Everyone that I’ve told of the Barista Competition that isn’t familiar with the coffee industry doesn’t quite understand the gravity of the presentations and the impressive thought and preparation that goes into each one. This year’s presentations involved liquid nitrogen, physics, and even rare and unknown varietals that haven’t even made it to the general market yet. All-in-all, the weekend was filled with new introductions, interesting conversations, brilliant performances, and lots of coffee.

Verve Coffee Roasters sent three of their best coffee professionals to the conference and competition, Lizzy Sampson (who finished third in the Southwest Regionals), Jared Truby (who took first in the SWRBC), and Chris Baca (who didn’t compete in the regionals, but was a welcome surprise nonetheless).

By the end of the competition, Verve came away boasting two of the top 6 baristas in the nation! Jared took 5th and Chris took 3rd. Congratulations to the both of them. I’m proud to say that I know them and support their cafe every day.

The photo was reduced in size to fit this blog width.

About the photographer

Ted Holladay has been a photographer for over 13 years. Located in Santa Cruz, California, he has traveled around the globe to shoot weddings, events and products, from destinations such as South Africa to Mexico. He combines his background in photojournalism, design, and filmmaking with a love for fine-art photography to capture unique and sense-provoking images. Ted has the rare ability to tailor each shoot to individually fit each clients distinct style and showcase timeless moments beautifully. His passion for photography drives him to seek authentic moments and real feelings.

For all impact831 photo sessions, Ted uses a Leica M9, with Voigtlander 35mm – 1.4, and 50mm – 1.1 lenses.

I’ve been taking Digital Media classes out at Cabrillo Community College for a couple of years now. After many hours and many projects, I’m just about to attain my Associate’s Degrees in Web Media and Digital Publishing. I love it! I’ve always been a creative type, and computers are no longer the wave of the future… They are the here and now. It’s a good thing, because it is the perfect marriage for me. I have learned so much from my teachers at Cabrillo and feel extremely confident that they have provided me with the skills to succeed in this endeavor. I know all the software that accompanies digital media (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash). I even have an understanding of hand coding in HTML/XHTML, CSS and PHP. And, what I don’t know, I can easily troubleshoot with my new skills. Not bad for two years.. Now I just need the real life experience. I need to intern! Needless to say, Ted has taken me on as an intern at Studio Holladay (I’m very excited about this). Let the real life experience begin!

I’ve done some pro bono and barter work, so I have a tiny bit of real life experience under my belt. However I can’t help but think that everyone loves your work when it’s free. I’m ready to be sized up, and criticized… I welcome the critique, and anything else that will make me the best Graphic Designer I can be. I am thirsty for real (paying) clients, where I’m sending the work I put together to printers, and dealing with web hosting and SEO issues. But before that, I need to see how other Graphic Designers are doing it. How they’re kicking ass… How they’re making mistakes… How they’re dealing with those mistakes.

Like everyone else, I’ve been an artist all of my life. I however, have always had a great appreciation for it.

I first demonstrated my appreciation for art before I can even remember. My mother tells a story about us driving around San Francisco, and at age 4 I was showing my appreciation for the buildings and their colors. Born in 1985, I was 5 years old when I first began using digital media. The program was called Splash and it ran on floppy disks. I used the programs stock photos of the jungle to create action scenes with Rambo. My past with digital media has also always been well accompanied with a pen, pencil, and paper.

If I had every note page that I have every doodled, I wouldn’t have a place to put it all. I am a doodle machine and most of my time in public education was spent doing so. I have used super fine pens to fill entire notepads with more ink than paper, using only straight lines. Doodling can get me out of any situation, almost like a best friend.

I have always been self motivated with art and digital media, but school has helped me stay focused. It has also helped me share my skills with other people, and learn where they are most suitable. Through a college instructor I was forwarded to my most recent endeavor, an internship at Studio Holladay. I feel I am learning more than could be possible in school because I am working on real world projects, and getting critiques and ideas from very skilled, admirable, professionals.

It don’t earn any money, but it’s worth sacrificing when I am pursuing something I know I love. It is awesome.

I soak up everything that is design. I just can’t help myself. I love what i do. I live what I do. And I’ll probably never retire.

I arrived at studio holladay because I had a desire to collaborate with carefully crafting individuals, with a genuine consciousness, who are inspired and inspire me on a daily basis. And because I refuse to use alarm clocks…Ted and Conrad seem to be cool with that.

My design aesthetics are heavily inspired by traditional print design and a deep love for typography.

A few my favorite sites to get the creative juices flowing are:

ffffound.com

lostworldsfairs.com

trendland.net

Throughout the next few hundred years, the art of cutting out a silhouette from black card became popular and an style in-and-of itself. Despite the cost of materials, this style caught our attention in our search of what to decorate the walls of our lobby with. Here are the first three of a series that will eventually depict all of us here at Studio Holladay.

There are a number of services out there that are taking advantage of this vastly expanding change online, some charge for a preset selection of typefaces, some offer them freely and I’ve even seen one that allows you to upload your own and will provide you the code for its implementation.

