The Year of the Tiger!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays! I was able to relax for a little bit, catch up on some reading that I sorely miss doing and reassess where I am and where I’m heading in my career.

So…what does this next year look like for me? For one, a lot of travel! I’ve been asked to teach workshops at Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai! I leave at the end of February and will be in Dubai the first week of March. I will be there with the big heavy hittin’ honchos: Zack Arias, David Hobby, etc etc. But  I am especially excited to meet  Joey L. That kid really blows my mind as far as how young he is, how inspired he is and how bomb his work is. After Dubai, I am showing some photographs at the SNAP! Exhibition in Orlando, Florida from May 20th to the 23rd.  And NYC in between all the rest! That’s the first six months of the year. I can only imagine that the next six months will be just as busy. But what will I be doing when I’m in LA besides shooting? Doing more SEMINARS!!

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Visual Examples to Explain the Difference

So as you might suspect, I get a fair share of emails from my blog readers. I think one of the most frequently asked question is: what is the difference between editorial fashion and advertising/commercial fashion. Quite simply, as most of you know, editorial is what would be shown in a magazine. Advertising is selling a product or brand. Advertising tends to look cleaner, using simple lighting to really show off the clothing or make up. Editorial sells more of the mood and the situation the clothing would be worn in. There are less “rules” per se in editorial fashion photography because it’s a bit looser. “But what about advertising campaigns like Gucci or Prada?” one might ask. And, well, you are right! What about them??  The lighting is definitely not simple, nor the sets or the looks. They’re pretty “grand” ad campaigns. But look at J Crew. Simple lighting, clean backgrounds, and you really see the clothes. Gucci and Prada are labels known for their sexy, edgy and rather expensive clothing. J Crew sells to everyone. But Gucci sells to those who are privileged enough (or rich enough) to afford their clothes. So their campaigns depict that “other worldly” sensibility.

And does this apply to beauty campaigns. Yes, absolutely. MAC has a whole different branding tactic than say Maybelline or Noxema. Or Ponds. They both run ads and they’re both considered advertising beauty but the looks differ greatly. MAC shows red eye make up with a purple tinted lip liner and blue-red lipstick on a punk girl with an edgy light. Ponds? No way. Clean skin, pure light, fresh, young, vibrant. Those are words to describe their ads.

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A little slice of Heaven called CHURCH

Living in Los Angeles is indeed a trip. As the famous gossip columnist Rona Barrett once said; “Pick your enemies carefully or you’ll never make it in Los Angeles.” People tend to live in a dream world here where who you are is identified by the car you drive or the celebrity’s personal cell number in your iPhone. Young hopefuls flock here by the thousands hoping to make their dreams come true and the city supports that mission by placing more importance on material and superficial gains over spiritual enlightenment. LA denizens actually believe if they jog for two hours in the morning they are morally fit. As Craig Kilbourn joked, “People here in Los Angeles are disgusted now about a sex scandal involving Arnold Schwarzenegger. Apparently for seven years, he carried on a sexual relationship with his own wife.” Yep, that’s my hometown, love it or not.

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So I’ve been really busy lately. For one, we’ve been planning the seminar that’s taking place this up-coming weekend, November 7th and 8th. We’re almost sold out, which is exciting and I want to thank all of you who have purchased tickets and are planning on attending! It’s going to be really fun, the models are GREAT and the studio we’re using is just A+ professional, as are the people who run Smashbox. Secondly, I have been spending ALOT of time SHOOTING SHOOTING and SHOOTING some more! Here are some new pictures along with a Lighting Diagram on a test I did with just 1 Big Beautiful Light!

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One Poison Apple

Over the summer, Douglas Little hired me to shoot a campaign to launch one of his new extravagant products. If you can remember Mr. Little from this previous post, he creates curious but gorgeous goods. He’s mainly famous for his decadent candles, and this new product was surely going to top the list of all things sinful and delightful. Douglas’s new candle was a Swarovski crystal layered candle that retails for a cool $420 bucks! Since the name of the candle is Poison Apple, he wanted to play with the Snow White theme. He sent me one comp, that’s it. He wanted one single image to promote the product with, but the image was well thought out and planned. He wanted to use his girlfriend, the illustrious burlesque dream girl Leila as our model since she naturally has a Snow White essence to her. With her jet black hair and snow white skin, she really was the perfect choice for our model.

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(4.67 stars, 12 ratings)

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