Blog

Audio makes up 70 percent of video.
The above statement is a common phrase in both video and film.
Most of the time, when viewing material we don’t spend any time thinking about the microphone used on the production. To show how important microphones are, I’ve included a short video that has comparisons between different types of mics.
The first example of sound is what’s typically heard on the majority of videos people upload to the Internet. The last three samples are types of microphones that we would bring on shoots to make sure we capture what’s being said so viewers can concentrate on the video’s message.
It’s pretty amazing how much something we don’t see affects the quality of a visual medium.

Since working with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth last year on a portrait series, we knew we would like to someday help them further tell their story. That opportunity came this past fall when KFTC organizer Colette Henderson approached us about creating a video piece to open up their holiday music event fundraiser.

The idea was to explain some of what KFTC does, but also personalize the organization and tell their story through the lens of one person’s experience as a member. Ivy Brashear proved to be just the right person to tell the story. Ivy, a Viper, KY native, is familiar with the impact mountain top removal and large coal corporations have on the people, environment, and landscape of eastern Kentucky.

Ivy and KFTC have hope for her home and the people who live there. Ivy envisions a thriving economy centered on renewable energy, utilizing the barren lands left behind from mountain top removal for wind turbines. Currently a graduate student at the University of Kentucky, Ivy intends on returning home to see her vision through. In her opinion there is “No Greater Task” for her life.

We met up with Ivy in Lexington and traveled home with her just before the Christmas holiday, spending two days with her family on the left fork of Maces Creek. The Brashear’s welcomed us warmly and were eager to share stories of their family’s history in Appalachia.

Ivy’s story played before a sold out crowd at the Brown Theatre on December 29, 2011.

THIS is Louisville Magazine hit the streets earlier this month. THIS is the collaborative effort of a growing group of photographers interested in telling the stories of local folks in Louisville. Not necessarily the people you read about daily, but the people who often go overlooked. The brainchild of the magazine’s founder Maggie Huber, THIS is Louisville is centered around documentary style photography but does not limit itself to the more traditional newspaper style. It relies heavily on the photographs to tell the stories with the written word filling in the gaps.

Normally behind the camera, We were excited by the challenge and opportunity Huber presented to us with designing the magazine. The goal was to showcase the photographs in a simple and easy to consume fashion, allowing the photographs to become the centerpiece of the viewer’s focus.