Down Town, LA _Project 09 #18

Last night I was up late and could not sleep. I was thinking about these photos I shot. It seems that every time I go out to shoot around my house this uneasy felling comes over me. I’m constantly watching my back I never know if im going to get jacked or some thing. Right about then there is a bang! That sounded like a gun shoot. Then there were three more and I knew they were gun shoots. I went to the window to see what was going on outside. There is a car driving down the street in reverse with its lights off. The police showed up 5 minuets later witch is funny because the station is a block away. That just makes me think why am I doing this project? I don’t really have an answer right now either? The good news is im going to be shooting photos in Watts and South Central Los Angles for the next two-week or so. Because Down Town LA is not sketchy enough. Hahaha. Things are adding up.

Kandee Johnson Make-Up

My friend Kandee Johnson stopped by this weekend. When ever she comes around something amazing happens. I asked her if she could do a make up look so I could shoot it. She has been doing a series on Halloween make up for her You Tube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/kandeejohnson#p/u that is out of control by the way. If you have not seen it you should check it out. She has done over 15 different looks that are mind blowing. Her make up skills are so far beyond the average make up artist. I ended up watching all of the videos again today they are very impressive. I noticed another girl on You Tube doing Halloween makeup as well. In the other girls video she had copied some of kandee’s techniques and even use here terminology. But she could not mach the quality of work that Kandde dose. I don’t think many people can. That is the impact she has on people they cant help being inspired by her work. After I had shot these photos I went through then on my computer there was hardly any retouching that had to be done her work was flawless.

Down Town, LA _Project 09 #17 Research

I came across these photos of Los Angles as I was doing so research for my Down Town LA project. It amazes me how much thing can change in such a short time. At one point down town LA was the spot to be. Now people’s first impression of it is a city over run with home less people and drugs. I don’t see it that way at all. This is one of the inspirational places I have ever lived. The building I live in was built in 1908 and all the sounding buildings came along not long after. The people here are not like typical LA people they are real. There is an amazing energy here the compelled me to do this project.

PACIFIC ELECTRIC SUBWAY CARS

This my building

BROADWAY AND 6TH

LOS ANGELES BEFORE 1900

GLENDALE 1900

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY 1900

GLENDALE 1900

ALAMEDA STREET FLOOD 1900

BELLEVUE TERRACE HOTEL, 6TH AND FIGUEROA, 1900

GARFIELD AND SLAUSON 1941 (LOOK AT ALL THAT OPEN SPACE!)
CHAVEZ RAVINE 1950
FORCED EVICTION OF CHAVEZ RAVINE 1959 (FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF DODGER STADIUM)
HILL AND 3RD 1928
UNION BANK
BROADWAY AND 6TH

6TH STREET BRIDGE
7TH AND BROADWAY

COURTHOUSE AND HALL OF RECORDS

FLOODED STREET INTERSECTION, 6TH AND MARIPOSA 1920
LOS FELIZ BLVD IN ATWATER VILLAGE 1920
VENTURA BLVD IN SHERMAN OAKS 1910-1920
RESEDA BLVD. FROM DEVONSHIRE

PACIFIC ELECTRIC SUBWAY CARS
DODGER STADIUM CONSTRUCTION 1961

Down Town, LA _Project 09 #17

The third time is a charm they say. I have shot this photo 3 times now. After the first time I shoot here I was supper stoked on the photo but I felt like it needs some thing more. The first photo is shot with a black sky and the city. My problem is any one could go there and shoot the same exact photo. By being patient and waiting to reshot on a day with weather give this photo a unique signature no one can replicate the cloud in the new photo. The city and the road will be there night after night but the cloud was only there for a half hr. My point is don’t ever settle or sell your self short .If you thing you can do something better then at least try. In life I see people just saying that’s good enough. We should be able to stand tall and say I gave it my all. I don’t want to look back at my like and say I could of tried harder. By then it will be to late.

