KEVIN ZACHER

Welcome to my "blog". I like to call it an electronic journal. I'll be honest, I'm not here to give political opinions, photographic advice, promote other photographers or general and potentially weird wacky tid bits. My "blog" is for you if you care to follow my photography. It's about where I have been and where I am going. With that said, if you are a fellow photographer PLEASE, PLEASE email me with questions about your business or if you need help. I am happy to be of assistance.

In the end what this is about for me is when I am old and my kids and grandkids ask me what the hell I did in life I can show them this.........

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November 5, 2009

Promo, Promo, Promo...."Marsha, Marsha, Marshaaaa!"

This is a new promo my agent and I recently sent out to my advertising contacts.

Many thanks to the Designory in Long Beach and to Subaru for sending the work my way. Go team go!

They really just wanted me to make it look real, yet aspirational and fun. Illustrate a lifestyle attached to the brand and the product.

I enjoy the challenge of making the unreal, real!

Look forward to the next.

PS couldn't help the Brady Bunch reference in the subject line. Remember the episode when all the attention was given to Marsha? And Jan belted out " Marsha Marsha Marsha". Guess you had to be there.

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October 31, 2009

I will always be a PHOTOGRAPHER but......

I believe I was born to be that. Everything about me. My interest in people, human emotion, landscape - behavior! I love and have always respected the medium in a way that paid little respect to the moving picture. I once heard a very big Hollywood cinematographer tell a close friend of mine that it's much harder to tell your story in a still picture than in a moving picture.

And I agree. To get that pregnant moment in a still image with no sound or dialogue. A feat!

WITH THAT SAID - things have changed for me ( and the industry) and I am so excited about motion content right now and telling stories/problem solving client's needs that way. I am literally taking my style of photography and making it move. That is my offering. It's a package. It is who I am now. I will admit. I started this thinking based on the market and what is expected. I am here to say that shooting and directing motion has become a way to see differently and has gotten me seeing some new and fresh compositions when making my still pictures.

This is where photography is and where it will be for all of us in 5, 10, 20 years is rather mind boggling, exciting and liberating both aesthetically and from a human perspective. Motion has opened me up to finally do some projects more philanthropic and helpful to society.

Of course though, that Mamiya 7 rangefinder will almost always be around my neck no matter what.

Get seeing. Get moving.

Over and out........

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October 30, 2009

Kobe Bryant, Derek Rose and Chris Hardwick for ESPN

Amy McNulty from ESPN sent me in hot to a 2K Sports TV spot set to photograph Kobe for the Bodies Issue. The set was slammed with three camera operators, 25 crew and a fair bit of lighting and grip. All in a small living room. It was a mad house and although it was a go from the perspective of Kobe's PR people in that they knew I was to arrive and shoot a picture, the TV production people could have cared less about my needs. I don't blame them. But I made friends with the right people and was given a few minutes between a couple of takes to go in and get the shot I wanted.

I wanted to gain authenticity through energy and playfulness. The fact is they weren't playing a video game at all ( it wasn't available). "Elbow someone Kobe, get 'em back Derek, don't be a wuss Chris, blah blah blah. It was a fast two - three minutes.

In the end this shot did not run in the magazine because the article was more about how the 2K people were able to make the game so realistic and how it all got produced from the perspective of Kobe's physicality and likeness.

Filed under // 2K Chris Hardwick Derek Rose Kobe Bryant

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October 7, 2009

RIP Irving Penn

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September 18, 2009

Camp Kids

Built this grid from some portraits of Summer Camp kids. What a fun project and a good exercise in gaining quick rapport with some otherwise stand-offish kids.

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September 14, 2009

Sony Expert Panel

The Sony job I shot in NYC is out now and I am able to post it here. I had some fun people to shoot. From Justin Timberlake, the world's fastest reader, to the Verizon man, to Peyton Manning, Nigel Barker and Erin Andrews.

