we had a good amount of time to get to know each other before our shoot, as we did what is now becoming my very customary back and forth for shoots like this of helping my ‘client’ style themselves for the shoot. we also had a decent-sized drive to LA for the actual shoot, so i got a good feel for the multiple purposes for this day. lani expressed an interest in what we undertook with tara’s photoshoot. lani has somewhat recently undergone a transitional period in her life. and how do you say ‘blossom’, ‘bloom’, ‘evolve’ without being too cliché? well, whatever word works for you, that’s what lani has done… breaking through from some dark places, breaking out of what seems to have been a fairly claustrophobic and paralyzing cocoon to become the woman she was always meant to be and take flight anew, in a colorful world not only void of the darkness that had surrounded her, but a world that she is now adding amazing colors of her own to with her artwork. ** by the way, dear readers… that …to the left of this sentence? the words “her artwork”… that is a link. a link to lani’s art website. go there. i’ll link it again at the end of this post for those of you who are so invested in this blog post now and don’t want to derail the train of your mindset… but look for it again and go there after this so you can see her work. ok? ok. it’s a deal. as the indians said to kevin costner — loo-tentant — in dances with wolves: “it’s a good trade”. **

i know… there are a lot of words here so far and not any photos. am i a photographer or a writer? have i pulled the old bait and switch on you? no no… they’re coming. i promise. just some of these need a little set-up and back story. so you feel more informed. when i popquiz you on this stuff, you don’t want to be caught unaware, do you???

hair:  val hulme who works at legends ladera salon 949.218.7600
mua:  chelle volta who can be reached at volta.chelle@gmail.com

so we started the day at the old la zoo. a little hidden gem of a place that was perfect for some of what we wanted to do.

when people want to step out of the box, try things, humor my “hmmmm… maybe this would work?” ideas… it bedazzles my brain a little. lani made this tree hers!

we shifted gears in a major way when we climbed some hills and made our way under and through some fences for the next part of the shoot. and these shots below are so lani, to me. a joyful spirit, to say the least.

lani is a huuuuuge star wars fan. huge. at some point during our many preparation conversations, lani asked me if she could bring a light saber to the shoot. if you know me, you know i am a huge nerd or geek for all things star wars. you also know that my start in photography was almost solely based on tongue-in-cheek and goofy photos of myself. so, that side of me lit up when she mentioned the light saber. then i settled myself down for a bit… paused… mulled it over… and said: “really?” haha. i was pretty skeptical. i didn’t want this to become a completely silly shoot that just anyone could have done for her on their little point-and-shoot camera. wanting to try the challenge, i agreed. and, thusly, i give you jedi lani:

in researching photos of this location, we both were in love with the thought of these big open spaces with graffiti all over the walls. perfect for her and what we were looking to do. so we kept walking around and looking for these big rooms that we had seen. and then it hit us. we never saw people in those areas. nothing ever to show the scale of the space. and we also realized all of those photos may have even been taken with fisheye lenses. well, we got lani in there anyway. so, here you go folks. now there is something on the internet to show the scale of that (tiny) space. you’re welcome.

we went to a different staircase to explore the ‘dark side’ of lani’s life force. without any necessary or unnecessary build-up, i now give you sith jedi lani:

i’m used to working organically… and though i like to plan out as much as possible before a shoot, i still take a lot of things as they come during the shoot. including unplanned location changes. we left the zoo and headed downtown basically as the sun set and as some rain started to fall. so, we found ourselves headed for the urban lights at lacma.

do you know me? another bit of insight: i love hair in motion. love it. i don’t make everyone do it. almost everyone. and i can see the skepticism in some people’s eyes before we try it. but i like to think most of my subjects become fans afterward as well. i love the extra kick her necklace gave to these.

to complete the day of shooting, lani changed into this amazing dress. it was the perfect dress for where we were and any frustration of not being able to shoot the entire time at the old zoo was completely removed.

i love that last photo above. that was the last frame of the day and i saw it on my camera and announced “oh yeah, we’re done” without hesitation.

lani… i have loved hearing your story. you are an inspiration with your art, as well as with how you live life. i hope you continue to inspire so many others as i see you doing pretty much daily. i cannot wait for us to shoot again (yes… y’all read that right… there are a few shoots being talked about already…).

make sure you all head off to her site and check out her work… www.laniwoods.com. go there.

in the meantime, you can cast a vote here… should lani remain a good jedi, using the force for the benefit of others and to fight against the ill-will of the empire? or should she turn to the dark side and use the force to crush the rebellion??

we went through the whole process together. picking out outfits. matching it up with accessories. deciding on a location. i actually love this part of it. even tara told me i should create my own stylist company. hmmmmm…

once it was all coordinated, we met up to start at one of our two chosen locations… and so began tara’s photographic journey… a journey from being a little nervous with the first photo into a nearly immediate evolution into greatness. and we were on our way…

as the sun was just about going behind nearby mountains, we got some perfect light in this area before we abandoned this location for the next. i could have shot here the rest of the day, easily. good problem to have… another good problem: the wind. that day was extremely windy in some areas but we seemed to hit a dead spot. until we moved into this area and the wind was just the perfect amount to create some glorious motion with tara’s hair.

one final wardrobe change and we were off…

then it was a literal race against time as we watched the sun getting closer and closer to setting as we drove to the beach. we got there just in time, went down what seemed like 1000 steps from PCH and jumped right into it.

