Ian McDonnell Photography

Maui

2011-03-04T14:42:00.004-07:00

Just returned from Maui, where we saw whales, turtles, and an old friend get married. Awesome trip!

Aspen

2010-09-27T01:42:00.004-06:00

Just got back from a little camping trip in Aspen. Beautiful.

Archived: Min Pin

2010-08-26T02:37:00.003-06:00

August 13, 2010: Arthur Fonzarelli, our new Miniature Pinscher puppy.

Zombie Tennis

2010-08-26T02:29:00.007-06:00

Just finished shooting some new zombie photos, this time, playing tennis!

Costa Rica

2010-04-21T12:30:00.004-06:00

Just got back from a 3 month surf & photo trip to Costa Rica. Really enjoyed my time there and can't wait to go back!

Baron von Baron

2010-01-25T09:50:00.004-07:00

new stock images: the Baron von Baron.

ADCD Award Show

2010-01-07T14:53:00.004-07:00

This past year, I won bronze in the ADCD Award Show for my Holiday Party image. I was only recently able to pick up the book and award, as I've been out of the country. What a great way to start the new year!

Stateside

2009-12-07T17:16:00.008-07:00

After 3 months in Spain, I've finally returned to the U.S. - a short weekend in California, and I'm back in cold, snowy Denver. While the weather isn't the best at the moment, I really did miss this city, and more importantly the people.

Archived : Lleida

2009-12-07T16:52:00.006-07:00

December 1, 2009 : Just spent a week in Lleida, visiting photographer and iStock Inspector Joan Vicent Cantó. Joan and his wife were amazing hosts, showing me around their city and really going out of their way to make me feel welcomed.

We even took a day trip to Barcelona where we met up with more friends and iStockers, Mercè, Xavier, Eva and Pepe, to name a few.

While my Spanish may be bad, my Catalan is non-existent.. still we all managed to communicate and have a good time!

Here's Joan with one of his more famous models:

Archived: San Sebastian

2009-12-07T16:27:00.008-07:00

November 23, 2009 : Agur San Sebastian! Agur Pais Vasco!

Archived : Mundaka

2009-12-07T16:18:00.007-07:00

November 22, 2009 : After a weekend partying in Santander, spent some time in Mundaka, Vizcaya. Peaceful and relaxing, there wasn't much surf so I wandered around shooting photos of the town and estuary.

The swell forecast called for waves later in the week, so I extended the trip a bit and scored on my last day - overhead and offshore. The crowd was thick in the morning, but by afternoon, most had gone home. Ended up surfing one of the world's best waves with about 10 other people. Amazing..

Archived : River Surfing

2009-12-07T16:09:00.004-07:00

November 5, 2009 : Surfers waiting on a wave in San Sebastian's Rio Urumea. The swell was so big, waves were breaking upstream in the middle of the city.

Archived : Longboarding

2009-12-07T15:35:00.014-07:00

November 2, 2009 : Allan

Here's my friend Allan, surfing a smaller day at San Sebastian's Playa Zurriola.

Archived : Delft

2009-12-07T15:21:00.009-07:00

October 26, 2009 : Just got back from a week in Delft, the Netherlands, visiting photographer and fellow iStock Inspector Ivar Teunissen. Had a great time checking out the town, going to parties, and meeting tons of cool fun people.

Made it up to Amsterdam, of course, where we played with the new Canon 7D on a small video shoot for a local DJ group.

Ivar with model Starla:

Water and Waves

2009-10-07T07:13:00.006-06:00

More water and waves

San Sebastian

2009-09-08T07:12:00.005-06:00

After a long flight to Spain and a few days in Madrid, I've finally made it up to San Sebastian. Rode on my first "hi-speed" train, which was a much more enjoyable experience than the EL.

Oh and I finally got a chance to properly test the new water housing, at Zurriola beach (about a block from the apartment).

New Toys and New Travels

2009-08-31T14:47:00.007-06:00

Just picked up a sport housing from SPL Waterousings. Not much surf here in San Diego at the moment, but headed to Spain on friday, and can't wait to get in the water over there..

Portraits

2009-08-16T11:23:00.006-06:00

As it's my last week in Denver, I decided to have a few friends over for drinks and photos. This is my favorite shot of the night, Trevor and 10-week-old Seadrick.

