Houston MNP Photo-Walk: EADO (East Downtown Houston)

Welp! I hosted my first photo-walk/photography meetup in Houston, Texas. We had met at Tout Suite off Commerce in East Downtown and proceeded to walk around for about 1.5 hours.

Photographed: Kirktis Neal, Kevin Bailey, Jada Ross, Stephanie Willis and Rokeela Anderson.

Below are photos that were solely taken on iPhone’s.

Testing 1, 2, 3....

[EAST] AUSTIN CREATIVE - 78721: 🎨JOHARI PALACIO

J. Johari Palacio was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1975, a first-generation child of Belizean immigrants, who relocated with his father to southern California when he was a child. An interdisciplinary artist since his beginnings in South Los Angeles' illustrious late 80s street art scene, he works primarily in the medium of sound art, but also video, photography, mixed media and creative nonfiction. He has acted as a contributing writer for such publications as Chicago Reader, Chicago Artist Resource, and the now-defunct seminal hip-hop periodical Rap Sheet.

Palacio’s practice revolves primarily around subterranean and street culture, underground music and sound, the landscape of the metropolis, and human interaction in these environments. I am intrigued by emergent and innovative art born from underrepresented people and communities, and his work sometimes takes the form of personal and public documentation of urban culture through photography, video, sound, writing, collage, and mixed-media. For as long as he can remember, music has served as a catalyst for connections, relationships, emotion and memory. J. Johari Palacio considers music and sound as the pivot of his creative output, whether he is acting as a resident DJ for multiple venues, crafting content for blogs and print, business managing and consulting with musical acts, or creating sound pieces for art installations.

His current journey has him residing in East Austin, Texas.

IG: @perpetualrebel
Website: www.jjoharipalacio.com

Highlight Reel: Akiko + De'von

Akiko + De'von  traveled a little over 2 hours for this incredible session and spent the day in the great city of Austin, TX. It was supposed to rain but luckily, the weather provided perfect weather conditions for this shoot. Oddly enough, I actually know both Akiko and Dev'on Akiko from Freshman year at Stephen F. Austin University. Akiko was my roommate and they had both met during our freshman year at SFA. I was elated when they had reached out via Instagram and asked if I could shoot their engagement photos. I've put together with a handful of photos for a 'highlight reel' to showcase some of my favorite photos from our session. 

I’m obsessed with every one of these, and hope you enjoy them too! ;)

|| AKIKO + DE'VON||

Akiko + Devon, you're highlight reel is available for download here. - Feel free to share this post with your family and friends on Facebook! 

All donations are considered a charitable gift and are recorded on our books as income but are not tax deductible.However, your contributions will help us to upgrade needed photo equipment, appear in multiple shows, and assist us in bringing more beautiful nature, scenic and wildlife  photography to more and more people to love and enjoy. 

To make a donation, simply click the donate button below and put in any amount over $1.00.

 

EBONY's URBAN CREATIVES $10,000 PITCH

Last week Dillion from JamesMatthewDesign.com, pitched to me the idea of helping submit a video submission for EBONY'S for the Urban Creatives Contest of which the winner wins $10,000. It just so happened that Dillion was in the middle of moving out his condo, so we took on the opportunity to immediately start shooting. 

Since I am not well adept in video - Les Lockheart (new team member alert!), our video specialist, put this preview video together for social media as a preview: 

Here's the actual video submission to EBONY. Unfortunately, James Matthew Design did not win. However, this gave VYRL Co. Design the experience we needed to apply our  skills to future projects involving videography. 

Sidenote: We had to do ALOT of improvising (this video was made and completed within 6 hours.) but I'm still impressed with what we came up with in such a short time period. 

Here's the ACTUAL Pitch...

All donations are considered a charitable gift and are recorded on our books as income but are not tax deductible.However, your contributions will help us to upgrade needed photo equipment, appear in multiple shows, and assist us in bringing more beautiful nature, scenic and wildlife  photography to more and more people to love and enjoy. 

To make a donation, simply click the donate button below and put in any amount over $1.00.

