Imstepf Films sets roof on FIRE~

What's a happening on set? Well I tell you chums. Things are on fire at the moment on set. Pyro maniac is the key descriptor here people. Our film department is playing with matches again. We love flames, so why not put them on the reel? We're burning everything under the sun to see what it looks like in the lens. Exciting isn't it? Well flames are so luscious, fiery, they are wild too!
Flames are always changing, so not one image is the same. Stay tuned for the some results!

Film department on FIRE~

FIRE the Noun: Fire, flame, burning things, heat, hot, sexy, bright light, smoke , combustion, collection of fuel, fervent passionate emotion, enthusiasm, luminosity, glow, criticism, antagonism, discharge, explosively propel, informal dismiss, undergo ignition, stimulate or excite.

FIRE the PHRASES:
breathe fire be extremely angry : I don't want an indignant boyfriend on my doorstep breathing fire.
catch fire begin to burn. • figurative become interesting or exciting : the show never caught fire.
fire and brimstone the torments of hell : his father was preaching fire and brimstone sermons.
fire away informal used to give someone permission to begin speaking, typically to ask questions : “I want to clear up some questions that have been puzzling me.” “Fire away.”
fire in the (or one's) belly a powerful sense of ambition or determination.
firing on all ( four) cylinders working or functioning at a peak level.
go through fire ( and water) face any peril.
light a fire under someone stimulate someone to work or act more quickly or enthusiastically.
on fire in flames; burning. • in a state of excitement : Wright is now on fire with confidence.

play with fire
set fire to (or set something on fire) cause to burn; ignite.
set the world (or Brit. the Thames) on fire do something remarkable or sensational : the film hasn't exactly set the world on fire.
Brit. take fire start to burn.
under fire being shot at : observers sent to look for the men came under heavy fire. • being rigorously criticized : the president was under fire from all sides.
where's the fire? informal used to ask someone why they are in such a hurry or state of excitement. What the FIRE do we know about fire?

Flaming Vegetables

We hit the ground running and felt a thunder shower of desire storm the set with the idea of firing up the burners to shoot up some flames... there are some amazing spots out there. Main stream stuff the the red lobster, apple bees, places like this always throw in a flam shot of flying veg or protein.. heck flame shish kabobs look sexy. We tried the veggie version.. and blasted our way through plenty of butane. Had a party doing it. We have snippets of it on the IMSTEPF film blog. If you try this at home.. be prepared for mess.. need lots of tarp to cover floors an equipment. Its action food land.

Love Pretty Food Blog goes Macrobiotic

Love Pretty Food Bloggers are plugging along in Culver City. Tasting and sampling abound for the Summer Lunches series. Focusing on healthy; reasonably priced and pretty. M Chaya De Chaya was our last stofoff. Sounds too tofu- ISH for me but they have choices on their menu, which are not solely fish or tofu products. One question ..?? is anything prepared to order? I mean it's a bunch of prepared foods sitting in the case on display.

Ford's Filling Station

Ford's Filling Station

It's not everyday we get taken out to lunch by a client and eat in a place where we have been wanting to do our food blog killing two birds with one stone.
So, we met with chef Ben Ford for a promotional campaigning he is doing with our client Dole, had some great food and dined with clients and friends.
It was dine LA Week and Chef Ford had a brilliant selection to choose from.
I had the Sturgeon Confit, which was brilliant with toasted crisp and seasoned bread. Fish and Chips which is one of the favs there and A Porchetta Sandwich which had ham and Caramelized onions grilled in a flat bread. Quite nice.
And of course, the desserts. cream puffs and Butterscotch pudding. what can I say, they were both good nothing was left over.

Ford’s Filling Station

www.fordsfillingstation.net

9531 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 202-1470

Huerta Quorum Advertising

Wow it's been almost three years that we started initiating contact with Huerta Quorum, Glendale. Just recently we made live contact. It was the end of last season. We got a call from lead Creative Director Barbara Cocks to do some work for a fruit company doing consumer print advertising. What was more surprising is that HQ wanted a live meeting to discuss details of the shoot, so that we could create an estimate.

