About a month ago I flew to Los Angeles to shoot some model test/portfolio shots for Elite Model Management.  For those who may not know, modeling agencies send their models to approved photographers to get photos for their comp cards, portfolios and for the agencies’ website.  The key aspect of delivering usable shots for a major agency is to know what the agencies particular style and cliental is, and to recognize what the model needs in their portfolio.  The basis is to shoot the model in a way that is going to get the attention of clients and therefore get the model booked.  Each agency has their own look, or style that they represent themselves with, and will sign a model based on the model’s ability to fit that look.  As mentioned before, a photographer must also understand and represent that style in their creative approach, otherwise the photos could misrepresent the agencies’ style format and therefore be rejected.  As the photographer, I have full creative control, but I’m not going to waste the model’s time by shooting stuff that they can’t use.  It’s important to remember the model’s needs first, then create something that is going to hopefully not just satisfy, but impress.  In a place like L.A., that’s may not be easy.

What is easy though, is being really good to work with.  Keeping a positive energy, allowing the model to be a part of the decision-making process, and always respecting everyone and doing your best under any circumstances.  I was surprised at how the models were so easy to work with. They were willing to try any idea I had, and genuinely had a good time throughout the sessions.  Sometimes their own ideas worked great as well, and me being willing to go with it really made them feel that they were a part of the process and not just someone being told where to stand.  I was equally impressed with the model’s ability on camera.  There’s no substitute for professionalism, and Elite’s models just know how to inspire me to want to shoot all day.  In fact, you just can’t call it “work”, it’s more like a challenge to see how good you all can correlate to get the shot.

To see the shots go to Elitemodel.com, hover your mouse over Los Angeles, click on Elite and scroll alphabetically to Alexandra Cobrin, Jana Banker and Jena Sims (the models I shot with).  Not all the images in their portfolios are mine, but two of their main photos are and you can reference their shots with ones in my AGENCIES gallery at mtmstudios.com to see which ones are mine.

So, to models Jena, Ali, and Jana, and my L.A. makeup and hair team Jyoti and Jaque, I just want to say “thank you”-  you all are such professionals and it was so much fun shooting with you.  Much love!  I’m looking forward to my next trip back again.  Below are a few screen captures of the model’s online portfolios.

This Sunday from 1-5 pm at Twin Peaks restaurant there will be a charity fund raiser bikini bike/car wash to benefit one of the charities that I support, Watermelon Mountain Ranch. The girls are coming out in full-force to wash your car or bike to raise donations to help the ranch obtain much needed supplies, food, medicine and  shelter upgrades for the animals in need of homes.  Why not come down , get your dirty car cleaned up and maybe even find a new friend to bring home- I’m talking of course about a cat or dog that would love to have you as their friend!  There’s also a charity raffle currently going on for a $100 gift certificate to Twin Peaks for $1- and all proceeds are going to WMR- ask your server for one!  Come out this Sunday and show the animals you care!

For those of you who attended last week’s Project New Day runway show, you know it was a great event.  Not only for the styles and production put into it, but for the cause as well.  Participating in a fund raising event for a well-deserved charity  is always high on my list of things to do.  I shot the “official” runway photos for the event, and am making the high-resolution images available to the models and their families for $25- and 100% of it is going to the New Day Youth and Family Services.  Check out the online gallery of the runway shots here: www.mtmstudios.com/pnd. If you would like to purchase the digital download of the file, which will be suitable for printing up to poster size, than email me the file name located below the picture (such as PND-253, etc.).    I will get back to you and we can go from there.  A couple of notes:

• There is a little white rectangle above the thumbnail images- click on that and you get a larger view of the photo, plus there are some forward/backward buttons too.
• The photos are $25 per full-resolution file- which means you can make as many prints as you want, at nearly any size.  100% of all sales are going to the New Day Youth & Family Services house.  I’ll make them a check at the end of the month so I don’t have to write a check every time someone buys a picture.  So you are directly helping them by buying a photo.
• All photos have been proofed for quality (took 3 days), some shots are a little soft on focus, but still good.  Anything that was less than usable was deleted.
• The runway shots are first, there are several hundred- I got everybody.  After those there are some backstage shots, hair/makeup behind-the scenes, and just general shots of the party.   It was a great event and everyone was looking fabulous!  It was fun to shoot it!  Oh- and sorry about the big, obnoxious watermark on them, you know how it is.