 
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The Evolution of A Logo

I had the privilege to work with Houston, Based "JS Welding & Fabrication" on their new brand development this spring and I just love how it all came together. Jeremy is the owner and welder and was seeking a masculine look for his new logo. Here’s a peek into our design process…

Points of Emphasis per clients request: MIG Fun, Spark/Welding Spark and Old-English Lettering. 
Client Adjectives: Clean, Old School, Masculine/Strong/Bold.

Logo Inspiration

At this point, the client chosen the 3rd logo.... 

The Evolution the JS Welding/Fabrication Logo

Final Design

All donations are considered a charitable gift and are recorded on our books as income but are not tax deductible.However, your contributions will help us to upgrade needed photo equipment, appear in multiple shows, and assist us in bringing more beautiful nature, scenic and wildlife  photography to more and more people to love and enjoy. 

To make a donation, simply click the donate button below and put in any amount over $1.00.

To Work For Free or Nah?

People begin the freelance journey from different points. Some start with a few side projects related to their field, and then others are completely self-taught.

We are an emerging demographic. Our legitimized educational and professional experiences are not necessarily directly tied to our freelancing careers. It does not mean that we are less qualified, we’ve just been on a different path.  

In this process of becoming a professional freelancer, you find yourself needing to build your clientele. One of the most common ways to do this is through freelancing for free, and/or whether you should do work for free. It is a matter of opinion, after all, you are the one living with the work. 

In the beginning, I have worked for free. I've helped friends with their sites, and I gained so much experience from it that I wouldn’t have gotten if I charged. BUT, It was miserable time for me professionally. It's exhausted and frustrating.

Your Friend is Now Your Client

If you’ve decided to do something for a friend, do all elements as you would for a customer – the same process, contracts, and client terms. Meet with your friend in a formal setting. You are not only getting experience in what you are doing, but you are also gaining experience in how you work with clients.

Full Artistic + Design Direction

I wish I implemented this when I did free work. I learned a lot from those projects, but those friends were a real challenge to work with, and some of the work I wasn’t able to show in my portfolio. They asked for design decisions that took away from the design. A couple months ago, I was listening to a podcast talk about free work, and one of the key points they brought up is design control. If the friend/customer is not paying you, they can at least sacrifice design control, aka you don’t have to make those ridiculous edits.

Obviously, some people might take advantage, and give their friend an awful design, but this advice is not for them. If you are doing really good work, and your clients website means as much to them as it does to you, then they should feel okay with this compromise.

Always Have a Contract

Just because the work is for free, does not mean you should have a contract. They are getting a project done for $0. It still should fall under similar terms and parameters. Contracts outline roles and responsibilities, and you do not want your friendship to get muddied up because things were not clear. Since you are also having a friend review your contract, you can ask them feedback on this stage of the process – how did you present it, things that were unclear, etc. 

Identify When You’ll Charge for Work from the Beginning

This point is just excellent customer service. In the beginning, I didn’t communicate this well. I didn’t foresee some of the issues that would arise in projects. Since I never communicated extra charges in those projects, my policy has been to do the updates for free, but on my time. Often these changes are subtle, and both the clients and I were pleased with this process. I have made a note to communicate extra charges to customers from the get-go since.

Don’t sneak up charges on people; it’s tacky and bad custom service. I had a friend receive free work from someone. She thought it was just a mutual meeting and collaborating. Then, when the person said that she was going to charge her, my friend declined the service for personal reasons. The person unfollowed her from everything. If people decided they can’t afford to pay you – it’s not personal. Determine how you can finish the project to ensure mutual respect from both parties, keep everything cordial.

Free Work Should Not Take Over Your Life

You need to make a living. If you are still working full-time, start small. Maybe one or two projects. Don’t overextend yourself, even more; you will already be over-extending yourself.

By doing free work in the community in which I wanted to establish myself in – design – I created myself as a credible and professional resource. I am getting to the point where I am having to be serious about charging when I felt comfortable and confident. These days, I don’t do any work for free. 

I definitely won’t do any work for free, and I definitely won’t swap services for anyone. My business is no longer just something starting out. If I need someone to do work for me, I pay them. Currency is definitely the best way to support another brand. 

What are your thoughts on freelancing for free? What issues have you faced? 

