When Glassdoor needed a new library of still and motion images, photographer team Ashley Thompson and Ana Homonnay were the perfect fit. “They really wanted to capture people with a passion for their craft, and satisfaction at work,” Ashley says. “We can relate to that!

Charged with creating both portrait and lifestyle images of everyday life at work, the duo embarked on a two-day shoot around San Francisco and Marin, managing a cast and crew of nearly 20 people each day.

“Basically, their ask was to make it spontaneous and modern, and not stock-y,” Ana explains. Known for their human authenticity, Ashley and Ana applied their relaxed, casual approach on set, helping the models loosen up and let their natural expressions and body language take over.

Well-established in their work with kids and teens, the pair says working with adults is not much different. “We start with lightness and humor, find some common ground,” Ashley says. “The approach is the same in terms of directing, lighting and visual story-telling. We love to work with humans.”

Next up, Thompson-Homonnay has a second shoot with Glassdoor, as well as plans to finish a personal project of tween football players in Oakland. You can see more of their fresh, natural style right here.

Jack Hutch makes a living seeing things other people don’t normally get to. But for both of his current projects, sharing what’s hidden is exactly the idea. His work with Major League Sports and the emerging Cannabis industry let people sneak a peek behind the curtain.

“Being a guy who played hockey all my life, to go shoot in the locker rooms at Madison Square Garden is a dream.” says Jack. The project involves shooting the contents of NHL and NBA players’ lockers for fans to interact with at in-stadium touch screens. “You’ve got to see these size 22 shoes,” Jack laughs.

Over several sessions in multiple stadiums, Jack has developed a recognizable look with custom lighting that gives a bit of a 3D effect. “You almost feel like you’re in the locker,” Jack says.

Jack‘s other behind-the-scenes pursuit has him documenting the burgeoning Cannabis industry. “I knew nothing about pot going into this,” he says. “I had no idea it was a multi-billion dollar business with indoor crops and high tech labs and thousands of employees, until I started shooting it.”

Roaming the west coast for the Cannabis Times, Jack captures the people and places behind these quickly-scaling businesses. “I have to build up their trust from the start,” says Jack. “There’s always a little paranoia – because, you know, it’s kind of legal. But the Feds could come in at any time.

“It’s really interesting and I get some great photos,” Jack says, “but my wife hates it because I come home absolutely reeking of pot.” You can see more of Jack’s wide portfolio of people and places here.

Take a quick peek at the latest and greatest from our roster of illustrators.

Carolyn Vibbert: Scenes of autumn Carolyn’s illustration styles range from whimsical maps to strong simple icons to intricate woodcuts, but through them all she brings her signature warmth and approachability.

Filip Yip: In costume for Clif Bar With a vast portfolio of high-impact logos, icons and characters to his graphic design credit, Filip enjoys the chance channel his inner-child once in awhile, like these dynamic packaging illustrations for Clif Kid.

Matt Weems: Horrors and Huckabee-Sanders Whether it’s mischievous plants or savvy politicos, Matt brings his strong line and visual point of view to the table every time.

Shane Johnson: Those meddling kids A veteran of character development and comic style, Shane also frequently illustrates educational materials. We can’t reveal much about this not-yet-published mystery, but here’s sneak peek.

Photographer Patrick Bennett has become the go-to guy for keeping up with Essentia Water’s influencers. But even after a couple years on the campaign, he still finds ways to keep it fresh. “I love being out there meeting these amazing people,” he says. “I just get them to do their thing.”

Though the campaign has evolved a bit from triptychs on instagram to single shots for social media, the bold, dynamic style Patrick established remains a constant. As does the authentic respect that emanates from every photo.

“Everyone we shoot has a great story,” Patrick says. “From the deaf hip-hop dancer, Shaheem Royal, who uses a Bluetooth device to feel the beat, to Super Bowl champ Rodney McCloud, who plays for the Eagles but acted like our shoot was the most important thing he could possibly be doing.”

“Then there’s fitness heroine Amber Dodzweit – I don’t think she can take a bad photo…and with her in front of my camera, neither can I,” laughs Patrick. “Even tattoo model Chris Lavish didn’t put out too-cool vibes. He was totally game to put a temporary Essentia tattoo on his cheek.”

Patrick keeps busy year round on Essentia, handling both still and motion shoots. But he still makes time for other efforts, including work for long time roster client BNSF Railway, among many others. You can see more of his latest work here.

Indoor, outdoor, stills, motion, kids and dogs – photographer Will Strawser saw it all on his latest shoot for Canon USA. “This was a very ambitious, high volume shoot with a small crew and big expectations,” said Will. “When you’re shooting for a camera company, the images have to be perfect.”

With the aim of getting novice users excited about their new Rebel T7, Canon requested both still and motion assets for use in social media. “We’d basically shoot stills for half an hour, then I’d switch into my DP/Director hat and we’d shoot motion for half an hour for each set up,” Will explains.

Shooting in and around Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Will and his crew had to move fast to keep their young cast on point through multiple shoots of the same scene. “Kids are… kids,” laughs Will. “We laughed, we cried, we took lots of snack breaks. They get bored, but they did great.”

