Static Photography has been very busy these past summer months. Every day is a constant hustle at our studio in Vancouver, BC but we get shoot some really awesome gigs. Photographer Kris Krüg has the ability to transform his photography and capture vital elements within vastly different experiences, from photojournalism to weddings, from flowers to live concerts. Here is a photo recap of some of the highlights that have come along our way in Summer 2010. 

In April the team at Static Photography had the opportunity to head down to Bolivia to document the World People's Conference on Climate Change. This revolutionary conference was spearhead by Bolivian President Evo Morales after the astonishing let down of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, otherwise known as COP15, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Over 15,000 people gathered in Bolivia to create a documents around the rights of Mother Earth and systemic effects with action based policies around the global issue of climate change.

While in Bolivia, photographer Kris Krüg and studio manager Danielle Sipple stayed an extra week to check out the world's largest salt desert in southern Bolivia.  Named the Salar de Uyuni, this 10,500 km sq. salt desert is a surreal sight of nature. Bright sunsets, empty island full of cactus, and white crystal salt as far as the eye can see, are just some of the breath-taking elements that make up this sacred space.

Vancouver-based ION Magazine is a culture, music and fashion print publication that taps into the vein of the newest and brightest. Photographer Kris Krüg has been shooting photos for them since they started printing. One of their spring issues showcased three Vancouver bands, Petroleum By-Products, Junior Major and the Sun Wizards. Each band was colorful, bright and was featured in the same studios that they make music in.

Getting a bunch of geeks together and throwing them on a plane for a technology/internet tour through Asia? Why that must be the official Asia tour of Geeks on a Plane, otherwise known as GOAP. This sensational event has been going steady strong for the last year and half, with tours through Asia, Europe and Hawaii. Kris has been on most of the tours and joined the geek patrol for a five city, four country whirlwind explosion of geekery, technology and friends.

Vancouver is very lucky to have some of the best original cuisine in all of British Columbia, with some of it being literally right around the corner from the Static Photography studio in Gastown. Such is that with the vegan-friendly Lebanese restaurant Nuba. There location in Gastown is one of three in the city, and they are continuing to expand. Yumminess!

The yearly Vancouver blogging geek conference Northern Voice was pushed back to later in the year due to the untimeliness of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Yet this year's conference was far bigger than previous years and attended by all the likely Vancouver geeks. Kris presented Photocamp, an afternoon workshops on photography related topics, as well as an overview of new media journalism from the Olympic Games. Danielle presented a panel around sexuality and technology, as related to the blogosphere.

Geek love was all around the city of Vancouver in June. Just shortly after Northern Voice, Wordcamp Vancouver was held for all the WordPress loving bloggers in the city. This full day event was full of all the tips and tricks from seasoned bloggers. The most notable presentation was by Static Photography's good friend Dave Olson. Presented in the theatrical story-telling fashion, Dave's talk gave insight to what he had learned from his journeys in life and how that has applied to his blog's digital presentation. Dave is a masterful storyteller with one of his best presentations being his 'Fuck Stats, Make Art' discussion at 2009 SXSW Festival.

When the Deepwater Horizon oil well sprang a leak this year, the world suddenly had all of its eyes and ears on the news that was coming out of the Gulf Coast. A few geeks came together and organized a TEDx event around the crisis in the gulf, called TEDx Oil Spill which was held in Washington, DC. A TEDx Oil Spill expedition team was pulled together to gather media for the DC event. Kris Krüg and Danielle Sipple were part of the team that spent five days on the Gulf Coast documenting the community, culture and wildlife that was being affected by this disaster. Static Photography published multiple photo essays that were picked up by other media outlets including National Geographic and TED.

Poptech is a conference that happens every year in Camden, ME that showcases some of the best and brightest in the communities of innovation, social change and world leadership. Kris has been the official photographer of this event for the last few years. The conference has started to expand into smaller salon events that will take place throughout the year, around the US. Kris had the chance to photograph their salon titled 'Science, Living Systems and the Edge of Change' which took place in Washington, DC in June.

In July Kris had the opportunity to photograph the musical artist Matisyahu at his most recent show in Vancouver, BC. This is the third time that Matisyahu has performed in Vancouver, the last two times being at the Commodore and at Livecity Yaletown for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Matisyahu is an amazing vocalist who specializes in reggae/hip-hop who had one of his songs chosen as an official 2010 Vancouver Olympic song.

Back to back shows in July, Kris also had the opportunity to photograph South African musical group Die Antwoord.  Defined as a 'zef-sound' rap group, Die Antwoord is a mixture of dirty beats and unmistakable lyrics. It is always great to photography live shows where the energy of the artists' onstage is unmistakable. Photos from this show were featured in ION magazine this month. 

Toronto is a great city all around, whether it is a professional or personal visit. Photographer Kris Krüg had the chance to spend some time out there while shooting some photos for Anthony Williams and Don Tapscott for their new book MACRO Wikinomics. This book is a feature followup to their book Wikinomics and addresses world crisis from a practical business point of view.

Collaborating with other artists is a great way to expand your creative perspective. It is also a great way to have alot of fun! Kris had the chance to photo-assist and second shoot a creative for Toronto-based photographer Maxwell Lander. Max' style and aesthetic is very particular and extremely detailed, so it was bound to be a lot of fun with a bunch of models' dressed as sailors. The sunset was a perfect backdrop.

Each event has its own special energy that must be captured in the resulting photos. Weddings tend to be laced with the high intense energy of passion, family and celebration. It is a rarity for Static Photography to have the opportunity to document a couple's special day but when we do, it is always a fun-filled event. Photographer Kris Krüg had the pleasure of documenting the rock n' roll styles of Dean Hudson and Lauren Ray's ceremony on the beautiful Whidbey Island, WA. 

While documenting the wonderful nuptials of Dean Hudson and Lauren Ray, Static Photography had the chance to convene with nature at the wonderful Fireseed Catering on Whidbey Island in the state of Washington. Fireseed hosts an extensive flower garden that was in full bloom during this rock n' roll wedding. Photographer Kris Krüg had the chance to do some macrophotography and capture the essence of these beautiful flowers.

Professional portraits can be used for a variety of things. Sometimes someone needs a new headshot for film/tv or they simply need to update their personal website. Whatever the situation, Kris has the ability to capture a quality essence in people that makes their photos spark. In July Static Photography shot some new head shots for Maria, a young Vancouver actress. The neighborhood of Gastown was the perfect backdrop for this photo session.

A slightly different type of photo shoot, Static Photography also had the chance to work with local Vancouver radio station CKNW to shoot new head shots for all of the online hosts/personalities. This photo shoot spanned a couple of days and including over 20 different hosts. Each of them had a very dynamic visual persona which created excellent portraits. Though not used to being in front of the camera, each host was personable and worked well with the downtown Vancouver backdrop.

For the past two decades a summer staple in Vancouver has been the Under the Volcano festival. This day long event is a mixture of activism, music and community all spun together into a family atmosphere in North Vancouver. This year was its last year of festivities but all the attendees were in high spirits. Kris checked out the scene and snapped some photos of the Carla Bergman and Sylvia from the Purple Thistle.  

Reel Youth is an international organization that facilitates claymation and filmmaking workshops for youth. Kris had the opportunity to accompany Mark Vonesch from Reel Youth on a three day film-making workshop in Terrace, BC.  Reelyouth workshops are focused around issues that the youth want to give a voice to and range from personal, to environmental to social. One of the main issues in Terrace is the creation of an oil pipeline that would connect all the way to the Alberta Tar Sands, which was a huge influence to the three films that were made that week.

Freshmedia is an organizational event in Vancouver that brings together engaging speakers with delectable topics to share with new media audiences in the city. They just started up their new series called Remixology which had its debut in August with Kris Krüg speaking about the possibility of collaboration between old media makers and new media makers. Kris spoke about his experiences in the Gulf Coast as well as its close ties to the work he did with Reelyouth in Terrace, BC. Overall, the night was a stellar success and a great final chapter to the many months of work that had just happened.

