For the past decade, Uncage the Soul Productions has been hosting Photo of the Year, a photography contest and fundraising benefit for a local Outdoor School program. And in our 10th anniversary contest we received exactly 1,300 photo entries! Thank you to everyone who submitted their photographs!
Over the weekend our esteemed panel of judges sifted through each and every one of those 1,300 entries and chose their favorite Top 100 photos and their top 10 favorite photos for the Youth, Professional, Faces, and Portland categories. Now it’s YOUR job to go to our website and vote on your favorite photos for each category and help us narrow down the Top 100 to a top 10!
Click here to vote now!
And tell your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, coffee shop baristas, yoga instructors, and everyone else you know to vote as well — voting is open to the general public through January 15!
Even though it’s too late for you to submit your photos to the contest, you still have time to buy your tickets to the Awards Gala that will be held on Jan. 21st at the Oregon Historical Society. See the finalists before anyone else; and help choose the photo that will be crowned the 2011 Photo of the Year! Live music, fully catered, open bar, and a room full of cool peeps.
Plus, buy your tickets online you’ll save $10 off the door price. Click here to buy now!
Uncage the Soul Productions is currently traveling around the four quadrants of Oregon in search of the most spectacular starscapes. Here’s an update from the first few days of the trip.
Follow along the trip at www.facebook.com/UncagetheSoulProductions
Special thanks to Pro Photo Supply and Columbia Sportswear
Portland Parks & Recreation recently was nominated as a finalist for the National Gold Medal Award. This top national recognition is awarded by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA) and the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). AAPRA and NRPA are regarded as the country’s most prestigious park professional organizations. Portland is one of only four communities of its size nationwide to receive this recognition.
“We are delighted to earn this recognition,” says Parks Commissioner Nick Fish. “Portlanders care deeply about our parks, natural resources, and recreation facilities. This national recognition is a tribute to the hard work of PP&R employees, private partners, and dedicated volunteers.”
As part of PP&R’s application for the Gold Medal Award, the bureau contracted Uncage the Soul Video Productions of Portland to produce a video highlighting PP&R’s environmental stewardship, program development, long-range planning, resource management, volunteerism, professional development, and agency recognition.
Award candidates are divided into five categories, based on community population. Four finalists are chosen from each category. The Rose City falls into AAPRA’s Class I, the largest division, which includes all U.S. park and recreation departments serving populations of 250,000 or more. The other Class I finalists include Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Parks and Recreation Department; Miami-Dade County, Florida Park and Recreation Department; and Kansas City (MO) Parks. The Grand Award winners will be announced during the NRPA’s Annual Congress & Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, November 1-3, 2011.
This is the eighth year that Uncage the Soul Productions has partnered with the American Lung Association’s Reach the Summit Program, and despite loosing count of the exact number of Mt Hood climbs we have done, what is not lost is the beauty of both the individuals who participate, and the landscape they ascend. Its an exhausting project with multiple consecutive climbs of Mt Hood lugging camera gear that despite getting smaller over the years, seems to have become more dense. But the sleepy eyes and sore back are all worth it when we are on the summit at sunrise with an ecstatic group of climbers, some climbing for the adventure, some of whom have climbed for a loved one lost… We’re very proud of this year’s video trailer, which I consider to be the best one yet…
We love Portland, Oregon a lot. And so it was very exciting to produce a 12 minute promo-documentary in June for Portland Parks and Recreation. Did you know that they have been nominated a finalist as best parks system in the United States!? And after visiting nearly every park in the city, talking with dozens of park users, caretakers, and volunteers, and witnessing every conceivable park activity, we are pretty proud of Portland Parks and Recreation, regardless of the award outcome, which will be determined in October. The video isn’t public yet, but we did want to share with you some pretty cool discoveries for those that live in the Portland area, or are considering a visit…
Like Bocce? The Portland Bocce League throws down weekly at courts in the North Park Blocks, and they throw down even bigger in August for huge Bocce tournament.
Witnessed Bike Polo? You will be impressed at how adept 10 bike riders playing hockey in a converted tennis court can be.
