a photographer's blog: rick etkin

Petcurean Go! Packaging and Campaign

Dogs, cats, kittens, puppies, sounds like the ideal talent for a photography project. As a complete dog lover, when a client says I want to talk about a shoot that has all of the above as subjects for an integrated campaign and packaging, you just say yes.

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Last year I was approached by Matthew Clark of Subplot Design Inc. to produce a new series of animal portraits for their long-time client, Petcurean Pet Nutrition to use on packaging and promotion of their Go! Brand. Matthew had previously commissioned me to shoot their own Subplot portraits in black and white and then saw a photo on Instagram of my family pup, Shotgun, that was done as a lens test. Both of these were heading in the right direction for the look and feel needed for their project. The Petcurean brand is well-defined and the quality of the images, like their brand, is premium.

Leap forward almost a year and I can finally share the results of some of the fun we had. The clients helped with talent casting and I assembled a fantastic crew to make it all a success. Added to lots of planning and preproduction for one prelight day and then 2 days of fun with cats and dogs, we created the chemistry for great things to happen.

Matthew Clark, Founder and Creative Director of Subplot Design, “They say never work with pets or kids. Well, I have done both, sometimes together. And when it came time to photograph dramatic portraits of 10 dogs and 5 cats in 2 days, with a mix of amateur and professional pet models, with all the organization and creative talent required, who did I call? Rick Etkin“

“I have worked with Rick for over 25 years and he is the perfect combination of big-shoot-production-organization-experience with creative-detailed-obsessive photography.” said Matthew.

“And he’s nice, which actually counts for a lot in this business.”

Claire Jensen, Creative Services Director for Petcurean said I’ve been on many photoshoots throughout my career and I can confidently say that the GO! SOLUTIONS shoot that Rick organized and shot was by far one of the best.

The studio was beautiful and spacious, the crew was professional, welcoming, down to earth and fun loving. The food? Where do I begin. How many photoshoots are you on where the photographer bakes homemade bread the night before and brings it to the set for the crew and clients to enjoy for breakfast!?

Aside from the environment that was created for us, the talent and expertise that Rick and his team displayed was clear from the onset. Our end result was high quality images that will carry our brand to a new level on packaging. The images were exactly what we briefed on, and we couldn’t be happier.

If you get the chance to partner with Rick on a project, don’t miss it!

Despite the warning to never work with animals, with the extraordinary talent of Pawsabilities owner, Paul Jasper, the animal trainer working animal magic with the owners of the featured animals, the shoot was a total success with so many image choices for Petcurean.

I am pretty sure everyone worked with smiles on their faces for the entire 3 days. Dog licks and snuggles were being given freely, kitten cuteness was at 11. Who could ask for more?

The Clients:

Client: Subplot Design for Petcurean Pet Nutrition

Design and Creative Direction Matthew Clarke

Project Writing by Pete Pallet

Final digital post was by Matthew at Subplot. 

The Crew:

Co-ordinator Lucie Lareau;

1^st assist @_JayDelaney_

Digital and assist @KevinLanthier

3^rd assist, PA and BTS photographer @lkbelletkin

Craft and catering by Tina Mohns.

The Technical:

The images are being used in multi platforms and media, from the packages to trade show display walls down to Instagam posts. The packaging is printed with black ink on silver foil. Hard edge light and contrast were needed and everything had to be shot against black duvateen. With all of the 15 four-footed talent, it was essential to stop all action, shoot fast and produce sharp huge files. This was accomplished using profoto A10s and nikon D850 with sigma Art 85mm for most of the session.

To see more images visit www.ricketkin.com

#Profoto #profotoA10 #nikond850 #sigmaart85mm #nikon24-120 #petfood #dogportraits #catportraits #packaging #advertising #germanShephard #catactors #studiophotography #vancouver #BTS #betterwhenyoutether @subplotdesign @petcurean @stage6studio @beauphotostore @tethertools

It has been an experience that I will remember forever. For those that didn’t know of my contract with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, I have spent the last eighteen months as Supervisor of Photo Services for the Mountains in Press Operations. I started in October 2008  and worked inside the Games until late March. In that time I worked closely with my two colleagues, Nick Didlick – Photo Manager and Alain-Pierre Hovasse – my city equivalent (more about them later) with a photo team that eventually reached over thirty managers and supervisors and over two hundred volunteers. That was just our photo operations team, the whole press team reached over five hundred people and the Games more than twenty thousand.

In 2009 I was the Photo Manager at eight World Cups in the Whistler area and helped with the planning for all of the photo positions, infrastructure and technology that would be required for the 740 photographers accredited to the Games. During the Olympics, I oversaw the photography operations for The Whistler Media Centre and Whistler Medals Plaza as Venue Photo Manager. My work expanded for the Paralympics as I was also the Venue Photo Manager for alpine racing at Whistler Creekside.

I was often working in the best, most exciting places at the Games. You can only imagine what it was like to be standing at the lip of the Large Hill Ski jump at Whistler Olympic park as the competitors launched into space at 100kph or at the Whistler Sliding Centre with a Luge blasting by at over 150hph. Blink and they were gone, but the sound and memories will never fade.

My plans were to start this blog before the Games began and share some of my experiences and photos as it happened. The best laid plans often take a left turn as there simply weren’t enough hours in the day, and since there were maybe only 3 days off from Mid January until  the end of the Paralympics I had to shift my priorities.

I am now gathering my thoughts and images to share, hoping that I can give you a small insider’s taste of what it was like to be involved in the largest event in the world in a role that played on all of my experience as a photographer, producer, manager, planner, film-maker and scheduler….

More to come.