kevin burg – Ann Street Studio

St. Regis New York

August 24, 2015June 2, 2016Posted in Lifestyle, TravelTagged date, date night, datenight, hartmann, hartmann luggage, hospitality, hotel, jamie beck, kevin burg, king cole, king cole bar, kingcole, lifestyle, midtown, new york, personal-favorite-hotel, st regis, st. regis new york, staycation, stregis, stregisnewyork, stregisny, travel9 Comments

Oh the glamorous St. Regis New York hotel. I seem to always find myself here if it’s for a photoshoot, to film a video, attend a midnight supper, watch a New York Fashion Week designer shows, or meet a client at the King Cole Bar for cocktails. Nestled in the heart of Manhattan its unyielding standard of elegance, history, and hospitality make it the perfect place to find yourself for any reason. Having just finished a new redesign throughout the hotel the property feels contemporary and fresh without loosing the formality synonymous with its name.

When Kevin and I wrapped a very intense shoot out in L.A. last week for Volvo we decided to carve out some R&R time, and take a moment to celebrate how far we have come and what we have survived (cough, 3AM call times three days in a row). Since I went for days shooting outside with no makeup, dirty from crawling on the ground and sweaty from standing in the sun, I wanted full fledged romance with crystal chandeliers, red lipstick and high heels.

So we had a little staycation at the St. Regis New York with champagne and oysters, fine dining and dessert followed by sleeping late and lazy morning baths. It was heaven and for a moment, high atop a building in Midtown Manhattan, we felt like two kids drunk in love lost in a beautiful castle in the sky.

Above, Kevin wears his new Ralph Lauren suit as we arrive to the St. Regis with our Hartmann Tweed weekender. Below, I wear a Ralph Lauren white boatneck summer dress and Elie Tahari heels. Continue reading “St. Regis New York” →

Behind the Scenes at SAB

March 17, 2015March 19, 2015Posted in Lifestyle, New YorkTagged ann street studio, annstreetstudio, ballerina, ballerinas, ballet, behind the scenes, behindthescenes, black and white, diana olga, dianaolga, jamie beck, kevin burg, Lincoln Center, SAB, school of american ballet6 Comments

Last week was a really exciting one for us both creatively and culturally. The past month we have been working feverishly on a series of cinemagraphs we made with the School of American Ballet we shot back in February. It’s always been a dream of mine to shoot ballerinas as I so admire their lines, pose, discipline and beauty of dance. As you saw, the cinemagraphs were displayed in the David H. Koch theater of Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House. These cinemagraph portraits showed the art of ballet caught at it’s best eternally. The perfect pose, spin, point, there to study and be inspired by its beauty. In addition to the cinemagraphs, on this day we also shot the staged dance sequences for the video.

Just to give you some behind the scenes at SAB’s shoot, we kept the setup pretty simple. The inspiration was based on Eadweard Muybridge’s studies in motion from the history of photography. We wanted to study the ballerina, the form, the movement and motion. We decided to put them on two 12×12 Solid black backdrops and asked the dancers to wear all white. With two large Arri M18 HMI lights we pointed up bouncing the light off the white ceiling illuminating the dancers from above going for an effect of a large skylight for a classic and natural feeling. After tapping down a black rubber floor, the stage was set.

We shot six of SAB’s students in one of their dance studios at Lincoln Center. One of the great things about SAB is how they use live piano players, which we had for our shoot, and hire the most passionate teachers. On this day we worked closely with Suki Schorer who directed the dancers throughout the shoot and tweaked their hands or feet positions with every shot.

It was such a joy to create around a thing of incredible beauty like in ballet. After every dance sequence I would applaud and smile from sheer joy… until Suki told me to stop clapping because that tells the piano player to stop playing and nobody wants that.

Here is a peek behind the scenes shot by our assistant Diana Ola~

Continue reading “Behind the Scenes at SAB” →

School of American Ballet

March 10, 2015March 12, 2015Posted in LifestyleTagged ball, david h koch theater, event, gala, jamie beck, kevin burg, Lincoln Center, LincolnCenter, party, SAB, school of american ballet, schoolofamericanballet11 Comments

Last night was the School of American Ballet‘s Winter Ball in the David H. Koch theater of Lincoln Center. It was a very special night for Kevin and I as for the past couple of months we have been working closely with the team at SAB making a series of ballet cinemagraphs as well as a short film on the lives of SAB students to be shown here on this evening to the distinguished guests that donated / raised over a million dollars last night to aid in the scholarships that allow less fortunate students full of talent to attend this world class school.

