Moving Product Off the Shelf

We’re always looking for innovative ways @ Blackstone Edge Studios to promote our clients’ work and/or products.  For years, our imagery has been featured on magazine covers – more than 150 to our name – and, as every one knows – Covers are what sell magazines like this one:

BSE's Coastal Living Cover

For the past seven or eight years, we’ve branched out as an ad agency to include a number of other clients, the majority of which are offshoots of the interior design and building community, especially the window and door industry.

We’ve been helping several W&D companies beef up their promotional material, and consequently, their sales in new & excitng ways…  Here’s one project that we turn-keyed from start to finish – Design – Photography – Digital Compositing – Editing – the results of which have proven themselves in the company’s highly improved bottom line.

Brochure Designed, Photo'd & Created by BlackstoneEdge.com

Yet another large national company has featured our work on a number of their latest brochure covers, which proves BSE lives up to its motto: Moving Product Off The Shelf!  Here’s one of the latest ones…

Cover imagery ©BlackstoneEdge.com

Muscle Car by Montgomery Vintage Car Restorations; photo ©Blackstoneedge.com

Blackstone Edge Studios is proud to announce an exciting affiliation with its latest new client, Montgomery Vintage Car Restorations (MVCR). As a Brit, I know plenty about the Jaguar MVCR  is meticulously restoring, piece by piece. But I am no “boffin” when it comes to American MUSCLE CARS like this GS 455 Buick. Got to ride in this “cherried out” car last weekend, as we raced around town, looking for appropriate 70s locations to match its sleek lines and impressive horse power.

Buick GS 455 by MVCR; photo ©Blackstoneedge.com

Muscle Car @ the Alibi; ©Blackstoneedge.com

Muscling up to Ross Island Cement Trucks; ©Blackstoneedge.com

Details are essential when a buyer of classic cars is considering a beauty like this one. MVCR treats every element as essential to the car’s authenticity, beauty and function.

Cruise Control - GS 455; ©Blackstoneedge.com

Climate Control GS 455; ©Blackstoneedge.com

Muscle Car Buick Interior; ©Blackstoneedge.com

The Jaguar is getting the premier treatment at MVCR. Care is all important with a vintage Jag, as we Brits know!!! And no one does it better than MVCR.

MVCR strips down a 1974 Jag;©Blackstoneedge.com

Rebuilt 70s Jag engine by MVCR; ©Blackstoneedge.com

Even the Jag steering wheel's got panache! ©Blackstoneedge.com

MVCR at work on car parts;©Blackstoneedge.com

Watch these pages to see the finished Jaguar – coming soon. If you’d like more information about how to reach Montgomery Vintage Car Restorations, contact us here!

Garrison Hullinger Interior Design team in their newly expanded design HQ

Blackstone Edge Studios has been the agency of record for Garrison Hullinger Interior Design (GHID) for a number of years. This past year Garrison and his talented team – Nicole Copko, Alison Van Delden and Lisa Luchaco – have gone stratospheric.  As a unique marketing approach, I suggested that we illustrate the process of creating great interior design – and in this case – pulling together additional elements for local and national magazine shoots scheduled later that same week as a way to further promote the company. What better way to catch the busy team @ work, I said, than to follow the group with three of  Blackstone Edge Studios’ best shooters…

BSE Shooters - Justin Myers, owner Philip Clayton-Thompson & Marshal Serna @ GHID - Cell Shooter - Donna Pizzi

When we began photographing homes for magazines years ago, the magazines were really the prime way for interior designers to bring credence to their work and clients to their doorstep. Today, the tables have changed. Now it’s social media that often drives the editors of magazine. While both of these entities usually focus solely on room decor, we @ BSE think it’s the people who drive the creativity and wanted to show them in action.

Lisa, Nicole & Alison put together a presentation in the new GHID conference room ©Blackstoneedge.com

Owner Garrison Hullinger at Kravet Fabrics ©Blackstoneedge.com

Nicole Copko also writes the GHID blog ©BlackstoneEdge.com

We’re always searching for unique ways to create business opportunities for our clients.  One way is encourage them to create blogs on their websites, or as standalone social media outlets.

The GHID Team exiting Ferguson's ©Blackstoneedge.com

A day after we took these photos, we began a 2-day shoot at an elegant beach house, featuring Garrison Hullinger’s interior design. Watch for more on that exciting event right here.

Philip Clayton-Thompson at his 16mm editing suite back in the day, where he edited the hit YouTube video "Heaviest Load"

I began my filmmaking career in the U.K. as a “Tea Boy,” making tea for the likes of Lindsay Anderson (If, O Lucky Man, Clockwork Orange), John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) and Academy Award-Winning cinematographer Dougie Slocombe (The Lady Vanishes – both versions, and all the Indiana Jones films). They all said they I made a “smashing” cup of tea and they enjoyed the extra “bikkies” (cookies) I gave them.

FAST FORWARD TO 2012… Portland, Oregon, and Blackstone Edge Studios, the boutique ad agency I co-own with Donna Pizzi, where we’ve produced a number of YouTube videos, including the ever popular www.packyourkit.com, which now enjoys over 91,000 hits worldwide. Even a decades old film, “The Heaviest Load,” which I directed and edited on the suite seen above, has garnered 200,000 hits in 90 days on YouTube. It gets, on an average, over 2,300+ hits a day.

Today, we’re producing eight short videos for BSEB to accompany a musical show. We’ll keep our readers posted about its debut when they are complete.

All images ©BlackstoneEdge.com - Royal Horse Artillery taken on June 2, 1972 in honor of Her Majesty's Birthday

Today I received a letter from Her Majesty The Queen! 

