Say Hello

After joining the fine artists at Hands Up Visuals last month, where I'm now booking all my documentary wedding work, I thought to myself: why stop there?

I'm leaving my position as a reporter at The Courier-Journal effective Jan. 7 to become a producer at Kertis Creative, a media strategy and development company with operations in Louisville and Nashville.

The company was founded by Emmy Award-winning videographer Stephen Kertis who has produced work for PBS, MTV and General Electric.

Stephen is committed to storytelling in all its forms, which greatly appealed to me as a journalist. He has a lot of big plans for 2011 and I'm thrilled to be a part of them.

Fun times are being chronicled on the company's Facebook page. And the company is launching a new website soon. Say hello!

The Kertis Creative team edit reel from last year is below. The team worked on a ton of innovative projects in 2010 and shot a lot of cool video, so look for the new one soon.

Picture Kentucky Promo

A short documentary about Picture Kentucky, the photojournalism workshop held each fall. This was shot, edited and produced live during the workshop Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2010 in Beattyville, Ky., a town tucked away in the hills of Appalachia. It premiered during the workshop’s final night.

To learn more about the workshop, check out picturekentucky.org, and watch multimedia content on its Vimeo channel.

Then he put on a dress

It didn't hit me until Rick Loomis donned a purple wig. The renowned Los Angeles Times photographer and other photo, multimedia and writing coaches marched into the 2009 Mountain Workshops in Murray, Ky., wearing vintage hats and stuffed dresses.

I had the honor of serving on the faculty as the world's top photographers and multimedia producers invaded western Kentucky for a week of intense journalism.

The pictures inspired, the video stories moved (figuratively) and laughter was contagious. If the creative energy in that workshop can't preserve first-class journalism, nothing will.

(Photo: Rick Loomis waits for the last compact flash card drop - Derek Poore)