Behind-the-Scenes: Capoeira

Capoeira–a Brazilian art form that combines elements of dance, martial arts and music. A few months ago my rock star make-up artist/stylist, Paula Dahlberg, came to me with the idea of shooting this amazing sport as a portfolio project. Immediately, visions of amazing movements, intense action and stark beauty filled my mind. We choose Bonneville Salt Flats State Park on the border of Utah and Nevada as our location for this shoot for it’s unique natural beauty. I hope you enjoy the video above from what turned out to be my largest self-funded portfolio shoot ever. More of the final images can be viewed in the Latest Work gallery on my website at www.miketittel.com.

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Race for the Cure

Some things in life leave you speechless. This past weekend I took my own advice and headed to downtown SLC to photograph our local Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event. Like millions of others, breast cancer is a disease that has affected my life personally. In the spring of 2008, a few weeks before my wedding, my mother shared the news that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It was one of those moments in life that totally took me by surprise. How could my mother–the kindest, most loving and amazing woman I know–have to battle something so terrible? And why now, during a time of joy for our family? Hearing the news was a scary moment that I’ll never forget. Three years later my mother is doing fine and her journey has brought all of us closer together. After two rounds of chemo/radiation it appears the battle has been won.

Although photojournalism is not something I’m normally drawn to or hired for, my personal connection to this disease spawned an interest in the event. I had no real objective–just a strong desire to pick up my camera and see where the day would take me. A few moments before the race started emotion took over. In that moment I was taken back to the evening my mother called to tell me of her news and diagnosis. All of it came flooding back as I stood there looking at the sea of 20,000 people. I couldn’t help but wonder how many of those people where in similar shoes? How many of them were just diagonised or lost someone they loved to such a terrible disease? I just stood there watching unable to lift my camera, taking it all in–husbands and wives, mothers and their children, sisters and brothers, and best friends all affected in some way. It was clear cancer does not discriminate.

As the morning progressed my somber mood quickly changed to one of joy and at times even pride. The event proved my personal belief that adversity and tragedy brings out the best in people. The amount of love, support and positive energy was astounding. Life and the human spirit never cease to amaze me.

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2011 Wenger Watch Catalogue

Back in February I posted about my work for Wenger over the past two years. I recently received an e-mail with the latest from the project–their 2011 Watch Catalogue. Thought I would share a few of my favorite clips here. I must admit I wasn’t much of a watch person until I started working with them a few years ago. Their GST Chrono hooked me. It’s a beautiful time piece that is extremely well built. Looking at the 2011 line-up I’m drooling over the new Squadron Series. If they keep this up I just might become an accessories man. Check out all their latest at www.wengerna.com.

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Columbia Sportswear Spring/Summer 2011

The weather here in Utah is definitely changing–spring is in the air. With the change of seasons comes the new campaign I shot for Columbia Sportswear this past summer here in Utah. We shot two full days of hiking and trail running in the Wasatch Mountains outside of Salt Lake City including one of my personal favorite trails–Catherine Pass.  Below are a few shots from their website along with a couple of pics of the new in-store signage. More of our work can been seen in their retail displays around the world as well as in Columbia’s own retail stores. Make sure you check out their new spring/summer collection as well–www.columbia.com–both the crew and models were so impressed we had a hard time returning the samples from the shoot.

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Columbia F11 Shoot

My crew and I recently returned from several days in Southern Utah shooting our second project for Columbia Sportswear. Moab’s outstanding natural beauty and colder temps provided the perfect location to create trail running and hiking images for their fall 2011 collection. We had a great time and learned a few things along the way, including the value of OnStar in the middle of the desert. You guessed it: we locked the keys in the car. Let’s just say I liked their Facebook page because they saved us a from having to break a window and got our shoot back on track within 10 minutes. Despite Gage’s repeated attempts to get airborne using our 4×6 Sunbounce as a glider in 45mph+ gusts, the weather was perfect for the shoot. The mix of wind, sunshine and just the right amount of clouds allowed us to create some stunning images. Many thanks to Columbia, my ubber talented crew, our models and the staff of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks for the hard work. I’m in editing mode now but will post some pics soon.

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Behind-the-Scenes: Tennis

Check out our latest behind-the-scenes video from a recent tennis shoot here in Salt Lake City. Over the past few weeks I’ve been working hard to create some fresh images for the portfolio. Most of you know I’m a huge believer in taking the time for personal work, and many of these images have been dancing around in my head for some time. I am stoked to have finally created them! Several final images from this production and other recent shoots have been added to the “LATEST” gallery on my site. You can check them out here.

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