Shooting a travel scenario without actually travelling was the other big challenge faced by Will and team. “Canon really wanted to shoot everything in New York,” he says, “so we scoured Prospect Park for areas and angles that could give us a remote, deep nature feel.”

Back from the faux-wilderness, Will is already prepping his next job: food and lifestyle videos for Wegman’s holiday season campaigns. You can see more of Will’s wide portfolio of still and motion photography here.

Illustrator Matt Weems is bringing Victorian back. Dubbing his style “19th Century Ink,” he draws on the black and white woodcut and idyllic styles of the late 1800s to early 1900s, adding his own unique, sometimes subversive, point of view.

“There’s something rich that happens when you can tie into past work that has meaning to the public in terms of style, but used for a client’s modern purposes with original art,” he says. “There’s an inherent emotional impact.”

Matt gets inspiration from illustrators like Maurice Sendak and William Wallace Denslow, who did the original Wizard of Oz illustrations. More recently, Edward Gorey paved the way to revisit stark and startling illustrations in the classic style.

“Sometimes an assignment – like the Antiquarian Book Fair poster – will have me actually working off a piece of existing art, adding extensions or embellishments to give it new life. Other times, I get to create from scratch,” he explains.

“You don’t see that old pen and ink style too often anymore,” says Matt, “but I love it. It’s really challenging to strip communication down to the essentials of lines in black and white, but when you get it right, it stands out.”

Matt is also known for his technical and photo-real illustrations. You can see more of his commercial and editorial work right here.

Preparing to launch their new custom-made men’s suits, Macy’s tapped veteran photographer Steve Belkowitz for their Tailor Square brand’s first ever photo shoot. But with an all new internal team, and no visual precedents, Steve quickly realized his shoot would have to be made-to-fit as well.

“It was a bit unconventional,” laughs Steve. “There was no producer on their side, no shot list. “They casually threw in a request to take video of every still shot. So, yeah, we had to really have our side buttoned up.”

Shot over two consecutive days, Steve and his crew of six staged at his studio each morning before heading out to cover five locations per day. “It was about a hundred degrees, pretty tough on the models. We’d finish one location, try to cool them down and dress them for the next shot. Oh, did I mention it was also raining off and on?”

Fortunately for Tailor Square, Steve has seen, and managed, his share of challenging shoots over the years. An accomplished lifestyle and portrait photographer, he’s created high impact images for clients from Under Armour to Samsung to Wells Fargo.

“Tailor Square is just launching,” says Steve, “so we had to help them show more than the clothes. It’s about the brand and the lifestyle.” The brand will use the visual assets for their inaugural lookbook, as well as online communications. “In the end, I think we got some really good shots,” Steve says.

Next up, Steve is prepping for shoots with PECO, Pennsylvania’s energy utility as well as Vanguard Funds. You can see more of his high energy, highly-awarded work here.

Still and motion photographer Christina Schmidhofer does not want you to merely look at her images. “I want people to feel invited in,” she says. “You should feel the weather of the flowers, taste the cold water on the blueberries, smell the braised chicken coming off the pan.”

Christina brings her soft, tangible style to clients from Williams Sonoma to Walmart, Pottery Barn to Treasury Wine Estates, working on location or from her light-infused San Francisco studio. A native of Austria, she may surprise you on set with homemade Wiener Frühstück or Eiscafe between shots. “On a shoot I’m high energy and exacting with detail, but we have to have fun, too,” she says.

Away from work, you’ll find Christina with a camera in her hand, usually chasing her daughter around. Reflecting her professional aesthetic, she’s an avid gardener, baker, traveller and thrower of dinner parties. You can see more of her still life, food and lifestyle work here.

Here’s a quick roundup of some of the latest work from our photographers and illustrators.

Graphic Artist Filip Yip: Scenes of San Francisco
Known for his versatility and deep portfolio of icons, logos, infographics and more, designer Filip Yip captured the spirit of San Francisco in his recent icon designs.

Matt Weems: Sales Engine
No summer vacation for Illustrator Matt Weems. First he captured the entirety of monetization culture in one high-impact image.

Then he channeled the classic 1930s pen and ink style, manipulating and extending existing art for the modern purposes of the Antiquarian Book Fair.

Will Strawser: Farm to Table
Working in evocative video snippets, photographer and director Will Strawser explores concepts of farm to table, and all the steps between. Here’s a first peek at a longer project to come.

Carolyn Vibbert: Flavors of Summer
Long after the picnics and barbecues have ended, we’ll still have these tasty illustrations from Carolyn Vibbert to hold onto until next summer.

“I do love summer,” says Carolyn Vibbert about the inspiration behind her collection of eternally sunny illustrations. “I hike, canoe, swim in the ocean. And when I’m illustrating, I combine that feeling with the message the client is trying to communicate.”

Solving the puzzle of communication plus emotion is what has driven Carolyn’s extensive career. Her styles range from whimsical brush strokes to fine lines to cut paper, but through it all is a thread of human insight and warmth.

“Design principles are very important to me,” she says. “I love figuring out how to tell a story with shapes and color.” She’s done just that for notable clients ranging from Clorox to Quaker to Safeway.

Want to keep Summer going? You can find more of Carolyn’s work from all seasons right here.