If you saw me running around with my camera taking pictures of you and friends, then I probably have shots of that too.  Check the end of the gallery for those.   Here’s a shot of me and my crew taken by Thatcher Dorn, who is also offering photos from the event taken front of the event signage and also donating 100% of the sales to the New Day Youth & Family Services.  Way to go Thatcher!  You can see those images by clicking here.  I also want to say a big THANK YOU to my assistants Bryan and Sarah for taking some of the extra photos and helping out that day.  You guys rock non-stop!  Had a blast!  More to come soon!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Mike Ruiz, celebrity fashion photographer and one of my personal most favorite fashion photographers over the last few years. Mike has shot covers, editorial spreads, celebrity portraits and commercial ads for the largest magazines and companies in the world. You might have seen him on several cycles of Americas Next Top Model as photographer and judge. He was in town for the 2010 Pride events being held here a couple of weeks ago, and was chosen as the Grand Marshal for the event. I attended a fund raiser for New Mexico AIDS Services one evening in which Mike was offering to shoot photos of those who made donations to help find research for victims of AIDS as well as support for those living with the disease. I chatted with Mike a bit, showed him some of my work and just hung out and enjoyed the evening. He was a very friendly guy, and looks more like a model than a photographer. I made a donation and thought it would be more fun for me to shoot Mike instead of having my photo taken by him. He was up for it, gave me his camera and jumped on set. I snapped a few looks and a few days later received a couple of files from him large enough for high-quality print. I also saw that he used one of my shots for his Facebook profile picture- which really made my day! Here’s the shot he used, and I just want to say thanks Mike for the opportunity!  It was good fun and for a great cause.

Check out the July issue of Albuquerque the Magazine and you’ll find my first double truck ad for the Project Hew Day fashion show on July 30th. I was proud to shoot this ad for such a great charitable cause. All the proceeds from the show go to help A New Day Youth & Family Services, so check it out at projectnewday.org and come to the show!

I was commissioned and flown to Italy this month to shoot some commercial work for Podere Gli Scassi, an organic olive farm in Northern Tuscany.  The owner, Lars, has been a long time friend of mine since back when we were in flight school getting our pilot’s licenses (see it’s always who ya know, right?).   The business needed new advertising photos for their website and brochures that go all over Europe.  They have won awards for the quality and natural growing process of their oil, and the taste is above anything you’ve ever tasted.  I encourage anyone to buy a bottle of their award-winning, healthy oil, and use it on pasta, pizza, salads, anything where pure extra-virgin olive oil is good.

I also shot some advertising work for rental properties in the Tuscany area.  There are these absolutely beautiful places that anyone can rent for a week or however long you like, and they are situated in some of the most gorgeous countryside you’ve ever seen (more on how you can visit these places in a future post).  Although being in Italy is a vacation in itself, I didn’t find myself lounging around.  On any average day, I was up before sunrise, and the latest I ever slept was 7 am.  The best times to shoot are in the morning and evening, so I planned my days around best shoot times had to be ready when it was time to go.  Some areas could only be shot during certain times of day, because of the hillsides and sun angles, I had to be there when I could get the best light.  Then, the weather was also a factor.  It was beautiful most days, but sometimes we would get set up to shoot a location, and a huge cloud would come over and last for a couple of hours.  By the time it let the sun back through, the scene was in shadow.  So we try again tomorrow.

The time there was so educational, and I felt more familiar since it was my second trip to Italy.  My travels took me from Tuscany to Rome and Milan, and back to Tuscany.  The people are just so helpful and friendly, and of course the food is some of the best anywhere.  I would encourage anyone going there to at least learn some basic Italian, because they respect that you will try and most of them are happy to help you in English once you’ve reached the limits of what you know in Italian.

I also shot model comp cards for agencies and models in Rome and Milan, and will post up more about that in my next couple of posts.  I tried for the most part to avoid taking tourist photos, and therefore shot things that represented where I was and the stories of the real lives of the people who live there.  There are some tourist photos mixed in, just to document the location.

I flew out to Los Angeles for a couple of days to do some business, and also take some time for myself to see my old stomping grounds in Hollywood where I used to live.  Most of my time was spent around the Wilshire Blvd area of Beverly Hills with some meetings at Elite Model Management, Ford Models in West Hollywood, as well as Nous Model Management and Next Models on Rodeo Drive.  After the meetings, I went down to see some friends at Slickforce Studio in Downtown L.A. and go grab a bite and a beer.

