New Blog Coming

This is the time of the year when we try to figure out what happened in 2008, lots of last minute paperwork, archiving of digital files, and making plans for 2009. First up is a new blog, say good bye to this trusty little  friend it's come time to move on to bigger and better. So for this post I leave you with me stretching my legs and taking a brake away from the computer. See you in '09 with a new blog.......

Change

Lots of stuff will be changing the first of the year, TYB Photography will now become Jared McMillen Photography (www.jaredmcmillen.com), wanted to make it easier for future clients to find us. Looks like the start of '09 is going to be busy we already have a bunch of really cool shoots set-up, no details yet but they will be awesome, hint athletes with lots of lights........ We were in the studio today goofing around, kinda fun. All the best.......

NEW? almost never.....

Been thinking of a bunch of stuff to post, just been to busy out enjoying the winter air, the white stuff is kicking my ass, sore all over, life is good. Could post a pretty picture from a past shoot, could talk about the lighting details, could talk about all the cool upcoming shoots, or I could just bee working on a new blog......... Working on kicking out something that is cool, stay tuned. Until then a couple pretty pictures.....

Fine Art Gallery Coming

Been working on sorting through all of our fine art images, in the process of loading a gallery allowing the purchase of prints, should be cool. The end of the year is pretty much wrapped just some last minute paper work and then we're out the door for some skiing.....

Huge Prints

With all the recent snow that has fallen in the Vegas area we have been busy getting up early and shooting as much scenic stuff as we can. Never said I was a landscape photographer, but we're having fun creating huge files that we hope someday will be huge prints......

Snow in Vegas BABY!

Today I decided to work from home and avoid the studio, started editing images from a recent shoot around 8a.m. and ended up sitting in front of the computer until about 2:00. The dogs started going crazy about 2:15 and I thought I'd get up to check on them and then I noticed it snow and lots of it. In all at our house we got about 5" so far and it's still coming down, pretty rare for Vegas. Only thing I could think of is playing in it so we spent a good part of the late afternoon chasing the dogs and building a snowman, I mean who knows when this will ever happen again........

Holiday Card

Thought I'd post the front of this years Holiday Card that goes out to past and future clients. We wanted something a little different this year, think we nailed it. We've been busy trying to wrap up the year and today was really I mean really hard to sit in front of the computer all day with almost 2 feet of the white stuff in the mountains......

Cars in Motion

Thought I'd post a pic I shot a couple years ago when I was doing a bunch of freelancing for a couple daily's. Seems to be a fitting image with everything that is happening in the mess of the american autos........ Can only hope something happens soon.

Meet Xyience

Shot the leaders of Xyience this morning in the studio, wanted to create something other then just the boring old head shot, we wanted to create images for them that were not only powerful but have an impact on the viewer. Awesome company and great folks to work with, we're looking forward to more in the future.......

People

We love to shoot powerful people and work hard to get the point across using just the right amount of light and from the right direction. Today we had three awesome folks in the studio creating some powerful images that will be used in a bunch of PR material for their company. More on this later just really liked this portrait..... 

Still Kicking

So I thought we were busy about a week or so ago, but this week and the coming week pretty much are gonna take the prize. This morning we finished up the shooting of the famed mouth piece for Wanderlei Silva now we'll pull them into photoshop and work a little magic. We have been gearing up and planning for a couple larger shoots that will happen before the end of the year so lots of stuff happening around here.........

Couple Days in Cali

Just returned home from a couple days of shooting in Southern California, massive day of catch up, then out shooting the next two days. Crazy time of year for us, lots and lots of shooting means lots and lots of editing. On another note today is Trish's birthday so a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her........ More updates will be coming next week once we can dig our heads out of the sand........

FCM X-Mas

Forte Creative Media (one of our clients) approached us a couple weeks ago about creating an image for them that would be used in their Holiday promotions, ideas tossed back and forth until we decided on the final concept. Outdoor office with their toys; skiing, climbing gear, snowboarding, well yo get the point. Their ideas are so big they need to store them outside, we loved it and had a blast working with them........

Winter Is Here

Finally after suffering through the long very hot summer it seems winter has landed in the mountains near Vegas. Over the past couple of days they received about 6" of the white stuff and for us it only meant one thing, play time along the Bristolcone Trail. Couple years back we shot mountain biking for this book and it covers the Bristolcone Trail, perfect for mountain biking and hiking in the summer and snow shoeing in the winter, get out and enjoy........