tara nailed the hair motion shots. and she nailed them quickly, thank goodness… as the sun was setting faster than i could shoot.

i said a lot already about this session. i hope the photos also said a lot about it. i have been almost too blessed recently with having sessions that have really meant a lot to me, for what they have meant to my subjects. that’s just kind of rare… but has been really common for me right now. so, to tara: thank you again and again for trusting me with such a transformational day. i am better for having been a part of it and very fortunate to now call you friend, as well. i hope this only acts as another springboard for the greatness in your life.

another great day of shooting with a truly lovely girl, inside and out. thanks, again, alexa for teaming up with me for some great photos and good fun! and who knows what your hair will look like next time  ;)

there are a handful of inspirations i have in different photographic communities. among them, i have seen a little bit of work here and there with animal masks. i decided to take a little spin with this and make it my own with abbi.

for those of you who may know my photography from a couple of years back, specifically with my 365 days project, you know i used to be all about the jumping. well, if you have a girl in a zebra mask, on top of a building, doesn’t it kind of behoove (oh… behoove… good one!) you to have her jump in it?

thanks, abbi. it was great to finally work this shoot out and you kicked it up a notch with your willingness to step out of the box a little. i hope you love the photos!

here are a couple of my faves from the day, as a sneak peek for her.

thanks again to all of you (boyfriend and pooch included) for coming down for a couple of hours. i hope y’all had a good time! and there are puh-lenty more to come.

we finally coordinated and decided to just get out there and shoot. margo was nervous because she had never done anything like this before. but, as i am sure you’ll see… it came fairly natural. the camera loved her.

like i said before … it is good to know i got to her before some modeling agency signs her.   ;)

thanks again for the fun day, margo! i truly had a great time pulling your inner model out of you. haha.

my wife’s wedding gown is still hanging in plastic in our closet… it has not gone to the cleaners yet. so, just a few weeks before our wedding anniversary, we decided to go off to one of my favorite places to shoot. my magical tree spot   :)

i need to applaud my wife… she was quite the trooper out there. this place is clearly not the most fun place to be, in a wedding gown, during the recent So Cal heatwave. she totally pulled it off (said in as much of an un-biased way as possible).

it was quite sunny out, so once we escaped the shade of the trees it was almost impossible to tolerate the sun for long. i plan on going back to this part of the site for sure when the sun is not so high.

one week from today is actually our anniversary, so these have a little more meaning for me. maybe next time we will bring our little girl into the photos as well. i cannot thank my wife enough for not only the daily putting up with a buffoon like me (that is a combo word of “buff babboon”, right?), but for getting herself all glammed out and being a champ through this photo shoot. i love you!!   :)

we took a few shots before we headed to the rooftops. now, let me say, scott is not currently running for office… but if and when he does, i got his poster shots covered!

there is even some nice greenery to be found in amidst the concrete jungle there.

we finished up the day the way we started it: brick brick brick!

i figured i would keep this brief… if scott is like most guys, he was not even anticipating this going up on the blog. so… short and sweet. if nothing else, to show i can and do shoot guys too. haha.

thanks again, scott. it was fun catching up with you and i look forward to havin’ a pint with ya sometime in the not too distant future.

marisa’s little girl is about to have her birthday and she wanted to get some good photos for her invite. invitations really have come a long way in the past few years and i love who much time people put into them now. tell me, when you get an invitation, don’t you just get a little giddy and check it out for all the fine details and the way that said party-thrower put it together? anyway, we got together really quickly for a small session, looking for some shots she could use on her invite. just headed over to a local park and SHAZAAM! (one of my all-time favorite exclamations. highly usable in mad libs.)

i am shooting a wedding on the day of her actual party… so i am sad to miss the event. but i hope you have a great party, lola and a fantastic year ahead!  :)

seeing the girls so loving and friendly with each other was fun. so let’s throw mom into the mix and see how that dynamic changes things.

the vulnerability and connection with her youngest was quite something.

and the difference with the elder was tangible… but the love was still just so easily seen.

we let the girls play on their own on the beach for a little bit after they had done their part.

i asked heather if she wanted to do any shots on her own at all. we had kind of kicked that idea around a little when we first talked. i was glad that she was still up for it.

as the day was almost over, we started chatting about some ideas i wanted to shoot at some point. heather caught me off-guard and said she would be up for even getting wet before she left. i hadn’t really prepared for it, but how could i pass up her offer. so we took a few minutes to shoot and when the waves started dousing her, she was a total and complete champ about it.

i just love the complete and pure joy on her face here. another reminder that adults can still have spontaneous fun too!

i sat here and thought about this one for a moment. allowing my mind to float back to that day for a full re-collection. and words could not fully describe the almost spirituality this shoot evolved through. a whole lot of individual, yet strong, adjectives come to mind as i try to describe the relationship between heather and her girls. it is the kind of love that is so fully formed and respectful (in a way). if i were a mother, i think i would have just sat there and simply sighed… and nodded my head ever so slightly. knowing that this is what i would strive for. any semblance of this bond and relationship. i am not a mother, nor even a woman… but as a fairly new parent, i walked away with close to that same desire… to build something like the bond and (dare i say) communion that i could see in existence between these three over just a few hours with them.

i hope to do this again, some day, heather. and now that i really soak in everything that brought those words above out of me, i can maybe even say: the pleasure was all mine.