Archive for May 2009
Lifestyle photography in Santa Monica
Why me?
A few weeks ago I bid on a job to help a model do a little re-branding. As a former Maxim Magazine cover model, Katy was tired of being booked only as the glamour and swimsuit model. After looking at my work she asked me to help add some lifestyle images to her portfolio.
Lifestyle photography is challenging. My goal is to capture happiness and energy without the images looking staged or campy. After a little pre-production meeting we decided to make a morning of it at the Santa Monica Pier. Of course our shoot started with a run-in and discussion with a security guard but after a few minutes we were sent on to shoot with his blessings.
Katy was great. She was able to bring the level of enthusiasm and fun that we needed for a successful shoot.
Manhattn Beach Remodel
A few weeks ago I shot a home in Manhattan Beach for designer Josette Murphy of About: Space. The home had been remodeled from the ground up and was designed and decorated by Josette. It took the better part of the day to shoot the house but with Josette’s help with styling, the house looked perfect.
It may not look it from most of these photos but for architecture and real estate photography I bring my own lights. Even though a room may have decent ambient light it can still take three or four lights to make the room look great. In the case of the den I used four lights to shoot a room at 1PM on a sunny day.
Marina del Rey and Palos Verdes Family Portraits
Over the past couple weeks I’ve had the pleasure of shooting some family and children’s portraits for two families. The Bhakta family found my photography online and after an interview to discuss what type of shoot they wanted we made an appointment for a session at their favorite park, Burton Chase Park in Marina del Rey.
Nikhil, four, and Jaya, 19 months, were a lot of fun.
I also had another session with the Hunter family. This was session number four in two years. It’s pretty amazing to watch a family grow. When I first shot the Hunter’s in April 07, Logan was just beginning to sit up by herself. Now she’s a moving target who is always on the run and she has a new baby brother that has yet to sit up by himself. To see how much Logan and Laton have changed check out my February 08 and October 08 posts. With this shoot we also added Scott’s parents and Grandparents to the fun.