P.S. we picked up a stack of trash so remember to pick up after yourself........

Happy Bird Day

Be thankful, but not to thankful, enjoy, but don't enjoy to much....... We are thankful for so many things and today I'm really thankful to share my 2nd wedding anniversary with my with.......

New Rep, Wonderful Machine

We are very proud to announce today the joining with Wonderful Machine, in their words "Wonderful Machine is a web portal dedicated to connecting North America's most talented photographers with the industry's most discerning clients." Wonderful Machine will serve as a rep for our work and also a portal driving new and fresh clients to our site. We are really excited to share this news as both Trish and I feel that joining with Wonderful Machine is a huge step forward.............

Jared & Trish McMillen/TYB Photography

Lots and lots of things have been happening, some small and some really big, lots of really exciting stuff, not to mention the big stuff your face day is coming. Tonight my partner in crime and lovely wife Trish took a pic of me for some exciting news we'll share in a day or so.

FCM

One super rad company and three really motivated women with an awesome leader and you have Forte Creative Media, we spent a couple hours today working with FCM to photograph some ideas Stephanie Forte had for the Holidays and some marketing for her company. Over the past year we have worked with Stephanie and her company on several different shoots, Steph is not only a really good and smart business women but a very well respected climber, the two previous times we photographed Steph were for U.S. News and World Report and National Geographic Adventure. We wish FCM all the best and thanks for thinking us us on so many occasions........ Little behind the scenes from today......

Bad Ass mouth Guard

This is one really bad ass mouth guard, and this was the main reason we shot Wonderlei Silva last week. The mouth guard is totally state of the art, and is leagues above others with a really amazing concept behind the design, to put it mildly I was blown away by the concept and how it will benefit all athletes.......

Jump into the weekend

Long week, spent two solid days in front of the computer while Trish was busting out the home front, looking forward to the weekend. Lazy weekend in store with lots of goof off time, maybe a little hiking, and doggy lovin'.....

Computer Time

Stuck smack dab in front of the ole trusty Mac busting out a little photoshop love on our recent shoot with Wanderlay "The Axe Man" Silva, think I'm seeing double vision from hours and hours of computer time..... Time to stop and grab a cool one and get back at it tomorrow, full post coming soon......

5 Days in a ROW

Today marked 5 days in a row of shooting, that only means one thing lots and lots of staring at the ole computer screen. This has been the busiest two weeks we have ever seen in the history of TYB, o.k. I kinda take that back, we're not under tight super tight deadlines but damn we're busy. More and more I have been sucked into the depths of the studio, playing with lights, dreaming up concepts, and trying to sell our clients on new and fresh ideas, some of it has been working, just wait......... One out take from today.....

TYB meets the UFC

Tonight we wrapped a really fun shoot for a client that pretty much knocked our socks off with their product, we have shot a lot of products that we thought were so so, tonight was a very different story. Long story short we were blown away, lots more to come, but for now just a quickie.........

Tasks

Been trying to sort through a bunch of older images that will hopefully make it into our stock collection, this is no easy task nor a task I really want to do. Over the past several months I have gone through so many images it is almost crazy to think about, many of the images were shot on assignment when I freelanced for daily's. One of the coolest assignments I ended up doing was covering the Beatles Love show here in Vegas, if you've seen it WOW, if not it is a must see show in vegas, loved it.... Anyway we have been prepping for a studio shoot on Friday which should be pretty cool, no details yet, but I'll share the goods next week......

New US LEADER

Looks like it's final, we have a new leader, hip, hip, about time! Aurora Photos our new stock agency started a special project for this election "Election Reaction Project" and wanted their photographers to try create images about the feeling and emotion on election day. Well, I could of went out and played the game of photojournalist and stocked the poll lines, could of found a group of folks around a bar staring at a t.v., or I could just shoot a picture that sums up the way I feel. So here you have it....... Congrats to the new leader, change is good.........

For the BIRDS

Thought this was a pretty interesting picture, captured in the middle of no where (Mojave Desert) on our way back from Napa. The next couple of week are gong to be slammed, working on a couple projects and will share the results once they are finished....

Home Again

Over the past week we were out of the office, we had a bunch of stuff going on, lots of shooting and catching up on life. We drove from Vegas to Yosemite, Napa, San Fran, to Sequoia and Kings National Park then back to Vegas. We're jumping back in the saddle this week with a bunch of exciting and fun shoots coming up......