During the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics the city of Vancouver had some major changes applied to its landscape in anticipation of the large event. Some of these changes included the destruction of long-standing cultural pieces in the inner city. Unfortunately an art mural that spanned a block and half of Beatty Street in the downtown core was destroyed. This mural has been in the process of being repainted and reclaimed as a cultural presence. Photographer Kris Krüg has been documenting the process of the reclaiming of this mural space by Vancouver artists, starting with the cover of the Georgia Strait and lately, with the actual re-painting of the mural. 

So we have been super busy this summer of 2010 but the warm months have well worth the work. Keep Static Photography in mind for any of your upcoming creative photography projects and make sure to check out Kris Krüg's flickr photostream and this website for more photography updates. 

For more photos:

Music Photography

Portrait Photography

Event Photography

Wedding Photography   

Once again that time of year has sprung upon us. If you haven’t noticed a strange influx of SXSW chatter on the internet, then you are one of the lucky ones. Geeks all around the world clamored for three strenuous weeks to pull together amazing and awe-inspiring proposals for potential panels during the 2011 SXSW Festival that takes place in Austin, TX every spring. This festival is a pure landscape of geek heaven with a 4 day Interactive portion of the festival geared specifically towards technology, geekery and all things ‘internet’.

So a few weeks ago panel proposal submissions were due so the main SXSW committee could review them all in a deep selection process for their Panel Picker. The radical thing about SXSW is that despite the immense size and overall geek importance of this conference/festival, it still gives audience access to helping to decide the final programming schedule. The Panel Picker is a voting system that allows people to cast votes for favorite panels and leave comments for proposal submissions. This system of voting constitutes a rough 30% of the overall vote for each panel which may not seem a lot but can be a major break for certain proposals.

Every year the city of Vancouver has a strong representation at the SXSW Festival, particularly the Interactive section. These four days of networking, workshops and presentations seem to vibe well with the West Coast Canadian crowd. Our big little city of Vancouver seems to be on the map of players in the technology scene year after year. With this large amount of Canadians present at the SXSW Festival it is no likely wonder that we would also stake a notable claim into the Panel Picker selections process as well.

I wanted to pull together a up-to-date list of panel proposals from Vancouverites that have been selected for the Panel Picker process. There are some pretty awesome panels proposed this year, roughly around 2500 hundred panels. With the voting process open until August 27th, it is nice to have some handy guides to sort through the endless pages of geekery proposed for 2011. The cool feature of the Panel Picker is that you can vote as many times as you want for as many different panels as your heart’s desire.

Panels for the Interactive portion of the 2011 SXSW Panel Picker

To start off the list I wanted to tell you about my Interactive panel that got accepted -

(photo by Robert Scoble)
Kris Krüg – Killer iPhone Photography: Tips from the New School

For many years I have been teaching workshops about photography tips for aspiring and professional photographers. These workshops revolve around skill sharing that is useful in our constantly changing world of digital photography and the internet. This presentation would be the next level to these such workshops and would be dealing with the camera that everyone carries around with them, their phone. This technology has become such a common aspect of your daily lives that it is great to have tips on how to become better photographers with the camera that is always in our hand. I just recently co-authored a book on this same topic called Killer Photos with Your iPhone, which will be available to buy after my workshop.

and from fiercekitty herself:

@fiercekitty- SXSW 2010 - Austin, Texas by kk+, on Flickr">@fiercekitty- SXSW 2010 - Austin, Texas" />
Danielle Sipple – The Internet’s New Peek-a-Boo: Sex Positivity

Sex is often the first element to be separated from anything involving technology, in basic discussions and conferences. The reality is that sex is everywhere and the internet is revolutionizing the idea of sex positivity in a digitized format. From sex positive campaigns, to sex positive online identities, the internet is evolving into a sexual landscape that is welcoming to everyone. This panel presentation will include discussions with panelists who are pioneering digital artforms, campaigns and revolutions that create an understanding of sex positivity.

Onto the rest of the list…

Dave Olson – Art and Technology are Old Pals

Dave Olson’s love of art inspired life documentation mixed with the nuances of geekry is infectious. His presentation style of artifact discovery mixed with accessible messages for every creative and non-creative in the audience are always crowd-winning and awe-inspiring. This year Dave will discuss the prolific history that art and creativity have had with the evolution of technology. This panel is sure to not be missed for if you have had attended his Fuck Stats – Make Art presentation at SXSW 2009, you know for a fact what a wild and inspiring ride Dave weaves in his masterful art of storytelling and public presentation.

John Biehler – Create Time Lapse Movies Without a Flux Capacitor

John Biehler is a really awesome Vancouver photographer who has created a great skill at producing time-lapse films with his photography stills camera. This panel presentation would be a skill-set learning session where John teaches the tips and tricks to producing stellar time-lapse movies. I’m hoping he will also be including examples of his own work especially some of them from the Vancouver Winter Olympics!

Grace Carter – Das Stiletto: Discovering Ladykind in the Social Web

There is a notable separation of the sexes in internet land. Whether it comes from marketing aspects or misrepresented information, there is often a disjunct when trying to reach out to a more female-oriented audience, especially in the social applications area of the internet. This insightful presentation by Grace Carter and Nadia Nascimento will be an informative journey down the marketing pathway of attracting female audiences. Both of these stellar ladies have years of experience in creating dynamic social application campaigns that are welcoming and geared towards women. Their knowledge is clearly valuable and not to be missed. Plus they will be serving tea.

Jason Sanders – Social Media Therapy: Therapy for the Socialist

Have you ever wanted to vent loudly to someone about the Twitter glitch that makes DMs go public? Or perhaps you have lost one too many insightful pieces of writing through a social media hiccup-refresh page? This panel will be the place in which you can safely and respectfully vent your concerns. Jason Sanders is a tech geek from Vancouver who understands the issues that everyone has with social media because he is not exempt from them. This could turn into a major smile-cracking bitchfest or an insightful discussion on how to handle the unnecessary stress of wayward social media. Either way, sounds fun to me.

Ryan Holmes – Big in Japan: Outreaching to a Unique Market

Have you ever wondered what the web market might be in a foreign country, say perhaps Japan for instance? Despite our best guesses, the developed technology in other countries varies differently than North America’s system. User interfaces, mobile services and internet connectivity sometimes have growth and power beyond our own product’s ability. CEO of Invoke Media and Hootsuite Ryan Holmes will be sharing his knowledge in a panel discussion about the particular technology market that is based in Japan. If your company or product will be making the journey out to Japan, this is a panel to not be missed!

Michael Fergusson – Social Games: Manipulating Your Brain Chemistry, For Good

I know most of us have either been annoyed by the onslaught of social games on networking sites like Facebook. This way of gaming can be considered a time suck and general waste but Vancouver game developer Michael Fergusson is here to tell the tale that there can be more to social gaming. Fergusson will be discussing the lost elements of present social games that when included, could be socially benefial on a scale that transcends annoyance. For gamers new and old this presentation is sure to be knowledgable in the next step that gaming can aspire to for a more uplifting social experience.

updated: Nadia Aly – Social Media Business Etiquette: Do’s & Don’ts

The world of social media is a developing landscape and sometimes we as media-makers don’t have the best handbook on how to navigate it. This panel discussion would be a safe space to learn from the successes and mistakes of other users’ experiences. More of a skill-sharing from some of the best in the field, this presentation will be lead by Vancouver social media strategist Nadia Aly. Just her knowledge alone of tips and tricks in social media will make this presentation a valuable skill sharing session, for newbies or professionals.

Panels for the Music portion of the 2011 SXSW Panel Picker (yes the Music portion has panels! who knew?)

