Today, I had an opportunity to do something different while giving back to the community. I’ve been hired by the San Diego Food Bank to do their promotional photography for the coming year. “Hired” isn’t exactly the right word since I’m doing everything pro bono. Today was our first day of shooting. To get acquainted with the people and their process, I spent the morning at a church where they distributed food to all comers.

I’d planned on shooting adults, but most were not happy with me photographing them. There’s a great sense of shame in standing in a food line. Many folks hid their faces or refused to allow their picture to be taken. There’s many people who’ve never stood in a food line before - from middle class folks who’ve lost their jobs to folks struggling to hang onto their foreclosure-bound houses to military families who can’t make ends meet on a government salary. Hopefully, in the days to come, I’ll be able to tell their stories.

In the meantime, I photographed some of the kids. Parents are okay with me taking pictures of them so it was easier for me to get my shot. These are a handful that I liked. I’ll share more as I shoot more.

John

My inspiration for this shot came from an old photo of me as a baby chomping on my grandfather’s shoe. He didn’t wear Stuart Weitzeman however. At least not in red…

I always like to test new looks and work with new people. For this day-long shoot in the studio, I teamed up with new hair and makeup stylists to try out different looks. Let me know what you think of the results.

John

In the midst of all my getting ready for WPPI in Vegas, we spent the afternoon in Balboa Park for a little fashion shoot. We tested out the eyelashes that Jeffrey created - he did the hair and makeup - for another shoot that he’s doing.

I liked all the lines and tones of this scene. When I set the shot up, the back wall was lit up by the sun. By the time we started shooting, a cloud rolled in and softened up the light.

I’ve shot a few wedding ceremonies at this spot. Usually, they’re in front of the well, not on top of it. This one’s my favorite…

Jennifer, the model, was freezing at this point. I suggested that she put on 30 lbs. Guess that’s not really an option…

John

I’m in the middle of producing a magazine fashion shoot that I’ll be doing next week. We’ve got one model cast and now we need the second. We’re going for more of a European look rather than guy-next door, but that look is tough to find in San Diego. Today, Jeffrey - my art director/hair/makeup/stylist guru - brought by a potential model that he’d scouted. He’d shown me a few snaps but they didn’t impress me so I was a little skeptical. 

Right away, I could tell that the camera like Damon and that he’d be a good fit for our shoot. A lot of guys have one look and don’t know what to do with themselves. Even though Damon had no experience, he felt and looked comfortable in front of the camera.

Discovering new folks like this is always fun. With these shots, he’ll probably be able to get an agent and start working. I shot all of these with available light against a gray paper seamless. Nothing fancy although I did some work in Photoshop to deepen the shadows and play with the color.

John

A couple of days ago, my creative team and I got together for a test shoot with Joy, an up and coming model here in San Diego. Believe it or not, she’s 14! She was a trooper. The water at the beach was damn cold, but she stuck it out. After standing in the water for an hour, I couldn’t feel the bottom of my feet. Poor Joy was freezing. Whatever it takes to get the shot!

Joy wore a Versace dress for this shot. She was at the same time excited to wear it but then felt guilty about promptly rolling around in the sand. It’s a $6,000 dress so it hurt a little seeing her roll around in the sand. Anything for fashion.

John

Last week, I was invited to photograph a charity event held at Saks Fifth Ave in San Diego. About a hundred women came out to support cancer awareness and the Vaughn Parker Charitable Foundation which funds mammogram screening for people who are uninsured or unable to afford it. The idea was to eat, drink and shop with a percentage of everything purchased going to the charity.

My thought was that it would be fun to create portraits of the socialites trying on clothes and having fun. It didn’t work out exactly as I expected, still, I think I got some fun shots. Everyone was in a good mood and enjoyed working it for the camera. The sweet vodka drinks they were serving didn’t hurt my cause.

To achieve the look of these shots, I set up a canvas backdrop (that I had painted at home) and three lights. One in front of the subject and the other two off to the side, slightly over-exposed to give the shots more of a sophisticated, glam look.

John

A couple of months ago, I posted about a big shoot that I had coming up. Well, I can now post the photos from the shoot since the magazine has finally been published.