For now, I’m pretty happy with the faces Google provides. There are enough to not get bored with too quickly, but by the inevitable time I do, I’m sure there will be more options out there to explore.

As exciting as this is to a type nerd as I am, as much so—if not even more so—exciting is what I just stumbled upon: http://webtypography.net/toc/. This site is attempting to transcribe Bringhurst’s Elements of Typographic Style into Web-speak; more accurately, css. I will be poring over these pages learning how to even more geek up my website with accurate word-spacing and kerning. Bwa ha ha!

Check out this typographically (and often photographically) inspiring website:
www.grainandgram.com

Leave us more if you have them, we always love checking others’ work out.

Leica M9. I love the camera. When I started the process of researching which new camera system I was going to dive into, I didn’t consider the rangefinder camera. I didn’t know there was a viable digital version that had the quality I was used to with my Nikon D2X.

The reason I wanted to change systems is honestly out of boredom. I had this big camera with big lenses, and it all impressed people. Honestly I think people were more impressed with the size of the D2X than anything else. It’s massive, and has lots of buttons and screens and stuff. Big deal. Honestly I was enamored with all that tech for several years, but it all soon faded. I didn’t take the camera out as much, as it was a hassle just to put a lens on it, and grab a quick snapshot of my kids. I tended to use my iPhone for that stuff. When I got a great shot on the phone, I wished I had the RAW file to edit, and a higher resolution. I keep threatening to shoot a wedding on my iPhone, but no one is going for it yet!

Back to being bored… take a look at the Nikon shots below. It’s massive. It does takes amazing photos for sure. The files felt more like film than other camera I have used in the past. I’ve also had the Canon 1DS, and a Fuji S2Pro. Ergonomically the D2X was better than the others as well. I’m not really sure what Canon is thinking with their buttons, controls, etc on their pro models. Sometimes it just makes no sense at all. I became so fluent with the controls on the Nikon that I felt like I wasn’t really thinking about the art of photography anymore. Yes, I was able to focus on what I was composing more, but I was not as close to the art of the shot as I wanted to be. Even when I shot 99% of the time in manual. I can’t tell you how many times I would just put the camera down on the ground or by my hip and hit the shutter button to take random “hip-shots” and get great results. Meh. If I can do that, then anyone can.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bored with photography. I was bored with my equipment. Everyone has access to such great photo gear now. In fact when I’m shooting a wedding, it is so funny seeing how many other people have cameras (dslr’s, cameras, etc.) shooting the wedding. Weddings are so over-documented today by at least 30-40 people at each wedding I’ve been to. Many times I have to tell the couple or groups I am photographing to “look over here at my camera!” In times past, you would be lucky to have one or two friends with a camera to help photograph your wedding day. Where does this leave me? I feel I have a great eye for photography, and capturing candid moments unlike most others who do what I do. What is my next step?

The Leica M9 was my next step. I can’t explain fully how it has changed how I shoot, but it has. Everything about this camera is just lovely. The camera itself, the files it produces, the various lenses that are available (more on this later), the size, the weight of it, etc. There is something special about holding this camera that makes one feel differently about taking pictures.

Every single photo I take is now more calculated, and manually exposed, framed and focused. Some might say “well, you can do that with your Nikon”, but the truth is that it really is different with a rangefinder. Maybe it’s the physical metal knobs. Or the way you focus with a rangefinder. Or the size. Or it’s the gorgeous lenses. I honestly think it’s all these things and more.

I photographed my first wedding with the Leica M9 two days ago, and absolutely loved the experience and how the photos turned out. I have less shots to review, as each photo I took was extremely calculated. With the Nikon I had a bunch of photos that we out of focus, even though I knew I was on target with the auto-focus system. I remember every single photo I took, and almost remember the exact settings I used and which lens I used, and I shot over 2000 photos for this wedding.

Regarding lenses, I have two that I mostly use. They are both by Voigtlander, and I absolutely love them. I haven’t actually used a Leica lens yet, and can’t imagine anything better than what I have. I have a 50mm – 1.1, and a 35mm – 1.4. In low-light they are stunning. With a rangefinder I am able to focus so much quicker manually, than with the Nikon auto-focus system.

I bought the Leica SF 24D flash before this wedding, pulled it out for 5 minutes, and promptly put it back in my bag. I’m not a fan of flash, and with these lenses I wasn’t missing anything. Take a look at this unprocessed image, and how I converted it. The room was dark, but I was able to capture what I knew I wanted when I went to edit. Shot on the 50mm – 1.1, at 1.7, 180/second, ISO 160.

I have another wedding to shoot this weekend on Saturday that I am so excited for. She is a friend, a wedding coordinator and it’s at a beautiful winery. I will post photos this Sunday after editing. Please come back and take a look, as I look forward to your comments.

Email me if you want to chat more about shooting a wedding with the Leica M9… I think it’s one of the best tools around, for the style I shoot in. Editorial. Candid. Up close and personal.