An 11″x 17″ concert poster for Americana artist Rich McCulley, featuring a photo taken by us in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. This is intended to be printed in large quantities and reused, so there’s plenty of space for writing gig details in the middle, over the sidewalk (which had to be created out of thin air as the actual photo ends just below Rich’s feet).

There’s also a small bit of promo on the bottom for Rich’s upcoming record, for which we also did the art design and photography (our third collaboration!).  Look/listen for the new record “Starting All Over Again” on March 16.

A glance at a MySpace page for a prominent member of the Americana scene here in Los Angeles shows 5/20 of his “top friends” using photos taken by Duff Ferguson as their profile picture. Another 4 are clients, either for photos or art or both.

We’re proud to be such an integral member of this vibrant community.

This was a very fun 6 panel digipak (with 16 page booklet) project for Christian rockers Jesus Band Los Angeles, which is putting out this debut record this spring.  Their vision of the message of the Bible is not exactly a happy one for those “not in the fold,” so this artwork was intended to show a dramatic, somewhat terrifying world in which the cross appears as a saving grace.

No matter what your religious bent, you are sure to enjoy the heavily manipulated original images and photo collages I created for this package, showing famous LA landmarks (Capitol Records, City Hall, Union Station, the Hollywood Sign, etc) with crosses blazing out their windows and key Biblical verses replacing the familiar lettering, all underneath extremely forbidding and stormy skies.  It is a rare thing to see as much as a shred of cloud in Los Angeles, so of course there was a need to replace the skies with something more interesting. There was also some interesting touches thrown in at the suggestion of the band, including a plane flying over LA with a banner reading “Jesus loves Los Angeles,” a carpenter tacking up an addition to the Hollywood Sign, and lots of lightning.  You’ll see flaming letters, a blue planet crashing into the Earth, and more.

The band that will be touring the project is different from those heard in the studio (except for singer Pat Rettig), so there were two separate musician credit sections with pictures to be shown.  Sadly, we had only low res pictures to work with on the musicians, so there was a fair bit of editing that needed to happen to bring them up to snuff.

The LA landmark shots were originally photographed to be displayed in large format on the walls of a Los Angeles legal practice, and it was great to be able to extend their use here.  The shot of Union Station with the palm tree shadows is not a digital manipulation (though the landscape behind is of course) — I just caught the right moment of sunset when the tree aligned exactly with the clock.

The CD face has an aerial shot of the Los Angeles grid screened over black, and the letters of the band name cut through to the silver disc — a very powerful, impressive looking disc to hold in your hand.  Around the edge are the names of all the tracks, also cut through to silver.

Christian rock fans, keep your ears peeled for JBLA!

A small grab bag of recent baby and toddler images, including a couple of Santa Claus shots!

For a small slideshow, click here.

Photos of a new alternative medicine practice in Valley Village, CA, providing chiropractic care, acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage therapy, and more.

To see a full slideshow, click here.

Roots rocker Rich McCulley is readying a great new album for release early in 2010, with artwork underway here in the Amplitude studio.

For a recent photo session, we walked the gorgeous Echo Park neighborhood near his new location for Red Hill Recording.

To see a photo slideshow, click here.

What says Halloween more than an infant girl toddling through a pumpkin patch in her fairy costume?

Click here to see the full photo slideshow.

We are very pleased to announce that Duff Ferguson has once again been named an official photographer at the annual Far-West Folk Conference, to be held in Irvine, CA in November.  The conference is an industry-only event that gathers all the movers and shakers of the folk music community on the West Coast for three days of networking, showcases, panel discussions, and all night jams.

Photographs that Duff took last year were used on an album cover for James Lee Stanley and a folk festival program insert for Nathan Rogers, as well as numerous promotional uses by the conference and many of the attendees.

Who doesn’t love receiving a cheery baby announcement in the mail?

These 4″ x 6″ postcards are easy on the budget, mail cheaper than letters, and look really great.

Colors can match the clothing of the baby (in this case, light green and pink) or come from any palette.  Fonts can also change to match the family’s style.  They can also be upgraded with envelopes, with a short message from the parents (or better yet, from the baby!) on the reverse.

The picture shown was taken in Pasadena’s gorgeous Huntingdon Gardens, but any nearby park can be a great photo location that babies love.