“Maybe we weren’t meant to have a nice sign…” was one of our late night texts recently. We disagree and hope you do too. Long story very short:

We need a sign. A small sign. A creative sign. We have spent the last month waiting for companies to return our calls, laughing at the pricing, or writing emails ending in: “…sorry we’ll not be contacting you on any future project from our studio.” Sigh…

Here’s where you come in. View this as an RFP. A call for bids. A plea for ideas. An opportunity for something neat.

Below is our general idea for a gallery sign, to be wall-mounted, to be prominent, and gorgeous. Please take a look and if you’re interested, by no later than midnight, the day before Valentines Day (that’s next Wednesday, the 13th) please email us with a reasonably complete quote on the job of designing, creating and installing a sign. Include cost, timeline, materials, sketches, and inspiration. The ideas we have below are just that: ideas. Please be liberal, be creative, be crafty, and be local if possible. On Valentine’s Day, we will review the bids and announce our selection. In turn for the studio manager’s signature on a nice wide check made out to you, we’ll forever brag about our new, awesome sign and the artist / artists who created it. This is an open bid, not limited to individuals or businesses; large or small. A bottle of rye whiskey may or may not sway our opinion, just sayin’….

Layout:

Text:

michigan-based, national photography company with a full studio, beautiful models, a witty crew, and the best clients
-
est. 2001 – brockit.com

In our heads, we’ve been thinking industrial, distressed metal, bold, clean, textured, etc. We’re open to ideas of size, color, the whole text cut-through (though that’d be cool…) and simply need you to kind of read our minds and tell us what we want. You know us better than a company that excels in putting up a cloud-touching Taco Bell sign, yes? Yes.

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to email us: mail@brockit.com

Fun stuff – thanks! And remember, bids are due next Wednesday by midnight Pacific time – ’cause we’ll be in California. Lucky us, lucky you.

A number of years ago we had the pleasure of presenting at the Trout Creek Art & Photo show. Our friend Joy Ibsen has been asking us to come back for at least 5 years now and we deliberately blocked the day so we could! Hard to think of anything better than driving down through the center of the Upper Peninsula in peak color to the quaint town of Trout Creek to talk about photography. If you’re looking for a similar experience, please join us – Kora might even share her apple cider with you…

*** Press Release ***

“What’s Behind the Camera?” a Presentation

At Trout Creek Art/Photo Show

Adam Johnson, photographer / owner of Brockit. Inc of Hancock, MI, will be the guest presenter at the 11^th Annual Trout Creek Art and Photo Show on October 6, 2012.   “What Happens Behind the Camera in a Photo Shoot” will be his topic.  Adam will discuss what it takes to stage enticing and memorable photographs ranging from portraits and character studies to glamour shots, and how this applies to audience members’ photography.

Speaking at 11:30 AM at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Trout Creek, Johnson’s presentation will include staging strategies, lighting tips and other necessary technological and highly practical tips for obtaining the “perfect” photo.  He will answer questions from photographers in the audience regarding both the design and technology aspects of photography.

The Trout Creek Art and Photo Show, sponsored by the Trout Creek Library, will be open from 11- 3 on Saturday, October 6.   There is no charge for admission, but donations are welcome.  For more information, contact Judy Bruno, coordinator, (906-852-3490) or Joy Ibsen (906-852-3479)

People ask us all the time – “Do you do senior photos?” We answer like a relationship-awkward 19-year old boy and say, “Uh… kinda, but we don’t like labels…”

SO – as a solution to this, and a launch of a new option of services from us, we’re happy to announce that we’ve come up with an answer. Our answer is, “Kinda.”

We’ve combined some of the things we do best and put them into a package that is appealing to a young adult looking for a professional portrait experience. We’re not talking a 30 minute session of a leather jacket slung over your shoulder as you lean up against a brick wall or straddle that railroad track here. We’re talking about in-studio hair, makeup, catered food & drinks, wardrobe assistant and creative professionals to capture your beauty in a multi-hour, multi-location shoot. Photos that won’t make you cringe in 10 years. Photos that will make your friends wish they hadn’t stood in front of a green screen with their basketball. Our professional clients get this attention, and so should you. Fill out the contact form and we’ll start planning your experience.

Watch the 60 sec. preview to get a feeling for what you’re signing up for.

brockit inc. from StandUP Media on Vimeo.

have you ever seen an unhappy sled dog?!