It’s not often we get to experience our work “out in the world” or be present when someone sees it for the first time. It was a thrill! Walking into the gallery under dancing cinemagraphs delighting the guests in perfect poise and flawless execution was so charming and I felt, as I sat there, very respectful the discipline and study of dance. It was a great honor to be in the professional position to donate our time and talent to support something we greatly believe in, the arts, and to which we relate as far as the student experience is concerned- coming to New York with a dream and a whole lot of passion.

So honored to wear this gorgeous Ralph Lauren silk gown, diamond earrings by the event’s main sponsor Van Cleef & Arpels and a clutch by the the Winter Ball’s event co-chair Amanda Brotman from her evening bag line Amanda Pearl

(remember the last time I wore a Ralph Lauren gown in Paris…)

Continue reading “School of American Ballet” →

A Cinemagraph Journey

February 10, 2015Posted in CinemagraphsTagged ad week, adweek, ann street studio, annstreetstudio, cinemagraph, cinemagraphs, jamie beck, kevin burg, portfolio, press, work10 Comments

Today we got some good press… As I woke up to friends tweeting and texting me I hesitantly went to read the article. I’ll be honest, reading about your work from someone else’s perspective is always terrifying. Do they get it? Do they even like it? Are we on the right path, saying the right things? Sometimes, when you are “in it” its hard to see the bigger picture. I read this article and looked back on this crazy cinemagraph journey that started 5 years ago and I have to say, an overwhelming feeling of pride and love came over me. I love my work, I love that I get to do what I love as work, and I feel so, so, very lucky that people like it. That there is a digital audience to even see it and if we do a good enough job at reaching an emotional string- share it with their own networks.

Last summer I read a book about Edward Weston where he said in 1930:

“If this could happen- a beautifully printed book of my work- it would ‘make’ me. And the wider distribution of my work, -knowing that it was being seen by hundreds or thousands, instead of the handful who come in here, would have a fine, strengthening effect upon me.”

With digital art the internet is our book and the fact that millions of people have seen some of our cinemagraphs from around the world gives me some sort of greater fulfillment even if they don’t know our name. To share images that tell a story of the times, that can take you to a place, that can remind you of the way something feels or even maybe dream a little is a my own dream job. As a photographer, don’t you want as many people as possible to see, share and respond to your work? I know Weston did and I know I do too.

Sometimes people have certain connotations about commercial work or commissioned work by brands with artists. I actually love working with brands. Understanding their message, finding how I fit into their world, what it is about their idea or product that inspires me into resonating a vision in my mind. Telling brand stories is a creative challenge and finding the balance between you-pay-me-to-work and I-make-something-meaningful-as-an-artist is always a struggle, but the one thing I will not sacrifice. That makes it possible when stepping back and looking at 5 years of work to feel proud of what you made because it came from your heart. Of course, not everything we do is commissioned by brands such as the examples in the article, sometimes we catch it blowing by in a moment in time or glimpses into our own life.

So we hope to continue to fill your feeds with beautiful cinemagraphs to the best of our ability. We hope to spend our life giving you something you want to look at for as long as possible.

Thank you for the support.

Scotch in the Snow

January 27, 2015February 20, 2015Posted in LifestyleTagged chester, chester New York, day trip, Getaway, Glenemere, glenlivet, glenlivet 18, glenmere mansion, glenmeremansion, jamie beck, kevin burg, lifestyle, pent house, penthouse, personal, scotch, snow, The Glenlivet, the glenlivet 18, theglenlivet, vacation, valentine's day, valentinesday, weekend getaway, weekendgetaway, whiskey, winter17 Comments

Valentine’s Day always falls in the middle of New York Fashion Week which means for the past 4 years we have been working non-stop and unable to have a proper romantic date.. that is until this year. Kevin surprised me last weekend by clearing my work schedule and whisking me away to Glenmere Mansion, originally built in 1911 as a home for Robert Goelet, for an “early” Valentine’s Day celebration.

