SIRI BERTING PHOTOGRAPHY

MY WORK FOR LITTLE MOMMY SPOTTED IN TARGET

2012-01-10T16:08:00.001-08:00

I just saw these in Target...a job I shot early last summer is now seeing the light of day. Little Mommy dolls for Mattel. I was involved in shooting all the images for the re-brand of Little Mommy. So More examples and tearsheets to come once they come out with all their advertising.

SECRET SANTA

2011-12-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

COWBOY UP!

2011-11-29T09:13:00.000-08:00

Howdy Pardner.......

SUPER COOL EDITORIAL ASSIGNMENT

2011-10-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

I recently was assigned to shoot The Boiler family for Southbay Magazine. Kari Boiler brought Bugaboo strollers to the US from Amsterdam and John Boiler is the CEO of 72 And Sunny. What a fun and creative family to hang out with and in their new beautiful home it is easy to take some great images.

EL MATADOR

2011-10-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

Dipping my toe into the world of motion to compliment my stills...AND I LIKE IT!

This is a low rez teaser version...larger will be available on my website soon.

BLOUME BABY, ACT 2

2011-10-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

I recently just finished up a very busy day at a very beautiful house shooting images for my client Bloume Baby which are being shown on their website www.bloumebaby.com along with large prints for the store. This past year I photographed her and her store for an editorial article. She felt the photos and the article really conveyed an accurate sense of her brand so she hired me to shoot her fall catalog. Cute kids in cute clothes, what more could one ask for? Maybe a nap.

SUMMER IS OVER BUT THE IMAGES ARE HERE TO STAY

2011-09-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peak at some work I have been working on this summer. This one just hot off the editing table. More to come soon......

YUMMMMMM

2011-08-18T16:29:00.001-07:00

LETS TALK ABOUT PHOTOS

2011-08-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

This past week I was asked to guest lecture with the photography students at The Art Institute of Nashville, via iChat. The students initially sent me a list of questions that spanned topics from my creative process, how I dealt with production, my time with Getty Images and my freelance career shooting for advertising and editorial clients.

Here are three of my favorite questions and topics we discussed:

1) How much has your editing and art directing experience helped with your shooting for yourself?

My editing and art directing experience impacted my shooting style by 90%. There were consistent themes throughout my photography education and early career, like light quality and composition, but producing and art directing shoots with other photographers to then editing their work helped me hone in on what works and what doesn't work to create a successful image. There are key elements that need to be decided before any frames are taken. Strong production elements like appropriate locations, great talent and the finishing touches of styling all add immensely to how I shoot and how I can succinctly find the moments and tell a story. I didn't know that coming out of photography school. Basically you learn a lot about what you like stylistically, what works photographically, and how to solve problems visually by being involved on all aspects of the production from concept to final edits. Magic can happen by itself, but through smart choices and clear direction it can happen a lot easier once on set.

2) Define "Authentic"

The advertising photography buzz word of the 2000's. This buzz word was coined in response to our cultures fixation on being plugged in to our mobile devices and the digital age. Authentic images are meant to communicate a more powerful message of the benefits of connection to each other and our communities not a staged life we can only aspire to.

Many editors and art buyers could have their own idea of what this buzz word means or what creatives mean when they ask for this in imagery, but basically it means the image has to be believable. The viewer needs to connect emotionally to the subjects or moments in this "authentic" image. It has to look as if it just happened and the photographer was there to quickly and luckily catch it. Or it has to feel that you are a part of the community being depicted. You have an inside view into a world you either want for yourself or already have and relate to. The viewer can put themselves in the scene...they believe it. The scenarios can be set up, but within that scene the moment you are trying to capture needs to feel like it really happened.

3)When editing your own images, how do you decide between them?

Editing film and contact sheets really helped me to quickly recognize which image successfully tells a story within a frame. Just the act of narrowing my view to image by image with a loupe I could see the shoot unfold and my eye could react to one image at a time. If my eye moves comfortably around the frame and the story is clear without any awkward visual interruptions or visual elements that take away from the believability of the image than it was a contender. Then came the idea of looking for compositions that left room for copy and were weighted nicely within the frame. Also, if I was looking at a portrait of a person and they were smiling did I feel like I could smile back to them? These were all snap judgements I needed to make while editing from contact sheets. now I edit in Lightroom. It doesn't provide the same intimacy that editing with a loupe and contact sheet provided but the qualities I am looking for in a successful image are about the same. The one thing that is the same is if an image jumps off a page of contacts, or a monitor, then it is most likely a successful image.