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My third try and final image#3

My first try image #1

Down Town, LA _Project 09 #16

Samuel Blaire is a home less man I met it front of star bucks He’s was trying to sell us a CD of his music. I was with my friend Jordon and we were in not in the mood to get hit up for money. On our walk there every 10 feet it was you got $1.35 or .25cents ECT it gets old quick. We have to deal with this 24/7 every day .I just started saying do I look like your mom. Samuel was cool he just started paying and we were in awe thinking this guy was no joke. We ended up buying his CD. I let him know I wanted to shoot him for my LA project. He was not really feeling it so I had to sell him on it. The roles had been switched now I wanted something from him. Oh the irony. I won him over and meet him a day later so I could shoot some picks of him. I have a few good ones but I know I have only just started my journey with MR Blair. I want to document his day-to-day life. He lets us know he had a wife and kid that he lives with on the streets under a bridge. He shines shoes in the day and plays music at night to support them. This is an amazing story. If you want to here his music this is the link http://www.myspace.com/samueljblair you will be stoke on it if you like blues.

Forum/FQS/Special Blend/Catalog shoot...

Here is a quick behind the scenes look at the catalog shoots we did this week. I can’t show too much until the catalogs come out. I would like to thank everyone who was involved with our shoot. Bryan Knox/Forum, David Friend/Forum, John Alvino/PLY ,Erik Petersen/JDK, Andi Elloway/PLY, Mark McClanahan/Lighting, Tim Peare/Photography, Kyle Schwartz/Video, The Forum Team, Thania Peck/Model, Anne Molin/Model, Kayla Pringle/Model, Kristi Kimartin /Intern, Lauren Randolph/Intern. The shoot was a success thank to all of you!

We used some old cameras on this shoot to give the photos a unique look. I’m super stoked on the portraits we got from this shoot. I can’t wait to post them.

We set the fog machine off to test a look for the Special Blend Catalog. The owner of the studio got a call from someone telling her the studio is on fire. She rushed down and found the place filled with fog. She was cool about it and just laughed.

My gaffer Mark is using a mirror to bounce light on to Eddie Wall's face. He knows all the tricks every great photo comes down to the smallest of details.

My good old 4x5 camera. I had to dust this one off. We have not worked together in some time. People collect these cameras so they can look at them on the mantel above the fireplace. These cameras give you a look that cannot be matched by any digital camera or hours of photoshop. The portraits and photos that we got from this beauty are insane!!!!!

Things got interesting for a while because I was shooting with three cameras with different film in each of them. As I shot one camera I was passing another one. It was hard to keep track of what I was doing.

Setting up the light for our studio shoot.

This is a funny photo because we are shooting a snowboard catalog standing on a skate ramp in southern California. That is the beauty of photography. Nobody will ever know. But you have to laugh at the irony of it.

We had to do a ton of rigging for the lights used for the S.B shoot. It was worth it. The photos from this shoot are truly unique. I have never shoot anything like this.

This is my friend John sitting behind me. He was also the art director for this shoot. This is a good example of having some one on your back all day. Ha ha. He was actually really good to work with. He gave me a lot of creative freedom. I have had art directors and clients that have been behind me all day to the point where it actually started to compromise the shoot. This was not the case here but it looks like it in this shot.

Behind the Scenes : Special Blend Catalog Shoot

I'm shooting down in Costa Mesa, Ca this week for the Special Blend, Forum, and Foursquare catalogs. The past two days we have been shooting Special Blend. I've been working with my friend and graphic designer, John Alvino and we've come up with some great concepts and shot ideas. Sometimes it's hard to conceptualize before a shoot and you just have to figure things out when you get there, especially when you're doing things that haven't really been done before. When you have an idea in your head that there isn't a lot of reference for, it's especially hard to convey to others what you're thinking until it's actually put together and they can see it. When you finally have shots in hand, it's great to see how everyone in your crew helped make the vision a possibility. This shoot in particular used some tricky lighting and wouldn't have been possible without my good friend and lighting specialist, Mark McClanahan.