Kickstarter

How does Kickstarter work? Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects, allowing me to offer you exciting rewards in exchange for your support. Funding is all-or-nothing, so if I don't raise $7,000 or more within the time limit, I don't get anything, nobody is charged and nobody can get their rewards.

Over the last 18 months, I’ve been spending every free minute on a personal photography project that will hopefully give you a new viewpoint of rollerblading. Forget the clichés of extreme sports.  This project focuses on the sense of camaraderie, innovation, and individuality of rollerblading and its lifestyle.
I gave myself 3 simple photography rules…

- No flash – available light only

- No directing/ setting up shots – I wanted it to be real, in-the-moment rollerblading

- No wide angle/fisheye lenses – one of the most commonly used in extreme sports

What evolved was a body of work that was half documentary and half fine art composites.

The “fine art” aspect:
I’ve been shooting 10-200 images of a single scene, usually photographing the trick first and then the environment around it. I combine the images in photoshop later to create a very high quality image (each composite is made of roughly 30-70 images at 20 megapixels each!) with a unique depth of field. These are going to be printed as 40x60's. This has been an excruciatingly time consuming process of combining the images, but has also been one of the most rewarding. I love these surreal shots that focus on the environment as much as the rollerblading.

The documentary aspect:
All the moments in between. I’ve photographed the construction of a secret skate spot, a 13 day rollerblading road trip, Friday Night Skates, an abandoned zoo, and countless street sessions.  And I’ll still be shooting through the end of the year.

Just a few of the photos (I'm saving the best ones for the show!):

Gallery shows are expensive! After adding up the costs, I realized that I would need some support to pull off this show.

My goal for the gallery show:

-At least 20 of my large composite prints – printed as 40x60s to show the detail of combining dozens of images.

-60-80 of my documentary shots – printed as 11x14s.

-One huge gallery show in February open to the public

My goal for the book:
I've shot over 20,000 images for this project and there's no way I can fit all of my favorite images into one gallery show. The book will include a lot more of the documentary shots and maybe a few composites that I could not fit into the show. It would be a shame to never have them printed at all.

Rollerbladers– I’m doing everything I can to coincide the gallery show with Bittercold Showdown this year (on the Friday night before, so no one misses any of the competition). I think it would be amazing to see rollerblading showcased in the art world and open to the general public and I want you guys to have a chance to see it in person!

Behind the scenes updates – I’ve been keeping most of the photos for the show a secret, most won’t be revealed until the gallery show! All backers get a sneak peek at some of the images before the show, previews of the prints and books as they come in, the gallery space, and a look at some of the process of creating these images.

Listed as a backer at the show and on the website – All backers will be thanked on my website: www.therollerbladingproject.com and there will be a special section at the show thanking all the backers.

Stickers – Name tag stickers that I created in two versions:

“My name is ___________ and I Rollerblade”

“My name is ____________
I live in _______________
I’ve been rollerblading for ___ yrs”

It was a lot of fun seeing everyone at the James Short Memorial Session with these name tags! Check out the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trzPopjQi14

The Rollerblading Project Book – Digital Edition – A PDF version of the book for you to view on your computer or an iPad version for those of you who have iPads!

The Rollerblading Project Book – Limited Edition of 50 – Signed and numbered with bonus content not featured in any other version of the book. This is a hardcover 11x13 book printed on premium matte paper.

8x12 or 11x14 prints – At the launch of the show, I’ll also launch an online gallery of all of the photos from the show and you can choose any photo you like.

10x14 Sample prints – This is a limited reward. I have 10 sample prints on 10 different fine art papers. All of them are gorgeous and it’s difficult to pick only one type for the show! The photo is of the secret skate spot in Detroit.

Private advance screening of the show – This is a limited reward. Before the gallery show opens, I’ll give you a personal tour of the show and answer any questions you have!

40x60 print – any of the large composite images from the gallery show. Must be local pickup or arrange for shipping. These are mounted on art board and are huge!

Photo Shoot – I’ll do a photo shoot with you, your family, of you rollerblading, your kids, or your dog anywhere in the Metro Detroit area (within one hour of Ferndale, MI). Photo shoots can be scheduled any time after the kickstarter campaign ends (starting on October  5th – December 21, 2012). All of the photos will be edited and provided to you on a DVD, ready to print or share online.  If you are a past client, you’ll know that this is 50% off of our regular priced digital sessions! This is a one-time offer!
If you're not familiar with my portrait work, check out www.inspiredartportraits.com or my facebook www.facebook.com/michelle.gerard1 to see my work!

Mystery Toy – ANY backer who attends the gallery show, whether they pledged $1 or $1,000 will receive a mystery toy.  The gallery show will most likely be held this coming February in Detroit. We'll keep you updated about the exact date and location!

Where the funds will go: PRINTS! The majority of the funds will go toward the prints for the gallery show. The books are the next biggest cost, and a small run of 50 books is $3,000. The remaining funds go to renting a gallery space, rewards, promotional materials for the show, and kickstarter fees. You can check out this handy pie chart for the breakdown…

Kickstarter allows me to keep raising money after I hit $7,000, so please don't stop pledging once I reach that goal :) Anything above $7,000 will make this a bigger and better show!

Thank you so much for your support! Even if you can't pledge anything, please share this link on facebook or your blog!

And thank you to all the rollerbladers who have let me photograph them over the past 18 months! I really appreciate it!

www.therollerbladingproject.com