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SOME OF OUR FEATURED PROJECTS AND STORIES

Jim Erickson: From Inspiraton Comes Success

Birdman Inc is proud to be a sponsor of Jim Erickson's upcoming APA event here in San Francisco next month. For the past decade we've had the pleasure of working with Jim on projects for United Airlines, Cisco, Bank of America, AT&T and many others. We would like to congratulate Jim on all of his success and look forward to seeing you at the event.

" Photography is the psychoanalysis of my world. Art is the process of touching what we discover and sharing it with others." Jim EricksonJIM ERICKSONPhotography: the evolutionary path of the artist in commerceThursday, July 10, 20087:00 to 9:00 PMPhoto Community Social Networking Hour at 6:00Free Jim Erickson CHINA book with each paid admissionCOMPLETE DETAILS INCLUDING THE VENUE LOCATIONAND ADMISSION PRICES WILL BE ANNOUNCED NEXT WEEKVisit Jim's stock site at ericksonstock.com andhis portfolio site at jimerickson.com/portfolio.EVENT FORMATSPECTACULAR IMAGE PRESENTATIONThere will be an impressive presentation of hundreds of images designed to clearly illustrate the time line of Jim's successful career, including Jim's pictures as well as some other artists' work that have inspired him over the years.ENLIGHTENING PANEL PRESENTATIONA panel will outline the complexity of Jim's current businesses (Jim Erickson, Erickson Stock, and Fat Cat Digital) and how they have achieved the tremendous success they enjoy.Joining Jim on the Panel will be:Jesse Hughes - Director of Sales and Marketing - Erickson Productions, Inc.Wes Hardison - Senior Digital Artist - Fat Cat DigitalKristen Parrish - Production Manager - Fat Cat DigitalNicki Krinsky - Production Manager - Erickson StockBetsy Filson - Senior Art Director - Erickson Productions, Inc.EVENT THEMEPhotography: the evolutionary path of the artist in commerce• From Inspiration Comes Success: dealing with the marketplace from a position of strength.• The Intersection of the Artist's Role in the World and how commerce uses the artist and howthey co-mingle, and how this has changed over the years (starting with how the church hired artists like Michaelangelo) to today's reality.• Finding Success (in the business of commercial photography or in the art of making pictures)• Choosing Your Own Destiny, and escape being controlled by the market• Finding Your Voice in Times of Crisis• How to Develop Your Voice as an Artist• Using Commercial Need to Your AdvantageOther Sponsors include:Our good friends at....Related ProductionsandThe Blackwell FilesPlusHasselbladProfotoLivebooksWorkbookArtist UntiedAgenceyaccessThe Black Book

Lake Tahoe Rivers and Lakes

Lake Tahoe is a Northern California gem drawing visitors from all over to enjoy the beauty and adventure that surrounds the lake. Birdman has visited the Tahoe Area for several projects and a few snowboarding trips too.

Many of our searches lead us to the water ways in and around the Northern California Sierras. The rivers, small lakes and the main attraction, Lake Tahoe, are spectacular backdrops.

Beverly Lewis, Placer/Lake Tahoe Film Office, and Kathleen Dodge, El Dorado Film Office, are always a huge help when it comes to finding the right spot in, on or along a river or lake. With their help we've gained access to some amazing public and private land for productions.

San Francisco Production Community Visits Birdman

Saturday Birdman Inc participated in a unique networking event in San Francisco. Propville Directory presented 9 local businesses and 3 local experts to 50 members of the still photography and video production industries. Jason had the pleasure of joining the Dog and Pony Bus Tour for the entire day, meeting wonderful people and visiting some great vendors in San Francisco.

The bio-diesel bus, provided by Teacher with the Bus, visited:
Roughhouse Post
Costumes on Haight
The Lost Art Salon
California Model & Design Fabricators
Michael Thompson Gallery
Birdman Inc
Calumet Photographic
New York Studio
We heard from these very interesting experts while cruzin' in the bus:
Friends of the Family
PR That Rocks
The Blow Up Lab

An amazing lunch was provided by Work Of Art Catering, an incredible company dedicated to elegant and environmentally friendly events.

The Propville Directory staff, Terri, Patia and Troy, worked very hard to put the event together creating a day filled with industry knowledge, laughs, networking and pleasant surprises! Thank you to them and all of the riders that stopped by to say hello, it was our pleasure to have you! Here are some pictures from the stop at Birdman's studio.

Summer in Winter For Zyrtec

Many ad campaigns are shot off season; a house may be dressed with snow for a winter holiday shoot in June or with fall leaves to line a sidewalk for a back to school shoot in April.

This winter Zyrtec came to the Bay Area looking for Summer. Birdman found some great locations around San Francisco that worked really well for the summer feel. After a little post production magic the locations became perfect summertime spots.

Client: Zyrtec
Producer: Jessica Ruiz Related Productions
Photographer: Katrine Naleid
Location Scout: Birdman Inc

Birdman's Kitchen Collection

An average family spends more than 1/3 of its time together in the kitchen and often the most important decisions for the family are made while gathered at the kitchen table. As the heart of the home, infused with family history, a kitchen develops its own distinct personality.

