Matteo BTS

Here is a video shot by my friend Jun Shim showing the behind the scenes of a Matteo photo shoot. By putting the beds on the wall we are able to create a visual style that is instantly recognizable as a Matteo product, while maintaining the bed form. I am really pleased with the way the photos turned out and I am very happy that Matteo was willing to take the risk and shoot their products in a new way. I feel that it has a really great look and I just love the way the fabric hangs, each piece is like a piece of art. Visit the Matteo website to see more shots matteohome.com

New York

I love New York! There was a time when I was thinking of living there. After living in LA for five years now I don't think I could handle the seasons. But I would love to live there for the photography, not only can you soot without a permit but you can take power off the street too. I was there for a couple days in June on my way up to Maine. While I was there i saw photo opportunities around every corner. It is the time of the year when the sun lines up with the streets creating amazing light. I was kicking myself for not organizing a shoot. But then I met Silja Ahonen a Finnish Rhythmic Gymnastics champion in New York for a couple of days. Why she trusted me who knows, what matters is that we got some really great shots. We almost missed the sun, but we got there just in time to get the golden light and long shadows. After we lost the sun we went to Times Square where we did some shots in the crowds. Then we went into the center of Times Square, The scene was Insane! Being in times square at 8:30 pm was really intense we had easily 200 people around us in a tight circle and everyone was taking pictures of us or her rather. So my background was pretty limited, I decide to throw on the 70-200 and work with all of the lights that were there. I am really happy with how they turned out. Considering there was a couple wearing duck camouflage hats, cut off flannel shirts and both with a cheek full of tobacco directly behind her.

Urban Lily Yoga

When Elinore of Urban Lily Yoga (www.urbanlilyyoga.com) came to me and said she wanted to shoot her entire roster of teachers I was excited about the opportunity to shoot so much talent at one time. The theme? Flash dance! Awesome! I thought, a bunch of wet yoga teachers. But that idea was scratched, for obvious reasons, and because there was only one iyengar yoga teacher (they use props like chairs).  We went with a little more realistic scenario.

We kept the dramatic lighting, leggings and attitude. I went with a dark background to emphasize the highlights. A wooden floor without mats because the reflections of color were so nice. The clothes were supplied by Chakras by Didi (http://www.chakrasbydidi.com), a local yoga clothing designed. We shot two nights in a row and everyone showed up on time and were amazing. We did three poses per girl for a total of 5-7 minutes per girl so we were shooting pretty fast. We managed to get everyone shot but we were easily staying till 11pm each night. It was so worth it I had a blast and the girls got some great shots.