What a tickling feeling to realize that all the emails, and phone calls and postcards might have finally reached a live art director. This kind of effort doesn't always come back around. Cheers to persistence and consistency!!

WE Welcome HQ and Barbara Cocks. We are happy to expand the IMSTEPF studios clan to encompass Barbara Cocks and the HQ crew. IMSTEPF studios and Huerta Quorum is match made in the City of Angels. WE are a union of like-minded foodies congregating in the midst of concepts; words; textures; colors; and lines. These lines converge to catapult images and products onto the earths visual landscape. WE create to inform, educate, guide and connect. Cheers to 2009 and to bringing ones prosperity— and return bringing prosperity to all!

Huerta Quorum Advertising
801 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 230
Glendale, CA 91203
818 243-6800 ext. 108
FAX 818 243-7626

http://huertaquorum.com/

Evan Saunders Joins IMSTEPF team!

Newsflash++++++++++++++++++++++
Welcome to the IMSTEPF crew Evan Saunders … Intern extraordinaire!! Last week was Evan’s introduction to the studio.. and we are so pleased to have him on set. We love, like, appreciate, we are into his wholesome Pennsylvania vibe. Evan is a superb team player and a shining soul– as in sparkly, strong, sweet, super duper cool. What a treat to have him reorganize the prop shop, like having grandma bake brownies for the weekend. He’s a machine, a well maintained, in check up to date mechanism!! Excellent Attention to detail, he is focused, clear and efficient with time. This makes Evan an ideal match for the IMSTEPF crew. We think he will gel with the IMSTEPF standards of high quality in pursuit of maximum efficiency with minimum output.We WILL provide more updates on Evans progress as the events unfold. Your fans at IMSTEPF studios!

FOTO & ART PROJX: Angela Krass

Working fastidiously in what can be an infinite vacuum and sort of bottomless pit is tricky. At times marketing is overwhelmingly void of validation, understanding, recognition, or reward. Tossing rocks into the abyss to test how close we are to gaining the affection of the next art director is at times the only way to know anything about the unknowns of marketing and assignment shooting.

Marketing food photography can feel imprecise. The unknown, the unpredictable, and the unseen can be agonizing. Great anticipation and expectation precipitate eager wanting for the results of the last e-mailer to return; or the last blitz of postcards to yield droves of phone calls from art directors, art buyers and creative directors. Our ears hunger for the expected... hey there, I got a job I need you to shoot; send me over an estimate.

Having a meeting with Ms. Angela Krass of FOTO & ART PROJX sobered us to a few basics. We were reminded that good things come with effort, consistency, hardwork, and discipline. It sounds so boring and square doesn't it? Most decisive in our time with the divine Angela Krass alerted us to the vital importance of reinforcing the internal reserve of inner validation. This inner validation is a sort of recognition that lives in the heart, mind, body and of course, the spirit. These areas of existence get easily shuffled aside when it comes to business.

But just a few weeks ago, we got a call from a new client we'd being pursuing via mail, email, and occasional phone calls… for 3 years. Instant gratification happens but it's not a permanent fixture in the world of assignment photography. The internal reserve of private validation is the one constant you can count on.

Angela spent a generous portion of time sharing her experience, insight, understanding of photography, the business of photography; the art of photography, and the significance of creating compelling imagery that speaks to its viewers with passion, emotion, and soulful connection.

As we brought our meeting to a close with Angela Krass we both felt such an elated and comforted state of mind that we didn't want to let Angela go. We wanted to keep her in our hands to nurture us, validate us.. Encourage us, pat us on the backs, and shout good job team!!

We were reminded to get out of the studio mentally and to solicit outside voices from professional peers, critics, consultants and others of the like to initiate dialogue about the work. We also realized how starved we were feeling for validation. Oops did I say the V word~~ ?

Community, connection, interdependence is the wave of now. It's also a tool which dilutes a desperado need to validate ones work. We often talk about forming a local group to rap about assignment photography share work, have portfolio dialogues and critiques.

