DeaDia

I am so fortunate to have so many strong creative women in my life.  I met Dea Dia through West Native and was thrilled when she asked me to shoot her lookbook at the unbelievable Wolford House.



Model: Anna Lian Tes

Hair and Makeup: Ethical Aesthetica


Bedouine at the Ace

I have a few friends who shoot music; big bands, enormous music venues and tours and all the popular music festivals.  I don’t think I ever really understood the appeal, being someone who would rather sit on the couch for an hour or two in the evening, sip a glass of wine and go to bed early lamenting the social life I had prior to baby.  When Bedouine asked me to shoot her show at the Ace Hotel in Downtown LA, I thought that perhaps I had made a mistake in accepting, I would literally be leaving the house to go shoot right when I would normally be putting on pajamas.

Long story short, I got myself out of the house, navigated the dtla traffic and parking and found myself in the most beautiful Spanish-Gothic style theatre, bustling with people.  I had been warned that the low light could make it challenging to shoot and as someone who tends to prefer shooting in controlled studio settings I was a little concerned about the high ISO.


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It has been almost one year since I began writing this blog and just two weeks shy of one year since I posted my last blog.  It turns out that I’m really really bad at this.  Since I no longer remember the intricacies of this shoot, enjoy these photos of Bedouine opening for Real Estate at the Ace Hotel in Down Town LA without any more boring commentary from me.

 




Shu and Andy in Joshua Tree

I was so excited when Shu and Andy asked me to take their maternity shots and even more so when we settled on Joshua Tree as the location.  Unfortunately a couple of weeks prior to the shoot Shu was placed on bed rest and it started to look like we were going to have to pull off an in home maternity shoot, centered around her bed. Luckily for me they decided to make the drive. Shu would be reclining in the car for three hours and we would keep it easy, no hiking or climbing allowed.

I had aimed to arrive for magic hour but we got there a little early and decided to start shooting in the full sun.  I’m not a huge fan of harsh highlights and shadows, but the winter sun added a little softness and the shots were gorgeous.

As the sun got lower the light got softer, the mountains turned purple and gold and it was pure magic.  I also managed to shoot a roll of 120mm on our old Hasselblad before it got too dark and once again fell in love with film.




The Dream System

Sometimes I shoot people who are self conscious and unsure of what to do in front of the camera and sometimes I shoot people who put on all the glitter and sparkles and twirl and dance and have such a good time that I can barely stop shooting.  

I loved that Erica and David had so much fun and were willing to try anything.  They wanted something with a more urban feel, a little different from my usual studio or nature portraits.  We met in Frogtown, hoping that the warehouse vibe down by the river would give them the feel they were going for.  Unfortunately Frogtown has changed a lot since I was last there.  The once deserted streets were now lined with cars as people have flocked to all the new restaurants and my vision for the shoot  took a few different turns with a little jumping in and out of traffic.


Cassandra Violet

Cassie first came to me with the desire to do something fun, do it differently and do it quickly.  We met and talked about ideas and both decided that we’d love to do a motel themed shoot.  We searched areas close by but only found one (that shall remain nameless) that looked remotely interesting.  The interior photos that we saw online and on Instagram had interesting wallpaper and looked retro in a really cool, non dirty way.  We decided to go for it, picked a day and drove out to book our room.

Once there, we discovered the hard way that motels in Hollywood are actually more expensive than a nice Airbnb and that if they even catch a whiff that you are shooting in the room they will raise the price even further.  We concocted a story about a lusty affair to explain our presence in a motel so close to home, got a key and tried to figure out how to get all the camera gear into the room without being seen.  As it turned out, the room was nothing like the one we had seen online, no cool wallpaper, nothing retro and there was a hair on the bathroom wall that neither of us wanted to touch, but it did have really pretty lighting.

For almost the entirety of the shoot the owner sat outside facing our room making it impossible to use any sort of strobe lighting, so I had to rely fully on natural light - I wasn’t even able to sneak my bounce in.  In the end I got really lucky and as the sun went down it hit a wall outside our room that bounced in and illuminated Cassie so perfectly that it looked like something Gregory Crewdson might have dreamed up.



Ladybug Music

As the mother of a two year old who loves music I often have the choice of listening to the same song over and over and over and over, or watching (and listening) as she doubles over in emotional agony when I tell her it’s time to listen to something new - sometimes I have the pleasure of experiencing both of those things.

A few well known musicians have dabbled in children’s music, some of it is great and some of it is ok and we are always on the lookout for something amazing.  When Beatrice was born a friend gave us some kids music as part of our baby shower gift and we recently pulled them out to listen and absolutely loved it.  That friend later recommended me for a shoot with the band and we finally got together recently to shoot some promo pics for them.

It was a fun, goofy shoot, with a lot of laughter and flowing wine (not me) and the resulting shots have a great White Stripesy vibe; classy without being too serious.  I’m so excited for these guys and I can’t wait to see what comes next for them.  

Seriously, if you have kids and needs some great music, check out http://www.ladybugmusic.com



Bedouine

I tend not to brag unless I’m so very excited about something that I can’t help it.  If you follow me on social media, or note how long it took me to start writing blog posts you will know that I’m just not that good at it.  This time is different though, this time I’ll put it right out there front and center.  A photo from a shoot that I shot was published in Vogue! A totally unexpected lifelong goal box check.

I’ve been photographing musician Azniv Korkejian of Bedouine for several years and together we’ve made some really beautiful photographs.  When she came to me a couple of weeks ago she had a very clear idea that she wanted to shoot against beautiful hanging materials and sent me inspiration shots from Carl Van Vechten, a portrait photographer from the 30’s and 40’s who shot the likes of Billie Holiday. So last weekend we teamed up with stylist Anjelica Armstrong and made magic happen…



West Native Jewelry Shoot

I’m excited to share my first ever blog of an amazing shoot with a group of strong creative women. 

I knew of Sheva, the creative warrioress behind West Native, years before actually meeting her.  We had some mutual friends and I’d done a couple of shoots in which her jewelry was used. However, it wasn’t until we both had babies and ended up living in the same neighborhood that we became friends and creative collaborators.  I shot her 2017 Lookbook and was so impressed by her organization and vision and the fluidity with which we pulled the shoot off that I was really excited to work with her again.

(A few of the final 2017 West Native Lookbook)

It wasn’t long before we got together again and began to plan our second shoot.  This time featuring a few new pieces along with those we had shot before.  During the lookbook shoot I was conscious of making sure that the jewelry was prominent in the shot with each piece in sharp focus.  Our second shoot was only to be used for internet promotion and so we were able to get a little more creative and in doing so shoot wide open. We got lucky when shooting in the trees when the sprinklers came on unexpectedly and we were suddenly shooting Brooke Shields on set of The Blue Lagoon. It was pretty magical. 

Shots from our shoot featured above with the amazing work of Emiko Smith as MUA and Hayley McCune our gorgeous model.

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