'74

 So back before the Corona virus made it's grand entrance into our lives in early 2020, I had the opportunity to shoot this lovely French lady named Juliette.  As with most of my shoots so far, the shoot took place at my friend Forrest's house in Los Feliz, near Dodger Stadium. Juliette turned out to be a most gracious, friendly and all around great model for us. I really appreciate when a model shows up willing to put in an effort to collaborate with me as a photographer and be open to discuss plans and ideas. It really IS a partnership and the results show it. Here are some of the best shots.   As you can see, these were staged against a white, seamless backdrop and were shot with a Canon 5D mkIII with a 24-105mm lens. We used a couple of AlienBees B400 strobes placed on either side of her. We were striving to achieve a "high end" fashion model shoot and Juliette definitely had that "European Top Model" look we were looking for.

  One of the things I’ve come to love doing every year is getting out to shoot perfect strangers. By this, I don’t mean strangers that are perfect, but instead, folks whom I’ve never met and otherwise would never have met. The way it works is you look online on sites such as Facebook, Instagram or Meetup and you do a local search for photography events or meetups. Once there, you’ll get info on the location and time of the event and, if it’s a good and established event, they’ll even suggest you bring things like a hat, water, and proper footwear depending on the weather and terrain. I really appreciate this because I’ve been known to neglect that sort of personal care and attention and come to regret the oversight. Every. Single. Time. So, you got your info and the day arrives. You gotta make sure you have all the gear you’ll need. At the bare minimum, you’ll need your camera, a charged battery and whatever lens you’re planning on using. At the most, well, sky’s th...

  1974 was the year I came into this world. That year holds no more significance for me unless I google "significant events for 1974" or something like that. I won't do that since I'm not that learned and I'm not going to pretend I am. I'm sure a lot of important events happened that year, but for me, my birth, was it.  For a long time now, I've been thinking about having some form of "permanent" way to record my thoughts in a way where they're easy to find. I can't think of anything easier than a blog, at least currently. As far as permanence, well, I guess time will tell. Who knows.  The idea is that, when I'm gone, those who know me, i.e. my kids and family, will have a way to "connect" to me in some way. I'm no writer or poet, but I hope that the little I do share with my writing goes a long way into sharing who I am after I'm gone. I know that if I had a blog written by any of my grandparents, who are long gone,...