Happy New Year: 2018, a year of unapologetic success

Happy New Year and welcome to 2018. Often times when I am commuting I drown out the radio and think. There are periods where I even shut the radio off so I can focus my efforts on the tasks at hand, the decisions that are weighing on my mind, and contemplate my next moves. Yesterday after helping my wife I took a quick trip to the grocery store. By the time I had then car in park and was about ready to exit and make my way to the store, a thought popped into my head. It is kind of a mantra I am going to rule 2018 by:

"Take what you want, be who you want, live how you want, create what you want, and most importantly do nothing that requires an apology."  

If you were to ask me what the most successful thing about 2017 was, I could compare two goals that were set during 2017 and were accomplished. 

1. Accomplishing a major financial goal (a very positive thing)

2. Traveling to California, booking some shoots, and experiencing the left coast on my own. 

These two goals were a testament to my hard work, my desire to do something, my strength to over come fears, and take charge to see something through to the end. Among these two goals I also had some other major successful achievements:

I moved/upgraded my studio, purchased a dream camera (Hasselblad) and made some great images with it, had a busy and productive year, worked on some very cool shoots, had some fun, connected with some new friends, and increased my health through changing my lifestyle. There were some obstacles to over come, such as the blogged about bicycle accident, working hard to achieve the above GOAL number 1. While I did set out to make number 1 a priority, it took a lot of strength to do so. The amount of effort set forth to achieve that goal seems more like a feat of strength, rather than just simple hard work to accomplish a desired task. The last two weeks of December were a trial of patience and tenacity and were fraught with some dilemmas. The patience that were learned are going to assist with some of the decisions that will be made in 2018. 

Portrait in new studio

Portrait in new studio

For me and for my business, 2017 was a year of growth, testing, and gaining an inspired desire to succeed beyond the limits that lay before. This first week of the new year is going to be dedicated to restructuring my business plans, organizing my work spaces for an even faster work flow, laying out plans to build upon the success of 2017. While there were some unforeseeable hardships that arose in 2017, some business and some personal, with enough planning and preparation, certain things can be avoided. The lessons learned are going to smooth out future bumps in the road. In 364 days we will be toasting another great year with more accomplishments and new lessons learned. 

For this year, for 2018, I wish you the most success you can work for, I wish you the best of health, lastly, I wish for you the most amount of happiness you can sustain. Health, wealth, happiness, in that order, really. You can't build wealth if you aren't healthy and capable, you can't be happy if you aren't wealthy. Before that statement is judged, let me explain. Wealth doesn't necessarily mean you're Mark Zuckerburg fuckyou rich, it means your bills are paid, money is coming in, you're saving, your enjoying life, you know what I mean? You can't be happy unless you are sustaining all of this. Money surely doesn't buy happiness, it buys freedom, freedom allows for happiness to grow and thrive. 

And lastly, do nothing that requires you to make an apology. Do not be mean, to not be spiteful, vindictive, or hateful. The world has enough intolerance and injustice, it doesn't need anymore. If you have an ego, 2018 is a great year to let it go so you can grow to a higher being. Just remember, you literally are no better than anyone else. Even if you think you are the best, You are not. There is someone right behind you and in front of you with similar or different skills than can do the job the same as you or in a different capacity than you. Do the best that you can, be the creator and leader people aspire to be, not fear. Fear doesn't command teamwork it deters success. A fearless leader will guide his team with strength and inspire them to do their best. Be the creator that people want, the leader people want to depend on for guidance, and be the person that people admire. 

Cheers to 2018! Below are some of my favorite photos from 2017. Comment, share, and like if you're into that sort of thing.

Model Test: Jessa V

Thank you for following these posts. I have been so excited to share these photo from my test shoot with Jessa. If you have any questions about this shoot, reach out to me. Follow me on Instagram, twitter, or find me on Facebook. 

Jessa was excited to work together. It was great to connect with her. I wish her the most success. I know we will work together in the future and until then, I hope she continues to slay it!

When I think back to this shoot, the light is what really made for such great images. Sure I was using a great camera, sure I had a great model to work with, but at the end of the day, it was the light that really paved the way for us. You can't write a book and tell a story with out words. In the case of this shoot, the light and Jessa are the story. I feel like I told a pretty great story. 

Model Test: Jessa Part IV

Look at the glow in these images. Impressive. The volume of light was intense and beautiful. The first 3 of the following images are lit from the reflected, glowing, late afternoon light that was bouncing off the airstream. It was directly behind me and lit her beautifully.

The 4th images is amongst my favorite because of the glow and the pose, her gaze, and the closeness to the camera. That image and the following that are posted and the following final post, those are all lit with light reflecting off the airstream, bouncing off the corrugated metal directly across from the airstream, and coming right into the space we are in. Thee entire area was wrapped in light and I adored every moment of it. 

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 Part II

As mentioned in the previous post, my gear for this test with Jessa was minimal. A camera with one lens, a model and a photographer in an awesome location. Check out the quick video of the location. Nothing super special. Its not even a real behind the scenes video. It was more of less a few shots on my iPhone to show the space. 

With the minimal gear that I had, I was limited to using just natural light. Even if I had brought a set of lights with me or a simple reflector, I wouldn't have wanted to set them up given the light that I had available. When I first arrived at the location I was awestruck. I have never been in a desert, nor have I ever been in the desert hills of California. The late day light was playing off the sand, creating a glow. Two parts of the property that I rented had airstream trailers, which acted as giant light modifiers. I didnt need a single light or reflector so long as I had the sand from across the valley and the light bouncing off the trailers. You'll see in the following posts how the light bounced through the environment and gave me a lot to work with. I am very pleased with the images we made. 

I know it seems a bit odd to have so many posts for one test shoot. Surely I could simply reduce the number of posts and just do one post with 1 image from each look, but wheres the fun in that? Plus, this is away of generating more content and sharing more images. I am going to be revamping the site over the next two weeks to include all new work, both of Jessa and the other work I produced in Cali, so the more content I generate on the blog, the more visibility. Enjoy!

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.