I would like to thank the teacher Johanna Lancaster for reaching out to me and asking me to be involved with her students. I hope it was as informative for them as it was enjoyable for me.

NEW WORK FOR FIT PREGNANCY MAGAZINE

2011-07-18T12:52:00.001-07:00

Back in May I was asked to shoot a couple of articles for Fit Pregnancy. The issue has finally hit the newsstands so I can share it with you. It is the Aug/ Sept 2011 issue with a pregnant Jewel on the cover which was shot by Victoria Pearson, who ironically I used to art direct while at Getty Images. It is great to share pages with her.

NEW WORK FOR FIT PREGNANCY PART 2

2011-07-18T12:47:00.001-07:00

BLOUME BABY

2011-06-21T09:15:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent shots of the sweetest baby store in Manhattan Beach. I shot these while on assignment for Southbay Magazine. Bloume Baby, founded by Annie Totten, is a boutique to accompany her successful online business at Bloumebaby.com. She pays keen attention to all the products she chooses to ensure the healthiest start for babies and for the world we live in. I can support that!

PLAYING DRESS UP WITH PAMELA BARISH

2011-06-06T10:12:00.001-07:00

I had a unique opportunity to visit Pamela Barish's intimate shop on Abbott Kinney in Venice, CA while on assignment for Westside Magazine. We spent over an hour playing dress up with her locally hand crafted dresses and one of her mannequins. It was quite fun to chat about her latest collection with their vintage inspired silhouettes and vibrant color palettes (plus black of course).

MORNING COFFEE WITH ANNE WILLAN

2011-05-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to shoot Anne Willan http://www.lavarenne.com/about.htm for Westside Magazine. So the editor Christy Hobart and I went over to her house one chilly Saturday morning for photos and an interview. It ended up being three woman sitting around drinking coffee, eating financiers and talking about food, Paris, her cooki

ng school in France and who has the best Croissant in LA. Anne was welcoming, warm and generous with her information. I did find time in all of our story sharing to

take some photos and was even given a tour of her extensive antique cookbook collection with some books dating back to the 1600's. Oh and a truly authentic French croissant in LA comes from local chef Alain Giraud.

GRAVELNUTS

2011-03-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

What are they you ask? See for yourself. www.gravelnuts.com

Gravelnuts

Gravelsins

Graveltropics

Gravelseeds

This job came to me via referral from local contacts. Here was a new business about to launch worldwide and they needed photos of their product for their website FAST! They found their way to me and while I show no food photography and very little still life on my website they loved what they saw and asked for a meeting. It ended up being the perfect job for me. It was a wonderful opportunity to marry my skills as art director and photographer. I was able to interpret their concept of the product and create images that not only would inspire people to buy their product, but also inspire the branding of their product.

Once I saw their products and heard their pitch of pure nutrition and healthy living I knew exactly what they needed visually and knew exactly how to execute it. While at Getty Images I had worked on a technique of using a high resolution scanner as the capture device in order to get images of loose dried herbs and flowers for our library of images. This technique would be perfect to capture the Gravelnuts and really show off the quality of the ingredients. Not only would the even light of the scanner show the detail of each item, it would allow me to arrange the product in a burst of shape on white to accentuate the clean healthy value this food offers. Plus I had examples of the herbs I had previously shot to show them exactly what they would get. They were sold. The contract was signed, the Gravelnuts were delivered and I was off to my Epson Perfection V750 to get started. With some testing and communicating with the client on final shapes I delivered their final art just in the nick of time for their launch.

WOOF!

2011-03-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Recently I had the opportunity to shoot Amy Peer, a dog trainer in Brentwood, for the spring issue of Westside Magazine. These dogs were great fun to photograph and she had a gorgeous mid century house as well which made for some sophisticated backgrounds. As long as I had the treats in my hand, or on my lens, the dogs were very good listeners. Plus, Amy was happy to get some great portraits of herself with her best students.

