Dialogic

I'm back, baby. Welcome to my mind.  I'm here for you. Together we will make this great. Le't start the conversation. 

Coming back from a shoot, I reflect on the creative process and its importance during times of existential dread and uncertainty.

Quick update on the status of the pod and some future designs.

I'm addicted to wildlife photography. It's just too much fun when you come across a Blue Heron hunting. Here's a story from yesterday's hike... Enjoy! Here's a link to the blog with photos: https://jakejthomasphoto.com/2020/03/30/heron-addict/

Some thoughts and strategies for how to crush this challenging time. 1. Practice breathing. Choose a breathing exercise and practice it for four minutes four times a day. Use this exercise to help calm yourself and to check in with your breathing ability. The benefits of oxygenating your body through deliberate breathing are not to be underestimated. 2. Track your hydration. Choose a drinking vessel and decide how many of them you are going to drink during the day. Water is cleansing to the body and will help you to keep your system functioning optimally. 3. Clean aggressively. This is a battle against a virus that can be won with hot water and soap. This is the ultimate Spring Cleaning challenge. The more you clean, the better you will feel. It's the one most effective thing we can do. Don't just wash your hands. Wash all of your shit. Soap and water the fuck out of your life right now. 4. Design your menu. Food is such an important source of comfort, sustenance, and vitality right now. Good food is one of the best ways to protect your spirit and your bodily health. How do we avoid the temptations of sweets during this time? For one thing, it is a matter of understanding the basics of nutrition. Sugar is basically harmless if consumed during a period of exercise when the body needs fuel. If you eat a bunch of ice cream and sit around watching Netflix it is going to do much different things than if you eat a bunch of donuts during the middle of a 16-mile hike. If we get smart about food, we can eat lots of pleasurable things and still hit our nutritional goals and not gain a bunch of weight. Now is the time to get smart about food and to treat it as an art. 5. Exercise your heart. Cardiovascular exercise is super important during this time. The best form of exercise right now is walking. If you walk for a few hours a day, you will be giving yourself the opportunity to rejuvenate and recharge your system. 6. Work your networks. Communication is super important during these times. Not only do we need to stay in touch with family and friends, but we need to keep open lines of communication with our professional colleagues, our business partners and our clients or leads. Choosing a number of people to connect with every day ( I chose 5) and checking it off will create an accountability loop.  7. Limit social media. Until people start using journals to vent their anger and fear, it's probably a good idea to be very careful about how much social media you consume. Social media is an important tool to use during this time, but it is also a very easy distraction and waste of time. Take a look at your screen time. Imagine if you had spent that amount of time cleaning and exercising. We should use social media for networking and for entertainment, but not all day every day. 8. Choose love and play. There is nothing more motivating and powerful than the feelings of love and the effects of play. These are not trivial things, but essential to our functioning as humans. What do you love to do? Who do you love? What do you want to share? How do you find a lighthearted sense of play?  These are challenging times, but we have the tools we need to emerge. Of course, the number one thing we need to be doing, so obvious that I didn't even add it as a pillar, is to stay home and to keep a physical distance from people you are not already exposed to on a regular basis. The first and most important way to defeat the virus is through not allowing it to spread. So, we stay home, clean that fucker and get our minds and bodies right for when it is time to go HAM again. 

We are down to essential services and that means that we need to get serious. People are having a hard time adjusting to this new reality and I want to help. I have three main ideas right now: 1. Get a journal to vent your emotions. Don't do that on social media. We need that space for important communications. 2. Be solution-based. Do not waste time thinking about things that you cannot change. Figure out what you can do and do more of it. 3. Make it simple for the kids. We have a responsibility to engineer this transition as safely as possible for the young ones. That's it for now. Keep the lines of communication open and clear, focus on solutions not complaints, take extra care to be good to the littles.

We are on lockdown, sheltering in place and we don't know where our food is going to come from or how long this is going to continue. A full half of the United States is about to be in full blown crisis mode. I'm strongly suggesting that the way to ground this transition is by sending citizens rations and making the food supply chain transparent. This is a time to stick together even though lots of people are probably going to have a hard time doing so.

Some thoughts on the start of this scary and strange new world we have entered...