Kris Krüg – Building Your Own Community Through Photography

Building community is a huge element in any artist’s career. When an audience is engaged into a collective community, the response to an artist/musician can be monumental and game-changing. This presentation will be practical knowledge on how to create engaged fans through the accessible medium of photography. Whether it is photo contests, collective photo pools on social networks or direct engagement with you audience through their photography, there is a vital pulse that every artist/musician can tap into as a means of connecting directly to their fans. Despite this panel being in the music portion of the festival, the knowledge I will present will be variably usable for any artist in most creative mediums.

Dave Olson – Rock n Roll Photography

Photography is an integral part of the music industry. This artform allows artists and bands to create visual personalities on and off stage which translates to relatable/memorable identities to their audience. The symbiotic relationship of photographer to musician can be a beneficial partnership. This panel discussion will offer perspectives from well known music photographers who have been capturing memories of musicians on and off stage for decades. A time down memory lane full of highlighting visuals from past SXSW included, this panel is sure to to be the highlight of many creative music geeks out there.

So this is merely a guide and information resource to all things Vancouver for the 2011 SXSW Panel Picker. Make sure to check out the panels, vote for your favorites and leave funny/interesting/inspiring/hysterical comments in the section below each panel! If you have been left out of this list and you are a current Vancouverite with a proposal in the Panel Picker, please leave a comment and I will update the list!

And the SXSW madness begins…

Who? Featuring Kris Krug, acclaimed photographer – TEDxOilSpill and National Geographic

Topic? Toward Cooperative Media Making: How can professional and citizen journalists collaborate?
What? Presentation of groundbreaking photos, Discussion, Brainstorming, Networking.
When? Thursday, August 18 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm+
Where? W2 Storyeum Salon, 151 West Cordova
Why? Because inquiring minds need to discuss! Because connecting and collaborating matters. Because Vancouver needs a community and launch pad for media innovation.

Re-Mixology is a new series presented by Fresh Media, where we come together to sample and share ideas in discussions lead by some of Vancouver’s best and brightest media remixologists. For this first event, we’re excited to feature Kris Krug, with the topic: Toward Cooperative Media Making: How can professional and citizen journalists collaborate?

An acclaimed photographer and social technology expert, Kris Krug will share photos and thoughts from his recent trip to capture the BP disaster through TEDxOilSpill. Following this, we’ll open up to a broader dialogue that considers, “How can citizens, professional media makers, and everyone in-between collaborate to produce media for social change?” Finally, there will be an opportunity for participants to do a “collaborator’s callout” where they do a 30 second introduction to a current or future project relevant to the group. The gathering will close with a social/networking session including a cash bar and music.

Registration limited to 50 people: http://remixology.eventbrite.com/

Inspired by the growing energy around the ways in which technology, art, media, and participatory frameworks are spurring innovation in the not-for-profit, journalism, and social change communities, Re-Mixology is a great opportunity for citizens and media-makers to come together and connect over timely discussions and presentations that showcase fresh and imaginative examples of media innovation.

RSVP for August 18 is limited to 50 people, — eventbrite here: http://remixology.eventbrite.com/
$5 cash suggested donation, a portion of registration proceeds will be donated to the BP cleanup effort.
Cash bar and light snacks will be served

6:30 Welcome
6:40 Introductory speaker/interview
6:55 Dialogue / Salon
8:00 Project callout
8:15 Social / Networking

Join media innovators, technologists, artists, citizens and the online community at Fresh Media – a celebration of innovation and independent media, and a re-imagining of media and journalism.

Fresh Media is a project of OpenMedia.ca

Someone turned me onto a new tool called Klout that more or less manages your reach and influence on Twitter. They’ve got a fancy methodology for doing so… it’s very detailed. I only understand the basics and realize that these kinda things can be hard to measure and that a tool that ranked people based on their kindness or touchiness or hawt sexy awesomeness would be a lot more interesting… nonetheless I’ve tinkered with the Klout tool a bit and generated this list of Top 20 Vancouver Twitter Peeps Based on Their Klout Score.

@greatdismal — William Gibson 75
@kk — Kris Krüg 67
@smuttysteff — Steffani Cameron 61
@VanCityBuzz — Van City Buzz 59
@Miss604 — Rebecca Bollwitt 58
@thenetworkhub — The Network Hub 56
@kulpreetsingh — kulpreet singh 54
@DougCoupland — Doug Coupland 54
@MichaelTao — Michael Tao 53
@hummingbird604 — Raul Pacheco 53
@AnthonyFloyd — Anthony Floyd 52
@KyeGrace — Kye_Grace 50
@raincoaster — Lorraine Murphey 49
@hosea24hours — Hosea Cheung 48
@ColleenCoplick — Colleen Coplick 48
@Kardboard — AJ 47
@digitalkvan — Nadia Aly 47
@jason_baker — Jason Baker 45
@gayvancouver — Gay Vancouver 45
@JohnChow — John Chow 45
@mozy19 — Richard Loat 44
@jeremylim — Jeremy Lim 44
@sjagger — Stephen Jagger 44
@trishussey — Tris Hussey 44

Criticize as you may… I don’t post this for any sorta ego stroke but because for power-users of Twitter the data yielded by Klout is fascinating. Who influences you? Who is influenced by you? Which the topics you talk about online do people engage with the most?

I also noticed that Hootsuite just recently added Klout scores next to all users profile information. Useful way to at-a-glance figure out what some is all about.

A couple of notes:

a) Scores change over time so this list will date itself. Click through the links to see current scores.

b) This list is generated by the location field filled in by Twitter users. The script used to generate it isn’t perfect so it’s possible someone who should be on this list isn’t. If you let me know I will update it.

Thanks to Greg Narin and Megan Berry of Klout for helpin pull this lil expirament together.

UPDATE: Missed @gayvancouverwith a 45 Klout score. Have updated the list.
UPDATE: Missed @greatdismalwith a 75 Klout score. Have updated the list.
UPDATE: Missed @vancitybuzzwith a 59 Klout score. Have updated the list.
UPDATE: Missed @raincoasterwith a 49 Klout score. Have updated the list.

Currently the entire world has their eyes and ears glued to the media that is coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, depicting the travesty and devastation around the BP Oil Spill. This man-made natural disaster is slowly destroying the natural landscape and wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico as an underwater oil rig leaks thousands of crude oil into the open water.

Many unsuccessful attempts have been tried to stop the leak and yet the oil still pours into the ocean. A community effort has spawned into a national event to bring together information, photographs and insightful advice as call to action for a much needed, better solution to this crisis.

On June 28th TEDx Oil Spill will be held in Washington, DC to bring together informative talks with creative and scientific individuals who have witnessed this crisis on the front lines of the gulf shore.

Just preceding TEDx Oil Spill, a Gulf of Mexico expedition has been planned in extreme effort to get to the bottom of the supposed media blackout that has emerged in information that coming out of BP, the Gulf of Mexico, the Oil Spill clean-up effort and the devastation that has happened since the initial leak. Static Photography photographer Kris Krüg and TED event photographer Duncan Davidson, along with the help of Static Photography studio manager Danielle Sipple, will travel to the Gulf of Mexico in attempts to photograph what has yet to be photographed.

The main goals of this expedition are to bear witness to the crisis that is happening and to create insightful media that can give a more concrete perspective of what is actually going on in the South.

There will be additions to the expedition team during the week, including videographer Pinar Ozger, writer Darron Collins and many others. This expedition is a collective effort, working with locals and onsite individuals from the New Orleans area as well as TEDx Oil Spill organizers in Washington, DC and beyond. Everyone will be inputing information and tireless energy into a effective presentation that can initiate a global perspective change to the Gulf Oil disaster.

The journey officially starts tomorrow morning but the initial leg work has been going on for weeks, often fuelled by the passionate resiliency to know the truth of devastating situations. The Static Photography blog will be host to photo essays during the journey as well as Kris Krüg's flickr photostream hosting the entire collection of photographs that are to come from the expedition.

Please check back for updates and photographs. There may be individuals heading down to the Gulf coast during this expedition but it is woven with the support and desperate motivation of a global community that connects everyone to this journey.

