Help-Portrait was a huge success! If we helped just one person it would be a success…but we managed to help 80 people/families.

Thank you to all volunteers, not only those at URM, but at all Los Angeles Location as well as all around the world. I’ve been part of this for the past 3 years and each time it amazes me on how giving each volunteer is.

Official Stats from the URM location:

• 80 People
• 56 Signed Portraits
• 32 Volunteers

Here are some behind the scenes photo I’ve managed to take:

I was invited by a fellow photographer, Bryan Cole, to tag along and be a second shooter for a photoshoot he was doing this past weekend.  By second shooter, I mean a behind-the-scenes photographer and if time permits, I would be able to get a shot or two in for myself.

It was fun as I’m constantly the primary shooter and never really had anyone shoot a behind-the-scenes footage of me.  So being able to step back and view everything that’s happening on a photoshoot was a very interesting point of view.

We didn’t have any lights or gobos or reflectors with us…just our cameras and the sun, and the sun was burning bright that day.  We were shooting from 1pm to 3pm, where the sun was straight up casting harsh shadows…but it was perfect lighting for shooting in the shade.

I took a bit of a hiatus there to re-evaluate with what I want to do with my photography and where I want to take it (as a business, as a hobby). The answer didn’t hit me until I was a second shooter for a photo shoot this past weekend. I haven’t done a photo shoot in a while and forgotten what it was like to be spontaneously creative and working with the model and lights to make that creative image in my mind a reality.

Although I was a second shooter, I was able to take a few of my own shots. It was invigorating to say the least. The knowledge I have learned from my photography classes and previous photo shoots all started to come back to me and with it came the imagination, the creativity of new shots and different angles, seeing the final image in my mind’s eye sent me on a euphoric high. I was hooked again.

And so, I’m back..with more determination, insights, and clarity in where/how I want to move forward with my photography. I am going to use the rest of this month to put things down on paper, strategize for the upcoming year, and set my lofty goals. I am excited for next year like never been before.

I just found out that my photos were featured in this month’s Smart Business Magazine.  I got the cover as well as a double page spread and a quarter spread.

I’ve been doing a lot of photography for Oversee.net, one of which were corporate headshots of the CEO, Jeff Kupietzky.  To my surprise, I just found out that those photos were featured in this month’s Smart Business Magazine.  I got the cover as well as a double page spread and a 1/3 spread.  Very exciting stuff!

If you would like to read the article, it is available online at Smart Business’ website.

Katie has an amazing voice and recently decided to put it to good use.  She’s been going out to auditions and landed a part this past week!  Congratulations Katie!  However, she can’t go out to these auditions without a good headshot…that’s where I come in.

I picked her up in the late afternoon and headed out to the park.  It was an extremely nice day and everyone was picnics and barbecues making it a bit challenging for me to get a good backdrop.  Although headshots most often than not have a blurred out background and cropped in tight around the face, it’s still a good idea to get a pretty uniform backdrop, nothing in it that’ll distract from the face.

I was lucky to have Katie’s roommate come along and offer to hold up my light stand as the wind was having it’s way with it, knocking it to the ground.  Thanks Bree!