We have recently been learning about the world of Scotch. I love the simplicity of a single pour drink if it’s at our studio in New York, or on a weekend getaway, so I don’t have to think about mixers and recipes. I’ll never forget the first time I tried Scotch- it was on our honeymoon on Safari in South Africa. We arose before the sun and had a quick breakfast before hoping in the jeeps- on the breakfast bar, oatmeal with a topping of scotch. What?! I mean.. this blows the “before noon” rule right out of the water. Come to find out, it was a delicious tradition and on those very cold sleepy mornings, just the right thing to warm you up ever so.

Fast forward a few years and we have been slowly learning and enjoying the lessons in scotch. We recently did an amazing flight taste tasting with our friends from The Glenlivet at Highlands, a Scottish experience gastro pub in the West Village. When Kevin was planning this romantic getaway he took inspiration from that evening and bought us a bottle of The Glenlivet 15 which he knows I’d like because of its sweeter notes of almonds and spice. I love it’s distilled in French oak which makes it creamy and rich which I prefer, as a woman, to the other smokier varieties. The best part about gifting and receiving a beautiful scotch if you’re a man or woman is that you get to share it together, what each person individually smells and tastes and untimely make memories wrapped in the beautiful glow of golden honey.

So here we are, at the historic Glenmere Mansion, a place to cradle us away from the noise of the city and to spend the hours snuggled by the fire with the winter air breaking outside as we sip on scotch to keep us warm. This amazing experience was made possible by our friends at The Glenlivet~

“Last year I decided to educate myself about Scotch, something I knew very little about. When I went to the wine shop on our street I asked for some recommendations for where to start, and they suggested The Glenlivet 12 as a starter. Jamie and I both really enjoyed it, and knowing her palate I knew the 15 year would be a great next move.”

Things I’ve learned about The Glenlivet:

The Glenlivet was the original Scotch, supporting an idea we believe in strongly, to be an original.

Why “The” Glenlivet?: The Glenlivet is known for its smooth and elegant whiskies. It was renowned and other distillers copied and took advantage of this fact including copying their name! George Smith’s (the founder) sons and heir went into a lengthy battle to secure the rights to be known as THE GLENLIVET to differentiate it from the copy cats.

All their spirits are created using a natural spring water from the same spring they founded the company with in 1824

This region of Scotch making is known for producing very smooth, easy and soft spirits.

On the rocks or straight up? It’s a personal preference but how they described it to me was that by drinking it room temperature you have a fuller, robust flavor. They likened it to a walk in the forest- the smell of the forest after a freshly fallen snow is more muted as opposed to its natural state, or after a warm rain (adding water).

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Snapshots of Summer

October 22, 2014October 29, 2014Posted in LifestyleTagged B&W, black & white, black and white, country, film, jamie beck, jamiebeck, kevin burg, kevinburg, ocean, photographer, snapshots, snapshots of summer, tri-x, tri-x 4009 Comments

I always have a camera with me, it’s part of fulfilling that need inside to capture the moment: the moment in time, the moment in my life, the way we were that makes me a photographer. I collect photographs in a way of possessing all that is beautiful in the world. If the picture is made, I then have it for always and the stress of the passing moment dissipates, and it is forever with me.

After our Paris trip I took a load of film to the lab collected over the past few months. I love the rediscovery of these moments I photographed, random snapshots of time I had to have live on forever. Oh yes, I remember the feeling of my hair blowing in the wind on the long car rides to Montauk or the way the sun was glowing through the trees in a burst of golden particles on the way to Sag Harbor or how beautifully the boat’s sail danced on a pivot as the rain headed our way. I look at the photographs, like a diary of my life, a fluttering of heartbeats forever trapped in a moment in time.

