Kickin’ it with Sean Logan

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One thing that I love about being a photographer is that I meet some truly amazing people – more often than not, they’re also extremely talented.

I met Sean last month while shooting with Crazy Mike. Sean’s a pro BMXer, stunt rider, etc. Last time we shot I was actually there with a few other photographers/videographers while Sean was filming another project. However yesterday was simply another day at the jumps that Sean called me up and invited me to.

I’m actually pretty happy with most of the images. A huge cloud cover blew in on my drive to the jumps – which killed the lighting and made things pretty bland until sunset. But after sundown things became pretty colorful… for about twenty minutes, haha!

Also jumping that day was Eric Hough. Eric’s great, he always throws tricks really hard to play for my camera – and I always down for that.

Shooting with these guys is fun, they’re really chill and fun to BS with during the shoot. I look forward to working with them more and putting together some more shoots and really mix things up.
As bummed as I was by not having a bright sunny afternoon to shoot, I’m very happy with how the dusk/night images turned out since I’ve been wanting shots like this for my portfolio for quite a while.

This week ahead of me is going to be pretty busy. I’ll be back up in LA/Hollywood tomorrow, shooting with my good friend David Esquire on Tuesday, and then flying out to Michigan on Thursday to shoot Tara and Matt’s wedding this weekend!
I need to put together some more projects for February since I’m pretty booked up the rest of this month. I have some new ideas that I’m working on…

Here’s a few more shots from yesterday for you to enjoy..
Check back later this week for another update; and definitely look for an update this weekend, too!


Eric, in the middle of throwing a full 360.


Danny.

Sean threw a backflip unexpectedly… I was bummed only because I hadn’t framed my shot to include the jump… so I lost quite a bit of effect by him simply floating mid air… next time though… next time..

Crazy Mike and Lyla Dee

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Happy New Year to everyone!
Today I want to share more images from my photoshoot with Crazy Mike of WePlayCrazy.com and Lyla Dee, a singer and model here in LA.

When collaborating with Crazy Mike on ideas for this shoot we discussed a few different concepts. I hadn’t spoke with Lyla prior to shooting, so Mike and I just went in knowing that it would work and we’d rock the shoot regardless of a few hurdles.

Now when it came to start, things definitely got hotter.
This entire shoot had a very gritty, rough, edgy and sexy feel. I really wanted this come through in the images with use of very moody and (at times) very harsh light. Both Mike and Lyla were incredible models to work with and I look forward to shooting with either of them again in the future.

For now, I’ll let you guys enjoy the images and see what you think.
Most of these images will be in my portfolio later today, also.

I have a busy rest of January ahead of me. I’m leaving in a week for Michigan, and then to the Bay Area for weddings. Check back soon as I’ll probably squeeze in another model shoot, too.

Lyla has been one of my favorite models I’ve worked with so far. Her amazing attitude and stunning look made for incredible photos. This is probably one of my favorite beach photos in the last six months.

I’m really looking forward to putting together more shoots with Crazy Mike this year.

A year in review; 2009 – an open letter.

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Two thousand and nine.
An incredible year to wrap an incredible decade.

I sit here, in the dark, in the glow of my computer screens. Fans from my computer tower are whirring away. I just shut down my brand new medium-format Epson – a Christmas gift to myself. Itunes is quietly playing music in the background. Around my feet are stacks of papers, calendars/flight information, pieces of camera gear, etc.
This my home, my office, my life.

When I try and reflect back on 2009, I’m at a loss of where to start talking since so much has happened. My life was uncertain when this year began. All I knew is that I would somehow stay here in Socal, I would continue to do photography and at some point, someone, would offer be a break.
I had a huge network of friends and family backing me, but, things were beginning to look as though I may need to return to the Bay Area. When February started I was thinking that I might have to leave Socal. But when February ended I was a full-time staff photographer for K&N Engineering, Inc.