Calgary

2009-08-13T14:59:00.007-06:00

Just spent a week on the road - drove up to Calgary for iStockalypse HQ. It was really great to meet so many other iStock folks, and the drive was nice too - drove through the Grand Tetons and camped out in Yellowstone and Glacier on the way up.

Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-07-13T14:11:00.008-06:00

Spent some time hiking and camping in Rocky Mountain National Park, playing with a new lens, Tokina's 10-17mm fisheye. The lens is sharp and fun, but creates quite a bit of chromatic aberration.. still, nothing that can't be handled in photoshop.

Rock Climber

2009-07-07T17:29:00.008-06:00

Rock climber (Matt) on wall in Joshua Tree, available at Getty Images

Courtney

2009-07-05T17:01:00.009-06:00

Courtney on Getty.. I'm a bit behind getting these posted, but better late than never!

I've also updated the stock page to reflect some new additions.

Robot & Spacegirl

2009-07-05T16:25:00.004-06:00

Robot & Spacegirl shoot at Denver's Irish Rover and Sputnik w/models Dawn & Katie.

Westward Music Showcase

2009-06-17T10:39:00.004-06:00

Shot a ton of bands and had a lot of fun at the Westward Music Showcase. The Donnybrook Writing Academy has a review up, which includes a few of my images, and I've uploaded a few more to the flickr stream.

Profile Design

2009-05-14T19:13:00.006-06:00

Just finished up a 2 day shoot for Profile Design out in Boulder. I really need to remember sunblock next time..

Profile Design Ad Campaign

New Website

2009-05-09T12:46:00.002-06:00

Make quite a few updates to the website.. new code, new images. enjoy!

Andria

2009-04-20T11:50:00.002-06:00

More images of Andria.

Salton Sea

2009-04-18T15:23:00.005-06:00

Headed back to Denver tonight, but thought I'd post this first: A friend and I headed out to the Salton Sea last weekend to shoot photos of some of the old ruins out there. Lots of fun and only a day trip, I'd recommend it for anyone into photography.

Dogs on Roofs

2009-04-09T14:19:00.005-06:00

So I logged into Flickr today, and there was a link to a group that i thought was.. entertaining, Dogs on Roofs. Enjoy!

San Diego & LA

2009-03-24T12:09:00.010-06:00

Flying out to the coast for a quick trip. Surf, sun, family and friends. Maybe even some photography.

Succeed in Evil

2009-03-18T09:26:00.003-06:00

Awesome set of stories. I've been waiting a while to hear more from the author, and it looks like he's finally posting again.

"How to Succeed in Evil is not a self-help page for the maladjusted. It it is the story of Edwin Windsor, Evil Efficiency Consultant. He’s like Arthur Anderson for Supervillians."

http://succeedinevil.com

Happy St Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T11:20:00.006-06:00

Holiday Shoot

2009-03-11T20:37:00.018-06:00

Finished up shooting my holiday series last week, and have got just about all the processing done.

shoot info:

composite shot, 3 main shoots plus pick-ups.
ABR800 gelled blue with shoot-through at camera right/left.
285HV w/ 2x CTO in lamp. 285HV gelled green with reflective umbrella at camera left/right for fill. iso100, 1/160 @ f/8.

quite a bit of photoshop work on this one. the girls all recieved a pin-up style airbrush treatment, while the guys all have a high-pass style filter added. Lots of artificial shadows and highlights too, of course.

production images:

Lee Ball

2009-03-05T19:35:00.007-07:00

Yesterday, one of Denver's premier tattoo artists, Lee Ball, passed away. I last saw him two weeks ago, while sitting for the sleeve he's been working on. Such tragic news; my heart goes out to your family and friends.

Lee Ball RIP article
Lee Ball's Myspace
Rebellion Tattoo

Zombies

2009-02-16T11:47:00.004-07:00

Got some friends together to do a little zombie shoot. Stage blood everywhere..
good times.

Skye

2009-02-01T12:51:00.018-07:00

Just before last week's Chicago trip, I did an all-day shoot with Skye, who's, as always, a pleasure to work with. Gotta say thanks to Johnny for helping me move lights around too!

As usual, I'm backed up on post-processing, but have managed to get a few shots up. Check 'em out..

Max Uploads

2009-02-01T12:39:00.006-07:00

Well, It's been quite a while since I was able to max out my uploads on istockphoto, but I've managed to do it again.. 100 files in a week.