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Canon PIXMA

August 22, 2014August 26, 2014Posted in LifestyleTagged Canon, Canon PIXMA MG7120 Wireless printer, kevin burg, kevinburg, lifestyle, mg7120, pixma, PIXMA MG7120 White Wireless, print, printer, prints, scanner, wireless12 Comments

Staying connected NOT through social media

While I was away recently in Provence I was traveling without Kevin (horror) due to some client editing deadlines happening back in New York. It’s not often that we are apart considering all the work we create is together and we are married. Recently Canon sent us their new PIXMA MG7120 Wireless Inkjet All-in-One Printer and I thought, now THIS could be a way to make it fun being away from each other. Why? Because it’s in the cloud, which means I could (via their PIXMA Printing Solutions application) send surprise images from my iPhone to print out on photo paper throughout the day showing him what I was up to (translation: what he was missing out on).

It was a really thrilling way to keep in touch and at times felt a sweet and old fashioned, like sending postcards… instantly. When I first started sending him images I would totally ruin the surprise by texting him, “DID YOU GET MY PRINT?!!” so I had to learn to play it cool. Kevin loved waking up in the morning discovering what I had done that day that was not shared online, not on Instagram, and was just between us. When I returned from the south of France he had them all pinned up on the refrigerator and we got to walk through them all one by one, recounting all the moments he missed but could still feel a part of. What do you do to feel connected when you are away from loved ones?…

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Found Paris

May 20, 2014March 29, 2017Posted in TravelTagged 35mm, autumn, B&W, black and white, blackandwhite, cafe de flore, europe, fall, film, france, honeywell pentax, jamie beck, kevin burg, paris, paris2014, pentax, travel, tri-x8 Comments

Last autumn I wandered the streets of Paris with only my old Pentax and some rolls of film…I needed to take a break from digital, take a break from work, but photography never leaves me. I find I can never truly stop creating.

Next to my desk at the studio, I have a file cabinet full of film from all over the world. When doing some reorganizing recently, I came across these images that I had missed when I was telling the story of Paris in fall last year. These images are my memories, so personal, and finding them swept me right back to that place and time, those long walks in the afternoon, and the feeling of watching the sunset on the Seine with a glass of wine. I want to go back to this place again someday, but for now, we will have to relive these moments through images…

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Monkey Love

April 23, 2014April 24, 2014Posted in TravelTagged adventure, amazon, animals, brazil, juma amazon lodge, juma lodge, jumalodge, kelly framel, kevin burg, monkey, monkeys, nature, only in south america, onlyinsouthamerica, rainforest, travel, zach lynd38 Comments

One of the coolest unexpected experiences of the Amazon and our stay at Juma Lodge was meeting these guys. While touring the resort, the guide told us that two monkeys lived in the area, and when they jump on you, it’s important to not be startled, to stay calm and not scream because you wouldn’t want to frighten the monkey. They also told us to keep our doors locked whenever we left the rooms, because the monkeys liked to ‘help themselves’ to your belongings and make a huge mess of it. He also warned that if we hear a “knock” on our door to not open it all the way, to crack it first and make sure it’s not a monkey trying to get in. We all chatted in excitement about all these little tips over dinner and tucked ourselves in for the night hoping we would get to see one of these little guys the next day.

Well… see these monkeys we did. Around 6:30 am the knocks on the door started coming! Just as the guide had warned us, it was monkey time. Up and down the resort they went, waking everybody up. They crawled on us, they cuddled in our arms, they swung from our bodies with their tails, they napped on us in hammocks, and they stole the limes from our cocktails. It was amazing. I’ll never forget napping in the hammock, hearing the pitter-patter of little monkey feet coming and then seeing his head popping over the hammock edge…and in he came to join me. It was a blast.

Monkey love – The female monkey was absolutely 100% head-over-heels in love with our travel companion Zach. Any time he was outside his room she was in his arms. As the trip progressed, the deeper she felt and even started swatting Kelly away to keep him all to herself! He couldn’t move without her attached to him and if he was in his room she’d knock and try the door knob repeatedly!

I love when life gives you these memories you can never plan for, an experience you didn’t know was possible. Such an adventure… just monkeying around.

