Keeping it Fun on a Shoot

Will my client be using this image; not a chance! This is me having fun on the set. I conspired with the models to tell my client that THIS was the end all and be all of shots and this would be “the one”. When the client showed up he looked at me oddly and said, “but this is a children’s table”. I said it’s okay trust me it’s going to be awesome. I snapped the photo and we all busted out laughing. I told him I was just teasing. We all ended up loving the photo. It helped lighten up the mood and everyone was relaxed.

Minimal Punch of Street Chic

When I am asked what I love to photograph; I typically can’t answer. It's probably wildlife but I don’t capture that for a living. I began as a Street Photographer and to this day I love it when my clients need street chic shoots.

I feel I am in my element and I also love the post-edit process. For this image, I felt it needed something so I added a palm tree in the left corner behind the building! Paul Smith is an iconic store in the Melrose District in LA and I love the minimalistic vibe of the building.

Love it when Collaborator's are on Set

I absolutely believe in team! My eye is strong but I don’t have 8 of them. I love the big girl jobs when the entire team from the Company is on the shoot and present being involved. I love the energy, insight and team work. The most important thing is making the team go home as heroes! In the end I am fortunate they booked with me and care to deliver epic results.

Street Style Background Pops

I was super stoked for this recent shoot. We decided on a vibrant and colorful area in the Arts District in DTLA. The Handbag Designer and I scoped out the locations to tie in awesome building backgrounds so the bags would play nicely and pop against them. We had a ton of amazing walls and art murals to work with. It’s so important to merchandise and style your shoot layouts in the areas you want to photograph in and have fun with it!

No Sunlight- No Problem

Recently I had a complex business shoot that was broken out in two days. There was a ton of concern with the marketing team that we would be facing no sunlight and also a major storm that was expected to blow through. I did have to make a call to shift day 2 outdoor shoot to the day before because of the storm but ensured the team that shooting in outdoor natural light ( no sun ) is actually a good thing too.

For this particular project it was actually a benefit not dealing with the sun. At times especially in So Cal our sun is bright and can be harsh. We had success everywhere on the grounds not having to worry about shadows or harsh lines. So no sunlight, no problem!

Angles x Backgrounds

3 most important things to me when in a shoot: Light, Background and my Subject. Fair to add a 4th which is my angle or perspective. In fact for headshots the lower you go all the better. Especially company shots. If you are standing up while the subject is sitting down the result can be too much over towering them. Being eye level or even lower results in a stronger and more real connection the viewer see’s in the person. Additionally, it helps with better composition so that the background isn’t drowning out the person.

The background is always as important. In this case the Company manufactures textiles and sells fabrics. I felt it was a good idea to utilize their fabric swatches in their conference room which nicely ties into who they are what they do.

The goal in these types of shots is to have the viewer feel they want to know that person, trust that person and ultimately want to do business with them.