This expedition is an individually funded effort of documentation. There has been a TEDx Oil Spill Expedition donation page set up for anyone who wants to donate financial support. There are other ways to get involved as well.

Over a dozen and half global community meet-ups have been scheduled around the TEDx Oil Spill event on June 28th. Each of these meet-ups will meet in spirit of the effort that is happening during TEDx Oil Spill and could be simple as watching the event on its live stream to as grand as holding a similar event in order to gain a greater global perspective over the Gulf Oil disaster, our dependency on oil plus alternative ways to energy and fuel.

More information:

TEDx Oil Spill Expedition 

Donating to TEDx Oil Spill Expedition

TEDx Oil Spill event website  

Why we are going – Duncan Davidson 

Taking Action: TEDx Oil Spill – Dave Troy 

Event Registration TEDx Oil Spill  

The Oil Spill, the Scandal and the President – Rolling Stone  

Apparently the organizers did a great job wrangling sponors for this event and I can see why. They’ve been streaming multiple shows, podcasts, and videoblogs outta this place for audiences all over the world. It feels like a beautiful geeked-out coworking environment, the have fast fast internet and tons of media is getting made here everyday. No wonder companies like Molson Canadian, Moonfruit, Awareness, Intel & other have wanted to get behind & facilitate a fun think-tank-like atmosphere for journalists and bloggers and others to enjoy Austin away from the downtown craziness.

Awkwardness arose a little today as I was asked to write about a mobile internet device I had been given to evaluate while here called MID by Viliv. When I was first handed the device my eyes lit up. Wow, fun new geek toys to play with. It’s got a camera, touchscreen, 3g, wifi, and lotsa other bells and whistles. Trouble was when I turned it on I got a strange virus message. I exited outta the screens about the virus and tried multiple times to connect the thing to the network that my laptop and phone were already connected to. No luck. In the hustle and bustle of the week I tried 2 more times and got the same results. *sigh* So unfortunately there it is… my review of the Viliv MID. I feel bad I didn’t have a better experience. Looks like an interesting hybrid device.

With that outta the way… I’m gonna go get my cameras ready and roll in for the Sub Pop Records showcase tonight here at SXSW. Yee haw!

I think the coolest feature behind this whole site is the generally accepted and overly encouraged idea of remixing. All of the content, not just yours, is available for you to remix. The remix UI is relatively similar to a simpler version of iMovie, with content viewer windows, transitions and audio samples. The remixer allows you to create a 30 second slideshow video to upload to Canada CODE. The fantastic result is that you can create full stories from the images and text available on the site, which is way cool.

I’ve made myself a profile, uploaded some photos and made a few remixes. You can check kk on CanadaCODE for my remixes Digital Snow Dance, The Neverending Race and Home is where my Neighborhood is.

You can also check out my two guides to the CODE Live festival for the best media installations and best music to see.

More Information:

Canada CODE on Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Website

Canada CODE on Twitter

Canada CODE on Facebook

There are about 8 concerts scheduled during the CODE live Night Life section of the festival. The shows are scheduled on the three weekends that occur between the sporting events of the Olympic Games. All of the concerts will be at the Code live 1 location which is at the Great Northern Way Campus. Tickets for all the shows are available at 800-TICKETS or tickets.com and range from $20-$28.

I just wanted to highlight a few of the shows that are bound to bring the house down…

The best shows of the CODE live Night Life:

Friday February 5th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Mike Relm and Additive TV

Mike Relm (photo courtesy of Myspace/Jonathon Remulla)

Saturday February 6th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
New Forms Festival presents: LA Riots, The Golden Filter, DJ Set by Junior Boys and More

The Golden Filter (courtesy of The Golden Filter/Myspace)

Friday February 12th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Kid Koala presents Short Attention Span Theatre

Kid Koala (photo courtesy of Alex Billington/Myspace)

Saturday February 13th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Jamming the Networks: Modern Deep Left Quartet, Mike Shannon and more

Deadbeat (photo courtesy of Myspace/Lars Borges)

Friday February 19th – CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus
Martyn, 2562, Deadbeat and more

Martyn (photo courtesy of Myspace/Shaun Bloodworth)

The closing concert for the entire festival is a sold-out show by Chromeo. The show is on Saturday February 20th and I sure am kicking myself for not getting tickets!

During the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, there will be alot going on in the city. The reality is that you won’t be able to see it all! Hopefully this guide to the music shows presented during the CODE live festival will be a good reference if you feel the need for a night out dancing during February.

Stay tuned for more information about the must-see events of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad!

More Information:

Kid Koala discusses Short Attention Span Theatre at CODE live

2010 CODE live Twitter

CODE live event on Last.fm

CODE live at Emily Carr Institute

CODE list festival schedule in the Georgia Strait

CODE live festival closing show with Chromeo on Resident Advisor

U-Tern profile on New Forms Festival Website

LA Riots profile on New Forms Festival Website

The Golden Filter profile on New Forms Festival Website

Humans profile on New Forms Festival Website

Konrad Black on New Forms Festival Website

Junior Boys DJ Set on New Forms Festival Website

PS. While this post is not apart of my duties or job I should disclose that I do social media monitoring and strategy for the Cultural Olympiad.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games are right around the corner and the town is buzzing. Every set of Olympic Games has a separate cultural line-up that showcases the country’s communities in the arts, theatre and music. This line-up is curated by the Cultural Olympiad by every host city and runs parallel to the official sporting events through out the host city. Vancouver is putting its name on the historical map by adding an additional component to its Cultural Olympiad 2010 called the Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition, or CODE for short.

CODE is running four separate scheduled tracks of digital components that included Canada CODE, an interactive website that encourages photo submissions, CODE Motion Pictures, commissioned film works by Canadian artists, CODE Screen 2010, media pieces that you can access from your own computer and finally CODE Live, an 18 day media-arts-music live festival. All of these tracks are packed with opportunities for participation and digital interaction but CODE Live has the potential for making the most impact with visitors and locals of Vancouver.

With about 50 different artist scheduled for the CODE live festival, it might be hard to narrow down the best installations to check out. The two weeks of the Vancouver Winter Olympics are going to be a whirlwind, so I wanted to highlight some of the most interesting installations to check out during the festival.

The CODE live festival is split into two themes: media installations that are available to the public during the day for free and a series of evening concerts with international musicians. There will be three different locations for the CODE live festival: CODE live 1 is located at the Great Northern Way Campus, CODE live 2 is located at the Emily Carr Institute and CODE live 3 is located at the Vancouver Public Library.

Here is my highlight from the first part of the CODE live lineup: the media installations!

CODE live 1 – Great Northern Way Campus

Artificial Moon - Wang Yuyang (photo courtesy of ArtHub Asia)

Installation: Artificial Moon
Artist: Wang Yuyang

This large-scale installation is created by Chinese artist Wang Yuyang and creates the atmosphere of artificial light in the shape of our naturally occurring moon. Compromised of many different elements that create a beautiful texture, this Artificial Moon is a commentary on relative space and perception.

Paparazzi Bots - Ken Rinaldo (photo courtesy of Paparazzi Bots)

Installation: Paparazzi Bots
Artist: Ken Rinaldo

These three robots clearly represent the creation of ordinary human subjects to celebrity status. Consisting of cameras and sensors, all located on a moving platform, these robots travel in spaces taking pictures of the people around them. Isolating single subjects, they create the dynamic relationship of celebrity and ordinary.

Reactable - Reactable Systems (photo courtesy of Reactable Systems)

Installation: Reactable
Artist: Reactable Systems

This flat screen table is an electronic musical instrument that allows the user to manipulate the sounds of the device by placing and moving objects on the screen. The size and color of the object denote what it can do in relationship to other objects. Reactable systems has created an interactive experience that could change the way you think of sound and music production.

Installation: Vested
Artist: Don Ritter

This large scale installation recreates the theory behind witnessing large scale suffering. A large projection screen is triggered by a vest that the viewer wears and when the vest is activated correctly, the screen responds with destruction of the images being viewed. This piece speaks highly to our reaction to others’ suffering.