Doing a shoot like this is a lot of work - as you can probably imagine. It all started with a call from the art director a few months ago asking if I wanted to do the magazine’s swimwear fashion. I could have done a typical shoot with models on the beach, but that would’ve been too predictable.

Instead, I put my little thinking cap on. I have a collection of photography books in my house - from Avedon to Salgado. But the work that really stood out was that of Helmut Newton. I love his mix of nudity, fashion, and composition - Helmut Newton became my inspiration.

Next, I decided to go for more of a high-fashion look. I didn’t want to stick with just the swimwear. Instead, I wanted to layer the clothes with dresses and coats. I knew that I couldn’t show nudes in the magazine. Having the bikinis peaking out of the clothes gave the shots some of the voyeuristic feel that inspired me in Newton’s work.

The next thing to decide on was the location. I thought of everything from expensive homes to the desert. The art director told me that there was a chance of getting the cover. The catch is it’s easier to get the cover shot if it has something to do with San Diego. The desert was out if I wanted a hope for the cover shot.

Last year, I’d been condo shopping and checked out some condos near the ballpark in San Diego’s downtown. The salesperson took me to the roof where I was blown away by the view. I knew that I wanted to shoot there at some point. As I was brainstorming for a place to shoot, it came to mind. That in turn gave me the idea to shoot at a variety of rooftops around downtown and make that the unifying theme for the shoot.

Once I had a look and a concept in place, I needed to assemble the right team. I’ve worked with a lot of great stylists, but I needed people who really understood fashion and weren’t afraid to push things. I did some asking around and got a couple of recommendations to the same guy for makeup. Once we met, I knew that he was the perfect fit. The magazine referred us to a new stylist in town. She’d just moved from LA where she’d done styling for celebrities like Sharon Stone.

The final step was casting for talent. That was a lot of work. I did an entire round of casting and didn’t get anyone. I finally ended up bringing in every single girl located in San Diego that was represented by the agency I worked with. I insisted on actually meeting with every girl I was considering because I didn’t want to just go off of their photos. Seeing how the talent works with me and how they look in the final image is super important in making the final decision.

The shoot day was long and tiring. But everything went perfectly. I shot with my camera tethered to my computer so that I could see what I was getting as I was shooting. I had two very experienced assistants (and a volunteer) helping me to set everything up and then take it down. I don’t travel lightly on these shoots so it’s a lot of work.

There’s never enough time on these shoots so knowing my equipment and how to get the looks that I want is the key to making it work. Trying to figure out what you’re doing in the middle of the shoot is just not possible. Before taking on a shoot of this scale, it’s important to test everything out in advance so that there’s no guesswork on the shoot day.

In the end, the art director loved the shots. Unfortunately, they were a bit too much for some of the powers that be. The shots were originally supposed to run in the July issue but got killed instead. I guess, upon further reflection, the magazine decided not just to run the photos, but put one of them on the cover.

Honestly, as long as I was happy, my creative team was happy, and the art director was happy with the shots, the rest of it didn’t matter. Trying to do something different and new necessarily means that some people are going to be uncomfortable with it. That’s actually a good thing.

In the end though, all’s well that ends well.

John

I’ve been hired by San Diego Magazine to shoot their summer swimwear editorial. We did the casting a couple of weeks ago and today we did the fitting with the talent. The fitting is were we pull out all of the clothing, match it to the talent and come up with complete outfits that are ready to go on the shoot day. I also used this as an opportunity to get some shots and test out the camera I’ll be using.

This is gonna be a fun shoot.

John

I was recently asked to do the school photos for the graduating class at the La Jolla Children’s School
in, where else, La Jolla. I’m their unofficial artist in residence and go to photographer. At first, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the thought doing the school photography. Visions of crappy backdrops, cheap combs and bored expressions left me inclined to pass on the opportunity.

But then I got to thinking, what if I made this an assignment for the kids in that the photo should tell something about who they are? I stuck with the idea of the backdrop, but decided to take it down to nearby La Jolla Shores beach. Instead of just cropping in on the seamless paper, I captured some of the background to give the shots a sense of place. I used a strobe to provide the soft light on their face.

And finally one with the whole class. I only wish my school photos were this cool.

John