Palm Springs: Travel Photography

At the start of May I attended the Palm Springs Photo Festival. I only attend the first day to listen to Art Striber speak about editorial photography. It was an eye opening, learning experience, with a lot of take aways. I also learned how important the PSPF is. I am going to be spending the next 9-10 months shooting and building a book, updating my portfolio, to take with me next year for portfolio reviews.

Being this was only my second time to Southern California I wanted to see the area as fast as I could. I only had a short time following the end of the conference before sunset, so I had to maximize my time efficiently. When I was planning my trip I had hopes of testing with models in and around Palm Springs. The ideas I had didn't seem to be feasible. All of the affordable hotels were booked up and there was a lack of affordable Airbnb's to chose from. I wasn't about to fly into Palm Springs, flights were double that of LAX. I ended up settling on an Airbnb in Hollywood. I seem to favor that area. I was flying in to LAX and with only spending a single day in Palm Springs, I figured a drive in and out same day would be easy enough, which in the end meant no testing in Palm Springs. No worries.. I still ended up setting up some shoots, to be shared in the very very very near future. 

I have never been to a desert before. I spent a lot of time researching the area when I was looking for Airbnbs as well as developing ideas for testing. The Palm Springs area is quite unique and honestly, very much worth exploring. In my research I ended up seeing quite a few high end editorials shot in Palm Springs. I also found a few blogs that listed the best places to see and make photos in Palm Springs. If I had more time and I wasn't traveling solo Palm Springs would have been fun to explore and spend more time in. What I did want to see was the landscape and what made the desert, well, the desert. 

I knew the area had a lot of windmills. They are kind of famous and widely used as a backdrop. I didn't realize why they were erected in the areas they were until I drove into the area. HOLY wind! But, as you turn the corner, the mountains cut the wind. It is a really unique region. I can not contextualize the experience as I do not fully understand the region and its diverse weather. 

I had a lot of fun cruising around and capturing some shots of the landscape. All images were made using my Fuji X-Pro ii with the slightly bent lens I have discussed in other posts. 

I have some other content that I will be sharing soon, including some news about a new assistant!

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.