Last week I get a text message from someone on the inside at Wind-Up Records: Flipping through my Billboard at work and BAM, there was your photo! You are fancy Brook Pifer!!

How about that, I’m fancy. You can check out all the winners in Billboard Magazine, on news stands now.

In other news, 2010 has proved to be pretty rad so far. New website in the works, music video projects galore, the shoot I did for MTV will be posted soon. Speaking of, gotta run, conference call in 5…

I’m in NYC this week, chilling at the apartment before we get started on the final production details for tomorrows shoot with MTV. Check out my twitter, facebook, and tumblr for exclusive behind the scenes action! Now onto the meat and potatoes…

Sometimes you have to sit on photos for a while because the Client wants to share them with the world before you do. Case in point, Full Sail’s Creative Minds shoot. The effort that went into the pre-production and the teamwork on shoot day was incredible. Yep that’s right teamwork! I may have been the one taking the photos but I had a lot of help that day. When you work on a big shoot like this its very satisfying to see a synergy amongst everyone involved, the hustle and bustle of the studio, everyone giving it 110%. I hope you pick up on that in the behind the scenes video. Everyone from Client, Talent and Crew kept saying how smooth everything was going, how much fun they were having, the photos were looking amazing, all in all a totally RAD day!

Happy January everyone! How many people think the holiday vacation was too short? If anyone is curious, we sent out holiday cards that look like this.

Combine all the usual holiday activity with a busy schedule, then top it off with a food drive…yeah goodbye December! Anyway, for the food drive I wanted to do things a bit differently. I spoke to my studio manager about the rough idea and we set to work to make it happen. I wanted to give people something in exchange for the food or money donation..ie, PORTRAITS FOR FOOD. To be perfectly honest we didn’t really promote the event to its fullest potential. That being said, we had a pretty large turnout. Friends, collegues, photographers, directors, lawyers, students, munchkins and complete strangers came by the studio with generous food and financial donations for Second Harvest Food Bank. When it was all said and done I had the hummer packed to the brim with donations. Giving back felt incredible! We are planning to make this an annual event and expand it to both studios in NY and FL for 2010. Mahalo to everyone who donated and volunteered that day!

Lately I’ve been immersed in the world of music videos. The work I’m investing in this latest project has given me access to really nifty places, radio stations, big time venues and the like. What’s weird is I’ve met some people along the way that say “oh you’re The Brook Pifer, I’ve know about your work, yadda, yadda, yadda.” Yes, its pretty rad to know people dig your work. Case in point winning first place in the PDN + Billboard Magazine contest. You can check out all of the very talented winners in this months issue of PDN. Anyway, back to my point, I wasn’t always who I am. Lauren Greenfield, Larry Sultan (RIP), Platon, Annie, Herb, they weren’t always who they were either. The biggest piece of advice I can give to photographers, push on, keep shooting and persist CRAP (Criticism, Rejection, Assholes, Pressure). The only difference between you, me and the shooters we admire is they did exactly that.

The Lip Dub to Don’t Stop Believing by Journey strikes again! This time it won first place in the New Media category for the 6th annual AltPick Awards. Earlier this year the video also won a PDN Self Promo Award. AltPick also hooked us up with an honorable mention for this lightning photo. You can see the full winners list here.

Hope and Help provides assistance to people who are living with HIV.  Shooting this assignment was extremely emotional and 90% of what you see here are REAL TEARS.  Throughout the day I had to coach people to such a place of darkness to evoke a genuine reaction out of them.  It was brutal but all in all everyone believed in the project and each person we shot really took initiative to go where I needed them to go. At times we would both go on this journey of utter despair only to get what we need then slowly come back to reality that way they wouldn’t be in a dark place throughout the day. Directorial skills, HUGE ASSEST. One thing I will say, everyone sure bonded for this shoot. Trust in each other, love for each other, the day was intense but so worth it.  

Thursday 12/10/2009 get a complimentary portrait taken by celebrity photographer Brook Pifer. All you have to do in return is arrive with a nonperishable food donation or financial contribution made payable to Second Harvest Food Bank. Appointments are recommended but not required. Just stop by the studio between 9am-5pm. Tis the season for an attitude of gratitude.

Any questions, shoot us an email: studio@brookpifer.com

STUDIO DIRECTIONS:
520 N. Orlando Avenue
Loft 1
Winter Park, FL  32789
Located in THE LOFTS above The Cheesecake Factory and Guitar Center in The Winter Park Village.

CRITICAL FOOD NEEDS:
Meals in a Can
Canned Tuna
Nonfat Dry Milk
Peanut Butter  
Oatmeal
Nutritional Drinks
Canned Meats/Poultry
Dry Beans 
Evaporated Milk
Canned Veggies
Canned Soup
Pasta/Macaroni
Canned Fruit
Rice
Beef Stew
Baby Food

CENTRAL FLORIDA HUNGER FACTS:
64% of the people seeking food assistance have household incomes of
less than $1,000 per month.

44% of the households seeking food assistance have at least one member
employed.

28% of the people receiving food from assistance programs are children
under 18

Spent some time in Salem Massachusetts to shoot this cover for the December issue of Decibel Magazine.  My producer Michelle found us a great location to shoot at, Pioneer Village, figuring we might need some indoor location options if the weather proved uncooperative. Originally we planned to arrive the day before the shoot but that changed in the 11th hour…Converge had a scheduling conflict and our shoot got bumped up a day, the day of our arrival. Thankfully I’m the type of photographer that is over-prepared to the point of obsessive compulsive. Lighting kits were methodically packed in the event that something didn’t arrive or arrived damaged.  Carry-ons contained the cameras (canon and hassy), laptops(2 macbook pros) and additional lighting, spare flash tubes, etc. No matter what happened, we could pull the shoot off with just the carry-on bags.  Worst case scenario packing not necessary, everything arrived A-OK (thank you Jet Blue).  Our flight was at 6am, arrived at our location by Noon, band arrived at 2pm, wrapped at 4:30, had a celebratory beer that night! The following day was spent exploring Salem.  My fave thing about the trip, purchasing a Salem Cycle racing jersey. Best meal, hands down Gula Gula.