It was a piggy-back on the broadcast portion of the campaign - so we had to be ready at any given moment for the "experts" to arrive on set. Tricky thing was I would hear from my producer, "ok, your getting Timberlake in 5 min. and literally Amy Sedaris would show up. Minor lighting and camera height tweaks were made quickly. It was - be ready for the unexpected and then EXPECT the unexpected! We usually didn't have much more than a few moments with each panelist. Go in hot with tons of energy, get them fired up and happy and emotive. Go Go Go!!! A fun little game of hurry up and wait, then gaps and then back to GO!

Get's the heart pumping.

I always remember a quote I read from Richard Avedon later in his life. Essentially he stated that no matter how long he had been making pictures and no matter how many Icons he photographed, the energy, excitement and nerves never faded, only progressed.

I feel a bit like that.

Partial List of Celebs photographed:

Justin Timberlake - Pop Star

Peyton Manning - Quarterback Indianapolis Colts

Amy Sedaris - Comedian

Erin Andrews - ESPN Sideline reporter

Nigel Barker - World's most famous photographer

Dion Beebe - Academy Award Winning Cinematographer

Julia Alison - Sex journalist

Verizon Guy - Verizon Guy

Kylie ( I am a PC fame) - Cute kid

Howard Berg - World's Fastest Reader

Many thanks to my crew, the agency (180LA) and to the folks at SONY.

Over and out......

Click here to download:

Sony_Expert_Panel_Campaign.zip (511 KB)

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September 14, 2009

Recent Death & Taxes Features

Shot a great , great LA band called Foreign Born and the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for Death&Taxes Issue 21. It's really my new favorite mag, both in content and aesthetic. No BS. Just so happens they seem to like my work and hire me. Either way, I'll be a continued reader.

I hope more and more people become aware of it.

Check out the show on FX Thursdays at 10 and the band at http://foreignbornmusic.blogspot.com/

Click here to download:

Recent_Death_Taxes_Features.zip (3484 KB)

Filed under // comedy Danny Devito Death and Taxes Foreign Born It's Always Sunny in Philadephia Music

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September 3, 2009

Discover Card

8 ads here for Discover. Not to many brands shooting 8 ads for one campaign these days. A great shoot. A week in NYC is never a bad thing. I love visiting my 2nd home. Seamless production (thanks Jenn Kim) and a great, great crew!!

Many thanks to Cindy Hicks and Marco Howell at The Martin Agency in Richmond, VA once again!

Click here to download:

Discover_Ads.zip (2889 KB)

Filed under // Discover

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August 31, 2009

Personal Work

I am a firm believer in shooting personal work. I am always looking to shoot new and interesting subjects that fit well in my book and in promos.
I shoot most of my personal assignments to attract potential clients. I am in the business of advertising and editorial photography and I aspire to continue to shoot for and create new relationships with the best brands and agencies in the world. I work tirelessly to obtain these goals. And I need to be focused. Focused on who my target market is, my style, staying fresh and progressing and on giving the best work and production to my clients and potential clients when given the honor of an assignment.

With that said,,,,,,,,I do enjoy ever so much throwing caution to the wind and going out and shooting pictures that I know won't make it into my book or into a promo. That aren't within my "brand" or "aesthetic". They might be documentary or fine art pictures, but they aren't commercially viable. I keep them for myself. I share them with family or friends or the people who were photographed. I don't sell them and I don't care
how they are judged. The process is a way for me to go out and try new things, new compositions, new color, new topics or subjects or simply ( as illustrated below) my own daily routines and lifestyle. All I promise myself is to try and make it interesting and fresh.

I hope one day to share some of the work I keep locked up and filed away in a real way, such as a book or a show. But for now little flashes and tid bits in places like this blog will do.

Besides......I'm to busy making ads.

I hope you enjoy and can feel the beauty and fun I experienced a few evenings ago surfing with my friend Hjelmar in the pictures below. It was a lovely evening out, where the water soothes and almost wraps itself around you, heavy but gentle. Fires ablaze in the nearby forest, I can't help but realize such an irony between the fire and the water.