Akousmaflore - Gregory Lasserre and Anais met den Ancxt (photo courtesy of Scenocosme)

Installation: Akousmaflore
Artist: Gregory Lasserre and Anais met den Ancxt

Two French artists Gregory Laserre and Anais met den Ancxt wanted to create the sensitive relationship that can arise between plant and human. Each of the plants in the installation emits a sound when softly caressed creating a garden symphony when interaction occurs.

CODE live 2 – Emily Carr Institute

Installation(s): Electrode and Peau d’Ane
Artist: Valerie Lamontagne

Montreal based media artist Valerie Lamontagne uses her curated media pieces as performance based objects that can interact with her audience. Both of her installations combine wearable media pieces, reflective of high couture fashion, and intuitive technology that has direct, active response to the person wearing it.

Electric Skin - Suzi Webster (photo courtesy of Suzi Webster)

Installation: Electric Skin and Barking Mad
Artist: Suzi Webster

Canadian multimedia artist Suzi Webster illuminates the third space in the relationship between the object and the subject in her wearable art piece of Electric Skin. Creating visual displays in reflection of the wearer’s biological responses, creates an experience that is soothing and potentially threatening at the same time.

Installation: Company Keeper and Emotional Ties
Artists: Di Mainstone and Sara Diamond

This two piece installation is the collective creation of the media artists Di Mainstone and Sara Diamond, during their shared residency at the Banff New Media Institute. These wearable art pieces are activated by sensors to respond to the wearer’s mood. The response is activated in order to realign negative emotions.

Captain Electric - Joanna Berzowska (photo courtesy of Captain-Electric.net)

Installation: Skorpions and Captain Electric
Artist: Joanna Berzowska

Master of Science MIT scholar Joanna Berzowska created independently moving garments, titled Skorpions. These garments challenge the wearer in their own actions by creating averse situations in movement and ability. Captain Electric is a set of three kinetic dresses whose design was influenced by the body’s safety responses to unsafe environments. Joanna is co-founder of XS Labs which helped incubate the installations of Sara Diamond and Di Mainstone as well.

Installation: Walking City
Artist: Ying Gao

Artist Ying Gao creates moving pieces of clothing that are tailored with sensors for activation. Unlike other wearable technology, these dresses have individual movements that can be triggered by wind, environment or human touch.

CODE live 3 – Vancouver Public Library

Installation: Sacred Touch
Artist: Ranjit Makkuni

Director of the Enternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum in India Ranjit Makkuni is well versed in multimedia presentations as a connecting element between traditions. This installation is bridge between technology, spirituality and culture, and not specific to any one geographical location.

Installation: When the Gods came down
Artist: Srinivas Krishna

This large scale presentation makes a perfect intersection between the mythology of classic Indian spirituality and new media. Combing the techniques of animation and action-packed filming, Srinivas Krishna recreates the best moments in Indian mythology and brings the gods and goddesses to life.

There will be so many events to check out during the Vancouver 2010 WInter Olympic Games it will be hard to see everything! This is definitely the must-see list that I will be checking out with from the media installations during CODE live.

Rebecca Bollwitt wrote a great Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad post with info on what’s going on around town. Check back for my must-see list of the CODE live evening concert series and the Cultural Olympiad 2010!

“There are many times in which the boundaries of our two landscapes are blurred when our physical reality is a catalyst in creating our digital reality. Contextually each place is the same but our response can be pulled towards the easier, accessible digital landscape that sustains gratification at any given moment. Do we give priority to our digital environment? Wherever our priority lives, our loyalty and responsibility will follow suit no matter what our intended course may have been.

Time and direction can be subtle commentaries on space as they exist in their most rudimentary forms. Here or there, we can encourage the experience of reaction through a physical environment that promotes a responsive, internal dialogue. The boundaries of our physical environment are met against the boundaries of our digital environment, creating a dynamic relationship of question and response.”

I am huge fan of Jeremy’s work, not only because he is my best friend but also because of his immense talent that shines through everyone of his creations. The two of us have collaborated on a projects, mixing my photography with his painting. It is always really awesome when I am able to create art with the best of my friends! There is also a growing collection of his art, hanging at my studio which creates the air of having my own personal gallery at home.

Jeremy is also hosting a week long workshop at the W2 Letterpress that is housed at the W2-Perel Gallery. This workshop will consist of 5 full days of hands on learning about this amazing printing process. With hundreds of different organized types, the W2 Letterpress is a great experience of analog art creation and historical based learning of the evolution of printing. There is still time to sign-up to be a part of this awesome workshop!

More information:

- Jeremy Crowle’s Change Creative Group Site

- W2 Letterpress Photos on Flickr

- Photos of Jeremy Crowle on Flickr

Citizen journalism is role that I have just found myself in within the last few years, solely because I happen to be at the right time, in the right place, with the means to capture the events around me – which for me is my camera. The amazing thing about citizen journalism is that anyone can fill this role, with their highly professional digital camera or simply the camera on their cellphone.

Having the opportunity to travel to Copenhagen as a photographer for the Fresh Air Center really pushed my own personal boundaries of what the role of a citizen journalist really is. I was able to shoot photos during the actual negations in the Bella Center, on the media floor amongst international NGOs in the Fresh Air Center and then actively on the streets during the many protests and marches that occurred during the two week conference.

My camera was witness to some of the most intense police brutality and overt militarism, as well as celebrity climate change activists, to the Yes Men who pranked the entire world. The challenge that arose for me was trying to find my connected heart in my photography during COP15 when the structure of photo-journalism up until most recently has always taught us to be objective and disconnected.

Here at Journalism that Matters, Chris Jordan gave a presentation about the photographs he took during his trip to Midway Island. He presented a video that he made, which was first debuted at PopTech this year in Camden, ME. This video consisted of images he shot of young albatross, that had died from plastic consumption. The 6 minute video was accompanied by the musical soundtrack of Christen Lien and challenged his viewers to feel the immense feeling of such images. The one driving point of his whole talk was that the next evolution of journalism or art creation, is finding the passion in your work and allowing it show through your art.

Some of the questions that are being raised at this Journalism that Matters are:

- How do we envision the role of the artist in the future of journalism?
- What is the potential for news as a performance?
- What should journalism be in the 21st century?
- How do we create sustainable freelance communities in an increasingly decentralized newsroom?

Currently I am actively involved with organizing independent media coverage for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. W2 Woodwards is hosting a media house for the duration of the games, which will play host to many citizen journalists, including Fearless City Mobile, the Olympic Legal Observer program and many other communities that will be covering various events. There will definitely be a passionate side to this particular kind of coverage of the games because as citizens of Vancouver, we are personally invested in the news that will be occurring in our own neighborhoods.

The entire world will be watching the Olympic Games from various media outlets, but this particular Olympics proves to stand as the most highly covered on the internet than any previous one. Citizen journalists are more than ever working together as a collective, in their collaboration, sharing of resources and general support. This network will definitely be necessary during the games so it is very exciting that W2 will be a host as a central homebase.

The definition of journalism is changing in the revolution of our documentation of the world around us. I am very excited to be able to capture the games as they happen in my own neighborhood. Stay tuned for my photojournalist and social media documentation of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Links for more information:

- “Midway: Message from the Gyre” video by Chris Jordan

- Chris Jordan Photography

- Journey to Midway website

- Journey to Midway twitter

- Journey to Midway Flickr Photostream

- W2 Woodwards Twitter

- Journalism that Matters blog

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference , the Fresh Air Center has acted as basecamp for many media people and NGOs, accredited and unaccredited alike. Situated near the Bella Center in Copenhagen, the Fresh Air Center is a part of TckTckTck , a global campaign platform designed to bring climate justice organizations together in solidarity. This center acts as the main news hub so that the rest of the world can be connected and informed of the negiotions in real time.

