Alex

My sister let me take pictures of her. this is the result.

Also

Charlie, from a photo shoot i did today with the band Young Science.

I just stumbled upon the blog of SF based photographer Erik Almas. Now, I've never really been all that intereseted in people (artists) that sit and need to get all psychological and shit when they talk about their art. Sometimes we just want to make something cool, but Erik is a photographer that I really admire, so when I came upon his blog, and more specifically the questions is posed in his blog it really made me think. Here are the questions

Why do I choose to photograph the things I do and what part of myself drives me towards these subject matters?

-How do I relate and respond to not only the subject but also the idea and concept of the image?

-What is my perspective and what do I want to say with the images I take?

The first question really made me think. At first I thought, "eh, i just like pretty things. But then I thought.... "hmmm but WHY do I like pretty things?" what In my life has driven me to want to photograph and make people look perfect? And I think I've decided that it all comes down to my insecurities. I photograph what I wish I could be some day, but know is not possible. Yeah I like stories too, but I think that's what draws me to fashion. I don't like honesty in my photographs. I don't like to show something that's already there. I know people's ideal image of beauty is a fraud, but I like that too. Art doesn't have to be about reality. Anyone can look around and see beautiful, normal looking people. I'm not looking to create something that's normal. It's all about the fantasy.

Charlie. for class I had an assignment to shoot a portrait that could also be a CD cover. My friend Charlie helped me out. He's a drummer in this awesome band called Young Science. Check 'em out! http://www.facebook.com/YoungScience
Here's another. :)

help!

give me your opinions!

It's been a while... again

I haven't shot much this summer and that makes me really sad.

I've just felt quite uninspired lately. Hopefully when school starts it'll be a bit different...

anyway here's a few pictures of some cute things that i shot when I was up in Wisconsin visiting my family a few months ago.

This family of deer were crossing the bridge. It was so cute. the little deer and their wobbly legs... What you can't see in this picture is there was a woman standing on the bridge about 3 feet away from the family when they walked by. It was a pretty amazing sight.

My cousins kid. He was so into the camera. I would take a picture and he'd be so excited to see it. I love little kids eyes. The irises always look so big compared to the rest of the eye...

Wedding

I shot a small wedding over in Pescadero this weekend.

They'd planned it about 2 months ago and assumed just as everyone else had, that the weather would be, well, sunny at least.

I even drove over there the day before to get some practice shots in so I'd know what the weather would be like...

on Friday it was beautiful! a little cold, but sunny, perfect marriage weather...

On Saturday it rained... not just cats and dogs, but alligators and squirrels and elephants.

We all sat in our cars and waited for the pastor to get there... not 5 minutes after the rain stopped. That didn't keep us (me especially) from getting wet (thankfully I'd worn my old, dirty shoes), but the ceremony was absolutely beautiful. Not only did the rain stop as soon as they started, but the sun started shining through the clouds. I'm a definite believer in signs, and if that wasn't a good sign for their marriage I really don't know what is.

Here's one of the first shots I took, It's not amazing technically, but I just love how the bride looks like she could be Mary Poppins on her wedding day....

It's been a while

The past couple of weeks I haven't done much personal shooting. Been trying to finish up with school and such.

Here's one more sea shot that I did for my portfolio.

Queen of Stone

First shoot of the day started off fairly well. Thanks to Tim and Alex for being so awesome. Thanks to Alex for finding the freakin awesome rock; and to Tim for carrying the chair up and down that awesome rock.Model- Alex Melean

Hair/ MUA- Phi Phi Dihn

Assistant- Timothy Meacham

Styling- Jasmine Duarte and Andrea Henneman

Sea Queen

Of course I had to choose to shoot in half moon bay on the windiest day of the year. Winds were in the upwards ofr 25 MPH. it was cold, and I had to carry that chair on my head down 50 stairs and across a sandy beach. I hope the final results are worth it. :/

Model - Ashley Quick

Hair/MUA - Priscylla Roa

Assistant/stylist- Jasmine Duarte

(sky stock provided by night-fate-stock on deviantart.com [http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/] )

Sneak peak at a picture from one of the loooongest days of my life. This isn't done. there's still a few edits i want to do, the background is a little too dark for my taste as well, but I wanted to post something for Alex....MUA and Hair- Phi Phi Dihn.

Model- Alex Melean

Assistant - Timothy Meacham

Styling/ Assistant - Jasmine Duarte

Before and After

I think before and afters are always fun. The before is never that bad, but it's just nice to clean something up, make it even better. As fashion photographers our goal should never be to completely change how a person looks, but just to make them look as good as possible.

Alex

Alex was one of my models for the Trashion Fashion show. We went to high school together and when I was asking around for models she got a hold of me. I'm so glad she did. We work so well together, she's amazingly professional especially for her age and I feel like we just "click".

Here are some pictures we took the other week. I'll post some more as soon as I get them edited. I'm going kinda slow with the editing right now.

This first one is basically unedited save for a few contrast and color tweaks.

Trashion Fashion

I've been quite busy working on two dresses for the trashion fashion show. The show finally came and I got second place for the design on the right. :)

Lighting Practice

Ashley

went into the studio last week to practice lighting with the beauty dish. I've never actually used that baby before...

edits

Thought i'd post this one. not necessarily because it's my favorite image, but because i put so much work into it to make it still look natural. can you tell what's different?

After

Before

fffashionfinds.com

hmm. for a friend.

Pictures for my best friends graduation announcements. or whatever he wants to do with them. I still haven't gotten around to editing them more than small adjustments...