And for those of you just getting started in stock photography, or any kind for that matter, Matjaž posted a great little article on lighting standards.

Kelsy

2009-01-27T16:29:00.007-07:00

So I've been waiting on shots of Kelsy to be approved at Getty Images, and they're finally trickling in. You can also check out more images from the shoot in my flickr feed.

Andria

2009-01-16T09:44:00.007-07:00

Another shoot with Andria, this one from a few weeks ago.

On a more recent note, I'm almost done with a pretty busy week's worth of shoots - bands, portraits, snowboarding, dogs, and zombies. One more to go, then I'm off to Chicago for a commercial job. Hope to have the new stuff posted when I get back.

Synesthesia

2009-01-08T12:43:00.002-07:00

Drabblecast #92, Synesthesia by J. Alan Pierce.

1st person narrative zombie fiction. yeah.. scary.

365

2009-01-03T17:50:00.005-07:00

Decided to try out that 365 craze, one self portrat a day for a year. Narcissistic, I know..

Music

2008-12-31T16:55:00.008-07:00

Went down to the Meadowlark a few nights ago to see some old friends play music..
Grant Olsen of Arthur & Yu, and Sam McNitt of Rowboat / Blue Million Miles.

oh, and Happy New Year!

Fun

2008-12-29T16:09:00.013-07:00

New ringflash, new ink. ABR800 (ringflash) at 1/2 power. 285HV in frame at 1/16. 285HV full power a camera left (to create shadow). iso100, 1/160 @ f/22.

Something else worth mentioning - the Lightsource podcast has an interesting interview with Phil Bradon, from Sekonic & PocketWizard. Definitely worth checking out if you'd like to know more about light meters and remote flash/camera triggering.

Agent Orange

2008-12-25T13:59:00.021-07:00

Last month, I went down to Denver's Larimer Lounge to check out an old favorite, Agent Orange. Here's a quick video with all my shots from the show. Enjoy!

Window Light

2008-12-23T16:09:00.011-07:00

One thing that makes me quite happy about the new place, is a row of south facing windows, providing some beautiful, natural light. It's gotten me shooting, well, breakfast, among other things..

Mac|Life

2008-12-06T17:27:00.005-07:00

2 stock finds in a week..

Phil Harnsberger bodyboarding in Mexico, on the cover of Maclife! It's the shot in the middle, next to the lolcat.

The Onion

2008-12-05T15:08:00.008-07:00

Always fun to see my stock images in print, but this one from the Onion was especially entertaining, as I'd used a friend as the model. No, his real name's not Frank, and yes, he's still alive.

New Place

2008-11-30T15:32:00.006-07:00

After a great Thanksgiving, I moved across town to a new place. Loft-style, with plenty of room to shoot and one amazing view..

Mock Stars

2008-11-21T11:08:00.014-07:00

Last weekend was the release party for John Wenzel's Mock Stars, a book about indie rock and comedy. You can check out an interview with John at Donnybrook. The party, held at Denver's Larimer Lounge, was a lot of fun, with comedians Jim Hickox, Ben Kronberg, Adam Cayton-Holland, Greg Baumhauer and Ben Roy, as well as indie rock bands We Are! We Are!, Rabbit is a Sphere, and Everything Absent or Distorted. For some stange reason, I decide to shoot photos of the event..

50D

2008-11-14T11:43:00.007-07:00

Recently picked up a Canon 50D, and have run a few test shoots.. a party and two portrait sessions. So far I'm happy with the new camera, despite running into an initial issue with chromatic aberration (purple fringing). Some of the shots are in the flickr feed, and I've already managed to get most of Andria's session up on iStock.

On another fun note - one of the reasons I picked up this camera was the high fps, great for sports. Today was the first snowfall in Denver, and I'm excited to get up to the slopes, both to ride and shoot!

Go Vote!

2008-11-04T13:49:00.005-07:00

It's important.

Obama Rally

2008-10-28T20:11:00.008-06:00

Went down to check out Obama's speech at a rally in Denver's Civic Center Park on sunday. The city was expecting maybe 30 thousand, but roughly 100 thousand showed up.

It was a pretty amazing sight; here's a view from Broadway back toward the capital.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

2008-09-22T12:49:00.007-06:00

So International Talk Like a Pirate Day was this past friday, Sept 19th. The Donnybrook Writing Academy hosted a little TLAP party, running along with a local CD release show.