VOTE

Carlos Boozer 4 Mens Fitness Magazine

Couple months back we worked with Mens Fitness Magazine to get some portraits of Utah Jazz player Carlos Boozer while he was in town practicing with the Mens Olympic basketball team. One of our passions is shooting professional athletes and Carlos was great to work with, only problem was shooting in a middle school makes for small benches and short lockers, not really made for pro players......

X_Mas fun!

Just some gearing up for the Holidays in the studio........

Little more studio time

Been trying like a dog to dig my head out of the sand, last week alone we did something like 8 different shoot, some big and some small. Here's a pic from one of those shoots, McKenna is a performer and she needed some fresh images for her P.R. folks, just love this image of her....... We have a ton of stuff going on and a couple big things in the works, stay tuned....... Now back to the computer so I can shuffle through a stack of editing before my brain slowly seeps out of my head......

Hiding in DA STUDIO

Seems like I have been spending more and more time in the studio as of late. Been shooting some pretty cool and fun stuff, for all sorts of clients, I really enjoy bring a fresh and interesting look back into the studio, gone are the days of the classic boring portraits. Simple, clean, modern, and engaging, that's what I like........ Back at it today with three more shoots, meaning hours in front of the camera and computer...... Have a great weekend........

Concepts

We've been busy kicking ideas back in forth for a couple new concept shoots that will hopefully make it into our books along with being added to stock. One will revolve around the gas masks from a prior shoot and the other is still in the making, should be interesting. We're still in search of a very fit female for a shoot, so if anyone out there fits the bill drop me an email to talk details.

In HIDING

Seems like I'm a slacker for not posting much........ Well to say the least we have been swamped, this week alone is super crazy with a bunch of shoots, and I have been playing catch-up for a couple weeks, no complaining though...... One quick pic of one of the radest moto-cross trainers in the Vegas Valley, he's been working with some top level riders and we were excited to do some studio work with him......

Orphan Works

If your a photographer I'm pretty sure you are familiar with the Orphans Works legislation, if not I'm guessing you don't care about your future as a photographer, or have been living under a rock. Last week the Senate passed its version of the Orphan Works bill, which was hidden be all the bull shit going on in our economy. We (YOU) need to act now, contact your representative TODAY and ask him or her to oppose the adoption of S. 2913 or its language in the HOUSE............. ACT NOW, ACT NOW!!!!!!!!!

Pulling Pictures

So after signing on with Aurora I have been swamped sifting through images for my first couple of submissions, needless to say lots of computer time. Signing on with them has also motivated me to get back into shape. Yes, I have been mountain biking and maintaining some kind of fitness, but I mean really good shape. Years back I sat in on a round table talk and the topic being outdoor adventure photography, one thing has always stuck in my mind. The true adventure photographer has to be in just as good if not better shape then the athletes they are shooting, many times in order to shoot the best pics you have to stay ahead of the pack, so so true. That said it's time again to get my ass out and get into really good shape..........

Aurora Photos

Today is an exciting day, we are proud to announce that we have just signed on  with Aurora Photos, www.auroraphotos.com.

From Aurora:

Exotic, visually dynamic, and diverse describe Aurora’s photographic archive. For more than 14 years Aurora has represented some of the best editorial photography in the world. In the past two years Aurora has added commercial and advertising photography to the mix. The aim of the company is to grow balancing editorial and commercial images. The emphasis will always centered on quality imagery keeping with Aurora’s strengths:

GEOGRAPHY • CULTURES • TRAVEL • OUTDOOR ADVENTURE
OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE • WILDLIFE • PHOTOJOURNALISM

Aurora licenses and distributes images to clients around the world. In North America Aurora also represents several of Europe's premier photography agencies, Bilderberg Archiv der Fotografen from Germany, ASA from Spain, Pixil.com, a Swiss group of photographers, Cosmos, Hemis and Sunset, Paris based agencies and by 2008 three other European agencies. Our clients range from magazines such as National Geographic, TIME, Newsweek, Fortune, Smithsonian, GEO, Stern and many other comparable publications worldwide, to corporate clients like Apple Computer, LL Bean, Volkswagen and advertising agencies like JWT, McCann Erickson and Ogilvy & Mather.