She was replying to a parcel I sent – a gift of the poster seen above. What a Happy New Year’s gift her letter was…

As our blog readers know from a previous post, I created a video of “I Vow To Thee My Country,” with music by Gustav Holst, a hymn which is in the running to become the English National Anthem. I illustrated the song with photographs I took 40 years ago of the Royal Horse Artillery on Her Majesty’s Birthday. The accompaniment on the video is by Maestro Rodney Menn. We completed the effort at Blackstone Edge Studios with a poster design. The first limited edition poster was sent to Her Majesty, who also has the title of Captain General of the Royal Horse Artillery. Here is her reply:

Letter from Her Majesty dated 20th December 2011

No doubt the poster will end up in the barracks in St. Johns Wood, where the photo story began at 5:00 a.m. so long ago.

You can see the video here!

Happy Holidays - ©Blackstone Edge Studios - Poem, homage to William Blake's Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright

Blackstone Edge Studios wishes you the very, very best for the holidays and into the significant New Year – 2012…  Thanks to all of our clients, family and friends who helped make this such a memorable year. Blessings unto you all!

The poem is a birthday homage to William Blake and his poem “Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright.”

Special thanks to Linda and Bob Balta, whose home is featured in this Christmas photo – just one of the many times we photographed it over the past decade!

And, finally, Blessings to ALL the thousands of homeowners who allowed us to write about and photo their homes in a way that honored their creativity & souls…  It truly has and continues to be a great joy for us all.

Cesar Chavez Plaza Poster created by blackstoneedge.com for Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation & Neighborhood Partners LLC. Tile Mural created by Susan Shelton

Blackstone Edge Studios is proud to announce its design for the Cesar Chavez Plaza museum quality poster. Cesar Chavez Plaza, which was created and developed by our client, Neighborhood Partners, LLC, is an affordable housing community, with 52 apartments available to the Davis, California, downtown workforce.

The special edition poster, which was sponsored by Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation (TPCF),  features a 100 sq.ft. tile mural created by celebrated California ceramist Susan Shelton.  The mural was unveiled on October 15, 2011, in Davis, with many of the residents who participated in the cooperative creative effort present for the festivities.

The poster is available for a $50.00 donation to the Cesar Chavez Residents Fund, an endowment created by TPCF. The annual income will fund residents activities at Cesar Chavez Plaza. Donations of $100 or more will include a poster and the donor’s name will be inscribed on a tile plaque to be hung near the mural.

Donate online at www.community.coop/davis/ccp or send your donation to TPCF/CCRF, 216 F Street, PB 1844, Davis, CA 95616.

Our client, David J. Thompson, President of TPCF, will personally match each individual $500 contribution to the fund up to a total of $5,000.

We have much to be grateful for here at Blackstone Edge Studios this Thanksgiving. We send our big heartfelt thanks to all our clients, family and friends who uplifted us throughout the year, helping us to create cutting edge ideas, ad campaigns, images, websites, blogs and collateral that makes our clients’ businesses grow.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! ©Blackstone Edge Studios

It truly takes a community to bring this world back into harmony again.  Let’s all join together to let the harmonizing begin!

Here below is a photo of St. Botolph’s church in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, from whence ourPilgrim Fathers first tried to set forth for America, where this holiday first began.  The local constabulary imprisoned them. Undaunted, they would make a number of attempts before succeeding.

Philip’s parents were landlords of a pub (Wormgate Inn)  located around the corner from this church, commonly known as Boston Stump, referring to its impressive spire – the tallest in all Lincolnshire. While freelancing in London at the beginning of his career, Philip made prints of this 1958 photograph while working for the British Travel Association. If you look closely, you’ll see a  little boy fishing along the river. Philip and his brother argue to this day whether it’s Philip or David.

Boston Stump, as printed by Philip Clayton-Thompson from whence our Pilgrim Forefathers first attempted to leave for America

“Near this place in September 1607 those later known as “The Pilgrim Fathers” made their first attempt to find religious freedom across the seas.”

Studio A @ Blackstone Edge Studios

A 70′ trailer delivers a passel of windows & doors to Blackstone Edge Studios.  BSE goes into high gear, working to beat the clock without compromising quality.

Studio B @ Blackstone Edge Studios - Taken w/new I-Phone

Shooting product is just the first step in a bid to bring this large window & door company’s 2012 product to the market for its West Coast launch. We’ve been creating Hero Images all year long in preparation for this event.

The same camera that shot video for Pack Your Kit w/80,000 worldwide YouTube hits, also makes sales of windows & doors climb!

One window was so extraordinarily large that it took 6 people to maneuver it before the camera! Exciting times, lots of French pressed coffee, and a few laughs to keep us all going strong. A big thanks to our mid-West client and our talented team!!!

The Pacific Northwest is known for its gray, rainy days… But let’s not forget those peak Fall days, when the sun is kissing the changing leaves, and peony bushes turn from dark green to transparent yellow, and snowball hydrangeas to deep red and burnt orange.

We put Nature’s handiwork to good use yesterday during a shoot of another beautiful WhiteHouse Collection home built by Todd Delahunt of Delahunt Homes – home design by Rick White and interior design by Candace White, with furnishings by Sue Amos of Paul Schatz Furniture. Here’s a sneak peek of some of that fall color, including clippings from Blackstone Edge Studios‘ gardens.

Fall comes to this Pacific Northwest Home ©Blackstone Edge Studios 2011

A couple of weeks ago, we traveled to Albany, Oregon, and photographed the paradisical Pumpkin Hollow Mill, a country shop created by Linda & Joe Harris. It’s worth a road trip to see this lovely setting first hand.

Pumpkin Hollow Mill - Linda & Joe Harris owners ©Blackstone Edge Studios 2011

Happy Fall to all!