It is very exciting to have such a Vancouver crew represented at the Fresh Air Center. Countless numbers of Vancouver people have worked on the TckTckTck campaign and with other climate justice organizations, so it is really no surprise of their strong presence at the conference. We even have our very own Mayor Gregor Robertson here in Copenhagen where he is set to attend the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors .

Vancourite Jason Mogus has been working as a web strategist for TckTckTck, while based out of Vancouver. He has helped with the organization of the Fresh Air Center and all of its participants.

The Fresh Air Center turns out alot of media on any given day of the conference. Vancouverite Steve Rio has been the web producer and media manager during COP15. He is a very busy guy!

The work is never over! Hardworking Vancouverite Kevin Grandia has been part of the Vancouver group working at the Fresh Air Center.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is here in Copenhagen to attend the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors but has been very supportive of the Vancouver crew at the Fresh Air Center. It's nice to know that our mayor supports climate action and change!

Many celebrities and public figures are very prolific in their support of climate justice and have come to Copenhagen to support the negotitions. I had a chance to meet Daryl Hannah while she was at COP15 and I was lucky enough to get a photo! Darryl has a biodiesel El Camino and is well-known climate justice activist.

The COP15 conference will be over soon and hopefully will result in a global deal that is fair, amitious and binding.  The world is waiting.

Check out Kris Krug's Flickr Photostream for more photos from COP15.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark has been a flurry of activity, in the Bella Center with the negiotions, in the Fresh Air Center with the media and NGOs and in the streets with the marchs and protests. Each country brings to the table its own sets of concerns, contributitions and baggage revolving around carbon emissions and climate control. Canada has been no exception this rule, yet has been thrown into the not so positive spotlight by the culture jamming activist duo called the Yes Men .

The Yes Men punked Canada by merely pointing out their basic regulations on climate control and where Canada stands in the proceeding at COP15 . The Yes Men's media stunt included a fake press release from Canada, a fake response from Uganda, a fake retraction from Canada and multiple fake news stories surrounding all of the fake media. They even created a fake website, Good COP15 for their entire coverage. Static Photography 's Kris Krüg has been at COP15 photographing all of the events, including the Yes Men.

The Yes Men are well-known for their SurvivaBall, which is a tongue-in-cheek inflatable suit designed for catastrophic sitautions in which basic survival is engaged. The SurvivaBall was seen in multiple marchs at Copenhagen.

The Fresh Air Centre is large enough that chance meetings occur at the most random times. One half of the Yes Men met up with Mayor Gregor Robertson of Vancouver, unbeknownst to Gregor, just hours before Canada is punked.

The gypsy-inspired band from Brooklyn Gogol Bordello performed a special show in Copenhagen for COP15. The Yes Men opened up the show, also fellow New Yorkers.

NDP Canadian Member of Parliament Olivia Chow and NDP Party Leader Jack Layton were in Copenhagen at COP15 with support for Canada. After speaking at the Fresh Air Centre, Olivia and Jack put forth good nature and were photographed with the Yes Men.

Sometimes bad press is bad press and sometimes bad press is good press, but either way, the press took notice when the Yes Men punked Canada at COP15. In a good way, Canada took notice as well. Stay tuned for more photos from Copenhagen or check out Kris Krüg's Flickr Photostream for daily updates!

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There’s a ton of interesting stuff going on inside the negotiations at the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen but there is also a ton taking place on the streets. Those of us working here are a lil worried that the stories you may be seeing on TV aren’t an accurate portrayal of what’s actually taking place over here.

Yeah, the police cracked down on protestors with unwarranted brute force… and I was caught in the middle of it… but there are other stories too. For instance the 100,000 protestors on braved the streets for a peaceful candellight vigil despite freezing temperatures and an over-eager, riot-ready, police force. Follow allong my realtime updates from Copenhagen at @kkon Twitter and check out all my photos in the COP15 UN Climate Change Summit photoset over on Flickr. Here’s an photographic recap of what I’ve seen on the streets of Copenhagen.

The streets are old school, beautiful, and shockingly car-free! People walk, bike, and take buses and trains everywhere. It’s very effecient. People walk in the streets, I’ve never seen traffic congestion, and its just generally one of the most human friendly places Ive ever been!

The day of demonstrations started at 10am for a march called ‘The Flood’. We walked from a square across town to the Danish Parliment building. The crowd was older, happy, and well organized. The demonstration started and finished with speeches and music. I was just wakin up and taking it all in. I walked the march with Anport Jacob, World-Changer Heather, and Nympho Maggie… we had great conversations about the city and conference. The demonstration was probably made of up about 15,000 peeps and was a great ‘intro’ to the streets of Copenhagen.

Happy peeps from a variety of nations marched in the demonstration showing solidarity amongst citizens in seeing concrete action taken by world leaders here at the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen.

Even the Tibetan Yaks joined in on the demonstration. They’re sick of all the YAK YAK YAK taking place at the highest levels on the issue of global warming and climate change and everyone wants to see the 15th meeting of the UN on the topic of climate change yield some tangible and binding results.

Joining the Tibetan Yaks at the protest were these uber c00t polar bears. There were also some awesome peeps dressed up as trolls with signs that read ‘When you cut down all the forrests, where will the trolls live?’. The demonstraters were super creative and in good spirits. There was a sense of commroderie between all the participants and a feeling of doing positive action on behalf of the whole planet.

Choppers like this news one followed the snaking line of protesters through the old cobble streets of Copenhagen and many riot police in armored vans were visible but there were no stoppages or even any confrontations. The group was happy and celebratory if not a lil bit cold!

As the march wound through the city streets the volume got turned up. Singing, chanting, and pleading started to drown out the quiet conversations of earlier in the morning.

Near 1pm we met up with the larger demonstration which had the theme ‘System Change Not Climate Change’. People really started arriving en mass… literally spilling onto the streets and into parliment square from every direction. In the end the news reported that more than 100,000 people marched in the rally.

Things took a turn for the chaotic when riot police decided that a group of young and vocal activists threatened the security of the event and preemptively cut off the protesters from the rest of the march with a display of overwhelming force including dogs, riot gear and armored personal carriers.

Twas very apparent that the young climate change activists that were arrested in the protest were not a threat to the security of the march. The police had 6500 officers on hand… you dont mobilize a force like that and not use it… even if there isnt any reason too. Its sad that things went down the way they did.

The dogs and gear they used were gnarly and vastly disproportional to what was required in a situation like this. The police explained they were taking a preemptive better safe than sorry approach but most people here agreed that those reasons didnt justify the arrest and harrassment of so many innocent people during what had been an otherwise peaceful and constructive march.

The news coverage of the event labeled all the arrested as ‘anarchists’ and ‘black bloc’ and claimed they had come from all over Europe to interrupt the UN negotations.

Clearly that wasnt true as the people arrested in this picture arent anarchists or black bloc but just a bunch of young Danish teens who were demonstrating.

Does this look like black bloc anarchist bent on the destruction of civil society to you? No not to me either. The police cheif aplogized to these people but they were still dealt with harshly.

Amidst all the confusion of dogs, sirens, shouting cops and crying protesters it wasnt really clear to anyone why people were being detained and arrested or what would happen to them.

When it was all said and done 948 climate change activists and protesters were arrested without any cause or explanation. They were made to sit in human chains on the ground for 4+ hours in below freezing temperatures. Many of them peed on themeselves and their neighbors after being denied access to bathrooms.

This is the police spokesperson. I asked him why the protesters were arrested. He told me the reason was that they found a bomb in one of the protesters backpacks. I said ‘a bomb?’ and he said ‘large fireworks’. Either way, I think they were looking for an excuse to lock down the young angry protesters and overstated the nature of any threat.

