Tag Archives: Bill Bartlett

2019 Super Bowl Party Highlights

Each year the team at Gamut One Studios decides to benefit a local charity through a silent auction at our Super Bowl party. We chose Second Harvest Heartland because they are one of the nation’s largest, most effective and most innovative hunger-relief organizations. Every $1 donated provides three meals.

Super Bowl 53 went down as the lowest scoring game in NFL history; however, at our 9th annual Super Bowl party, fans showed up and scored big for Second Harvest Heartland.

In addition to raising $2,827 through the silent auction, the food drive yielded over 300 items.

We want to thank all our corporate and private sponsors for donating to the silent auction. Our sponsors were: 3M, Caribou Coffee, Barb Koshenina, Chanhassen Dinner Theater, Chili’s Bar & Grill, Wild Wings, Larkin Hoffman, Claudia Wilde, Therese Bartlett, Northern Radiator, Droolin’ Moose, Wooden Hill Brewery, Frost River, Brandless, and Red’s Savoy Pizza.

The annual chili cook-off contest is one of the most talked about offerings at our party, and the biggest question each year is, “Who will take home the coveted Golden Chili Pepper Award?  This year we had 6 varieties of chili for our guests to enjoy. The chili creators are kept anonymous to the guests and each guest can enjoy all varieties, but then has just 1 token to vote for his or her favorite.

Greg Kamin’s “Rio Rancho” – a hearty cacophony of spicy, sweet and savory was the winner this year. Among the jalapeños, pinto beans, and spicy beef, Kamin also packed in bacon and sweet onions.

“I put a lot of attention to the details with this labor of love, especially my hand- picked batch of jalapeños from Rio Rancho, New Mexico,” Kamin said with a smile and a proud pose in the Gamut One Photo Booth.

As always, guests have fun in the photo booth. Enjoy a quick video here and we hope you can join us next year!

Marvin Windows – BTS Video

Ever wonder how big our space is here at Gamut One Studios?  Well, it’s big enough to build a small home in it. Bill Bartlett and crew proved this last summer on a unique photography project for Marvin Windows, if you build it, they will come.

Enjoy this quick Behind-The-Scenes video of the project that exceeded Marvin Windows’ “big” expectations.

Marvin Windows Set Build from Gamut One Studios on Vimeo.

Give Hope this Holiday Season

Each year we highlight an organization as the focus of our studio Christmas card. The organizations are always something that we feel strongly about supporting due various personal or family connections.

This year, our focus of the card and financial support is the Catalyst Foundation, an organization that couldn’t be any closer to the heart and home of Bill Bartlett .

Bill and his wife Therese are parents of two adopted children from Vietnam, Moya (14) and Nate (12). “My family has seen first hand the dire need for help within the communities of Vietnam,” said Bill about their humanitarian trips to Vietnam.

Catalyst Foundation

The Catalyst Foundation provides hope for Vietnamese children through scholarships, aid in the form of medicine and medical supplies, support programs for schools, and a variety of other humanitarian projects.  Catalyst Foundation was built to help not only children, but also whole communities.

Catalyst, a non-governmental organization (NGO), is fully supported by individual and corporate sponsors.

Catalyst Aid Expedition

In 2006, Bill spent 2 weeks traveling thru the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam where he volunteered as part of the Catalyst Aid Expedition. Areas of assistance included building homes for families in need and participating in a free dental clinic. Many children have never had any previous dental care, much less ever used a toothbrush.

Lending a hand

Sometimes lending a hand can be as simple as listening, playing, just looking into the eyes of child and letting them know that they matter. Catalyst also provides opportunities for kids to be a kid, to play and do crafts and just put a smile on their faces.

“The Children of the Dump”

In Feb. 2012, CNN highlighted the importance of the Catalyst Foundation’s efforts.

CNN anchor, Natalie Allen’s coverage “The Children of the Dump,” tells not only of the heart-wrenching circumstances of these people, but also of the determined efforts of Catalyst Foundation leader, Caroline Nguyen Ticarro-Parker, to help the community fight human trafficking with a holistic approach and hands-on programs that are helping to change the lives of whole families and giving them hope for the future.

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/13/hope-for-vietnams-children-of-the-dump/

How Can You Help?

Catalyst Foundation was founded in 1999 by Caroline Nguyen Ticarro-Parker. Caroline lives with her husband and 2 adopted Vietnamese daughters in Northfield, Minn. Read her full story  at http://www.catalystfoundation.org/our-founder.  We encourage you to visit Catalyst Foundation website, there are programs available for all levels of support.   http://www.catalystfoundation.org/

You can be a catalyst to help the children dying from starvation and the lack of basic medical supplies.

“We truly feel like Vietnam is our second home and having the opportunities to participate with Catalyst’s missions of hope has been a life changing experience for all of us!” ~ Bill Bartlett

Happy Holidays and God bless!

Bartlett Family, 2012.

Capturing the Screams

Put yourself in Bill’s shoes. Recently he set out to photograph the atmosphere of Nickelodeon Universe, a world-class amusement park. The best way to comprehend the challenge Bill faced is to visit the park at Mall of America. As proven in Nickelodeon’s 2012 marketing campaign, “We Want Your Scream,” the place is an overwhelming, kid’s nirvana. Bill’s recent assignment was to capture it all.

As you may know, the campaign went on to become an award-winning success. Just how did Gamut One contribute to this brand-building blockbuster? Well, Bill’s photography figures prominently in the campaign. Here’s how he operates…

First of all, Bill plans everything possible. Clients often ask: What contributes to a successful photographic shoot? The answer: Technical execution is critical, but the key to great photography and successful integration with the overall marketing campaign comes down to planning.

At Mall of America there were time constraints due to scheduling. Additionally, Mall of America’s enormous skylights change the lighting minute-by-minute. Navigating the model group through the rides required upfront planning and careful on-site management. Timing was a constant consideration. Allowing a motion sick kid to take one more “drop” on the Rock Bottom Drop (it’s exactly what it sounds like!) wouldn’t get Bill the shot he needed. Because the opportunity to capture genuine emotion is fleeting, successful shots don’t just happen, they are planned.

Understanding the key client objective is critical. During pre-shoot discussions with the client about the goals for “We Want Your Scream,” the mandate became pretty clear: capture the scream. To do so, Bill pushed the limit. Since he was dealing with high speeds and excitement, he had to board the rides. Riding backwards on a roller coaster eight times to get the perfect shot? Been there. Done that.

When Bill walked through the amusement park for a pre-shoot visit he was immediately struck by the magnitude of technical aspects the job would face. Each ride presented different obstacles and opportunities due to the layout and pure emotions of the ride models. Through utilization of stop action photography techniques, Bill was able to freeze flowing hair and capture peak emotions. Tactics such as slow shutter speed and effective panning illustrated the speed and raw power of the ride experience.

When Bill starts having fun it’s contagious. By participating with the group he gained insight into their experience and captured the unique essence of each ride. At Gamut One, having fun is more than a method of meeting client goals, it’s a competitive advantage.

And that’s the story of how Bill took more speed than a photographer can handle (to this day he can’t look at the Splat – O – Sphere, without getting “that sinking feeling”). To keep up with our adventures in photography subscribe to our RSS feed.