Blog

Captain Dave

This is my good compadre, Dave. A sailor since his youth, a submariner who served our country, and a Master Scheduler with the voice of Jack Nicholson. Our paths first crossed when I joined Vantine Imaging in the summer of 2016. Dave helped show me the ropes at Vantine, and taught me plenty along the way. When I learned he was a sailor and expressed interest in coming along, he was generous enough to welcome me aboard his vessel, a 1967 37’ Chris-Craft Apache with classic lines and a navy hull. She was designed by Sparkman & Stephens and weighs in at about 15,000 lbs with a 5’9” draft and a 50’ keel-stepped mast. There were only 80 ever built. She’s a beauty, and compliments the man very well.

Dave taught me a lot about sailing and I appreciate his willingness to share his knowledge.

Fair winds and calm seas, Skipper!

For the first time on my blog, these are not my images. Photo credit goes to Kim Koennecke. She sailed with us this day and captured a series of images with her iPhone. I spent a bit of time with them in post to provide the look.

ian christopher | happy 2nd birthday, son!

The Legendary Second Year Begins

Two years. And every single day has been completely amazing. Son, you are teaching me why I'm here, and for that, I'll be forever grateful. Watching you discover new things has become my favorite past time, and I struggle to remember what was significant in life before you were born. I love you, man! Here's to the incredible two's; the messes, the shenanigans, the adventures! I can't wait!

Love Daddy.

Ryan Walters  |  Central New York Photographer

amisha

Amisha Bhatt. Business extraordinaire and sharp as a tack. She's focused, driven, and resilient. I had the privilege of calling her a colleague for several years while living in the city of St. Louis, MO. This image was about eighteen months in the making, as life moved me in a whirlwind of directions. Thanks for your patience, Amisha.

Cheers.

Ryan Walters  |  Central New York Photographer

the cracken | apple stl

Meet Eric McCracken. A genuine genius, a born leader, and a lover of hugs. This guy holds it down at the Apple Store, Galleria. You'll find him blazing a wizardry path behind the Genius Bar there. His role? None other than Lead Genius, AKA, Shot Caller. Really though, his sincerity and ability to empathize with a customer is unparalleled, and he's always willing to lend a helping hand. They're lucky to have him.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

spaced out | dropkick the robot

Please be sure to select HD for the best viewing experience. Simply click the "HD" logo near the lower right of the video, then click Play.

This is the first of a series of live music videos shot in studio with Dropkick the Robot. These guys are phenomenal musicians! They are dedicated to their craft, and their music reflects it. We had the opportunity to collaborate with them to produce a series of seven songs, which were all performed and captured live.  This is the biggest video project we've shot to date! It involved several months of planning, production meetings, putting a solid team of operators together, innovating some lighting methods for a relatively small recording studio, and executing a nine camera shoot in full 1080p!! We shot everything at 24fps to lend a film look to it, and I lit the studio with a cinematic style in mind.

 

This is 1 of 6 songs captured on a Sunday evening in March. The remaining 5 will be published very soon, so check back if you're interested in seeing them!


The band, Dropkick The Robot, is based within the Midwest, containing a huge range of musical talent with a variety of sounds that are showcased within this meeting of creative minds.

The production utilized a mixture of Canon 5D Mark ll's, Canon T2i's, Arri D Flex kits, and several assorted Canon L Series lenses.

In Post-Production (handled entirely by the very talented, Tim Kotthoff), the H.264 files were immediately backed up to multiple drives and then transcoded to ProRes 422 and ProRes Proxy files. These transcodes were also backed up. The ProRes Proxy files were then all synced in Final Cut Pro 7 and cut/assembled using Multi-Cam within Final Cut. After all of the cuts were approved each of the songs were taken offline from ProRes Proxy and reconnected online to the ProRes 422 transcodes. They were then all color corrected and graded within Color.

We hope that you enjoy it!

 

This project couldn't have gone as smoothly without the following people's dedication and willingness to help:

Tim Kotthoff | Producer, Co-Director, Editor, Colorist

Ryan Walters | Producer, Co-Director, Director of Cinematography

Eric Becker | Camera Operator

Cari Smick | Camera Operator

Gary Winchester | Camera Operator

Michael J. Kraemer | Camera Operator

Eric Witthaus | Camera Operator

Dan Mehrman | Sound Engineer

Big thanks to the band as well!

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Photographer + Cinematographer

 

sara | apple stl

This is Sara Moser. Quick-witted but quiet, you can bet she's always up to something. She's an integral part of the machine that is the Genius Bar at the Apple Store, West County, and she has a fondness for unusual hats. Sara is a pleasure to hang out with and is a talented retouch artist, as well as a photographer. Thanks for FINALLY letting me photograph you! You are awesome!

 

PS-Watch out for those pesky little spiders dropping down from your visor, and if one is to decide to descend on you while in traffic, for God's sake, keep your hands on the wheel!!

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

melissa | apple stl

Melissa Walters. She's a ray of sunshine if ever there was one. At the Apple Store, St. Louis Galleria, she works behind the scenes to keep the Genius team running smooth and ensure customers stay well taken care of. She's also my baby sister, and I love her dearly! Melissa is a lover of natural things, and she possesses a beautiful old soul. Thanks so much for lending me some time to capture your spirit, sis!! I love the happiness in her eyes in this shot!

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

skip | apple stl

This is Bob Kester, aka "Skip".  Bob is one of a kind!  He's an incredible leader and has a charisma that is infectious.  He's one of the classiest fellas I've ever known, and he balances his role as a leader with grace.  Apple is truly blessed to have a man like "Skip", as many of his colleagues affectionately refer to him as.  Carry on. sir.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

chris | apple stl

Chris Huge.  His is a story of strong will and laser focus, but you'll have to ask him about it.  I will say this, though, he's an inspiration to a lot of people.  At the Apple Store, West County, he's a valuable asset to the Genius team, and has become a frequent "go to" guy.  Chris came in with the scarf around his neck, and we worked with it in different ways.  I've always thought he resembled Ewan McGregor, and the beard lent itself well to McGregor's portrayal of Obi Wan Kenobi, so I asked Chris to wrap the scarf around his head and neck, and stare straight through my lens.  Thanks for hanging out and channeling a Jedi Master, man!

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

dionte | apple stl

Dionte Harden.  One of the most genuine guys I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and an incredible asset to the Apple Store, West County.  The more I learn about Dionte, the more I've come to realize he's very much a creative soul.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

mal benz | apple stl

Mallori Benz. What can I say? She's an absolute rock star. Mal defined what it meant to be a Specialist at the Apple Store. She embodied the spirit of the credo like no one I've ever met, and embraced the Apple culture. I felt priviledged to call her a colleague, and I'm honored to call her a friend. You will be missed, Mal.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

chas | apple stl

A Specialist at the Apple Store, West County, and often the life of the conversation, Chas is the kind of guy that can always put a smile on my face. The guy is as good as they get. After seeing some of my recent work, Chas asked me to do a portrait of him in a similar style. I was stoked and jumped at the opportunity. For this shot, we decided the easiest thing to do was photograph him after work. We set up, shot, and tore down in about 30 minutes.

Ryan Walters  |  St. Louis Portrait + Commercial Photographer

icu

These images haunt me. They were captured with my iPhone 4 as I sat in silence with my thoughts. There's an entire series of images resulting from my time spent in hospitals recently, and I thought maybe by sharing them with you, they may begin to relinquish some of their hold on me. I'm considering working through each of them and placing the series in the featured section of the blog. They are, however, very personal to me, so I'm torn...