I will give the Danish police a thumbs up on one thing… they do value freedom of the press. I was caught in the crackdown on the block of protesters and being detained and processed for arrest. I notice several journalists running around on the ‘free’ side of the police line and when I showed the riot officer my media accredidation he pulled me out of the group of detainees and allowed me inside the police line to take all these photos. I havent taken off this badge since that day! :p

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The UN Climate Change Summit is in full swing in here in Copenhagen. The first week is over, most of the delegates are here and working hard, and many of the world leaders arrive this week. Main negotiations are taking place at a large convention centre called the Bella Centre. I’ve got media accredidation and have been taking photos inside the Bella Centre. For real-time updates follow @kkon Twitter or check out the Copenhagen UN Climate Change Summit photoset I’ve created on Flickr. Here’s a recap of the first few days in images…

Youth activists from all over the world are in attendance. It’s important to have them their as they have the must at stake in the fight against global climate change. Many of the worst predictions are likely to happen in these guys lifetimes!

Delegates from all over the world assemple and hash out the nitty gritty details of an international climate change treaty that everyone hopes will be signed here in Copenhagen.

If temperatures rise only 1.5 degrees some countries will dissappear completely. These guys are standing in a demonstration in solidarity with the Association of Small Island States… the nations that will be effected first by climate change and global warming. I’ve heard stories of some nations buying land around the world to relocate too. For them this is an issue of survival… life and death.

Tuvalu is one of the small island states expected to be ravished by the early effects of climate change and global warming. They’ve sent a delegation to let the world know… pls don’t forget about us. I want to buy one of these mats they’ve made and brought from their island as one of my souveneirs from the conference.

Despite the heavy nature of the negotiations… smiles, optimisim, and positive action abound. Check out TckTckTck and 350.org to get involved with the mobilization movement towards battling climate change and calling our world leaders to sign a treaty here at COP15 that is fair and binding.

Myself and a bunch of other rad peeps from around the world including Mija pictured here are blogging, photographing, streaming video, tweating, and doing whatever we can to involve people throughout the world in the events taking place here in Copenhagen. Great content from lots of sites is being aggregated in real-time here at http://live.tcktcktck.org

Awesome director Yang Li wins a UN Award for a video he made in an international contest about climate change.

Gonna be a tough process. The answers aren’t clear. On what to do internationally about climate change there is little consensus. We gotta stick together and stand strong!

Steve Rio is a digital producer from Vancouver who is helping with media management and content strategy. Send him some love… we’re all working long days and nights.

Next photo essay coming will be Streets of Copenhagen. Thx for following along!

Here’s a rough transcript of the interview:

1. Q: What do you know about photographing people that wish you’d known when you started out?
A: I have shot literally hundreds of people’s portraits, in all types of spaces and environments. Portraits of all different types of people, from various angles. All different kinds. The one thing I have learned from all of this is that you can make a single face look a hundred different ways. There is no “one” way to shoot a person’s portrait. When I started out I was under the impression that there was “one” way to capture people, from “one” specific angle or with “one” particular light source. Granted I am still learning within this particular process because everyone’s face, their everything can be so different from the next that you can’t rely on the same things working from person to person. The beauty of all of this is that you can make a face look inspired or approachable or even prestigious, just from how you capture it. We all don’t have “one” true face but a face that is made up of different parts. I am learning on how to invoke those different parts, specifically focus on them and bring out their attributes and qualities.

2. Q: What mistake do you see beginner photographers making most when it comes to portraits? How could they overcome them?
A: I like to get really close to people when I am taking their photograph. The most common mistake I see is that photographers tend to be too far away when taking portraits. Sometimes you can overcome that by zooming in real close but the better way is to physically get closer to the person you are shooting. It is only when you are physically close, that you can properly interact with with them and then that spark can carry over to the camera.

That’s probably the biggest mistake. But I also see photographers making smaller mistakes. Some portraits are good or fine but could ten times better if the photographer had just taken a second to look around and work with their environment. Whether it is moving the subject into a light or moving something in your background or changing the angle of the shot, those simple things can make a portrait so much better. Just taking a few seconds before you take the photo, that’s all.

3. Q: What advice would you give someone starting out when it comes to interacting with and posing a subject/model?
A: Spending time with the person before the shoot. Like have coffee with them or flip through some magazines to grab a sense of what they are interested for the photos. Getting your photo taken can be very intimidating so it is nice to buffer the shoot with some sort of activity to get to know the person before you dive into taking their photo. You want to get a know a part of them and get acquainted with them like have them tell stories about themselves and show their personality. Some of my best photos of people have been with people that I have gotten to know before the shoot or are at least acquainted with somehow.

4. Q: Can you share one of your favorite portraits with us and how you achieved it?
A: I have three favorites actually:

Malloreigh: During this photo shoot Mallory had brought over a bunch of fun stuff to work with and my studio tends to be a museum/art gallery/flea market so we had a bunch of stuff available. We were just listening to music and having fun really. I helped her pick out a bunch of outfits. During the shoot we became comfortable with each other and just started playing with different props. She picked up their weird old boxing gloves I had and it just worked. All the elements were really strong: her sexy, playful personality, the strength in the boxing gloves mixed with feminine nature of her outfit. Plus the light is great in the shot and it reflect off of her lipstick perfectly. We were just hanging out and experimenting really.

Kim Cathers: Kind like how Chace Jarvis says that the best camera is the one that you have with you, the same goes for the best model you have is the one you are always with. Kim and I had lived together for awhile and we were always carrying our cameras around and taking photos of each other. This particular photo, we had been sitting around, drinking wine, discussing life, love, media and whatnot. It was super spur of the moment but the moment was very comfortable, so I didn’t shy away. It turned out to be a great portrait.

Pete Doherty: I ran into Pete on the streets of London and I didn’t recognize him initially as the musician/rockstar. I just noticed him because of his style really. So I ran across the street and asked him if I could take his photo. The first shot I got I was too far away and it didn’t work. So I just gave him a bit of direction, to move closer and lean in a bit and then the shot turned out amazing. It was really just serendipitous. It was seeing something I liked and then going after it. The round trip literally lasted about ten seconds. I was super happy about the image and immediately stuck it up on my Flickr. I still didn’t know it was Pete Dougherty at this point. The internet quickly let me know who he was though!

5. Q: Could you leave our readers with one last practical piece of advice on shooting portraits that stand out from the rest?
A: In a time where everyone has a fancy DSLR camera and a laptop with the newest version of Photoshop on it, you really have to make an effort to differiante your photos from the next. You literally have to make them special or have them have your own personal fingerprint or signature on them. You can achieve that in many different ways. For me I carry a reflector around with me so that I am able to reflect or manipulate my light in my photographs.

I also have several low end film cameras that are super easy to carry around. I change up my film so that I can cross-process to change the variance in color or make my photos look more grainy, depending on the approach. Sometimes for light sources, I use desk lamps, overhead lighting, lighters, matches, candles, just so I can change the lighting up a bit and possibly redirect it where I want it go. Depending on your camera techniques, whether you use your IPhone, a Holga, or digital and then how you use your available light sources will really make your photos stand out from the rest of them.

Thx to friend and collegue Ryan Holmes for wrapping up my tenure as President of Raincity Studios so eloquently.

“Kris is a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. He has been known to remodel train stations on his lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the areas of heat retention. He translates ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, Occasionally, he treads water for three days in a row.

He woos women with his sensuous and god like photography, can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and can cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. He is an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a large glass of water, he once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. He is the subject of numerous documentaries, when he’s bored, he builds large suspension bridges in his yard. He enjoy urban hang gliding. On his spare time he tirelessly volunteers to help create a better world.
He is an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a voracious socialite. Critics worldwide swoon over his prolific flickr account. He is a private citizen, yet he recieves fan mail. He bats 400 and he’s internet famous.

His deft floral arrangements have earned him fame in international botany circles. Children trust him.

He can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. He once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. He knows the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. He has performed several covert operations with the CIA. He sleeps once a week; when he does sleep, he sleeps in a chair. While on vacation in Austin, he successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to him.

I shamelessly paraphrased this from someone more clever than myself, but honestly think that 50% of this applies to Kris.”