I spent the night and headed out the next day to Hollywood to see my old place and where I used to go to school back when I was in the music business.  Actually, a lot was still the same, but I was pleased with the new Kodak Theatre that was put in next to Mann’s Chinese Theatre.  Plenty of great shopping and food, all in one area with very clean decor and a welcome atmosphere.  Hollywood is a very touristy place, so I didn’t want to stick around long.  My old apartment building was still there, and everything looked the same as it did almost 20 years ago when I was fresh out of high school and moved to L.A.  I even had dinner at one of my favorite pizza places, Shakey’s Pizza.  They still got it.

I headed out to Rodeo Drive to shoot some back plate stuff for some upcoming projects and to enjoy window shopping in the perfect weather.  One of the most interesting things about this area is you never know who you are going to see.  I walked right past Perez Hilton, on his way to some thing he had going on involving calling the paparazzi down to hang out as background extras in a TV segment for some comedy show.  I’m not at all impressed by celebrities, nothing disrespectful to them, it’s just that I’m not into that whole thing.  However, one thing that I do enjoy is seeing professional models and photographers at work.  While I was shooting, I noticed another shoot going on across the street involving a model, and several other personnel.  They were just shooting on the sidewalk in public without any interference from the public and no security.  I noticed that they were using a laptop on a tripod, So I walked over to what they were using to hold it on there securely.  I walked right passed the model (they were in between takes) and thought she looked familiar, but couldn’t place her.  I’m pretty up on who most professional models are and since I didn’t exactly know her, I figured she must be a local model.  It turned out to be Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, one of the 2010 Victoria’s Secret models, as well as a fashion/editorial/catalog model from the U.K.  She’s on the cover of the Victoria’s Secret Swimwear catalog, as well as in photos all over the stores.  I knew she looked familiar!  They were shooting a fall catalog for a U.K. client, and were using Rodeo Drive as the background.

I asked the photographer, named Ben Watts (Australia, New York) if I could hang around and do my thing, and he didn’t mind as long as I didn’t take any hi-rez shots of Rosie.  I’m totally cool with that, but other’s aren’t.  It wasn’t long before a few people gathered, which interested more people and soon there was a small crowd.  One guy was just sapping away with his DSLR, which really aggravated the photo crew.  He had every right t shoot, because they are in public, but it’s just bad form to shoot someone else’s project and have it all over the net before the client even has their photos published.  I watched for a while as Rosie did her thing, walking down the sidewalk, spinning, smiling a lot, and generally just trying to get the best shots.  It was fun to just hang out and watch the pro’s do their thing.  I took only one picture- of the crew- with my iPhone and the quality is so bad that I’m not even worried about getting on anyone’s nerves.  Rosie is in the shaded area, but again, you can’t even see her so I’m cool with it.  All in all I really enjoyed getting back to L.A. and look forward to next time I’m out there.

Here’s one that I was actively working on for quite some time.  It started about 5 months ago with the idea to do a shoot at one of the really interesting locations here in our own backyard, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array (VLA) near Socorro, NM.  Finding the outfits was one of the hardest things, but after a couple of months I was able to stumble upon some designs that I thought best fit the idea I had in my head of bright, flowing vibrant colors against muted desert tones.   The array itself provides a unique environment that isn’t over-saturated with photography (aside from the numerous movie appearances it’s had), and lends itself to a story-line of exploring what a fashion model would be doing out there in the first place.

For our model, we selected new-comer Megan from Albuquerque.  At 5’9″, she’s got every requisite a designer would want showing of their latest work on the runway.  For me, I cast her previously for the Project New Day ad shoot (see previous post) and saw then someone who really wanted take direction and do the best job they could.  I can tell you that I made no mistake casting her this time either, as she again blew us away with shot after shot of usable frames.  For me in particular, I enjoy working with someone who actually has a vested interest in the modeling/fashion industry and is a goal-driven individual who works hard at everything, yet is humble and like a sponge at learning.  We’ve gone over just about every bit of advice I can give a new model, and I’m always happy to share all I can.  I don’t know everything there is to know about being a highly-paid model in the fashion world, but the information I do know is good information.  How to look professional and be impressive on camera is one of those things, and it makes a long day go so much better when there is a constant positive-energy on set and your subject is being such a professional.  Megan’s got a future in anything she wants to do- mark my words.

