Upper Midwest, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Established in 2004. I am inspired by the craftsmen, artists and creatives of the past, their processes, dedication and ownership of their work and lean on this to weave historical aesthetics into my own work while producing fresh and engaging visuals. I work and collaborate
directly with brands, ad agencies and traditional print media and my imagery has been used in advertising, newspapers, magazines, printed pieces, collateral, broadcast television, online and electronic media. Through hard work, creative execution and design, I create relevant, visual experiences for you, your clients, customers, products and ideas. Call 608-239-0764 or email a@adamsenatori.com
I have searched high and low for an ultra portable tripod that won't break the bank and finally found one in the Sirui T-005. I had never heard of the brand until I stumbled on one in the local camera shop. This tripod fits all the criteria I had been looking for, über compact, lightweight, intuitive and stable enough for a DSLR with lens. Read more…
24FPS 1/50 ISO 160 f/2.8
A short film I recently shot while we were landing a Cessna 172 in central Wisconsin. This was shot on a Canon 5D MK2 attached to the aircraft glareshield with a Manfrotto Friction Arm and Magic Clamp. Read More…
When in Chicago, definitely make the effort to visit the Doughnut Vault at 401 1/2 N. Franklin St. The experience is truly unique and is a perfect example of how to run a tidy business. Less is more. Focus on one thing. Do it well. Generate buzz.
It's a tiny establishment situated in River North at the very bottom of N. Franklin St and small enough to sport a 1/2 in the street address. Located just north of the gigantic Merchandise Mart and the Chicago River. They serve up homemade, high quality ingredient, piping hot, fresh doughnuts Tuesday thru Friday 8:30am (Saturday 9:30am) till they run out and that can happen fast. The best way to determine the daily status of the inventory is to monitor their twitter feed @doughnutvault.
Aside from being first come first serve, it's cash only and be prepared to stand in line, outside, if things are busy. The interior is minuscule. A short, mirror lined hallway, with a crystal chandelier leading up to a lone, gold plated cash register. That hallway can accommodate maybe six people. I have an image gallery of my recent visit here.
Another example of my post production work on still photographs. This frame was made at the PGA Championship held at Whistling Straits near Kohler, Wisconsin, August 2010. This is the 12th hole, named "Pop-up" and Sergio Garcia is taking aim at the green around 170 yards way. The work I did on this image includes masking in drab looking, overcast stratus clouds from my clouds library, removing a back pack to the bottom left of the frame, a scoreboard and players to the right of the frame and cropping to a traditional view camera aspect ratio. After that, I added a subtle barrel distortion, blurs (with masks) and a vignette before the formal black and white conversion and lastly a final levels tweek.
Last night, I continued beta testing a photo rig that allows me to shoot aerial photos perpendicular to the surface of the earth, ie. straight down without having to bank the aircraft 60 degrees... Read more…
A quick screencast on how I roll my own split tones in Lightroom... Read more…
Earlier today I heard on the radio that Tiger Woods fired, let go or otherwise ended his 12 year partnership with this caddie Steve Williams. Instantly, my thoughts snapped to the above image and I thought to myself... another one bites the dust.
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DSLR boilerplate setup. A quick video by DOP Phillip Bloom detailing how to properly set up a Canon 5D MKII for video. Excellent, to the point and a perfect base to start. Read more…
WDVA Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Took this shot using a Canon 1ds MK2, hand held, no flash. Brought raw file into Lightroom and began first round of color toning, then into colorEFX for tonal contrast and desaturation, off to Photoshop for custom stamping and distress. Hand lettered using pen on paper, scanned that and brought it into a photoshop layer and adjusted. Curves layer then finished with a custom template in Flare.
It's a nice museum in Madison, Wisconsin on the Capitol Square, well done and free of charge. Check them out here.
*edit* Above image. I stumbled on this sweet original image from thirdlakeridge.org
Another example of retouching and compositing. A slightly easier effort this time. I only had to remove a tension wire and a few stray over hanging branches. Tools used, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, colorEFX and Flare and some hand letters.
I was recently challenged to test my retouching and compositing skills so I decided to tackle a project I had been meaning to do for awhile anyway. If you know me, you know about my penchant to turn back the clock and make new things old. Lately, I have grown to appreciate objects and scenes around us everyday, that many ignore and may not be around much longer. Perfect examples are exterior store wall signs and murals. They just don't make them like they used to. Paint on brick, hand made fonts, basic colors and graphics. Here in Madison, a number still adorn older buildings around town, many are faded beyond comprehension, a few are still in working order only to be hidden by obstructions.
Above, is a before and after of a rather well known mural off Williamson Street in Madison, Wisconsin. In the summer, more than a third of this wall is obscured by a maple tree and year round by an ugly as hell trash can. Enter Illustrator, Photoshop, a Wacom tablet, After Effects and hand lettering. Good bye obstructions.
I have cleaned up a few more of these relics and will be posting them in the future. Be sure to swing by my flickr page, as I usually debut my images there first.
Another tearsheet from Chicago Magazine. Out now, February 2011 pp.28-29. This assignment took me to Kohler, Wisconsin to shoot the Tomczyk Cabin. A one day shoot that included travel from Madison. The assignment window was tight, about five days from call to deadline. We also needed snow and there was nothing on the ground until the night before I drove up. Temperature when this image was taken... -6º F .
Shot with a Canon 1Ds MK2, 24-70mm lens, post in Lightroom and Color EFX.
I found this photo buried in my PGA Championship archives from last August. This was a TNT Network 3D rig set up behind the 12th green at Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin. August 10, 2010.
Here is a tearsheet from the December 2010 issue of Chicago Magazine, pp. 42-46. Shot on-location in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, October 10, 2010.
Shot with a Canon 1Ds MK2, 24-70mm, post with Lightroom and Color EFX.
Post One. I brought out the Blue Tips and lit the journal fire yet again. This is my third web log in as many years. Going back to 2007, I started with Blogger, used that for a year before folding it into my website on a Wordpress CMS. 2011 brought me to the ExpressionEngine CMS platform and this it where it will remain in perpetuity. There is no way in hell I am moving again. Due to various ineptitudes and technical hurdles, I never effectively carried over any posts or comments from the previous web logs. So I left behind a mess of posts at Blogger and slightly less at Wordpress. Read more…