I spent my Spring and Summer handling all photography for K&N Engineering and AEM Intakes. So, go pick up a copy of QUAD, Truckin’, Bagger, Import Tuner, Modified, D Sport, or 15+ other magazines and look for an ad by either of those companies… 9/10 times, those photos were shot by me.

I have been published this way in more magazines than I can count. My photography is used across both websites. My images are also in use by many of the racers and race teams that the two companies sponsor. In a matter of just a few months I had already given up trying to keep track of where all my work can be seen.
I used to try and keep clips of everything when I still worked in journalism/news… not anymore though, way too hard.

Also this year my photography has been featured many projects and press releases by my good friend, singer Jesse Hart. Professional BMXer and singer Rick Thorne has used my photography on many occasions for his band The Good Guys in Black.
Singer/songwriter and musician Derek Jameson has featured my photography on his newest CD cover and web media for his music. But the biggest publication work I shot this summer was Derek’s feature in Unzipped magazine. Our five image feature was in the July issue – this was a huge deal for us both.

My summer was a flash of desert races, long hot days at the track, equally long days in a dark studio, and lots of flying. I was humbled this year by how many friends booked me to shoot their weddings. Many of these weddings were hundreds or thousands of miles from me. To be selected to shoot such an important day and flown cross country to do it, was a huge compliment. My wedding photography has come so far since last year – and I was really able to start adding my own style to it, too.

I managed two major trips this year – more than I expected I’d be able to take, haha. My cruise with friends to Mexico was wonderful simply because I was disconnected from the world for three days. For three whole wonderful days I didn’t have cell service, email, texting… anything. I loved every minute of it.
I also was able to take a trip to South Korea. I spent two weeks traveling with my friend Colleen, who I hadn’t seen since college in Michigan. It was great to have her host me and show me around many sites and cities.

My fall and winter has been filled with many smaller projects and individual shoots for models and actors.
The next big release you’ll see of my work… is the 2010 K&N Calendar. You’ve seen teaser images from me the last few months, and I’ll be able to finally debut the final product shortly.

A year of ups and downs.
I still had instances this year that left me a bit blindsided or confused. But each time I’ve come out stronger and clearer of where I was supposed to go. There was less pain in my life this year. There was much less drama. A simple decision to no longer deal with those types of people this year meant that I wasted much less emotion on people or events that may otherwise have affected me more.

This year, 2010, brings with it many new opportunities. My work has gone many new directions and I’m excited to see how the next few months pan out. I will be flying many places for work, including multiple trips to Michigan, Florida, and the Bay Area.

A few shoutouts and Thank You’s to some of the major people who affected my life this year: Monica, Mom, Dad, TJ & Cassandra, Phil & Bryan, Beau, Lauren, Lisa, Stephanie & Adam, Tina H., my Topdown family, Jesse Hart, Rick Thorne, Derek Jameson, Sabrina B., Adam S., Nick O., Chris McEniry, Anthony and Promax Motorsport, K&N Engineering, AEM Intakes, Hart & Huntington, Weller Racing, BME Racing, all the other race teams I worked with, Jose/King, Asura, Todd & Jessica, Craig & Lisa, Kyle and Tiffanye, Arsie, Ahn & Krishan, Kamal, Colleen, Rosa, Ryan & Jenna, and many more of you I’m forgetting to list.

And a big Thank you to all my readers, fans and clients.
Without your support I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.

Let’s make 2010 even better than 2009, shall we?

Upcoming Video, by DaBooth.com

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Check out this quick preview of an upcoming video by DJ Drizzle, of DaBooth.com of my shoot with Crazy Mike from WePlayCrazy.com
Me and Crazy Mike rocked two different shoots recently in Venice Beach and Long Beach. This video shows clips from the Long Beach shoot. I’m looking forward to seeing the final product and hoping that it may have a bit of the night shooting from the Venice shoot.

This also reminds me that I’ve been wanting to start making clips like this of other shoots I do. Maybe I’ll start bringing an assistant to tag along and at least get a few shots with a Flip cam or something. Then again, when am I going to find time to edit video? Haha!

