Full moon in mountains
Shooting star in Sierra Nevada
Night sky with stars in Sierra Nevada
bigfoot in a forest at night
Bigfoot Logo for Sierra Blue

SIERRA BLUE AGENCY

A full-service digital creative agency based somewhere in Northern California.

Bigfoot Logo for Sierra Blue

A full-service creative agency rooted somewhere in Northern, CA.

Aerial Photography Continues to Remain in High Demand

Aerial Photography Continues to Remain in High Demand

The first known aerial photograph . . .

Man in hot air balloon 1858 over Paris[W]as taken in 1858 by French photographer and balloonist, Gaspar Felix Tournachon, known as “Nadar”. The modern aerial photography I’m writing about began on June 25, 2014, when the FAA granted the right to use drones in aerial filmmaking. Operators are required to be licensed pilots and must keep the drone in view at all times. Drones cannot be used to film in areas where people might be at risk. Below is the latest video edit I completed today for a client who wanted to be listed on the Tahoe.com Real Estate Page.

Sierra Blue works with several professional FAA licensed aerial photographers with numerous years of experience. If you seek aerial photography for an upcoming, let me know.

carl costas visual thinker logo

Carl Costas: Visual Thinker
Carl served in the United States Marine Corps as a sergeant. After serving with some of the bravest people I’ve ever met, I traded my weapons for cameras — and learned about myself.

Carl says he was, “reborn through photojournalism.” His work has since taken him around the world, “and into the lives of countless beautiful people.”

Today he shoots a healthy mixture of commercial, editorial, and personal work.

Below is a video that showcases Carl’s work in a great light, no pun intended.

Upside Down Pilot

Westlake, Sacramento Video

I’m CT, owner of Sierra Blue – a full-service creative agency based in Sacramento, CA with roots in Lake Tahoe and the Bay Area. Video is the #1 consumed content online and I’ve decided to put more time into showcasing my production and post-production skills.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Westlake is a planned community just a few miles north of downtown Sacramento. I put together a marketing project for a homeowner who wanted to showcase the area’s unique natural beauty. This is that. She sold her home in about 40 days from listing and actually got about 5% over asking.

Authenticity In Marketing: Building Brands, Alliances, And Partnerships: Marketing Hacks Are Bogus.

Authenticity In Marketing: Building Brands, Alliances, And Partnerships: Marketing Hacks Are Bogus.

 

 

CT Perez

CT Perez

It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. ~ Bon Scott (AC/DC)

My career as a creative spans more than 25 years, 10 of which I ran Sacvibe. If I wrote a book about those 10 years, it would be called, “Hacking Growth Is Bullshit: How I Beat Live Nation At Their Own Game.”

To add some meat to that claim, Sacvibe.com was a website that began as a nightclub promotions site. When I took the helm, bored of nightclubs, I began covering the music scene in Sacramento, then Tahoe, end eventually cast the net to include The San Francisco Bay Area.

My coverage included a list of all the major shows, photos, and links to purchase tickets from official vendors. Eventually, the site ranked #1 for “San Francisco Concerts,” and many other highly desired key terms. I held this spot for 6+ years. This caught the attention of all the major concert promoters and booking agents, including Live Nation. Success had its privileges; backstage passes, interviews, good food, and my favorite – photo passes to the press pit which put me mere feet from amazing talent like Carlos Santana and Gwen Stefani.

My longevity in the industry often lends itself towards helping clients build new bridges and enhance services. The Nor Cal Ski & Snowboard Festival is one recent example.

As a marketing agent for this festival going back 10+ years, (it used to be produced by Skidazzle), I was able to build a new partnership with The Tahoe City Downtown Association (TCDA), to leverage my unique position with the festival organizers.

The TCDA and I agreed to work together at the festival to promote their 40th Annual Snowfest. With an expected attendance of more than 20,000 skiers and snowboarders, this face-to-face marketing experience should do very well. Additionally, the TCDA wants a Google Grant, which I also specialize in managing.

This development came about via a phone to an old high school buddy and past client of mine in Truckee who owns and operates Adventure Smith. I called Todd to discuss a new product and service that I’m launching in Tahoe called Tathoecom.com. He agreed to give it a spin and ended by offering to call his friend in Tahoe City about my work at The Nor Cal Ski & Snowboard Festival. I told Todd that it went well and that we’re moving forward on several projects. He emailed me to ask how it went and wrote,

Great. I think you’d be an asset to their efforts and it fits well into the Tahoe marketing empire you have built.

I ran into Todd around 2012 at Snowfest in Tahoe City. I was walking in my Speedo and swim cap with snow and ice all around. He knew I was there to swim in the Garwoood’s Polar Bear Race.  I’ve always been known as slightly eccentric; this way of living has served me well. The kid that colors outside the lines is the one who is most likely to create his own destiny.

The video below begins at the end of my morning ride down The Flume Trail in Incline, NV. I try to do this at least once every summer – it’s that much fun, and work, too. The group of people waiting to go next were “Team Patagonia.” That was kinda cool, but why didn’t they go earlier – the sunrise and crisp morning air is a major part of this experience, for me.

 

Various Photos from Tahoe: 2005 – 2021.

CAREER MILESTONES

1995 – Began self-teaching HTML (ver 2.0).

1996 – Opened an Internet consulting business serving attorneys, law firms, and policy advocates in Sacramento.

1997 – IT manager for startup serving the hospital records industry.

1998 – Moved to the Bay Area to work as an IT contractor for Fortune 50 companies in San Francisco’s Financial District.

2000 – Webmaster and graphics design contractor for the California State Legislature.

2002 to 2010 – Webmaster/owner at Sacvibe.com.

2005 – Expanded Sacvibe coverage to include the Tahoe Basin.

2008 – Mobile mktg manager, Jeep King of the Mountain (Sun Valley, ID) – broadcast on CBS.

2012- Marketing manager (volunteer), Sustainable Tahoe, a 501(c)3.

2013 – Google Specialist at the Winter Wonderlab

2014 – Google Partner representing more than 1 million dollars in ad budgets.

2021 – Launched Tahoecom.com, a new advertising model using in-house video displays, QR codes and engaging content to attract consumers to engage local businesses in the Tahoe region.

Notable Clients Served In This Space:

Teton Gravity Research

Palisades (formerly Squaw Valley USA)

Granlibakken Tahoe

Fire & Ice

Smith Adventure

Sustainable Tahoe

Harrah’s/Ceasars

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

The Block Hotel (closed)

Flume Trail Mountain Bikes

Truckee River Bikes

Northstar at Tahoe

Crystal Bay Casino

Ferrari Crown Motel

Tahoe Expo

Sacramento Ski & Snowboard Festival
Event Sponsors

Norcal Ski Festival sponsors
Norcal Ski & Snowboard festival

Marketing with Video

Marketing with Video

This is a marketing video (demo) for consideration to be installed in a resort lobby in North Lake Tahoe. The client is interested in doing this for winter, but I suggested we get something up before August 2021 so have something to show advertisers.