Every now and again, I like to get out of the office or the studio and frolic in the beautiful Sacramento sunshine. Usually I bring a camera along (and a model or client) for some beautiful photography. I don’t always trek to a beach or a park; I don’t always wait for the perfect golden sunset; nor do I always look for the perfect panoramic view. You don’t need a perfect location to get a great shot. Remember, the audience only sees what the camera sees, so it doesn’t matter if there is garbage two inches to the left of where the camera is pointing—no one will ever know. (In other words, not all locations have to be glamorous for a great photograph.) I’ve had fun doing outdoor photography in a wide range of places, such as the upper fork of the American River, a curb in front of a school, a fence in an alley and sitting on the railing of a balcony. Below are some examples of my outdoor photos. Contact Us If you like, share. If you don’t like, don’t share. And if you’re indifferent, then share or don’t share,...
Doing creative stuff for a living is usually pretty fulfilling. Especially when taking pictures of food (and of course, the sampling afterwards). At a recent event catered by Crisp Catering, we helped ourselves to few food samples for the sake of photos. Since we weren’t allowed on the floor of the event (since the group throwing the party didn’t invite us to take pictures) we took the plates up to Crisp Catering’s kitchen and snapped away. All in all, we were pretty pleased with the results. Check out the yummy dishes we shot and be sure to visit our gallery for more photo samples. And of course, if you have a restaurant in need of public relations or advertising, be sure to contact...
Break out the Clearasil, Ligon Media just turned 13. Sure, we’ve changed our name a few times (“creative d ADVERTISING” and “David Ligon Advertising & Public Relations”), but we’ve remained essentially the same agency dedicated to providing the kinds of creative our clients need to get their message out. Our services run the gamut from public relations to advertising, utilizing every means at our disposal. We’ve had a lot of success and raised a few eyebrows along the way. Never afraid to be creative, we compared a pastry chef to a governor-elect; made brides blush; boogied to beat breast cancer; booked tv interviews and chef cooking segments (hundreds of times); bragged about our dads to promote giving to charity; partied in foam; prepared people for storms; shot photographs of pretty people; proved it didn’t matter if you were an entertainment / restaurant complex in downtown Sacramento or a hotel restaurant in Rancho Cordova – good is good; supported high school athletics and Little League and the arts; promoted the Sacramento region for business and industry; and so much more. We covered a lot of ground in our first 13 years and we did it all while providing value to our clients … proving you don’t need to spend exorbitant amounts to identify yourself. You just need to hire the right...
Crisp Catering is holding its popular Pork ‘N Cork feast again for this tasty tradition’s third go around. Six pork courses will be featured (including the dessert), each being paired with a wine from Carvalho Family Winery. Pork ‘N Cork III is being held on Saturday, August 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg. Tickets can be purchased online. (click on the photo below for the...
Sometimes you can’t make it to a studio to shoot your video, that’s okay, we’ll bring the studio to you. Recently we shot a video for Sacramento Area Commerce & Trade Organization (SACTO) and found space in an adjoining office to setup a black backdrop, some lights and a camera and then proceeded to shoot nine interviews. And it doesn’t have to be with a black backdrop, we can also use your office, conference room or even a hotel lobby to shoot in. We’ve even been known to turn a hallway into an office (hey, the audience only sees what the camera sees, so if you can dress it up to look like something else, it doesn’t matter). Whether you need us to bring the backdrop or want to use your office setting, Ligon Media has the lights and camera, we just need you to provide the action. Here’s just some of the gear we may bring to turn your location into a studio. Camera and Tripod Light Kit Microphones (lapel and shotgun) Autopoles / Crossbar Background Sand Bags Clamps / Tape Reflectors...
Amateur videographers (and some professionals too) make the mistake of only shooting once when they have only one camera for a video shoot. I especially notice this in cooking demonstration videos. Here’s a secret, shoot more than once. Shoot the entire scene in long or medium shot (where you see the chef, the cooking / preparation surface) and he / she speaks and describes the dish and preparation process. Then shoot a close-up of some of the key points (you don’t need to prepare a second dish here, because all we are seeing is the chef). The chef just needs to mimic what he or she was doing (i.e. chopping). And then make sure you have several extra ingredients and go in and shoot close ups of the chef chopping the tomato, stirring the pot, the final dish, etc. By doing this simple thing, you can produce a video that looks like there are at least 3 cameras. Of course, this takes careful planning beforehand. Have extra ingredients Keep the cutting board (or area where you shoot close ups) clean while doing the wide shot for consistency. (if there’s scraps of onion on the wide shot in the corner, and then when you do the close ups the onions are gone, it will look funny). Have key talking points so you can repeat them on the close ups Here’s an example of going from wide to close, using only one...