I check in about the recent changes to the Dialogic podcast and explain the invention of Wilder Creatives.

We discuss our experiences with vlogging and the benefits to doing so. Jake talks about the different techniques photographers use in looking back at and editing their photo’s. We discuss the difference between discovering someone and their content on Youtube VS Instagram. We talk about Vanessa Beecroft, her upbringing, past art work and current. Jake speaks about the experience one can have with a painting. We talk about the change and improvement in digital media. We talk about audience and their content appetite. Why do we get into unsustainable situations? How do we get into a more sustainable lifestyle? Links : https://www.instagram.com/rachaeltalibart/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/madisonmariemodels/ https://www.instagram.com/wildercreatives/ https://www.instagram.com/jakejthomasphoto/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN6YCiiqJUctYtOFNPAwetw

We discuss our first night hike up to the UCSC library.  We also discuss a recent photo of the Wolf Moon rising over the Boardwalk Jake posted that got some traction.  We talk about adapting to a schedule change and coming up with studio lighting and a Portraiture Project. Our links: https://www.instagram.com/madisonmariemodels/ https://www.instagram.com/wildercreatives/ https://www.instagram.com/jakejthomasphoto/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN6YCiiqJUctYtOFNPAwetw

Returning to research, we hatch a sustainable plan of doing night hikes up to UCSC’s library. Instead of learning about styles and techniques we want to learn about the people, the leaders of the art world, art history, the tradition we are participating in. The problem with using research for pose ideas is that it feels more natural when you create the pose, organically. (Having maybe some ideas/ inspirations in your head) We discuss the difference between working organically and intuitively in creating work VS trying to produce work based on a certain style or even sometimes after a specific photograph. We decided imitating other people’s styles or photographs feels less interesting than coming up with our own organically. One of the values of doing research is that you become proactive about what you are consuming in terms of culture. You dove deeply into a subject and have more control over how what you see which will affect what you do creatively, it’s like a visual diet. Becoming smart about what you chose to see will affect your creative output, just like being smart about the foods you eat will effect your performance. Research and exposing yourself to art history is going to give you the benefits of having really rich influences, it’s like choosing your inheritance. You’re adding to your mind, it’s like adding decoration to your home, it’s beautiful and thought provoking. It’s been done. It is not smart to “shoot in the dark.” Asking why you like something will lead to a deeper understanding of yourself. Often times we don’t see artist - we see the only the art. Researching sustainability: researching sustainably. Sustainable execution. Think Local, think organic. Old model of cover shoots included huge energy costs in production. The reason for high production value of old school photo shoots is to eliminate the competition through production costs. In order to keep the bar high in a sustainable manner new techniques for increasing the production value will need to be invented. The new goal is high value low carbon cost. A ‘low carb-on diet’ We discuss the idea of an artist needing to create a body of work. What does it mean to choose what you want to leave behind as a legacy, as an artist?

We discuss our terrifying hike through the rabid cougar center of our minds. Sitting in a car eating cookies we plan future shoots and shoot the breeze.

We start by talking about how to brand yourself authentically as a creative. Then we introduce our listeners to  Wilder Creatives. Jake talks about the scheduling of golden hour and the difficulties behind doing so.  We discuss the following: Wilder Creatives, who we are, how we started, our purpose, our origin story and the mission of our brand How important scouting for light is and why we prioritize finding good natural light Our Vlogging Wilder YouTube series where we take you behind the scenes on our shoots. Food as an art form and as content for marketing Lack of healthy options for fast food early in the morning How important laughing can be Different kinds of laughter 1st Wilder Creatives project and more...

We discuss why we love Hip Hop. Madison explains how the music moves her and Jake dives into an explanation of the Greek concept of catharsis.  Then, we are rudely interrupted by a less than civil citizen and we left that part in for you to hear. Haha what a tool. What follows is a conversation about apologizing. When is it good to apologize? When is it a bad habit. What is a real apology? What do apologies do? We get super philosophical about saying I'm sorry. #sorrynotsorry  We hope you have a badass and unapologetic start to 2020. 