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HowAboutWe…

March 25, 2014March 26, 2014Posted in LifestyleTagged B&W, black and white, couple, date, dates, dating, film, horseback, horseback riding, horses, how about we, howaboutwe, jamie beck, jamiebeck, kevin burg, kevinburg, romance, romantic, snow, winter3 Comments

It’s that time of year, where were we all desperately want 60 degree days and to see the color green again fill our parks… but alas, here we are, soon the snow will begin falling quietly outside. The mother of a friend taught me something new recently that I have been trying to live by since my recent transformation: “Make it fun”. We all get stuck in situations that are not ideal (like winter) and instead of being negative about it, find a way to make it fun!

A couple of weekends ago Kevin used HowAboutWe for Couples to turn these last few winter days into a fun memory of the season with a romantic snow-covered mountain horseback ride! I’m beside myself with excitement waiting for the next season of Game of Thrones to begin so it was quite fun being a couple hours outside the city in complete silence pretending I was Khaleesi. You know I love horseback riding…I love seeing the world from a slightly higher perspective, watching winter’s angular shadows dance by as if they were the ballerina legs of nature.

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20 Questions

November 19, 2013November 21, 2013Posted in LifestyleTagged 20 questions, FAQ, interview, kevin burg, kevinburg, photography10 Comments

We got such a wonderful response to our original 20 Questions post that we’re continuing it into a series! Thank you again for your curiosity, your kindness, and most of all your support. Hope you enjoy this next round of questions and answers…

1. How did you get to where you are now in your career?

My path has come full circle from where I started. When I was 13 and got my first Mac I started creating digital art and animation, but through school I pursued traditional mediums of art, then graphic design which I did professionally for a few years. My real passion has always been animation so it’s not a surprise that I’m doing that as my career, but the path there wasn’t direct.

2. Where do you find inspiration?

I’m inspired when I see something that gives me a deep visceral feeling that I wished I had created it. I recently felt that with Starshift by Santiago and Mauricio. Inspiration comes in waves, but for me personally it’s not something I can just decide to go do, it happens when it happens and it may be from an art book or the dog eared corner of a subway ad blowing in the breeze. It’s also from free association. (Note: as I was writing this answer on our back patio a butterfly flew by and I caught it in a bell jar, and Jamie and I shot this.)

3. How has your life changed since the Cinemagraph?

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Storyboarding Lincoln

November 13, 2013November 14, 2013Posted in LifestyleTagged behind the scenes, bts, concept car, kevin burg, lifestyle, lincoln, lincoln moto company, lincoln motor co, LMC, pre-production, sketch, storyboard6 Comments

Here at the studio, there’s a lot more that goes on than just the magic of capturing life through camera lenses. The meetings, creative brainstorming, contracts, preproduction, shooting, social media, and post production are stages we are constantly rotating through. This past weekend, we have been preparing for part one of a two day shoot with the latest model from The Lincoln Motor Company, being shown to the press for the first time today. I can’t say exactly what we are up to just yet, and since we usually tell the story of behind the scenes, I thought it would be cool to give you a little glimpse into the details that goes into the PRE-production, before the cameras begin to roll.

Typically on projects where we need to communicate visuals with a client, to tell them how we see the images and story flowing in our heads, Kevin sketches out our ideas scene by scene, in this case, for storyboarding Lincoln. This allows for every moment to be accounted for, every scene to be looked at and studied for prop needs, lighting diagrams, and lens choice in order to achieve the desired effect. These storyboards also provide an organized shot list for the day because when you get going with a million moving pieces and crew it’s easy to forget some of the details you had previously envisioned.

Last year we told the story of Lincoln throughout time and this year we fast forward to modern day… and a whole new world.

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As Time Goes By

August 22, 2012July 29, 2013Posted in LifestyleTagged amy merrick, carlyle, jamie beck, kate murphy, kevin burg, wedding, wedding day110 Comments

High atop the Carlyle Hotel on Mahattan’s UES with sweeping views overlooking Central Park I married my creative partner and best friend Kevin Burg in an intimate ceremony on a perfect summer evening. The pianist filled the room with old jazz standards and so gracefully played As Time Goes By with our first kiss as husband and wife. The sounds of champagne popping and the sweet smell of summer flowers still fill my memory like it was yesterday…

The blessing:

Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness,
for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,
but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead
and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion,
and your days together be good and long upon the earth.

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