I was interviewed by John Lund

2011-03-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

I recently did an interview with John Lund, which can be viewed on John Lund's Blog. He asked some great questions about my experiences working at Getty Images as an art director and then as a staff photographer for Getty as well. It was fun walking down memory lane for a bit. Check it out. I also share some insights into the state of the stock photography business and how I have decided to proceed in these changing times.

http://blog.johnlund.com/2011/02/former-getty-staff-photographer-siri.html

Pharma/ Healthcare PDF Portfolio

2011-02-15T07:37:00.000-08:00

I have put together a PDF portfolio to target my work towards the Pharma and Healthcare industries. It shows how my work can be translated for use by these concepts and clients. Most of these images are not on my website. Here are the first two pages of the portfolio. If you would like to see more please email me or my rep Anne@annealbrecht.com to request the PDF.

Ska Baby

2011-02-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM SIRI BERTING PHOTOGRAPHY

2010-12-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

December 2010 Promo

2010-12-22T09:58:00.001-08:00

November 2010 Promo

2010-12-22T09:57:00.001-08:00

Spacey Moment

2010-10-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

October 2010 Promo

2010-10-11T15:23:00.001-07:00

ONE OF MY IMAGES TO HELP THE GULF

2010-09-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

I am very proud to announce that one of my images has been selected by the ASPP, American Society of Picture Professionals, for a silent auction. All the proceeds of this auction will be donated to The National Wildlife Federation in support of their project "Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund".

This is the least I can do to support efforts in the gulf.

Silent Auction date:

Saturday October 23, 2010

www.asppsilentauction.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/asppwestcoastsilentauction

Title: Hanalei Bay

The postcard for the event with all the great sponsors

Recent Shoot

2010-09-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

September 2010 Promo

2010-09-24T10:57:00.001-07:00

Recent Shoot

2010-09-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Recent Shoot

2010-09-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

I Just Signed with a Rep!!!

2010-07-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to announce that I just signed with Anne Albrecht Artist Agents in Chicago. Anne brings 19 years of experience as an artist's rep and I am very pleased to have found a rep that is not only so established and connected in the industry but one that is fun to work with and has some great new ideas about marketing. She brings a clear perspective to my work and I look forward to all the new opportunities we will have together.

Check out my work and the other photographers in her roster at annealbrecht.com

Here is what Anne says about my work:

"After a nine month search for the best talent to add to her roster, Chicago agent Anne Albrecht has finally found what she was looking for. LA based photographer Siri Berting brings a fresh approach to lifestyle photography, as well as dramatic lighting techniques and clean compositions to her concept work."

Compassionate Eye Foundation shoot: Behind the scenes

2010-07-10T05:16:00.001-07:00

"The power of imagery to create positive change in the world"

This June I took part in the Compassionate Eye Foundation Summer Solstice shoot. This was my third shoot and third year working with Compassionate Eye and volunteering my time and photography for their good cause.

We shot for one day at an amazing house in Venice CA. It was a full day with 8 talent, 3 assistants, 2 producers, 1 art director, wardrobe, hair and makeup and enough shot ideas that we could have shot for two days.

Here is a little bit on Compassionate Eye Foundation:

Please check out their website for more information about how they touch thousands of people. www.compassionateeye.org

"Each year on or around June 21st, the Summer Solstice, photographers and their crews around the world produce a one day stock photo shoot. We are in partnership with Gettyimages + receive our income from stock photography shoots that are produced + then donated to the foundation: A brilliant funding model. We have earned over $500,000 to date. Our goal is to educate thousands + thousands of children. "
"It is our belief that education is the cornerstone of change. It is through promoting education, that we plan to help developing communities around the world become sustainable and healthy."
CEF

Roaming #10

2010-05-27T22:01:00.001-07:00

My Vintage Project Promotional Piece

2010-05-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Take a look at one of my recent promos I mailed out to 48 clients. All the photos were printed in our studio and hand deckled by yours truly. The retouching and vintage look and feel was accomplished by my husband Jeff Berting with his amazing art direction and retouching skills.

My Favorites From The Tripod Baby Shoot

2010-05-12T16:38:00.001-07:00

Drip Happens

All Images Copyright Siri Berting Photography

Stop Motion Movie of a Baby Shoot

2010-03-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

Here is an example of how we hurry around to get the perfect baby image. My favorite is the producer, Amy Uratsu, playing peekaboo with her hair. This was a Tripod Production. There are three of us that come together to produce shoots for different clients. Myself as the photographer, Karen Strauss is the Art Director and Amy Uratsu is the producer. Examples of the shoot to follow along shortly.