Angela's presence reminded us of the significance of having our peers critique the work we produce.
Reflecting on our a-z list we concluded we are kicking some noble booty on all borders from intangible marketing, electronic mailers, Search Engine Optimizing, networking in person and on the phone, shooting for the book, stock, optimizing the roadmap, the mission statement, yadda yadaa.. the list continues.

In the presence of an angel like Angela Krass we remind ourselves to shoot the things we love, the way we like to see it, in the light that speaks life, love and truth. Because we are photographers we can do anything. We bow to Angela Krass of FOTO & ART PRJX for connecting with the IMSTEPF team.

connect with FOTO & ART PROJX ANGELA KRASS

Our Food Family

Our friends and family, like a spice cabinet, add eclectic depth and width to our visual palatte. Shiva, our food photography mascot, eats what we can't.

OCE Business Services

These professional copy machine masters call it document process management and performance. The studio needed an economical way to replace the dinosaur copier machine that was going on the kaput really fast.. rapido fast… Parts are becoming obsolete for our current copy machine. When parts become obsolete then its inevitable IMSTEPF studios must move onward and upward for improved technoolgy. There comes a time when technology wins in the techno centered mindset. Production requires deadlines and pressurized pronto mentality I want it all.. I want it now.

So, here's the story: we called Peter Milczus at OCE business services. Peter is the man of the hour at world famous IMSTEPF studios. Peter Milczus was our hero and still is. He's a tall Nordic Viking Manly Man who likes coffee and good food. Peter Milczus won over the IMSTEPF heart and mind instantly. First because he responded immediately. Second, because he didn't waste any time. In a pinch Master Milczus's efficiently presented IMSTEPF studios 3 solutions. He came out and did the OCE song and dance in mini version in our production office. We signed up for a pretty black machine the following week.

Bottom-line — we needed a machine that could match our current output to do proofs in the high quality. WHAT We needed was practical price and no cash upfront. WE got everything we wanted. If the machine ever as so much as burps.. OCE sends out a tech to fix the mega mogul of an all in one machine of Copier, fax, printer, email functions and the kitchen sink. OCE fixes the machine at no cost for anything FREE, gratis.. no cost to US. We have a monthly lease. We pay a few cents for every color copy and less for black and white. It's like having the water and power folks out to read meter and invoice us later. We gave a canon 6016 away on craigslist. The old phaser 780 by Xerox is FOR SALE! The fax machine is on the way out too. Thanks to the OCE mammas, pappas and our MAN Peter Milczus.

Our spectrum of managed solutions spans the document lifecycle including print/copy, mail services, business performance management, records management and eDiscovery. Our Records, Compliance and Legal Solutions division is one of the most experienced providers of eDiscovery, paper discovery, forensics and web-based review services for complex litigation and regulatory compliance matters. © Business Services’ integrated capabilities serve enterprise-wide requirements with advanced technology, people and processes. By enabling organizations to manage and control document assets, we help reduce costs, increase efficiency, mitigate risk and introduce innovation.

http://www.obs-innovation.com/about.aspx

Peter Milczus
Branch Manager, Los Angeles
© North America Business Services
Document Printing Systems
1055 W. 7th Street
Suite 1600
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213-337-4413 – office
213-337-4394 – Fax
peter.milczus@oce.com

The Studio

We inhabit a state-of-the-art food photography studio which includes a high-end kitchen that we use morning, noon and night. We provide creative photography for advertising. We choose food photography because we appreciate food down to our toes. The food subject is nourishing, sensual, and gorgeous. It feeds our families, friends and our souls. Not to mention our clients, their bank accounts and then ourselves and in that order. In short, Food Photography is one of best places to be. We take pleasure in creating food photography.

The Photo Biz stuff…

IMSTEPF studios is plugging along tenaciously nurturing its 2009 fans and clients. Wow Wee!! Yes we acknowledge there a bit of a glitch in our national economy, which affect everyone big and small. However we'd like to remind ourselves and you out there to remember it's not the events that shape your destiny. It's the meaning you attach to those events that shape your life.