He posted this to my LinkedIn profile where I’m currently working on updating my resume, CV, and portfolio in preparation for some grants I’m applying for.

photo by gone but not forgotten photographer friend Fiona Garden.

Over the past 5 years I’ve been involved in various event planning and management activities as a part of my community development work. I’m on the organizing committee of Northern Voice & BarCamp Vancouver. I plan regular PhotoWalks and PhotoCamps for photographers in Vancouver and around the world. I helped organize the first BarCamp in China with Robert Scales and others in 2006 and advise and consult to a variety of other events from the Canadian New Media Awards to South By Southwest in Austin, TX.

Before that I when I was working deeper in the corporate world as a Marketing Director for several software companies event managment and tradeshows also fell under my area of responsiblity. I’ve been planning and managing events large and small for over 10 years now.

Here’s my current list of tools I use to help pull together meetings, events, and conferences cheaply, quickly, and effectively….

– EventBrite – manage registration (smaller: Evite & Mobaganda & Meetup)
– PB Wiki – free hosted wiki that let’s attendees connect and organize talks, rides, couch surfing, etc
– BaseCamp – project management for event team, vendors, advisors
– WordPress – free open-source content-management system to power the event website
– Ning – Create a social network for your event
– Flickr – collect photos of event via tags & groups
– Twitter – connect with attendees, sponsors, & the media. monitor mentions of your event
– Doodle – takes the pain out of scheduling meetings with busy people
– Google Apps – docs, alerts, groups, calendars, etc
– Upcoming.org – great place to list events (also ZVents & Eventful)
– Slideshare – give the presentations from your event life and value after the speaker has stopped talking
– NetVibes – create a dashboard from the RSS feeds generated by all of the above

Also check out this great 48-slide presentation shared on SlideShare by Katie Laird:

My photograph studio Static Photography has had the opportunity to travel to many different conferences for awesome photographic opportunities! Whether it is shooting portraits at Microsoft Tech Days , or giving a photo recap talk at Gnomedex 2009 , or even heading back to Pop!Tech to be their official photographer, Kris Krug is definitely busy at conferences. Come this November Kris will have the awesome opportunity to lead a PhotoCamp at the first annual [Re]Think Hawaii conference .

(Re)think Hawaii is proposed as an intersection of forward thinking leaders from all corners of the world. Focused around technology, sustainability and business, this five day conference will provide networking events, panels, discussions and other various events to further the discussion. The attendees for this conference will span a wide spectrum of career and business levels, intention levels and motivation levels. Disclosed as a space to retreat from the confines of your daily thinking, meet offline and rethink the ideas that are the crux of your daily life, this conference is sure to be a one of a kind.

This conference is the by-product of the hard-working team of Christine Lu from Cilantro Media and Neenz Faleafine from Pono Media . This dynamic team has helped organize almost all the details of this conference, with some special help from some amazing people from around the world. These two are the main organizers but have delegated international organizers to spread the world to their communities. By connecting global communities in the organizing process they have set the stage for a diverse conference attendance. Kris is also working on a book with Christine titled Chinameme Vol. 1 Shanghai . We are very excited to working with Christine on another project!

This conference will be four days of events that are ensure to inspire and connect all the participants to each other and especially to Hawaiian culture. With a Welcome Party on the first night of the event with an introduction to Hawaiian culture including music, food and traditions. Larry Chiang will be teaching an all day workshop called 'What They Don't Teach You At Business School' . Startup2Startup , which is a group of geeks, entrepreneurs and investors that provide education and help to new internet startups, will be hosting a dinner during the conference. Blogworld will be hosting a Social Media Business Summit on one of the days of the conference. Lead by Rick Calvert and Jim Turner , this Summit will provide information and support for businesses of all sizes. Dave McClure will be running a one day workshop called Startonomics . This workshop, designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, will provide information on how to create metrics that will continue for long-term growth.

Kris will be leading a full day Photocamp during the conference as well. Photocamps are fun because they give experienced and novice photographers a safe and creative environment to explore new territories with their cameras. The day will include sessions on basic photography techniques, low light event and portrait photography, photography and social media, stock photoraphy and then an afternoon photowalk. This kind of camp offer a space for collaboration, information sharing and just general awesomeness. Plus set upon the landscape of beautiful Hawaii, this event is sure to provide amazing scenery for photos.

There are still spots available for this rad conference! If you are interested, you can request an invite here. There is also an Rethink Hawai Eventbrite page that has more conference details. There are day passes available for individual tracks as well as full week passes for the whole conference. If interested, feel free to use the referral code of 'Photocamp'. Whether you attend the Photocamp, a single day of Technology, Business or Sustainability or possibly seclude yourself to the beach for a week and attend the whole conference, this event is is sure to be an inspiring one! From attendees, to speakers to organizers, the island of Hawaii isn't going to know what hit them when all these geeks arrive!

Gnomedex is the geek’s geek conference. This single track conference produced by Chris Pirillo and Lockergnome has always provided the best and brightest in high-tech to technologists and enthusiasts alike. This conference is in its ninth year. The first few Gnomedexs were held in Des Moines, Iowa, with a quick crazy year spent in Lake Tahoe and then finally settling into its Seattle home where it has been for the last few years. This conference has always hosted a prolific line-up of speakers and created an experience that is optimum for attendees.

We all get our own electrical outlet and power-strip.

There are some really awesome speakers this year at Gnomedex 9.0. Here are just a few from the rockstar lineup.

Amber Case – Prosthetic Culture
Amber Case is a cyborg athropligist who resides in Portland, OR. Spending her time taming the robots and spiders on the internets, Amber is a wealth of knowledge on human interaction with the cyborg culture. Her talk on Prosthetic Culture will be an interesting look into prosthetics and human interaction with enhancements. Her talk will be the closing session on Saturday at 4:15 pm.

Drew Olanoff – My Cancer is Social
Drew Olanoff is a community director at GOGII who currently resides in Philadelphia, PA. Drew was diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer earlier this year. He has turned the unlikeliest of situations into a new media campaign based around Twitter hashtags called #blamedrewscancer. His full of life approach to a heavy topic has changed the way people interact with new media on topics like cancer. This talk will surely be informational, awesome and might even shake a few tears out of some eyes. His talk will be on Friday at 4:30 pm.

Leah Nelson and Jay Grandin – 20,000,000 vs. 20: Audience versus Impact
Leah Nelson and Jay Grandin are a dynamic duo that are integral components to the video production and media studio Giant Ant Media in Vancouver, BC. Their studio has produced documentaries, micro-campaigns, web series, commercials and even stop-motion productions. They have lots of experience with how numbers can dictate how content produces a general impact and what kind of audience is created in the wake. Their talk will be on Saturday at 11:30 am.

I will be creating a photography showcase/recap of Gnomedex 9.0 on Saturday at 5:00 pm right after Amber Case’s talk. It will be a selected portion of the photos that I will be taking at this year’s conference. It will be an awesome experience to recap live the chaotic events of the conference in real time with new friends and old.

There should be a lot of fun events planned around the Gnomedex single track this year. From parties to networking the events somehow tie all the awesome presentations together to make this two conference the awesome geekfest that it is. One of these events being scheduled around the main track of programming is a photowalk with some professional photographers that will be in Seattle for the conference. Robert Scoble, Chase Jarvis and myself will be heading up this fun outing Friday morning at 7 am. The early bird gets the worm and the best photos.

Just a side note: I will also be booking some photoshoots during Gnomedex this year. This would be the good opporunity for those of you who need to update your headshots / avatars.

Gnomedex is always a blast. Hopefully I will see you in Seattle!

Here is some more information about the geekfest that is Gnomedex:
Kris Krug’s Gnomedex 2005 photos on Flickr
Kris Krug’s Gnomedex 2006 photos on Flickr
Kris Krug’s Gnomedex 2007 photos on Flickr
Kris Krug’s Gnomedex 2008 photos on Flickr
Gnomedex on Wikipedia
Gnomedex on twitter
#gnomedex on twitter