Kristopher Orr | Film Scanning | SIEGE Audio

Kristopher Orr | Film Scanning | SIEGE Audio from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.
Kristopher Orr is a professional photographer from Alberta, Canada who is operating currently out of SLC, UT. Shooting his entire portfolio exclusively on film, Kristopher shows a little bit of the action that goes on behind the scenes. Featuring images of professional snowboarder Jon Kooley, Kristopher proves that fine art is not dead.

UNDER SIEGE Kick-off Party

Tonight, Nov 19, 2009, is the kickoff party for the Winter 2009 Collection from SIEGE Audio. I'm going to be present snapping photos of the guests, so feel free to swing by Greenstreet sometime after 9 p.m. and check out the party. 602 E. 500 S. in SLC, or just peep the poster made by theklubking@gmail.com. Greenstreet resident DJ Erockalypze will be spinning all night long. Product give-aways and drink specials if that's your thing. A little something for everyone, I think.


>>UPDATE<<
Check out the pics from the event by clicking here.

Fire Extinguisher

I was up at Causwell, SLC in Cottonwood Heights, UT shooting with pro skier Blake Nyman for SIEGE Audio, and while we were brainstorming ideas, we noticed this friendly little fire extinguisher hanging out in the corner of the office. This resulted in a few minutes of fun with the camera snapping away all-the-while. Peep the picks. Also feel free to check out Blake's blog for updates on that guy, and stay tuned to the SIEGE Audio website because the new site is about to go live any day with pics from yours truly.

Fall Colors

Yesterday my buddy Kristopher Orr called me sporadically and wanted to go shoot some fall colors. Those of you folks in Utah may have noticed that, although the fall was gorgeous this season, the colors were relatively short lived. They were here, we got some frost, and they were gone (essentially).

We wanted to try to get some cool photos, but we couldn't decide where to go. Ultimately, Miah, Toph and I opted to go up Provo Canyon and hike up just a little above Mt. Timpanogos Park, and there's this cool little gully that is somewhat sheltered from the wind. All-in-all, we ended up choosing wisely because all three of us came away with some stunning images. Here's a couple of my favorites for your viewing pleasure.

Miah and Toph Enjoying the Leaves

Miah Shooting on Lee's Camera

Kristopher Posing

Shot up toward Mount Timpanogos

Miah caught in the act

It was like a full tunnel. Pretty cool.

Cliffs overlooking the mouth of Provo Canyon

My personal favorite

"I have no idea what's going on right now."

Some perdy leaves

"I'm cool because I shoot on film..."

Longboard Demo Days

Longboard Demo Days 9/9/09 from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.
This is footage from the final Longboard Demo Days party brought to you by Milosport, Red Bull Energy Drink, Arbor, Sector 9, Never Summer, and Gokiburi. Thanks to everyone who came out to play with us and end the summer with a bang. Cinematography and post-production by Parker Alec Cross, music by The Album Leaf.

Portraiture

I've recently fallen in love with portrait photography. For those of you who know me, I cherish the outdoors, and the beautiful creations that God has provided for us to experience. In my church there is a children's song that goes as follows:

"Whenever I hear the song of a bird,

Or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face,

Or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose,

Or walk by a lilac tree,

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heavenly Father created for me!"

I love the outdoors more than I can express, and the natural world has oftentimes in my life taken a greater importance than my intera

ctions with people. Strangely enough, I forgot that when God created the world, it was following his rest on the seventh day that, finally, after everything that he had done so far–creating the heavens and the earth, separating the light from the darkness, dividing the waters from the firmament, creating the grass, herb, and fruit trees, the fowl, the great whales, the cattle, creeping thing, and beast of every kind, that He created male and female in His own image.

It hasn't really been until recently after doing heaps of portrait work that I've developed a greater appreciation for the crowning achievement of the Lord's work, namely, mankind. As I go through and retouch each portrait I shoot, I'm reminded about how beautiful people really are, and at the same time how incredi

bly imperfect we all are. It has this incredible way of leveling the social playing field, and helping us to all feel closer to God. I hope you enjoy these photos.

Summer 2009

It's been several months since my last blog post, and I figured it was time to get on the ball. I have a moderate excuse, that being the fact that I did recently move into a new house, and I don't have internet yet, but more on that later.

Summer 2009 has been totally epic, and I'm unbelievably stoked on how much fun I've been having, the new friends that I've met, and the great photos I've been blessed enough to take. Here's a quick photo recap from my adventures:

Red Bull

Several weeks ago I was having lunch with my friends when I got a phone call from Jordan Schweizer, the marketing director for Red Bull Energy Drink in Utah. He was calling to tell me that the interview that he and I had left a good enough impression that he was willing to offer me the position of Student Brand Manager for Utah Valley University.

It's certainly not the most lucrative of job opportunities, but it has its benefits: 20 cases of free Red Bull were picked up by me the other day. Essentially I connect with things that are going on in Utah County, then bring a whole lot of Red Bull to help promote those events. The company is very keen on giving out enormous amounts of free product, and because of that fact,everyone knows who Red Bull is, and the only people that don't drink it are the people who don't like the way it tastes.

Here are some photos from a longboarding demo from the other day. It was a little rainy so the turnout was kind of meager, but it was still super fun regardless:

Off-camera Lighting

   Erin McMullin is one friend I can always count on to model for me in a pinch. I've been spending a lot of time doing portraits lately, and in this post I'm going to show the process I used to get the above image from this:

   We shot it in a parking garage of the LDS Institute of Religion at Utah Valley University. As you can see above, there was a lot of warm natural light coming from the entrance to the garage, and I probably could've got a nice portrait just with the available light and the proper exposure. The above image was using my EF50mm f/1.8 II lens with an aperture of 11 (because that's the depth of field that I wanted), and a shutter speed of 1/3 (hence the reason why it's so blurry). I had my camera on my tripod later, and could have easily got a crisp image at that shutter speed, but it's not the effect that I was looking for.

   I increased the shutter speed significantly to 1/25 so the ambient light would be considerably darker in the frame, but maintained the aperture at f/11. I framed the scene in a way that I was pretty sure I would finish up when I had my model in frame.

   Now it was time to start adding the lights. I was using two ProMaster 160A Studio Flashes, the first at about 1/4 power blasting on the back wall for depth:

   And the second light was at about 1/8 power with a diffusion umbrella at camera right:

  Add a model, without the lights it looks like this:

   And with the lights you get this:

   I cooled down the lights a little in Photoshop in the background, but other than that, it's straight from the sensor. Super easy way to get great depth, and nice lighting. Thank you Strobist. If you liked this little tutorial, pass it on.

008 Adieu

008 Adieu - Wasatch The Official Production Podcast from Parker Alec Cross on Vimeo.
In amazing HD quality, the boys sum up the season and get stoked on some epic recap footage from 2008-2009, shots ranging from the Sierra Nevada range to the tops of the mighty Wasatch. Filmed entirely on the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II, with cinematography and post-production by Parker Alec Cross, episode eight will blow your mind and make you wish that the season wasn't over. Stay tuned for Parker's full-length documentary to be released in August.

Available in the iTunes Music Store: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311875506

And also available on iTunes in HD:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311952699