Michael A. Nyffeler

Two Men.

Michael Nyffeler — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:08:50 +0000

We Are Here.

Michael Nyffeler — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:15:54 +0000

The Power of a Photograph -

The Pale Blue Dot is a photograph of planet Earth taken in 1990 by Voyager 1. By request of CarlSagan, in command of theNASA spacecraft, having completed its primary mission and now leaving the Solar System, a mere 3,762,136,324 miles from Earth, to turn its camera around and to take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space. This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed ’Pale Blue Dot’, is a part of the first ever ‘portrait’ of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. NASA acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth. From Voyager’s great distance Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of a picture element even in the narrow-angle camera! Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size. Coincidentally, Earth lies right in the center of one of the scattered light rays resulting from taking the image so close to the sun.

This blown-up image of the Earth was taken throughthree color filters — violet, blue and green — and recombined to produce the

color image. The background features in the image are artifacts resulting from the magnification

Subsequently, the title of the photograph was used by Sagan as the primary title of his 1994 book. He reads an excerpt of that book set to clips from some of histories most popular films (one of our most dramatic, diverse, and popular mediums of human artistic expression) set to the atmospheric music of Mogwai – perfect for this sort of philosophic theme. (a film by David Fu – www.palebluefilms.com)

What power just a single image can have!

Volcanoes in Iceland? We got that B-Roll! English countryside? We got that too!

Michael Nyffeler — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:43:55 +0000

NASA's image of the plume of ash and steam rising from the Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull Volcano reached five to six kilometers (17,000 to 20,000 feet)

So tomorrow myself and my videographing partner Ismael will be headed on our trip to Leicester, England to shoot a wedding in the lovely English country side. Along the way, we will be stopping for a few days in both New York City and Reykjavik, Iceland for some time off (at least out of the office) and time to explore some interesting people and landscapes.

Of course we will be carrying along all of our equipment for some Icelandic volcano footage as well as some NYC broll shots for a project we’re currently working on. This reminds me of the very best broll commercial of all time – from a company called We Got That BRoll. I just hope that saying doesn’t become the theme of the trip!

So hopefully we can get out and meet some cool people and see some great sights – and our flights dont get disrupted by

@theashcloud haha! Check back soon for updates, photos, and hopefully some totally rad broll!

A Successful Disaster

Michael Nyffeler — Sun, 16 May 2010 22:19:47 +0000

I pulled double duty covering a disaster drill at my local university for both the newspaper and the university. Here are a few images that didn’t make it to print.

A the calm moments of everyone getting in place before the "bomb" exploded and emergency crews flooded the scene.

Firefighters lead each other through the halls to look for survivors of the "explotion" disaster drill.

Backstage Nerves

Michael Nyffeler — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:02:31 +0000

For a while now I have been shooting part time for a local newspaper which takes me all over the place (mostly locally) to shoot various stories. I really enjoy the freedom being out of the ‘office’ and challenges that come with the variety that is inherent in this type of work. I will attempt to post a some images here every couple of days to keep things up to date and also to showcase my work as a work in progress. Constructive criticism welcome! Thanks and stay tuned….

A high school theature student studies his lines one last time behind the curtains before returning back on stage. 4-14-10

The Flying (Golden) Tomato

Michael Nyffeler — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:48:26 +0000

No matter what you think of him, you cant deny that Shaun White is the man. Just watched Mr. Tomato win Olympic gold for a second year in a row. Congrats goes out to the best rider of all time…hands down! If you haven’t seen the Double McTwist 1260 yet I really think it’d be a good idea to check it out HERE

Shaun White pushing the crowd at the Winter X Games '10 in Aspen, Co

More photos from the the X Games to come….check out last year’s images while your at it – http://www.mikenyff.com/photography/event/xgames/

Color

Michael Nyffeler — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:38:28 +0000

On assignment in January I took a walk through the woods on a frosty morning. Everything seemed to be slowed down by the winter freeze, thus giving us time to reflect. These are a few of the experiments in color to combat my S.A.D.

It Might Get Loud.

Michael Nyffeler — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:37:06 +0000

Jack, Jimmy, Edge

“If Larry had never put that message up, I would have been in another band. It wouldn’t have been U2, God knows who it would have been. Would I be doing what I am now? …probably not…I mean I could be doing anything. I could be, I don’t know- working at a bank somewhere or something.”

The Edge talking about what could have been if U2 had never met in a Dublin high school. A great moment in the film where one of the most famous guitar players in one of the most successful bands in history standing in his hold high school reflecting on if he had lived another life. Who among us will be the next? Who will find their passion, surround themselves with passion and bread passion for all mankind to see? A good lesson in following what you love and not quiting!

A great documentary about with Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge talking about their style of playing and what inspires them to make music. All three rock icons are driven by different aspirations and motivations but use the same instrument to bring to the world. A MUST watch! …now where’s my guitar, I want to dust it off!

Images of 2009

Michael Nyffeler — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:01:36 +0000

As yet another year inevitably comes and goes its a good time to take a few moments to reflect on the experiences of the previous 12 months. I felt very fortunate to be able to travel and see many new places throughout the year – including working at the X Games in Aspen, CO, shooting my first wedding in May, traveling to France and the Congo in July, and most recently working the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, CO. But the thing I will probably remember the most from 2009 will most likely be the many inspiring people I had the privilege to meet. One in particular is a man named Deolo from the Democratic Rep. of Congo in Central Africa. Nathaniel Miles and I got the chance to meet and interview him for a project for the orphan sponsorship program and quickly felt impacted by his presence. Ten members of his family (6 brothers, 2 sisters, and both parents) have fallen from AIDS and as the last remaining member, his job now is to fight against the spread of the virus with a divine purpose. It’s hard to imagine a harder job as to work against the spread of AIDS in Africa – but after meeting Deolo, I can see his passion for the people of Africa and I am inspired that the drive and determination of one man can make a difference. Here are a few images of the people Ill never forget and the amazing places that I may never see again.

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Images of 2009

When Things Come Full Circle

Michael Nyffeler — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:08:03 +0000

It’s hard sometimes in the media business when you are doing project after project to keep up with how progress is coming for your past clients and to really see just how much what you did is having it’s impact in the long run. It’s always encouraging to hear that your work is being appreciated or has had the desired outcome …or better yet has led something bigger and better as the result.

My very first independent video project out of college was for a small group of people in central Nebraska wanting to celebrate and memorialize the firefighters of Nebraska as well as a venue to teach children fire safety and prevention. The video was to be sent out to every district in Nebraska in order to build funds for a Nebraska Firefighters Memorial and Museum. That was four years ago and this summer it finally happened – it finally opened!

So it was very cool to go to the grand opening ceremony and see what had become of the little rough around the edges video from four years ago to a great building that means so much to many Nebraskans. Here are a few images: *note: the image below was published in the Jan/Feb issue of Nebraska Life Magazine*