your way, but this was the direction of the job.

By: nickonken

nickonken — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:02:34 +0000

@matthew, yeah definitely not normal, but they like me as a photographer, and that’s the direction they decided they wanted to go. Sometimes you don’t have a choice. The first job I did with them, was much more up my alley but what are you going to do? Not take the job? Either way it was a fun experiment to try something different. Not that I would ever take my work in that direction, but hell. try something new.

By: Matthew Addington

Matthew Addington — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:43:14 +0000

Hmm. This is the first time I have looked at your work and cringed. You are one of my favorite photographers, but this style seems to be one that you would not have chosen. I would imagine art directors and other creatives heavily influenced your lighting/editing decisions here.

While the concept of photographing the “everyday man” who is a MHL drinker is interesting, I think the photos would have had a more organic and believable feel had they been captured using your regular set of variables (natural lighting, lightly-posed authentic expressions). If these are real dudes, the art-direction makes me lean towards thinking this is staged/fake.

You probably hit the nail on the head for what they wanted, it is just too bad this lacks the regular taste and style you have so tediously created for yourself over the past few years.

By: claude etienne

claude etienne — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:34:31 +0000

It’s very different indeed. At first, I thought I had clicked on the wrong site. It’s very David Hill, but the style goes well with the product. Do you think it’s good for a photographer to change his/her style often to suit the needs of the client, or, should it be done very sparingly to avoid diluting the brand?

By: Josh Green

Josh Green — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:16:52 +0000

Whoa! Crazy different but still very cool!