Birdman has been welcomed into some incredibly dynamic homes and our collection of kitchens has grown to nearly 1,000! Styles range from traditional country to modern and hi-tech, each offering distinctive backdrops for photo shoots. We’ve developed great friendships with homeowners who welcome production into their homes.

Location File Pulls Save Time And Money
File pulls are a great alternative to scouting when a project has high location demand on a short schedule or tight budget. Birdman’s locations are not presented in an open library of thousands of images that is a challenge to sift through. We consult with you in detail prior to starting a file pull and quickly deliver a variety of options to your specifications.

Our goal with file pulls is to offer many locations in a fraction of the time it would take to freshly scout. This budget-friendly custom service is becoming very popular in today’s market. What might take days of scouting can be achieved in just a few hours with a file pull. Many of our regular clients start with this service which helps focus their vision before we begin scouting.

Clients shooting in the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time can use the file pull service to see what the area has to offer. When a project is bidding between multiple cities a file pull is a fast and effective way to show a creative team what is available here in the Bay Area.

To see how our locations are presented visit www.scoutcentral.com and use “demo” as the User Name and Password to login.

Contact Sheet View:

Image Preview:

The Dog and Pony Bus Tour Hosted By The Propville Directory

The Propville Directory is the most extensive production directory for San Francisco and Northern California. They provide access to over 2000 sources for renting costumes and props, finding talent, accessing event and film locations, video and camera equipment, expendables and hiring qualified crew.On May 31, 2008 they will be hosting the Dog and Pony Bus Tour, guiding a group of 50 industry professionals on a behind the scenes tour of San Francisco production. Birdman is very excited to be part of this event and can’t wait to meet some new people in our community.Birdman will be welcoming the travelers with refreshments and in depth look at how we function here in the studio. We will be showcasing our location database and giving our visitors a rare perspective of how we organize and manage over 300,000 images.Luckily there are still a few tickets left that can purchased on the Propville Directory website. We hope to see you here in the studio!

San Francisco City Parks

Lately several of our clients have asked for both nature and urban locations for the same project. Shooting in both of these scenarios can add significant travel time to a production schedule.

Urban parks in San Francisco offer amazing natural settings within city limits and can alleviate a great deal of travel time. Birdman has built great relationships with the folks at San Francisco Parks and Recreation, they understand and welcome photo productions.

These locations are all within San Francisco city limits, take a look.

San Francisco Bay Area Homes For Advertising and Editorial Productions

Over the years Birdman has scouted nearly 1,000 homes throughout Northern California! (Mark just counted) We have organized them in our recently upgraded digital library, matching a selection of homes to your project layout has become quick and efficient.

Custom file pulls are a great way to save time and money for Advertising or Editorial projects. This service allows us to access our extensive database and deliver a targeted selection of locations.

San Francisco Bay Area homes range in character and architectural styles, check out our samples page. To gain access go to http://www.scoutcentral.com and use “demo” as the user name and password.

Roads in Northern California

Northern Californian Roads traverse a host of landscapes and have become one of our most common location requests. Automotive Photographers often choose the Bay Area for the diversity in roads and weather conditions around San Francisco.

Location scouting can be a challenge when a project involves a range of locations to be shot on a tight schedule. Birdman welcomes such challenges, setting out to discover unique roads allows us to explore new places!

Napa Valley, San Francisco, The Pacific Coast, Monterey and Lake Tahoe among many other spots around Northern California offer roads with character unlike any other place! Here is a small selection of our favorites, enjoy the ride!

Gallery 291 - New and innovative photography gallery

Birdman attended the opening of Marshall in Platinum on Thursday May 1st. Jim Marshall's images never fail to amaze, the platinum and dye transfer prints are beautiful. We had an excellent evening at the gallery, it was great to see Jim's work, his friends and of coarse Jim himself. Check out the show at Gallery 291 it's worth the trip.Rick and Garrett

Photo courtesy of David CoggeshallExhibit Information:

Birdman Breaks The Bank!

Birdman was recently given full access to a timeless San Francisco bank. The marble lobby and traditional teller windows only begin to reveal this classic's diverse character. Open to photo shoots; the space offers traditional conference rooms, cubicles, roof access in the financial district and a vacant safe-deposit vault. To get information or see more images of this location give us a call at 415.543.3830.

Birdman Fires Up New Websites

Announcing new Birdman web destinations!

www.birdmaninc.com: Portfolio Website

www.scoutcentral.com: Location Presentation Interface

www.birdmaninc.blogspot.com: Birdman Blog

The Birdman Inc website has been simplified showcasing side-by-side scouting and final images, the diversity of the Bay Area and Tearsheets from past projects. There is also an area for homeowners to easily contact us and submit their property for our consideration.

Complementing the new website is our enhanced web based presentation interface. Our clients are delivered highly organized, easy to navigate presentations. Improvements include a search function as well as a Lightbox feature for favorites that can be easily stored, printed or shared via email.

The latest addition to our online collection is this Birdman Blog. An exciting tool aimed at keeping our professional acquaintances informed on the latest developments here at Birdman. With regular updates and monthly features we will strengthen the connection between our property owners and clients.

Thank you for stopping by our blog. To join our community we encourage you to subscribe and post comments.

We look forward to working with you soon,

The Birdman Crew

Click the image below to visit our new website: