Emi

Wood panel artwork “Emi” now available in the gallery.

Laser print and metallic paint on wood panel

60.5cm x 77cm x 4.5cm

Signed, Edition of 1

Markus Bacher

Portrait of Austrian painter Markus Bacher in Santa Barbara, CA.

Fine Art Family Portrait

Fine Art Family Portrait in my outdoor studio photographed on medium format film with the good old Hasselblad

Here is a fine art family portrait I was recently commissioned to photograph. A young family dear to my heart, shot on my Hasselblad on medium format film in the outdoor studio.

Berlin Tagesspiegel Cover

Another cover - This one of the main Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel

It got a little weird when I received this one just days after seeing the cover of STERN with my younger son and town of heritage in Austria on it. This is my older son on the cover of the main newspaper of Berlin, the city I was born and raised in. Both kids, both places of personal, historical significance for me. Kinda weird.

It allowed me to make a joke about the kids competing for European magazine covers 😂

This photo was shot for stock here in Santa Barbara.

New editorial publications

New editorial publications in the spring issue of Naturally Danny Seo

In the first week of January of this year I photographed Kara Thoms here in Santa Barbara. Kara is based here and operates her boutique from a dreamy A-frame house in the mountains overlooking Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands. I happened to know Kara from a shoot (she used to model) from may years ago for the Walking Company so it was fun to reconnect.

In mid December of 2020 I drove through the Santa Ynez Valley and crossed the ranges into the Cuyama Valley and ultimately into the town of Cuyama to photograph the revived Cuyama Buckhorn. A historic roadside motel the Buckhorn is under new ownership and has been receiving an amazing refresh. Close proximity to the Carrizo Plains, a National Monument containing the largest single native grassland remaining in California, makes the Buckhorn a great escape from Los Angeles, Ojai or Santa Barbara. The drive along Highway 33 between Cuyama and Ojai is one of the prettiest drives and supposedly one of the best areas to view fall colors in California.

And finally I drove down to Chino and visited Eastern Leaf Nursery to photograph their Bonsai operation. The depth of history regarding Bonsai is remarkable and I even received a little gift in form an olive tree Bonsai (I love Olive trees).

You can view all of these stories in the current (Spring 2021) issue of Naturally Danny Seo.

Jeremy - Available now

Wall work Jeremy available now on Gallery Jonas

Jeremy

laser print, paint, acrylic and bio resin on warped wood
w:75.5cm x h:75cm x d:2cm

acquire it HERE

Carey Hart for EasyRiders

Editorial shoot featuring Carey Hart for Easyriders Magazine

Carey Hart mid air

Before the shut down resulting from the Covid epidemic I photographed an editorial for EasyRiders Magazine featuring Carey Hart. Maybe you’ve seen the short film we shot at the same time in a previous post but here are some still portraits and action shots.

portrait of Carey Hart

portrait of Carey Hart

This was a small crew shoot but we managed to shoot stills and motion of three different scenarios that day. Portraits and lifestyle stuff around Carey’s hangar, some motocross action and some streetbike stuff on his Indian.

portrait of Carey Hart

Carey Hart being the motocross rider he is, the dirt bike part was just crazy to watch. He has his own track on his property and we followed him out to it, him of course getting there before us. When we came up to it he was just flying over the massive table at the center of it. He then proceeded to jump over a fence for fun. Watch the film for some impressions, its good!

portrait of Carey Hart

Right before our shoot Carey had finished an asphalt pump track behind his hangar. It actually was so new the edges were still soft, but it was rideable. So my assistant (the great Tate Larrick) and I took a BMX and a skateboard out there and had a fun little session in the late evening light to finish up the day. Amazing!

Many Thanks to the crew at Easyriders and Carey Hart and his team who were incredible nice, supportive and accommodating!

Scooter in the Skatepark

Scooter in the early morning hours in the Santa Barbara Skatepark

This image and light was the inspiration to that earlier post with the black and white image of the skateboarder in the Santa Barbara skatepark. This is at around 6am and that soft light coming from the left was natural sunlight filtered through some light clouds. Just so pretty…

Portrait in the Pacific Ocean

A moody portrait of a swimmer in the ocean in Santa Barbara

I kayaked along an early morning swim of friends of mine the other day and took this image at the beginning. It wasn’t particularly warm and it was definitely moody. Low hanging marine layer but a little wind as well.
The swim left Hendry’s Beach and went to Shoreline Beach in Santa Barbara, about 3.8 miles. In the kayak it was a comfortable cruise but swimming looked a little painful. Especially when they had to swim through thick kelp beds. More images coming soon…

Portrait of Skateboarder in Santa Barbara

Black and White portraits of a teenage skateboarder doing tricks with some attitude in the Santa Barbara skatepark.

I’ve been spending some time at the Santa Barbara skatepark recently… at six in the morning… My son likes to go early so he has the place to himself. Lucky for him I have been in skateboarding for the past 30 years so I am willing. I noticed how beautiful the light is in the skatepark at that time so I asked another friend of ours if he’d join to take some action shots and portraits.
For any of you who are familiar with my work, this is the kid from the Flying Baby photograph that was published in Friendship, Family, Love & Laughter in 2009.

Editorial Publications

Editorial publications in the current issue of Naturally Danny Seo Magazine

I have three stories in the current issue of Naturally Danny Seo Magazine and this one is a odd one. This was the first editorial job I photographed after the shelter in place order in March and nobody could travel or put together photo productions. So Danny came up with the idea of printing out photos of products that needed to be photographed for this story and then placing them around my property here in Santa Barbara. A creative solution to a complicated challenge. Shooting a commercial production like this is a little more nerve-wracking and logistically complicated but for this editorial I was left to play around and just over-shoot it a little.

The below story was shot in Minneapolis and an image from it ended up on the cover of the magazine. Always nice! We shot this right before the Covid-19 shut down and I got back to Santa Barbara before air travel got restricted.

And finally a Yoga story I shot earlier in the year at Rancho Valencia resort in San Diego. We shot this early in the morning and I was wearing a Patagonia Puff Jacket… Erika Gibson (yogi) rocked it in the cold morning air!

FaceTime Portraits for the Washington Post

I recently shot portraits for an editorial for the Washington Post Magazine via FaceTime

FaceTime Portraits for the Washington Post

A few weeks ago I was assigned by the Washington Post Magazine to photograph 19 subjects across the United Stated. The assignment was for a piece they were putting together highlighting positive stories during the Covid-19 pandemic. I photographed it all via FaceTime.

The subjects ranged from writer Margaret Atwood to Park Ranger Jessica Korgie. From comedian Russel Peters to shop owner Ifat Pridan. An amazing range of personalities and I got to meet them all in their spaces. One on one! Surreal!!! I just dropped in on them in their homes!

Given a somewhat tight deadline the biggest challenge was scheduling all the subjects. I had done over 60 FaceTime portraits prior to this assignment so I felt comfortable once the call was on but getting it all sorted was another story.

A big Thank You to Dudley Brooks at the Post for having the vision to put this together!!!

Take a look here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/magazine/america-resilient-coronavirus-pandemic/?itid=sf_lifestyle-magazine

Virtual Portraits

Virtual Portraits - photographed via FaceTime

It’s crazy times! But crazy times always bring with them new ideas, new angles of how to approach things, new ways to operate. Creativity is fueled by unease. Nothing like some rapids to get the boat moving.

All of that of course does not mask the fact that freelancers like myself are currently looking into the abyss. I have not had anything officially canceled as of now but I also had only a few things on hold… and I am doubtful those few things will happen. Seems like everyone froze. Well, what do you do?

Going back to creativity being fueled by unease, I came up with the idea to take portraits of people via FaceTime. I had never done this before, barely use my Iphone to take serious photos at all. But while in the rapids I’ll take any boat!

I did some research trying to figure out if the subject’s Iphone camera could be triggered remotely from my phone but found nothing. Given privacy concerns that made sense and I quickly put my desire for better quality aside and focused on simply taking portraits, no matter the quality. Pretty freeing. While the photography industry is arguably being disrupted by Iphone photography and amateur photographers who have challenged old wisdoms and hierarchies, this seemed a fun project to do. Show up to a stick fight with a stick.

It is really odd to not have control over the camera’s movements. Nor knowing the space the subject is in. I found directing the subject in posing as well as composing the frame to be quite challenging. Especially since the video quality of the call plummets dramatically once the phone is moving. Recognizing suitable backgrounds is not easy. I also quickly learned that I underestimated my attention to detail and skill for composure. I take all that for granted. I have been behind a lens for over 20 years. Now I needed to initiate and correct every move of the camera with words and not intuitively with my hands. Lots of trial and error. Overall the subjects have been doing well so far but it is definitely a completely new challenge.