Free Stuff! The Portland Summer Free For All has all kinds of activities, concerts, movies, and lunches throughout parks in the summer. And its all FREE!
Favorite Park. Alright, so we saw a lot of parks around Portland…what was our favorite, you ask? Mt Tabor has got it going on. Views, dogs, trails, big trees, open fields. But we can’t mention this without giving big props to the Mt Tabor Foot Patrol
Well, actually its the whole State of Oregon we love. We’ve been producing video content for Travel Oregon for over a year now and have experienced some pretty cool adventures around the state. But following this most recent project, my first inclination when I got home was to call up some friends and do it all over again. It was fun, exciting, delicious, relaxing, and EASY! From anywhere in Portland, you could walk out your front door on a Saturday morning with only a small backpack, and return Sunday afternoon having had a VERY good weekend. Yes, and that means leaving the car at home too… Give a ring if you are going, because I want to go to Maggie’s Buns again…
Watch Video Here
Photo by Jeff Snyder, Freesolo Photography http://freesolophotography.com
It’s hard to explain what the production of Treeverse looks like. But imagine this: lots of climbing gear, plenty of mud, ample rain gear, high tech helicopters, and a mix of rain and sunshine and you start to get a pretty good picture. Teamwork helps too.
“This collective production crew surpassed even my wildest expectations about what kind of “dream team” could assembled for Treeverse. And Brian and Will were so completely dialed for this expedition that they made something never before accomplished, or even attempted look relatively easy. I am elated,” said Director John Waller.
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We’re currently out on location filming Treeverse, and we figured we’d bring you a few on-the-ground photos to see just what the production of a project of this kind looks like. Above is Allie Bombach of Red Reel swinging in the air as she preps to start filming.
We’ve got an excellent rigging crew that has set up plenty of lines for us to be able to get up close and interesting shots of our climbers.
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We’re kicking off the filming of Treeverse this week, as we follow Brian French and Will Koomjian of Ascending the Giants on an unparalleled adventure as they attempt a pioneering effort to navigate a one kilometer transect through the forest canopy over five days.
A production of this kind takes a large team, and everyone from the climbers to the rigging crew has been working hard to make sure this project comes together. Beyond the usual planning the logistics of base camp, we’ve been busy doing everything from coordinating all the photo and video gear that will get us the best shots to dying rigging rope black to keep it hidden from the cameras.
None of this would be possible without all of the support that we had on Kickstarter, or without the help of our presenting sponsors: Pro Photo Supply, Sterling Rope, Sherrill Tree, Samson Rope and Asia Tree Preservation (Arboriculture Tools).
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Following the BP Oil Spill last summer, 22 Oregonians traveled to the Gulf Coast to bear witness to the impacts of this environmental disaster on the cultural, economic, and environmental fabric of the region. They would be introduced to a complex and ambiguous crisis, and leave considering how their actions a continent away could influence our evolution Beyond the Spill. Now, as we approach the first anniversary of the oil rig explosion that triggered the spill on April 20, the group PDX2Gulf Coast is gearing up to release the comprehensive products of their experience. This includes a comic book, a school curriculum, and a documentary.
Its always an interesting process to come up with a name for a documentary project and my experience may be a nice metaphor for life. I started by writing down some ideas on a blank sheet of paper, then started digging into a thesaurus to find some really catchy diction, then tried working and reworking phrases for some creative wordplay, until the sheet was full of ideas. And as I scanned my brainstorming, I kept gravitating higher and higher on the list, until I arrived at the first idea I had jotted down…Beyond the Spill. And it seemed perfect. My first idea! But I had to go through this long and arduous process of thinking and over-thinking to realize I already had my title. Its a classic example of how the best ideas can usually be very simple and the ones that come to us first.
Its been a lot of pixels to review and months in the making, but the story is taking shape and the full documentary ‘Beyond the Spill’ will premiere on April 20 in Portland, Oregon at the Alberta Rose Theater.
Help fund the post production of this documentary HERE.
