Hey hello howdy happy Thursday to ya.
By the time you’re reading this I’m skipping around Europe, and I’m already prematurely excited to share all those photos I haven’t even taken yet. In the meantime, while I’m gathering that content, I wanted to share with you the details of my last shoot with my dear friend Lilly.
Lilly is a friend I made through serving at the same restaurant. We were there for each other in trying times and in turn, our friendship has survived years post-restaurant.
When I asked her if she’d want to model for me for my portfolio, she was nervous but mostly stoked. She’s never really modeled before so she was worried she wouldn’t know what to do, but I know her well enough to know she’d be great and that I’d be able to direct her well. She sent me photos of pretty much every item of clothing she had so I could style her, which I’ve never really done for a shoot, so that was a new fun challenge!
Initially, I wanted her to look like she stepped out of the 1970’s. Lilly has these awesome straight across, blunt bangs and an eclectic style so I was sure we could pull off the look. What I couldn’t figure out was the mood. If I could pick any era of style to dress exclusively in, it’d be the 1970’s. So, I could shoot it all day every day. Which meant that it was too broad of a mood. I needed to get more specific so I could choose locations and outfits and a “storyline.”
So, I went to my photography notebook and started brainstorming a mood for the shoot. This is what I ended up with:
Someone pointed out to me recently that there has to be a direct connection in the way I work as a photographer and my training as an actor. I never really thought about that before, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and he’s so right. I’m not just fueled by photographs taken on expensive cameras of beautiful people, I want to feel something through the lens. Because of my acting background. So that’s how I had to approach this shoot. I needed to give Lilly a character to play. “The 1970’s” wasn’t enough to lean on. I wanted to tell a story. Let me know if you’d like to read more about this acting to photography relationship! I could make a whole blog post about it if you’re interested. Let me know in the comments below!
Once I figured out who Lilly was playing, the rest came to me so easy. Of course, I took another little journey on Google Earth and scouted my locations. Day of shoot I had everything mapped out. From which outfits she’d wear in which locations, to the route we’d take.
We started out at this adorable apartment building I’d been wanting to shoot at for a while. I gave Lilly the direction that this was her place and she was stepping out for the day, and each passerby she sees she gets caught up in wonderment about. She was super stiff at first, and it was really cute, because I could tell she was very tense and nervous. But we took our time and it was a great lesson in how to effectively direct someone who is less comfortable in front of the lens. The more we focused on the scenario instead of focusing on poses and beauty, the more successfully Lilly showed through.
All of these were shot on our 24mm 1.4 lens.
The next location of the day was the Vista, a vintage-looking movie theatre on the Los Feliz/Silverlake border. It’s painted this gorgeous bright red-orange, and it reminds you of the days people used to dress up to go to the movies.
I had her put on these flowy striped pants and this fuzzy purple vest that I felt Lenny Kravitz would be proud of. When we first arrived here I was a little hesitant and stuck. Sometimes when I find a location so visually stimulating, it’s almost harder for me to come up with ideas to translate how beautiful I think the spot is in real life. But the sun was beating down harshly and there were these potted plants on either side of the entrance, so I had her stand behind one and I shot through it to create some really cool shapes and shadows.
I lost the “character” a little bit here, I admit. But I had to follow the ideas coming to me, and I’m still really pleased with them!
Shot on 24mm 1.4 with the exception of one on the 50mm 1.8.
Then we just played. Lilly’s energy is shining through these photos. She’s such a ray of sunshine and that’s why I knew I wanted to shoot her even though she’d never modeled before. She’s such a positive being with a go-getter mentality and I knew she’d give her all just to help me out.
Taken using 24mm 1.4 and 50mm 1.8.
I tried to get the shots of her through the ticket booth for TOO LONG. To find an angle where I wasn’t getting my reflection or the reflection of the dude behind me waiting to go into work was near impossible, but I wanted it so badly that I kept trying. That third reflection photo you can definitely see me, but I didn’t think it was distracting enough to not include. Plus, I like showing my errors.
Tip to getting portraits of someone who’s a little bit uncomfortable behind the camera: crop! The three photos above were taken at a wider angle than it looks. I used a 50mm and stood a few feet away. So the lens was far enough away from her face that she didn’t feel too unsure of herself and nervous, and then in post I just cropped around her face to make it a portrait! Voila!
These next few photos are some of my favorite. This whole shoot was a bit rebellious of me. I had these ideas, but in almost all of them we could have gotten kicked out for taking photos there. So I saw these velvet ropes and thought, hell, why not? Ask for forgiveness, not permission. This next set of photos were all products of being present and seizing unplanned opportunities that I hadn’t foreseen. The ropes and the red door were just feet away from the location I had picked, and I just couldn’t pass it up.
Then we headed to The Shakespeare Bridge in Los Feliz, which I just discovered this past year and I’ve lived in Los Angeles for over five years. I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about it, because it’s freakin adorable. I imagine it’ll become a new staple in my go-to shoot locations.
The moment I had been waiting for; it was finally the disco ball’s time to shine. Ba dum tsss.
I wanted these photos to be very up close. I’ve never really done beauty photography before. I’m not a fan of retouching, and it’s an area of the art form that I’m a bit less drawn to, but I do think it’s really rad to show someone’s beauty up close, and I felt like Lilly was the perfect person to try it out on. I had to throw some other elements in to keep myself interested, so I bought a disco ball and I used a crystal to get light flares and refractions on the edges of the frame.
Fun fact: in one of the photos below where Lilly is wearing the orange sunnies, you could see me so clearly in the reflection, in an awkward position as I always end up in during shoots. I had to photoshop myself out because I loved the photo too much to scrap it, but my reflection in the sunglasses was all the eye went to when looking at it. See if you can guess which photo I photoshopped the sunglasses of! Let me know your guesses in the comments below.
Shot on 50mm 1.8 and 70-200mm 2.8.
Then we went to the little slice of heaven that is Fred 62 in Los Feliz. A retro diner straight out of the 60’s that looks like everyone should be in poodle skirts and roller blades drinking milkshakes.
The plan was to shoot her in there, but honestly, I wasn’t expecting to take as many photos as I did, so I felt satisfied. So we just ate and gabbed and I snapped a few on film. Speaking of, here are a few of the film photos I took of Lilly!
Ended the day with a parking ticket and lots of photos to edit.
A major major thank you to my friend Lilly, who made the journey from San Diego just to help me out with this. It was a blast and I know it wasn’t the most comfortable day of her life so I really appreciate it.
I’m pretty proud of the outcome! I had almost as much fun editing as I did shooting. Spent more time than I normally do in the editing process, choosing between different styles. Editing can completely change a photograph, and it’s so fun for me to get to play with all the possibilities.
Thanks for reading! I’ll be reading and responding to the comments section so be sure to let me know your thoughts!