On Assignment: Austin Interior Photography

A few days back, I was commissioned to photograph this remarkable house by James Matthew Design. At the time, the house wasn’t yet furnished. So, I was excited when I got the call that telling me that I would be capturing the interiors as well.For this assignment, pictures were taken by a Canon Mark III equipped with a 24-105 mm f/2.8 II USM lens of which I often rent from GEAR Camera & Lighting (located in East Austin).

Thanks for viewing!

Jasmine "Bobby" Oliver  is a Texas based web-graphic designer and commercial professional photographer specialized in documentary, interiors, portrait/product and travel photography.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright VYRL Co. Design (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without permission from VYRL Co. Design. 

All donations are considered a charitable gift and are recorded on our books as income but are not tax deductible.However, your contributions will help us to upgrade needed photo equipment, appear in multiple shows, and assist us in bringing more beautiful nature, scenic and wildlife  photography to more and more people to love and enjoy. 

To make a donation, simply click the donate button below and put in any amount over $1.00.

Weekly Archive #Uno

For the sake of not only having new content, but also to encourage myself to keep posting all of my photography throughout the week, I'll be posting a weekly photo archive of my work. 

I haven't mentioned this on my blog, but I am in the middle of transitioning from living in Houston to Austin, Texas. I've been living in Austin with friends during the week for work, then on the weekend returning back to Houston until my apartment is ready. It has been a very necessary, but exhausting process. I've always felt so uninspired and unhappy in Houston. I've experienced heartbreak, financial struggles, lack of opportunities in the marketing field and a cluster of fucked up situations that I've had to deal with alone. Although, I know you're not supposed to run away from your problems, but for my own sanity. I need to go.

And so Saturday, I'll be able to move into my 1 bedroom apartment in Central Austin (Just me and my dog, Jackson).

So I'll be posting pictures from my last week in Houston, plus some other commission work I snagged during my work week in ATX. 

Photographed: Michael and Dillion Dorsey.

Menu Design for Finger Lickin' Farley's (Commissioned)

VYRL Co. Design on Spotify: Black Content Creators Playlist for Productivity

Like many, love listening to music while I work. To me, it’s part of my creative process. A few years ago I noticed an interesting change in my work depending on the type of music I was listening to. I also discovered that certain music tended to bring out much more creative ideas quicker than other types of music. In short, certain genres in music influence creativity greater than other genres. Ambient, R&B and electronic hip-hop beats tend to bring out the most creative ideas and increase productivity in my experience. 

So this week I thought it would be dope to create a playlist for others. Check it out! 

What do you listen to when you're creating? Feel free to share your playlists in the comments section! Myself and others are always trying to discover new music. 

Levitate, Levitate, Levitate, Levitate....

I absolutely adore levitation photos, but have never tried in a way in which I was really proud to showcase on the internet. While in Galveston, Me and Tiye had plenty of time to explore and we found ourselves in a 8-story abandoned building. While doing portraits, we decided to give them a go.

Here's what we came up with...

Levitation shots are really fun and easy. Here's what you do..

* Set your camera to a high shutter speed and continual burst (if it has it).

* Get your subject to jump and keep their faces calm (not strained from the jump) and their hands/arms/feet in a certain position.

* It's really important to catch the photo while they are on the up of the jump. If you catch them on the way down their hair and clothing fly upwards, ruining the illusion.

* Try out lots of different poses. We tried running in the air, jumps into handstands, horizontal leans and more. Some people even get amazing results when they jump into lotus position.

* Make sure your model is agile. The neater they can keep their body with straight legs, high jumps and good muscular control, the better. The more all over the place they look in the photo, the more it looks like a jump rather than a levitation. And they shouldn't be the type who are scared to fall. In a lot of these poses we ended up face first into the sand, but it was really fun :D

This weeks photo challenge: Tag @VYRLCODesign and use the Hashtags #Levitatevyrl to create a follow train of your best levitation shots!

All donations are considered a charitable gift and are recorded on our books as income but are not tax deductible.However, your contributions will help us to upgrade needed photo equipment, appear in multiple shows, and assist us in bringing more beautiful nature, scenic and wildlife  photography to more and more people to love and enjoy. 

To make a donation, simply click the donate button below and put in any amount over $1.00.