Brett Buchanan Photography

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paris off-duty
2008-06-03 12:58:00
with only 36 hours in paris, there wasn’t much time to myself. with the little time i did have, i found some interesting images around the eiffel of the mostly african immigrants hawking their souvenirs SimpleViewer requires Macromedia Flash. Get Macromedia Flash. This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery var fo = new SWFObject("http://blog.brettbuchanan.com/ wp-content/plugins/wp-simpleviewer/viewer .swf", "viewer", "100%", "650", "7", "#343434"); fo.addVariable("preloaderColor", "0xffffff"); fo.addVariable("xmlDataPath", "http://blog.brettbuchanan.com/wp-content /photos/paris1/gallery.xml"); fo.write("fc_id_786");
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paris on assignment
2008-06-03 12:51:00
the assignment for central college is to document their 6 european abroad sites, mainly for promotional usage. much of my shooting involves working with students at their universities, dorms, city areas, etc. here is a sampling from the first day in paris SimpleViewer requires Macromedia Flash. Get Macromedia Flash. This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery var fo = new SWFObject("http://blog.brettbuchanan.com/ wp-content/plugins/wp-simpleviewer/viewer .swf", ...
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fixed lenses
2008-06-03 10:12:00
with inspiration from some of the great photojournalists we’ve been studying in the masters program, i’ve invested in some nice fixed lenses by canon. as opposed to zoom lenses, i have less flexibility in changing the composition in one location; but i gain a consistent view, an expected result, and tack-sharp images with a beautiful ...
More About: Lenses , Fixed

overdue update
2008-06-03 09:41:00
hard to believe it’s been over 3 months since an update.. apologies to any brett’s blog aficionados. it’s been a busy time of my life for a few reasons: I quit my job at the Austin Business Journal, as my freelance work continues to dominate more and more of my time I bought a house in Austin! ...
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story of stuff
2008-02-17 02:39:00
a while ago i found an extremely well presented and powerful illustration of consumption in america, the story of stuff. i was reminded of it while going through some of the photographic work of chris jordan, who put’s our consumption into a visual scale. one of his huge prints shows almost half a million cell phones, ...
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Relationships 3
2008-02-16 22:25:00
With the opportunity to shoot some spot news, I tried to find some interesting relationships during a restaurant fire. Apparently, the Short Stop hamburger joints are prone to grease fires. The manager later told me that one started 8 months ago but they were able to put it out quickly. This time the flames and ...
More About: Relationships

Relationships 2
2008-02-16 21:04:00
The 2nd relationship I focused on was a group of homeless people near my neighborhood. It was a mixed reaction when I approached them with my intent. Fortunately, I started speaking with the woman first, who was originally from Honduras. (She left her country with an American man who quickly kicked her out upon arriving ...
More About: Relationships

Relationships 1
2008-02-16 20:52:00
Our 2nd exercise for the masters program was to visually explore 3 different relationships. The first relationship I found was a former high school teacher Steve, who visits his mother Betsy a few times a week at her assisted-living facility. The resident cat, Wink (who has one eye sewed shut), has made Betsy’s room her permanent ...
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MAPJ Assignment 1c
2008-01-29 05:05:00
The final installment in this person-at-work series is Teather, who I spotted while driving across south Austin. She was amazingly friendly and genuine in spite of the fact that she was working as an advertisement. Teather Pangarakis works as a human billboard for Liberty Tax Services. As a deaf woman, she mouthed to me with a ...

MAPJ Assignment 1b
2008-01-26 08:46:00
Little Miss Austin Beauty Pageant was in full effect this morning. It was a new experience for me. But I thought the unique nature and culture of the pageant would make for an interesting Person At Work set of images. I was focusing on Miss Annette, the owner and emcee of the pageant. There were two ...

MAPJ Assignment 1a
2008-01-25 08:26:00
The first masters assignment has been a helpful exercise in getting back to the fundamentals of the classic editorial photojournalistic piece. The assignment is to document three different people at work. Our equipment is pretty limited–fixed focal length, manual focus & exposure, black and white, no flash, 400 asa. So it’s been refreshing getting ...

Muhammad Yunus in Austin
2008-01-14 21:41:00
Muhammad Yunus was speaking at Bookpeople yesterday about his loaning practices that led to his Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Yunus started his bank after a long stint of frustration. He found village after village of poor people in Bangladesh being taken advantage of by loan sharks. There was one case of 40 people who ...
More About: Muhammad , Austin

LCC begins
2008-01-12 20:21:00
The Masters in Photojournalism at the LCC has begun. This blog will now also serve as a musing on the courses, assignments, and my life and thought process throughout the program. (If you’d like to see only the LCC related postings, you can view them here) The first informal webinar was a good kickstart. I’m looking forward to ...

