Category Archives: Photography

Phodography 101

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What would your dog take a picture of, if he could use a camera? In an attempt to answer this question, Nikon Asia devised a clever way for Grizzler to take a photo (without even lifting a paw) in their latest video that’s gone viral. Nikon strapped a camera connected to a heart-rate monitor onto Grizzler, and designed a shutter that automatically closed when Grizzler’s heart-rate increased.

Grizzler the “phodographer” took some excellent photos of plants, sandals, eggs, a turtle, and, of course, some other dog and cat friends.

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People have been strapping GoPros onto their dogs for a while now, but that mostly gives owners an idea of how their pet spends their day, with no regard to the pet’s preferences. Nikon offers a glimpse into what dogs might actually be excited by. As the centerpiece of Nikon Asia’s Heartography campaign, the video does an excellent job showing how photography comes from the heart– especially in Grizzler’s case, where this is more than metaphorical.

Watch the full video here.

What Sparks Our Fire: A viral brand video that gives us an excuse to watch a cute dog take photos

Dinner is (Instagram) Ready!

Screen Shot 2015-05-15 at 4.45.20 PMChili’s, the international chain of casual dining restaurants is upgrading their menu to bring more to the table.  We aren’t referring to increased portion sizes or even changing menu items, Chili’s is changing the way they present food in an effort to draw more tech-savvy millennials.

Think this sounds a bit farfetched?  Think again. Instagram has over 300 million active users, 75 million of those users are active on Instagram daily, and every single minute an average of 90 new photos with the hashtag #foodporn are uploaded. 

The presentation of food, known as plating, is a longstanding important element of all upscale restaurants and their dishes, but since instagram hit the scene, users across the world are posting filtered food pictures constantly.  It’s a wildly popular trend that has withstood tons of backlash from chefs, restaurants and journalists.

We aren’t sure if this result in an increase of social media posts or sales for Chili’s, but we commend them for tailoring their product to meet their audience’s desires.  Good job Chili’s, we hope this marketing tactic doesn’t backfire like endless apps at TGI Fridays.

What Sparks Our Fire: Brands that pay attention to their customers

Light Photography’s New Best Friend

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With the rise in DSLR camera ownership, light photography has emerged as an increasingly popular form of photography. While it has traditionally been a difficult style of photography to master, New York-based designers Duncan Frazier and Steve McGuigan have entirely revolutionized it with just one product: the Pixelstick. The Pixelstick is a LED-lit stick that can display the “pixels” of images, as it is pulled in front of a DSLR camera with a long exposure. With the Pixelstick, photographers can create still images, or capture several images to put together into an animated video.This gives photographers the freedom to “paint” images and even video clips and gifs onto whatever real-life (dark) background they can imagine. It also gives brands an opportunity to put their logo in some creative locations. Take a look at this video and see some of the incredible possibilities.

Light painting with pixelstick from Bitbanger on Vimeo.

What Sparks Our Fire: A revolutionary new product that can expand creative possibility

The (he)ART of NYC

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New York City at it’s core, is known as a center of the arts.  You can get your art fill all over the city, making stops along museum mile, gallery hopping in Chelsea, taking in the street art in Dumbo, or making the trek out to PS1 in Queens, and now even in one of the most iconic spots in all of the city… Times Square.

Now, as New Yorkers, we tend to avoid Times Square at all costs, but artist Peggy Ahwesh’s City Thermogram, has made it a destination spot for art lovers as well as tourists.

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City Thermogram unveils both NYC’s electrical grid and the heat signatures of the human bodies that crowd its streets onto many of the largest billboards in the area. It’s a portrait of the urban everyday through the lens of a heat-sensitive camera. Using innovative technology, the piece recasts our ‘photographic’ world into one of unexpected revelations about our bodies, energy sources and personal devices. While this technology is usually used for scientific purposes, in Ahwesh’s hands the camera reveals the dynamism of the human body and offers a heat-based visualization of the electrical power grid that we all operate within.

This is part of the Midnight Moment series, the largest coordinated effort in history by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content on electronic billboards and newspaper kiosks throughout Times Square every night.

What Sparks Our Fire: Innovative Art in Unexpected Places

Capturing the Moments That Matter

Screen Shot 2015-02-09 at 12.27.27 PMWhen looking through old pictures, it’s almost always the candid or accidental ones that seem to bring back the most fond memories. Autographer is a wearable camera that captures those moments without you having to give it a second thought. It enables spontaneous, hands-free image capture. It contains 5 built- in sensors that tell the camera the perfect times to snap the perfect pictures.

Imagine getting great photos of your family, or your vacation, without even thinking about it. The thought of being able to look back and see things you may not even remember seeing the first time is pretty remarkable.

What Sparks our Fire:  Technology mixed with a little spontaneity and surprise.

What are your thoughts on the Autographer camera?