While we don’t get much sleep in the summer, we don’t exactly rest in the winter either… Sandwiched between two back-to-back California trips, a ski race, and two snowstorms was a multi-day event that we’re honored to partner with, sponsor, and SHOOT – the Copper Dog 150! Race organizers Doug Harrer (chair) and Todd Brassard (director) contract Brockit Inc. to literally chase these teams all over the Keweenaw – nailing shots at pre-determined, strategic sites on all legs of the race. For the second year, we’ve loaded our gear and our butts onto snowmobiles (huge shout-out to Rob Greenhoe!) and covered the race remotely for the duration. Highlights HERE, fun stuff below.

rabbit, sweep, video, photo, communications - all via snowmobile

official timer & his time - Kiko

Friday’s stretch is especially tricky because we shoot everything at night. Lots of remote strobes, headlamps, and riding down unfamiliar backcountry trails to setup a shoot site before the teams overrun us. This year we didn’t have to burn our own clothing to keep warm in the woods (yes – we’ve done this…) but we were rained and snowed on which made it tricky for  anything not weather resistant. We put remote strobes inside our helmets on the sides of the trail and used a red LED to lock focus in the snow and rain. We made it to Eagle Harbor to find shelter at the Inn, then camped bunk-style in a secret motorsports haven.

stage left - gopro video & radio triggered strobe

larger dogs -> smaller teams -> shorter leg (35 mile race)

testing remote lights for the night stage

strobes working (note use of snowmobile helmet for shelter)

cold & wet - warming up in Eagle Harbor

Saturday morning started with refueling machines, checking gear, finding coffee and looking for gloves that weren’t still wet or partially frozen from earlier that morning. We shot the start then cruised up trail 3 to a remote spot in the Northern part of the Keweenaw to wait for teams to run into us. We worked with the race to find a spot that would have teams overtaking each other, as the morning start was in reverse order. We weren’t disappointed. Not only was it photogenic, it was also an occasional tangled mess – at one point requiring photog to race down the trail, grab a team, then stand on the brake as the mushers untwisted barking dogs. Copper Harbor was next, and we thawed by the fireplace at Zik’s and offloaded data before naptime.

scraggly 'officials' getting going in the morning

this is dog for "lets gooooooo!"

Jerry Bath's dog Brew charging the photog

teams overtaking each other in the Keweenaw

photog stands on the brake, musher untangles

Sunday was a gorgeous, sunny day, and we took backcountry trails to a gentle curve with snow-laden pine trees as background. We carefully passed a dozen or so teams to meet them in Calumet at the finish and called it a wrap.

waiting for dogs, updating our facebook page, freezing fingers

full speed team

unusually reliable and cushy ride for 150 miles...

Tons of thank-you’s to Rob Greenhoe for the sled, and Doug, Todd, Meredith, Jason, Abbey, and the whole CDog committee for their faith and a careful balance of 87 octane and 80 proof liquids to keep us in business. Kudos also to the teams (who after 3 years are quickly becoming our friends) who travel hundreds of miles to race, and to the community at large who supports this event with countless hours of volunteer work to make it all that it is. It is truly a testament to the Copper Country’s work ethic and camaraderie.

director & asst. director (rockstars)

brockit sponsored team - Keith Peppler #6 (finished 6th too!)

There are highlight galleries on our storefront, and some additional behind-the scenes photos below. The annual video put together by Brassard Media is coming out soon and in addition to the glossy stills, will feature some of our 60fps HD video that we captured for fun on our adventure.

GoPro2 buried in the snow - pre-snowmobile impact (survived...)

we just like this one

Keith Peppler's team - Brockit's banner

A winter highlight is always shooting the annual Great Bear Chase Ski Marathon up at the amazing Swedetown Trails in Calumet. As always, we get to be reminded how un-athletic we are, and this is especially true for this race which is a community event with a very wide demographic. It’s always great to see so many familiar faces – albeit sweating and often pained-looking familiar faces… Special thanks to occasional assistant, helper, and multiple workshop attendee Rob Hill who took his training and an arsenal of Brockit gear and shot this event while photog #1 was on a redeye back from the West Coast. Race notes, photog tips, practice, and preparation aside – Rob nailed this race – aided by the gorgeous Lori Hannula. A shout-out also to Angela Luskin who always lines this up for us. It’s a pleasure to work this race which we’ve been consistently shooting for the last decade at least. All photos are up in the gallery and available for purchase. Chronological order, and both digital and print copies as you please. Yay!

*** GALLERY ***

untitled photo from 'transitions'

Really – we are nice people. Nice people who don’t always take photos of babies and butterflies, but we’re not trying to offend anyone. We expect the usual hate mail from gymnophobics (have been dying to use that word) but we didn’t expect kick-back from funeral home directors. Ouch. Actually, we’ve done some pretty nice commercial work with funeral homes in the area, and we find them professional, well-dressed, and really really funny. These are all traits that probably suit their line of work well! In 2004 we were doing a collection of photos on a project called ‘transitions‘ which showed the ambiguous area between life and afterlife. Hospitals were used, as were funeral homes. While the photos have been in circulation for about 7 years, they’ve recently been discovered by the funeral services community with mixed reaction based on the emails and phone calls.

For the record: our work in these anonymous (seriously, how many people could make a positive ID on an embalming room!?) funeral homes was escorted, authorized, and reasonably respectful of the locations. We dropped only one Big Lebowski quote (“Yes sir. It is our most modestly priced receptacle…”) and we’re sorry for any offense or implied disrespect. Art is in the eye of …..

We’ve worked an arrangement involving community service to the industry which we’re optimistic about, and um… if you are ever in need of a good funeral home, we can make some recommendations…

room 603