In July of 2005 the company launched Aurora’s Outdoor Collection, bringing together the highest quality photography in the outdoor realm. In its first year it has become the premier outdoor adventure and lifestyle collection with more than 100 of the finest outdoor photographers contributing on a regular basis real and released images.
 

Fall is coming

We always get pretty excited when the wind changes and the cooler temps start to head our way. Fall has always been one of my favorite times of year, and so far this fall is shaping up to be one of our busiest yet. Lots going on, hence the lack of posts, on another note we are starting a  pretty big project this week which I'm really excited about, details will be coming soon. So get out and enjoy fall, soak up the colors and fresh air.........

5D Mark II from Canon

For a long long time I've been a huge fan of Canon even though I've had to send in my Mark III many times for repairs due to a much to early release, love it now though...... Well I just got wind of the release of their new 5d Mark II, over kill maybe? or meeting the needs of the professional? Regardless we'll be adding a couple to the mix soon. 21 mega pixels will be great for our large commercial clients, but isn't it a little over kill? For the longest time I've shot with my Mark II (8.2 pixels) and have had images on billboards, calendars, magazine double trucks , you name it and have never had a problem with file size being to small, so I guess my question is why such a huge jump?????? Think of all the hard drives we'll have to get in order to store files, not to mention soon the huge mega pixels will be out resing our fancy glass...... Hats off Canon you did it, I guess I can now toss my thousands out $$$$$ of medium format gear in the trash........ However I'm still looking forward to the new rig.... 

P.S. my wife just informed me new cameras means no new super tricked out travel van I've been wanting........

Zion

Just spent a couple days in and around Zion National Park, we were staying at the Zion Mountain Resort just outside of the park located just before the East entrance, one word, peaceful.......  If you've never been to Zion you gotta put it on the list, the scenes are out of this word. We go up there every fall to catch the changing of the leaves and to shoot, this trip was all business and we'll be back in a couple of weeks to enjoy the area once we have a bit more time and can start breathing again.......

X-Mas recharged

We've been gearing up for the X-Mas season and this year we wanted to offer something a little different in terms of holiday pictures. Trish and I posing down.......

Women of Climbing 2009

The 2009 Women of Climbing Calendar is out and thought I'd share the spread we shot for it this year.... 

Another Building

Today was building #2 and it went much better then the day before. It seems shooting buildings and landscapes is pretty much the only time I get to play with filters anymore since now we have the tools of photoshop....... Now a bit of bum news, Photoshelter is no longer offering stock sales trough their site, only digital storage, strike one for the photographers world, and also Corbis is cutting back, no longer offering assignments and cutting 160 jobs..... Depressing.......

Shooting Buildings

This past winter I shot a bunch of buildings for a engineering firm, and it was one of the hardest jobs I have ever taken. Buildings you'd think would be easy to shoot, they don't move, you never have to tell them what to do, and they always stay in the same spot, easy right? wrong. Thing is in Vegas there is a power line/stop light/strip mall every two feet making life a little harder. For the project I choose to shoot everything pre dawn and post sunset, trying to create a bit more of a feel to the environment, most of the time it worked out great. Today I shot a building that was a total pain in the ass, traffic everywhere, no room to get enough distance between me and the building, I can go on, but I won't. Needless to say I think I'll be shooting this building during the day dodging traffic.......

4 SALE

Selling one of my Mark II's, hasn't had really any use over the past couple of years, shoot me an email and make me an offer, has about 50,000 on the shutter and works great.

jared@tybphotography.com

New Portfolio Books

Over the past couple of months we have been pretty busy putting together our new and cool portfolio books that show case our work. Printed portfolios are almost an animal of the past, but I have to say looking at images that have been printed out rather then online makes a huge difference...... One another note we'll have some pretty exciting news soon, as we continue to explore our photography and its avenues........

Get Outside

The weather is really starting to cool off in the Southwest and it's a perfect time to get outside and enjoy some kick ass weather. Thought I'd share a couple shameless plugs. First up is "Mountain Biking, A Cerca Country Guide", I was the photographer on the book and it covers some amazing trails surrounding the Vegas area, www.stephenspress.com/adventures.html or maybe your into climbing and might be interested in "Red Rock Canyon, A Climbing Guide" www.mountaineersbooks.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=645 another shameless plug and a book I co-authored a couple years back. So get out and enjoy the desert in the fall.............