Roaming #9

2010-03-03T11:26:00.001-08:00

Ambition

Digging Through Old College Work

2010-02-01T15:19:00.001-08:00

I found this little photo project while digging through some of my old college projects. We have had a lot of rain lately and our roof was leaking so I needed to dig out all the old boxes in our closets and make sure they weren't ruined from the rain. I came across this project from junior year while at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. I don't remember the class this was from, but I do remember we were supposed to create a visual story.

The thing I love about this project now is that it is a document of a time and a place I used to live in. I love looking at all the stuff I had, what I chose to put on my bulletin board, favorite tearsheets, art books and even the old lap top and dot matrix printer on the floor. I was pretty lucky to have a laptop back then even though it had less computing power than my Iphone now. Who knew back then that I eventually would be doing all my editing and processing with a computer instead of proof sheets and a loop. It is nice to look back.

What is Photography?

2010-01-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

"It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis"

Henri Cartier Bresson

Roaming #8

2010-01-21T11:56:00.001-08:00

Santa came and brought what he asked for

Roaming #7

2010-01-21T11:52:00.001-08:00

Jackson has just successfully tackled his best buddy Jack

The New Promo: Shipping out this January

2010-01-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

View #1

Turn the Page, View #2

Turn the final page, View #3

The Back

Scroll down in my blog to see and read about the process of having this promo printed.

Roaming #6

2009-12-21T11:37:00.001-08:00

Sunset on Kauai. Nov 2009

Roaming #5

2009-12-14T11:55:00.001-08:00

A Cool Thing #2

2009-12-09T19:19:00.001-08:00

While in Kauai we went to this great restaurant for breakfast, Kalaheo Cafe and Coffee Company (a couple of times). It was there that I had one of the best cups of coffee EVER. This day they were serving their Organic Guatemalan French Roast. Rich, earthy, not too acidic, definitely not burned or bitter and grown in Kauai. This is the kind of coffee you could drink numerous cups of. So I bought a pound of the beans and am sorry to say, I have now finished the whole bag. Here is my last cup for you to enjoy and if you get to Kauai check this fun restaurant out as well. The food was just as good as the coffee.

Mmmmmmmm! Warm and toasty.

Roaming #4

2009-12-07T11:35:00.001-08:00

Kauai 11-09

Printing My Promos

2009-12-01T16:39:00.001-08:00

This past fall I had the honor of having two pieces selected for the Communication Arts 2009 Photo Annual. I thought this would be a good time to put together a new promo piece to mail out. In the promo I wanted to design something that showcased the range of my work while maintaining a cohesive look. My husband Jeff and I designed the promo ourselves working on the concept of showing the images from a light to dark progression. With our combined skill sets we did everything ourselves with the exception of the printing. We wanted to do a large run and needed to find a good printer.

In that pursuit we found a great printer and he happened to be just down the street. The company is Dial Printers, they are literally around the corner from us. We had worked with Roger Martin at Dial on some other projects this past summer. We enjoyed that experience and had great results so naturally we wanted to hire him to print the promo.

Roger was very enthusiastic about helping us with this promo. He has a great eye for papers and had great suggestions for us. He knew we have a tendency to be perfectionists and decided it would be a good field trip for us to accompany him down to the print shop for the printing of the piece. We would be able to see printing in process and make changes accordingly. Having the ability to color correct and control the fine tuning of the printer was a huge benefit. This also prevented any miscommunication we could potentially have in the translation of color and saturation (CMYK is a different animal from RGB). We could be right next to the printer and make changes in real time.

Being in the print shop, watching the prints come off of the press and then proofing them under the color calibrated lights reminded me of the hours I used to spend in the dark room printing my photos. Since my studio is all digital now the experience of fine tuning color and density has changed. Now I am usually sitting in front of, not standing over, a print and the images are backlit on the monitor, not front lit by the ambient light. Also, there is the tangible quality of holding the paper, seeing the ink sit on the paper and even smelling the inks which made the experience reminiscent of being in a photo lab. At the end, when the print was all that I had expected and more, I was proud to put my signature on the color match print stating “Yes, this is the final and all future prints off the press should match this color”. My work was done.