We discuss a Ted Talk given by Cameron Russel, entitled: "Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model." How does the way a person looks affect the way you think about them? How do you use personal style to control the way you are perceived? What does it mean to be a model, today? Do you have to be represented by an agency? What about Instagram Influencers? Do they count as models? Where do you draw a line around what it means to be a model in the age of social media. What matters more? Looks or confidence? Russel talks about having won a "genetic lottery" and explains how she feels about being a beneficiary of a legacy of valuing a certain aesthetic. Can anyone be a model? What does it take?  A model is an important part of a creative team that makes marketing materials for businesses. When we respect the work that a model does, when we focus on what they bring to the task of making compelling fashion photography, when we start to think about a model as an artist instead of just an attractive body, then we will start to crack open the narrow halls of conventional marketing to create a more interesting world full of diversity and fun. All kinds of different people are sexy and cool and when we begin to change our minds about beauty, fashion and art, then we will inherit a richer world.

What is an artist's job?  How do artists build up their credibility through their work? What does self-compassion look like? How is it different than self-pity? Self criticism or self love? When do you choose to improve or soothe? How do you track your progress as an artist? Do you have certain goals that help you to keep things moving forward? 

In this episode, we discuss coping mechanisms and how to maintain your sanity during the holiday rush.  We read this article, HERE: https://positivepsychology.com/coping/ and found it to have lots of helpful insights. How do you deal with the stresses that come from the demands of the end of the year. Thanks for listening!

So when we get drops eventually, I think Highway to the Danger Zone has gotta be one of them. Sings… Highway to the DANGER ZONE We could just pull that out pitch perfect That was so funny. Hello friends this is Jake J. Thomas Photo And Madison Marie Models with another episode of the Dialogic Podcast Welcome back. Thanks for listening. Just going through some of the photos since we last recorded a few days ago. The day to not be disclosed. We looked at one of the photos and it reminded us of this hike we took, you know our hike we’ve been talking about Our morning hike This time, I researched the map a little bit ahead of time and we took an alternative route and it led us up to this insane cliff. Oh right. Remember that? That was before the beautiful enchantment. Yes I do remember that. Yeah, we were walking and walking and all of the sudden… you could see there’s a canyon because you could see the tree line of a ridge kind of far away, but what you didn’t see is that as you approach the edge of the cliff you kind of expect it to be a hill that’ll taper down a little bit. It’ll drop off a bit. A little drop off. Even if it’s a cliff it’s gonna have little ledges, but as you get closer you see nothing. Nada. You see zero, you see zilch, which means it’s either straight down or carved into the hillside. Es no Buenos As you’re standing there, it’s very far down. It is. It terrified us, honestly. As soon as we saw and realied and recognized we said respect we gon go--we’re gonna go ahead and go right back onto the trail. Yes, we left the edge. We turned around and left the edge. And then it made us think about like movies, scenes action scenes. We choreographed this whole action sequence, the different shots, the different angles, how it would follow you up like if you were running up the trail up to that all the sudden you get up there and it stops and then it shows you from across duh duh duh and you see how far the cliff is and then it’s from above you and it shows you balancing there on the edge whoa and so anyone out there who wants to fund a little independent movie, we have the setting for you. We sure do. We already choreographed the whole thing. But, so we followed the cliff edge safely on the trail about ten feet away from the edge until we came to this part of the trail where there was this not to be named loop that we were either going to take or not, but the beginning of the trail had all of these signs that said danger. Danger Zone. There’s the Danger Zone.

Hello friends welcome to another episode of the Dialogic Podcast. It’s Madison Marie Models and Jake J. Thomas Photo comin’ atcha! It’s Sunday night here, and that doesn’t matter cause it’s Tuesday morning I love it You know what you could be listening to this on a Friday. You could be listening to this on an alien spacecraft. We don’t know where these things are going. No clue. We do hope you enjoy. Hopefully you enjoy it, aliens. Come to earth and be nice, it’s fun. We love you. She just made a sign at the audio recorder. I know, I love when I do this. I’ve done this a few times. There’s no video. No. But, I can see her in the reflection of these sunglasses. I look a little alien in these sunglasses. A little. Ok, moving on. In this podcast, Madison and Jake recount a day of hiking to a waterfall scouting locations for an upcoming shoot. With all the rain, their trip into the forest has some seriously exciting moments. Thanks for listening!