I was part of a large crew working with KirshenbaumBondSenecal and Partners to shoot an olympic spot for Bayerische Motoren Werke. The concept was to capture each individual athletes mantra while training and competing. What goes through their heads when they reach the wall, the absolute hardest point.

When we asked Sanya Richards what her mantra was, she laughed and asked, “wait, really?” Her eyebrows, cheeks, and eyes immediately changed. Like a kid hanging out licking a lollipop and the intensity of that split second following the action of their brother stealing it away. Even in a non-competition setting, her entire posture shifted. Her mantra, “I refuse to lose, I refuse to lose.” is repeated in her head over and over again until she crosses the finish line. She went on to win the gold in the 400m at the 2012 London Games.

We filmed both interviews and broll at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. I was part of the filming of Sanya Richards-Ross and Bryan Clay portions of the spot.

Here is the next phase of our Creatives Series, a collection of stories we are telling on inspiring talent making their living through creative and somewhat rare mediums.

The series is exclusively on the Boyte Creative Blog and includes a short documentary, a few portraits, and an article to help us tell their authentic story through their creative eyes.

Fin Art melds together vintage materials into masterful pieces of modern furniture. Here’s a glimpse into what they put into each project.

Check out the entire series on our blog :: HERE

I have been lucky enough to become friends with Zehnder Communications in New Orleans the past year, traveling there to shoot six different projects. This year alone I’ve played the role of Director of Photography for three awesome projects, including the filming of a big Gulf Seafood Coalition marketing video, and two 30 second commercial spots. I look forward to the future projects, as we all continue to grow in our abilities and ideas.

This was a 30 second spot for the local Superior Honda dealership. The idea was to capture the energy and atmosphere of New Orleans through witness of all the Superior titles that historically exist around the city. We spent one very fast paced day, covering 11 locations and ending by filming little details in the new 2012 Accord to parallel with action throughout the piece. Post (editing) work was done by Zehnder.

Plant with Purpose’s—a non-profit based in San Diego and doing work across the globe—Village Savings and Loans programs are completely shifting the outlook on rural communities ability to become independent from large financial and often devastating institutions. And instead allow the community as a whole to work together to create their own savings which in return can be used to create small loans that they pay to themselves.

Their work is incredible. Their philosophy even more so // plantwithpurpose.org

Thank you to the entire PWP team both in the states and the local team in the DR.

This is the story of Sprout Skincare (sproutskincare.com) — an awesome natural skincare boutique based in Brooklyn, New York, run by Adina and Adam. Kelsey and I got to spend a great day hanging out with them and see how the everything is made. We also got to sit down and dive into who they are and what they believe in. Talk about two incredibly fun people to hang with!

I shot this mainly on the 5DMII, you’ll find the 7D playing a role as a second camera on the interviews (the wide on sticks). Used the 5D with Canon 50mm 1.4 for all the broll, had the 24-70mm on the 7D for the wide on interviews and used an old Vivitar 135mm 2.8 with an MD-EOS adaptor.

Music // Summertime by Nicholas Kirk.