One other item to note: I want to touch on the environmental aspect of sending out physical promos. Email promos are so much more environmentally friendly but physical promos have a presence that you just can't duplicate in the digital format. Since they are an important part of the marketing process I took the steps I could to lessen the impact my promo would have on my green footprint. I choose paper with recycled content FSC Certified and endorsed by the rain-forest alliance. All the inks are soy based, and it was printed right here in LA employing local people and using less fossil fuels to create the final piece. Roger, Jeff and I even carpooled out to the print shop.

All in all it was a rare and wonderful experience. Working on something I love and learning in the process, what more can I ask for? Below are some Photos from my day at the printers.

-Siri

The Mammoth Printer

Jeff learning the process from Roger

The print shop

Fine tuning each ink dropper by hand for accurate saturation

Test prints

Jeff checking for color and Saturation

One more adjustment to the press

My paper stack: Promo coming off the press

Pressman's hands, and coffee stain

Final Check

It is perfect and I have signed off on this match print

Roaming #3

2009-10-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Roaming #2

2009-10-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Roaming #1

2009-10-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Since my recent trip to Yosemite I have decided to start a little personal project documenting the different places my son is discovering. I want to visually capture his independent discoveries, him discovering his independence and the quiet moments of play and wonder that inspire a child's life. There are some inspirations that keep coming to mind when I am thinking about this project which are an aid conceptually and visually.

Ideas:

1) loosely using the idea of my son as the Travelocity Roaming Gnome

2) Inspirations from a favorite photo book called "Tokyo Nobody"

3) thoughts and ideas that come to mind from my own memories of the book "Where The Wild Things Are" I always thought the book was kind of lonely (Can't wait to see Spike Jonze's movie interpretation).

So this blog post marks the first of a series of images from Jackson's Roaming.

Yeahsemite 2009

2009-10-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite shots from our recent trip to Yosemite NP where we did a little camping, saw a bear, introduced Jackson to s'mores and found some golden light 1970 photo opportunities.

Our little dirt ball, turning into a "Wild Thing"

Wandering

"I can't fight this feeling"

Jackson on his own hike. Distance 1.1 miles.

Just need to share a cool thing #1

2009-10-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

I bought this bag this weekend at the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair and I absolutely love it. Not only are the colors and chickens great but it reminds me of Thailand which holds a special place in my heart. This bag is called a "Twice Rice Tote Bag" and was designed by Cima Kalmanson and her company Creative Ego. Unfortunately I can't get her website to come up right now but her email address is creativeego@socal.rr.com. All bags are 100% handcrafted by women in a small village outside of Bangkok. All bags are lined with unbleached muslin too. Her company supports fairtrade and I can support that. Also, since I always carry tote bags with me to prevent using plastic bags from stores, this is a nice new one to add to my collection.

My Summer Vacation

2009-09-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a glimpse of the chaos I took part in during my summer vacation in the midwest.

It was hot. There were squirt guns. People got wet.

Focus on healthcare

2009-09-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Since healthcare is all over the news these days and President Obama is going to address congress about his healthcare plan, I thought it would be appropriate to post some images from a healthcare/ doctor's office shoot I did earlier this spring. My intent for the images was to portray the concepts of personal attention, one on one contact with a focus on healthcare providers' expertise. I found a location that could offer contemporary, well appointed rooms and a lot of natural light for a warmer feel. Who likes being cold and exposed with fluorescent light while wearing one of those paper gowns anyway? While that might be the reality for a lot of doctor's offices, that was not part of the hopeful vibe I wanted to portray.

Oh and one last thing. I absolutely think there needs to be a public option for healthcare in this country. We should be leaders with our public services, not followers.

Communication Arts Recognition

2009-09-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

The Communication Arts Photo Annual 2009 was just released and showcases two of my images. I am super happy for the recognition.

The thing I love about the fact that these two images were selected is that they were both an aha moment for me while I was shooting. I had that gut feeling I was on to something good. It is nice to have a publication like Communication Arts recognize these two images and reinforce the fact that I do my best work when I follow my instincts.

I need to give recognition to the art directors who gave me the two different projects and allowed me to find these moments. Karen Strauss was the art director on the Body shoot and Amy Uratsu was the art director on the Baby shoot. Good work ladies!!