Laurie Scavo and Nina Barry were on hand taking photos. Check it out..

Oil on the Beach

2008-09-12T00:48:00.001-06:00

The Surfrider Foundation's started a new blog about the renewed effort to allow offshore drilling in the US. As an avid surfer and ocean lover, I'd like to share it with you:

Oil on the Beach

DPUMS

2008-08-11T18:50:00.000-06:00

Spent a few days at the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase, listening to tons of bands at a bunch of venues along Denver's lower Broadway. Even shot a few photos.. check out the flickr stream. Of course, there were a ton of other photographers there, all being far more prolific than I ever am at these events.

Donnybrook

2008-08-07T10:44:00.000-06:00

So I've started this temporary gig - moonlighting as a photo editor for The Donnybrook Writing Academy. It's a fun, sophisticated, tongue-in-cheek blog covering music and society here in the Denver area. Personally I think they're ready to go national.

Inspecting, processing, shooting (occasionally), and now editing - let's see how long I can keep up this pace.

Denver Post

2008-08-01T15:17:00.000-06:00

It's always nice to see your images in print, especially as a stock photographer. This morning I opened the paper to check out a friend's shots - she'd had quite a few images featured with a story. Funny that I should run across one of my own; comedian Ben Kronberg is in town and the Denver Post ran a story on him.

Life as an Image Inspector

2008-07-25T14:29:00.001-06:00

Fellow iStock Inspector Rasmus Rasmussen has written up a nice little piece on what we do, touching on things like compression, chromatic aberration, fishheads and the need for a properly calibrated monitor. Check it out here.

Update

2008-07-14T10:19:00.001-06:00

Some of the Utah RR2 images are in my flickr feed.. a few of the istock inspectors got together for an evening shoot. Good times indeed.

I've also added a few images to the published work section of this site.

Strobist

2008-07-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

Alright David Hobby, I'm impressed:

Summertime

2008-06-12T10:02:00.000-06:00

Yes, indeed, summer's here. This past weekend, the Donnybrook Writing Academy hosted their Benefit for Rich People Soiree/BBQ. It was a fun, music filled, all day affair, and while I didn't shoot, plenty of other photographers did. Have a look, if you're into that sort of thing.

New Place

2008-05-31T11:32:00.000-06:00

Just getting settled into a new apartment here in Denver. Updated info on the contact page.

Chicago Shoot

2008-05-21T18:57:00.001-06:00

Just got back from a quick trip to Chicago, where I did a small shoot for Moniker Creative and Corporate Graphics of America.

The Plan

2008-05-13T17:15:00.001-06:00

Well, it's been a crazy couple of months..
Recently I've been on an extended vacation in San Diego, visiting friends and family, working, surfing, and thinking about my next move. I've decided though, that staying in Denver is the right choice - it makes sense for so many reasons, part of that being my work.

For the last year, I've been concentrating on stock photography, which is great, but it's time to start searching out more commercial work. While not the center of the advertising world, Colorado's full of beautiful places, and Denver itself is such a central location - easy to hop on over to the midwest or either coast at a moment's notice.

Good friends, beautiful weather, and a great art & music community make it all that more appealing.

In the upcoming months, I plan to continue this blog, posting on various photo shoots and travel plans, as well as any fun or interesting items I come across.. the archived items you'll find below are from my iStockphoto blog. I'll also be revamping my website a bit, adding full shoot series and some direct links for purchasing imagery. I'll continue to shoot stock, while researching the best way to market myself to advertising and commercial buyers across the country.

In the meantime I'm off to Chicago for a week. A bit of last minute work and fun before settling into a new mile high home.

Archived : Bloody Good Fun

2008-05-13T16:51:00.001-06:00

March 17, 2008 : Vixen Shoot. Makeup by Diana Lareé

Archived : Business Shots

2008-05-13T16:42:00.001-06:00

March 8, 2008 : More business shots for the portfolio.

Archived : Costa Rica

2008-05-13T16:23:00.002-06:00

Feb 16, 2008 : Just got back from a short trip to Costa Rica.
Definitely surfed a lot more than I shot.

Coming Soon

2008-05-07T15:33:00.003-06:00

New blog coming soon.

While you're here, check out my portfolio at ianmcdonnell.com.