Model Test: Jessa Part III
If you were to ask me before July, "what do you think of California?" My response would be simple. "I dunno. Ive never been. Ive heard good things." Driving up the coast in a convertible, heading into the sunset up into the hills of Malibu, the sun setting in front of me casting an orange glow on the pavement teasing me, saying "keep driving life will get better every mile you search ahead." To contrast, the north east is nothing like California. Boston is fun. New York City is, well, New York City. You love it or you hate it. I happen to love New York City. When you compare LA to NYC, you have two completely different types of cities, lifestyles, and of course, different looks. NYC has a jungle of concrete, Steele and glass. You can be on a rooftop in Long Island City and the view is nearly the same as something you'd see in lower Manhattan.
Brooklyn seen from the rooftop of The Boro Hotel in Long Island City, NYC
What I have seen in LA seems to be different. Very Different. The light is different, the skyline is different. Turn around and the view changes. Turn around again, the view changes. Hop to another roof top, the view changes, the mood changes, the looks change. The photo of me, below, is from the roof of a building in DTLA. That is from a studio shoot the day before the test shoot with Jessa. That shoot will be discussed following the posts of Jessa.
Roof top from Apex Studios in the Fashion District of DTLA, July.
View of DTLA from roof top of Apex Studios.
I bring all of this up, show these images and comparisons for 1 reason, LA is different. Here is why. In the course of 24 hours you can be on the beach, the most quintessential view of Souther California shooting life style fashion, the next day you could be in a studio shooting a look book or some ecommerece. The day after that you could be in the hills shooting an editorial or on a Hollywood set shooting portraits. For me, from my perspective, the vast differences in locations that are seemingly nestled together, LA has a lot more to work with.
My test shoot with Jessa in Topanga is a stellar example of how flexible the area can be. Turn the corner and there is an area ready to be use for any number of shoots. Turn the corner and drive down the road and there is yet another location ready for a shoot. I found Topanga to be especially inspiring. As quite and private as the area can be, I found it to be a hidden gem of sorts. If I was to be commissioned for an editorial to be shot in California, I would turn to Topanga before others areas. I would do so because I enjoyed the area and would like to use the elements that I saw in a shoot. Granted there are countless others spots I saw and have yet to see in the LA area, and other points north and south, but I know that I would like to shoot again in Topanga.
I said it before and I will say it again, the location was like a film set. I knew when I saw the Airbnb listing I just needed to rent the space. I moved a few pillows and made it a bit more comfortable, but other than that, I shot with the space as it was because it was that well set. As you can see by now, this being the 3rd post with Jessa, there really was a lot to work with.
Model Test: Jessa
One of the worst pitfalls of being busy, is being busy. A lot of people say, "busy is good or its better to be busy than not be busy." There is healthy busy, the kind that is super productive. Then there is unhealthy busy. Prior to the start of this past summer I was busy in an unhealthy fashion. I was married to the daily work that was coming and I kept adding more to my plate. Once summer came things changed. Now, unhealthy isn't in my daily vernacular. In addition to restructuring part of my business, I have been working hard at being as healthy as I can. Part of this means carving out time to do the kind of marketing, self promotion, and general social media blasting that I need to, which brings me to this post and the next 4.
In July I was in Southern California for the first time. I did the trip right. I rented a convertible and drove up and down the PCH, Pacific Coast Highway. In a few future posts I will go into detail. For the purposes of today's post and the next 4 I have scheduled, I will be discussing my shoot in Topanga, California. I rented an Airbnb for the purposes of producing an editorial. To protect the privacy of the property owners, I will not provide the address. A few days before the trip things fell apart from a production stand point. Even though the editorial wouldn't be happening I still wanted to utilize the space, as it was so so incredible. It looked like a Hollywood film set, partially because the homeowner is a DP, so they knew what they were doing when they styled it.
Jessa, who is signed with Rocky Mountain Entertainment is a model and actor working in LA. She was generous with her time and talents for our shoot. I must credit my friend and colleague Brittany Smith for having made the connection. I had been on location long enough to plan how the shoot would flow. Having spent a few days in production for the editorial, I had a great mood board in place. When Jessa and I spoke, it was easy to communicate my vision for the location. I was looking to marry a bohemian style within the location.
For this test shoot I minimal gear with me. I used a Canon 5Ds with a Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens. I did not bring any lights with me or use any modifiers. I relied entirely on natural and available light for this shoot. I will go into detail over the next few scheduled posts. It is also worth noting that in wanted to maintain minimal retouching for this shoot. I wanted things to feel natural and lose, not overly commercialized and heavily retouched. The following images as well as the next 4 posts will convey the visual success that we had.