ACBJ Photo Competition
2008-01-07 23:45:00
American City Business Journal has had an ongoing photo competition since I started working for their Austin company last year. For 4 quarters in a row now, I’ve led the company as the highest ranked photographer across 40+ major cities, as ranked by the photo departments of the Oakland Tribune and Columbus Dispatch among others. I’m ...
More About: Photo , Competition

Luminary series at Kerbey Lane
2008-01-03 05:19:00
Even though Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus/Kwanzaa/et al are all over, the season of giving can continue at Kerbey Lane Cafe and online through the Luminary series. Forty percent of the proceeds from the series will go to loans at www.kiva.org, empowering entrepreneurs in the developing world to lift themselves out of poverty. (see who I’ve loaned to already) Ten mounted ...
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A New Year and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
2008-01-02 01:44:00
Happy New Year ! In the last week, I’ve been introduced to Dietrich Bonhoeffer two different times. First, I enjoyed Public Radio’s interview with documentary filmmaker Martin Doblmeier. He explored Bonhoeffer’s legacy as a theologian–a legacy that took on another dimension when he was imprisoned and executed for participating in a plot to assassinate Adolf ...

LCC Master?s Program
2007-12-27 19:00:00
I was recently accepted into the London College of Communication’s Master s Program for Photojournalism and Documentary Photography. This is the first time they’re opening it up as a part-time online program. There are 15 total students in the program, and it is directed by Paul Lowe. I will continue to be based in Austin but will be working ...
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Sigur Ros - Heima
2007-12-26 18:41:00
Christmas was merry and full of family time. I’m now back in full force from the appendectomy and seizing the days. One of the partly-self-serving presents I gave my lady was the Sigur Ros movie, Heima. The Icelandic band has been one of my favorites for years. I’m usually listening to their invented lyrics and ethereal sound ...

WPJA Award Q3 2007
2007-12-13 15:55:00
My 2nd quarter as a member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association yielded another award in this quarter’s competition. The image below from Neal and Dan’s rehearsal won 7th place for the Ceremony Rehearsal category. And here’s my current price list if anyone is looking for a great wedding photojournalist.
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Photo Progress
2007-12-13 15:46:00
I recently launched a new site: photoprogress.org It’s been a fun side project of mine for two weeks now–it serves as a daily blog, community, and forum for professional photographers. It’s updated daily with portfolio samples, news, articles, videos, and anything else relevant to the professional photo world. Have a look, register, and subscribe if you like it.
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Focus on Science part deux
2007-12-13 15:38:00
I was pleasantly surprised to have David Steadman contact me for another shoot for the UT publication, Focus On Science magazine. The assignment was for another portrait of a professor. This time it was Lili Qui, a very sweet computer science professor who is working on a solution for wireless networking signals. Instead of having many ...
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apologies and appendix
2007-12-13 15:22:00
apologies for the long stint of being incommunicado. i had some sudden extreme stomach pain early this week and found out in the emergency room that i had an inflamed appendix that needed to be removed. it was a very smooth and harmonious experience. i was out of the hospital in less than 24 hours and ...
More About: Polo , Logi

YuFang & Trent
2007-11-19 13:58:00
This was my 2nd engagement shoot in two days at the end of a long week but was still full of energy and dynamic images with YuFang and Trent .

Kate & Greg Engagement Shoot
2007-11-19 13:55:00
I’m excited to be shooting`the wedding of Kate & Greg next September in Boston. We had a fun time exploring Big Top, the new candy shop on South Congress and other venues along the strip.
More About: Engage , Shoot , Engagement

KIPP Volunteering
2007-11-19 13:54:00
KIPP School is preparing under-served students for college. My friend Marisa teaches an art class there every other Saturday and had me come in as a guest lecturer. The amazingly well behaved students were open to hearing about my journey around the world and making a career as a photographer. It was a challenge for ...
More About: Volunteering , Erin

Website overhauled
2007-11-19 13:41:00
Quicker load time, revised portfolio, 100% Fair Trade Check out the new brettbuchanan.com
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Focus On Science Mag shoot
2007-11-19 13:37:00
Last week I was contracted to shoot a full-page portrait of a UT Professor for the magazine, Focus On Science , put out by the College of Natural Sciences.  The professor, Dr. Bajaj, is pushing the frontier of 3d visualization of things like molecules and viruses and other fun small stuff.
More About: Shoot

Siobhan & Jeff
2007-11-19 13:29:00
One of my favorite weddings last weekend, complete with a bagpiper! SimpleViewer requires Macromedia Flash. Get Macromedia Flash. This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery var fo = new SWFObject("http://blog.brettbuchanan.com/ wp-content/plugins/wp-simpleviewer/viewer .swf", "viewer", "100%", "650", "7", "#343434"); fo.addVariable("preloaderColor", "0xffffff"); fo.addVariable("xmlDataPath", "http://blog.brettbuchanan.com/wp-content /photos/Purcell/gallery.xml"); fo.write("fc_id_397");
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IFEC Event
2007-11-19 13:27:00
International Foodservice Editorial Council was in town last week at the Omni. They hired me to cover the event over a few days. There was plenty of food and wine to go around. SimpleViewer requires Macromedia Flash. Get Macromedia Flash. This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery var fo = new SWFObject("http://blog.brettbuchanan.com/ wp-content/plugins/wp-simpleviewer/viewer .swf", "viewer", "100%", "650", "7", "#343434"); fo.addVariable("preloaderColor", "0xffffff"); fo.addVariable("xmlDataPath", "http://blog.brettbuchanan.com/wp-content /photos/ifec/gallery.xml"); fo.write("fc_id_760");
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Anne Kiel Shoot
2007-11-19 11:08:00
One of my most frequent clients, Anne Kiel , contracted me to update the images of her products, beautifully hand crafted sterling silver and mixed media jewelry.
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