Her folks not only came along on the shoot, but brought their RV to provide a place to do hair/makeup, a place to change and just get out of the wind and dust.  Really nice people that you don’t meet everyday.  Very helpful with providing anything, and Megs’ mom even provided lunch by making delicious croissant sandwiches for all of us.  This was a very different shoot for me- not my usual situation, nor my usual modus operand of always being the one providing the hospitality, refreshments and food.  But I was welcoming every bit of it.  In fact, maybe I should ask more models if their parents can come to the set and bring some sandwiches or something. Might help the expense reports numbers at the end of the year.  All kidding aside, it was really a breath of fresh air to have such good people and positive supporters for their daughter along to see how this all comes together and how to capture a compelling, energetic shot in expensive dresses- not something anyone can just walk up and do- trust me.  If anyone wants to know the fundamentals to being good at modeling, it starts with always being on time, dedication, and keeping a positive energy and willingness to understand that it’s not about having your picture taken, but rather, bringing the photographer’s vision to life.   That’s how professional models get the large checks.

Here’s the behind-the-scenes, and I do apologize for the quality, but I did not have my usual behind-the-scenes shooters with me (unavailable) so we were stuck with iPhone cameras and pocket cameras.  We just enjoyed the day, hung out and got some great stuff.  The results can be seen on my main website, in the fashion gallery.  Oh and I totally faked my logo on the side of the RV, I just had to see how cool that would really look.  :)   Mouse over the thumbnail image to see the photo captions.

The ad for Project New Day is out!  The launch party was last Friday and we got to see the final posters, flyers and magazine print ad campaigns.  It’s such an honor and a pleasure to be part of such a worthy project and I was happy to have shot the ad.  Look for the ad to run the in May, June and July issues of Albuquerque The Magazine.

And here’s a picture taken with my iPhone of one of the models in the ad , Natasha, who was at the party.

You can see the behind-the-scenes shots of the photo shoot in a previous post.  I hope to see you at the runway show on July 30th!

I just got back from Orlando, Florida where I spent the last week working at the Slickforce Mastering Retouching booth at the Photoshop World convention.  I really had a good time working with my friend and Los Angeles-based photographer Nick Saglimbeni & crew helping launch the DVD box set for his Mastering Retouching series to the public.  Nick has shot for many publications such as Maxim, and is currently photographer to Kim Kardashian and several other celeb-type individuals and companies.  What I like about Nick is that he’s a great creative mind, knows how to shoot production-style photo shoots, and has a good head for business.  So as well as myself being a contributor to his products, I also get to absorb some things from a professional with a similar background and a killer work ethic.

The Photoshop World convention itself was also really cool to see as well, and it was great to connect with some friend’s faces for the first time since I only knew people from emails and forums there.  I was a finalist among two other people in the Photoshop GURU awards for the category of ‘Best Photo Montage’, my first time entering a professional photo contest.  I didn’t get the award, but I am grateful to even be in the company of such professionals in the industry.   The NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) puts on a different theme every year for the convention, and this years’ was a KISS inspired rock theme, so everything looked like a KISS concert, complete with the NAPP instructors in full makeup on stage playing a real show.

We worked short hours, but for some reason were completely exhausted after each day.  There’s something about talking to hundreds of people about a great new product that drains your energy.  In the evenings, Nick would treat the crew to a 1st class dinner and drinks.  I have to hand it to him, he knows how to pick the restaurants.  From Japanese to seafood to Caribbean to, well even Olive Garden we ate like kings and enjoyed some fine cuisine.  The evenings were some of the funnest times I’ve had on a vacation.  The hotel was great, and I even met and conversed for a long time with Zack Arias in the hot tub one night.

The DVD sales went well, and I think there are a lot of people that are going to become some first-class retouchers in the short future; with more and more buzz being generated about Nick’s un-matched quality instructional series.  We’re looking forward to the next Photoshop World in Las Vegas in September, with a new DVD based on compositing in the works now also.

I only managed 7 hours of sleep in the 5 days that I was there or traveling which is a new record for me; so I’m completely out of it right now and needng to recover some sleep hours.  I couldn’t sleep down there because of the timing of things I guess, I don’t know, it was just strange.  I was kind of a zombie at times, until someone started to speake to me.  By the last day I couldn’t even conjugate sentences properly!  I was trying to describe the retouching material on the DVD’s and couldn’t come up with the words!  After a couple of drinks later that evening at Tommy Bahamas I seemed a bit more normal, but the next day on the plane ride home- I don’t even remember how I got here.

Other than the no-sleep thing, I really had a good time and the crew was really great to work with.  I’m already looking forward to doing it again.  Back to business as usual tomorrow!  :)