Hope everyone’s holiday is going great!
I’m still in Bay Area, but I will be headed home to Socal in a few more days.

I will have a year-end update later this week, I think.

Crazy Mike, from “We Play Crazy”

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Sometimes a completely different style photoshoot demands a different style of editing. This is sexy, gritty, dark, and has attitude. I needed the final image to reflect that and went with a rougher post production than I typically would take with my work. But, I needed a billboard worthy image. Hell, I could easily be selling you cologne with this photo… and you’d buy it, too.

This weekend I had the pleasure of working with with Crazy Mike of We Play Crazy. Mike and his team are currently out here from the East Coast filming with MTV. Saturday we hit the beach with model Lyla Dee and did a night shoot in Venice on the sand and in the water. I have to say, the photos came out pretty damn hot. I’m still working on the other pieces for Mike, but they’ll be posted up here soon, too.

This image will make an awesome poster – I’m going to probably print one tomorrow on my new Epson medium format I just picked up.
Mike and I did a few series of these backflip shots while waiting for Lyla to meet us at the beach.

Now today, Sunday, I ended up chillin’ with Mike and his crew again… but this time we did something I have quite a bit of experience with… extreme sports.

That’s Sean Logan doing a backflip-360 about two feet away from me. Crazy Mike down below gettin’ some footage for their new reel.

Eric Hough was hitting quite a few jumps and tricks too. His face is a bit blocked in this shot, but it’s always great to have a clean, simple image that you don’t see every day.

One last image of Sean as he’s doing his backflips. Hopefully I’ll be working with these guys again in the near future. I would love to start mixing their skill with mine and take stunts like these and mix in what I do with color and light and create some really incredible stuff.

So, I have quite a bit of editing ahead of me this week. I leave for the Bay Area on Wednesday – so for everyone back in the Bay… text me. Let’s meet up. I’d love to see all of you while I’m back in town for Christmas.

Kamal, GQ’n it up

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This shot is straight from camera, no editing. I rarely feel that any shot is perfect out of camera and requires no touching of any kind. But, occasionally I’m proven wrong. That’s the case with this shot of Kamal from our shoot on Wednesday.
I spent most of the day with Kamal shooting and catching up on life. We shot probably five or six different looks – most of them specifically designed for some upcoming projects he’s working on. However, I’m going to share the dressier photos we did.

This image only took two tries to create. I considered removing the lines from the ground… but then decided that they really don’t detract from the image too much… do they?

Working with Kamal is always fun. We met through friends over a year ago, but always have trouble matching up our schedules to do a shoot. This time around, however, I think we created some really great stuff. The themed shoot we did I will be able to share with you guys in a few weeks.

But this series was both powerful images and fun images (like the jumping one above).

One light was used for moodier, dramatic lighting. Of course now I’m wishing I used a second one at 1/4 for a real slight rim light/hair light… but, there’s always next time.

Tomorrow I’ll be shooting in Santa Monica with the stuntman “Crazy” Mike Gaboff. Should be a great time, and I’m sure we’ll be creating some really incredible images… think fire, flips, stunts, girls, etc… You get what I’m sayin..

New Off Road Section added! Racing section redone.

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I decided that I needed a completely new section added to my portfolio to help organize (and separate) the many off road photos I’ve shot this year.
For those who aren’t aware, I handled all photography for both K&N Filters and AEM Induction Systems for the majority of this year, 2009. Doing so meant that I covered nearly the entire Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, and many other sports like AMA Supercross, AMA Quadcross, AMA Motocross, dirt track racing, etc.

I decided that completely separate Off Road section and a Track sections are now pretty much required due to the large amount of images from each type of racing I have to share. The Track section was previously just called “Racing”. I think the two sections will help quite a bit for those looking for only one side of the sport.

Next up I will be doing another large update to my Wedding section. But that will be later this week.

In the mean time, check out the 30 new images in my Off Road section!

Enjoy everyone!

Racing update coming soon!