One big take away is that this is super fun. Everyone has been excited to partake and there have been lots of laughs during the sessions which take about 10 min on average. There is a bunch of chatting about the current situation and how we cope, then there is some photography and then we wish each other well. It’s fantastic!

Here is a little video of bts of one of the shoots:

You can view more images from this project on a page I created for it. Follow the link HERE.

Latest Editorial Publication - Susanne Kaufmann

A travel/portrait editorial I shot of Susanne Kaufmann in Vorarlberg, Austria

Susanne Kaufmann at the hotel Post in Bezau photographed by Jonas Jungblut

I am based in Santa Barbara but travel for around 80% of my work. I do have roots in Berlin, where I grew up, and also in Vorarlberg, Austria, where my family is from. For the past years we have spent the summer in Austria and while a lot of it is exploration (aka shooting stock) I always sneak a little bit of assignment work in.
Last year I pitched a story about Bezau local and international brand name Susanne Kaufmann to Naturally Danny Seo Mag, a magazine I work for a lot. Danny knew about Susanne and her high-end skin care line and so I ended up shooting this story in a dreamy, tiny little town in the Austrian Alps, around the corner from where my family has lived for a very long time.
Susanne and her team couldn’t have been nicer and accommodating but the thing that really was just incredibly satisfying was the fact that I was working in my back yard for a US national publication. Not only helping to spread the word about this brand but also supporting the area in general. Being an editorial and commercial photographer means that you get to meet new people and explore new places all the time, and that is fun. When you can feature something that is close to you it’s like the icing on the cake!

Susanne Kaufmann editorial photographed by Jonas Jungblut

Susanne Kaufmann editorial photographed by Jonas Jungblut

Susanne Kaufmann editorial photographed by Jonas Jungblut

Portrait of Caroline Marks at the Surfranch

Portrait and action shot of pro surfer Caroline Marks for Red Bull at the Surfranch in Lemoore, CA.

When I was at the Surfranch for Red Bull photographing portraits of Carissa Moore (see post HERE) I also shot portraits of ripper Caroline Marks. We did a few different set ups but the one below was my favorite. Dark background and natural light is hard to not make look cool. And Caroline’s blue eyes just look stunning here.

portrait of Caroline Marks at the Surfranch in Lemoore, CA

I also got a sweet little action shot of Caroline ripping it up in the water. It was amazing to watch her surf ALL DAY LONG. The amount of energy and endurance is borderline scary.

Caroline Marks surfing at the Surfranch in Lemoore, CA.

I’ll post the other athlete portraits I took that day of Jordy Smith, Kolohe Andino and Kanoa Igarashi soon. A fun day shooting portraits of some amazing athletes at the Surfranch!

You can find some of the images I shot on Red Bull’s content pool website.

License my images

From Portraits to Travel imagery, license my work on Gallerystock.com

I almost always have a camera on me when doing any sort of activity. This means I end up with a lot of random images that don’t really fit in my portfolio and/or general marketing strategy. I am a portrait photographer. That is my specialty. It does not mean I don’t photograph anything else though.

Just recently I received an email from a fellow photographer who appreciated me showing a “range” of imagery on my site. It was nice to hear but at the same time a little confusing since, in my mind, I focused on showing portraiture pretty heavily over the past years. But it also rang true, I do have range and it stems from always shooting. Especially for editorial assignments I end up photographing all kinds of different topics. From portraits to architecture and travel to food, I have shot it all. I photographed while riding an elephant, dangling on a vertical cliff hundreds of feet of the ground, underwater and comfortably in a studio. But I do consider myself a portrait photographer and that is what I market myself as. So what do I do with the thousands and thousands of images shot on location, vacation and in between? They go into stock.

I have been involved with the stock industry for over a decade and I have watched profit decline, it’s not been pretty. When agencies introduced the Royalty Free model it became a race to the bottom and I have a feeling that agencies are just now trying to repair that damage. Little late guys…

Anyways, you can find a selection of my work on Gallerystock.com. Portraits, documentary, abstract and travel imagery from locations like Japan, Sri Lanka, India, California, Austria and more…