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I’ve been working on a major update to my Offroad portfolio.
I have a few thousand images from the Lucas Oil Off Road Race Series that I’ve spent a good part of this year shooting. Well, for those of you with a sharp eye on my Racing portfolio, you may have noticed I haven’t done a major update since the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Within the next day or so I will be adding between 10 and 20 new images from the Off Road Series. I’m actually considering creating an entire section with just dirt track images. I have more than enough work from both dirt tracks and asphalt tracks to fill two sections. It may be best that I just do that instead.

I also have a lot of images like this…

And I’m sure some of you will be excited for those, too.

So, check back soon. I have quite a few updates coming.

Dual Shoot with Envious Studios – a preview

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I’m keeping this post short… simply because I don’t have much ready to share, haha.

Last night I had the extreme pleasure of working with Envious Studios on a spur of the moment photoshoot – one which changed themes about three times before the shooting actually started.
We ultimately ended up shooting in an autoshop with two models, Sydney (pictured above) and Courtney (who I’ll add later).

Anyway, I have many more shots of both models that I’ll be working on over the next few days. I have a few more shoots in the works for this month, too. I also and just about done with that 2,400 image wedding I shot… whew, lotta work!

Good night everyone!
Check back soon for a preview of Courtney!

The Project… it’s wrapped!

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Let me introduce Rita von Riot, who I had the pleasure of working with during this this project the last couple of months.
Rita not only brought an incredible attitude to the set but she even MADE her own costumes. Ok, obviously she’s not wearing much in this particular shot. We did a few images on our own outside of the project we were working on for the client. This is one of two shots  we did – both similar style – on our way out that evening. I think think it came out stunning and exactly as I hoped it would as she hit her pose.

Over the last few months I’ve been working on a project that has allowed me to shoot some very creative images at some very unique locations.

I also had the opportunity to work with a few good friends of mine. Above is a shot of me and Adam during a shoot with Megan Black (who you’ll remember from the shoot I did with Megan in Laguna). You’ll also see Nick and Caitlin in pictures later. The project is now complete, and should be ready in a few more weeks! I’ve seen a possible mockup and it looks great! I can’t wait to share more about it with all of you!

Until that point when I can disclose more details and show full images from the actual shoots, I’ll just share a few group shots. Sorry guys, it’s the best I can do. I’m sure everyone can understand rules and client relationships. Plus, these people are friends of mine and they’re being very flexible in allowing me to share a few details! And let’s be honest.. it’s only going to help drive interest and excitement!

I want to figure out details for a showing of my work, too! Right now it looks like mid January will be best. I’m thinking something in Orange County or perhaps West Hollywood?
A photography show of everything I’ve done the last 12 months and the inclusion of some images from this project.

What do you guys think?
What if I get some of the models to come, then would you go? Haha.
Contact me! Let me know your thoughts!

Me, Caitlin, Adam, Michelle, Nick, and Craig after a (long) crazy night of shooting.
The energy she brought to the set was so much fun we went two hours past our planned finish time.

Adam, I forgot his name (Sorry!), Kassandra, me, and Nick.
Kassandra and I have been trying to put together a shoot for the better part of a year. We were finally able to work together on this project. Yay!

Adam, Ashleigh, me, and Nick.
I don’t know how to thank Ashleigh for saving us. Not only is she gorgeous, with an incredible resume of experience and published work.. But she rocked this shoot for us after a different model canceled. Ashleigh had one day’s notice; and she couldn’t have been more prepared or made it any easier for me to work with her.

The last shot I have tonight is Caitlin, Nick, Rita (from the top of the post), Adam, and myself.
Again, Rita was the kind of model you always hope to shoot – fun and easy going. Hopefully one of these days I’ll have to opportunity to work with her again.

But that about sums up what I can share with you guys on one of the multiple projects I’ve been working on this Fall. Please email me or shoot me a message on Twitter with what you think about a mid-January photography show!

Have a good night everyone.
I’ll probably do another update this weekend.