NEW BLOG!

Hey everyone, BIG NEWS!

I made a new blog! It has moved over here. 🙂

Thanks for all your support so far and looking forward to posting & talking to you guys on the new one.

Style Me Grasie – December

My shoots last month with Grasie from Style Me Grasie could be best described in one word: festive.

The holiday season hit us hard and she was going to holiday parties left and right – which meant tons of cute party outfits! She was finally able to incorporate more layers and hats in her casual looks since it was colder last month as well. While the new year is starting off a bit warm, I’m hoping it stays cool since I love winter layers!

Insta-Holiday

The holiday season is finally coming to a close. It was full of food, family, and friends – and I documented many of my holiday adventures on Instagram! These are some highlights in photos from December.

2012 – A Year in Review

The past couple of years, this one included, has been sort of a clusterfuck for me. I wish I were eloquent enough to be able to really explain how I feel about it but I can’t. All I know is when I look back and read my personal journal entries is that my mind has literally been everywhere – and it has completely exhausted me.

I am most definitely stuck in the generation that people have endearingly (or not so endearingly) been labeled as the terrible “twenty-somethings.” And while I relate far too closely to those articles/critiques I read about us, it’s sort of refreshing to be part of that group. It’s unbelievably stressful and it’s exhausting but it’s also insanely rewarding. And while I can’t wait for things to settle down and get figured out, I am slowly learning to try to enjoy the ride a little bit more. Trying to stay creative and really figure out what makes me feel most alive.

My plans for 2013 are much more focused than they have been and I am also forcing myself to try very new, big projects that I have been wanting to work on but haven’t. I’m predicting it will be another stressful year full of failures with some advances like in the past but I also think it will be a much more bright one.

Thank you all for being so supportive in the past and I hope you will all be able to join me in my future endeavors in photography as well as my other projects. ❤

Please follow my Instagram, Twitter, and encourage others to follow me on Facebook!

LAFW – I Am Tai Collins

This past LA Fashion Week, I had the opportunity to work with designer Tai Collins of Blackbuttafli once again.
It was great to be able to work with some familiar faces as well as meeting a whole new slew of models. Tai put together a variety of different lines for her solo show and I was totally in love with her swim line. We had some time to shoot some more promotional type material with the models and we did what we do best in LA – use the alleys!

The fashion show was a blast! Great job to everyone involved: Tai’s family for helping with all the details, the makeup and hair artists, and the models. Although shows never go without glitches, everyone pulled together to put on a great show for the audience.

Designer: Tai Collins
Models: Danielle, Jai, Janelle, Ana, Magdalene, Fabiulus, Dela
Makeup/Hair: Alicia Chen, Toni Sanders, Jesse Caseres

 

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has been having a fantastic Christmas holiday! For me it has been full of family, loved ones, and food – nothing better in the world!

Colleagues

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned how much I love shooting musicians and bands. It’s a completely different experience than shooting other subjects. They tend to be very fun, relaxed shoots and are always ready to try new things on the fly. Hopefully in 2013 (if the world doesn’t end tomorrow haha) I’ll get even more opportunities to meet and work with more talented musicians.

Did a quick shoot with Colleagues, a hardcore band from Los Angeles.
Brainchild of Kenny, this project has been evolving over the past couple of years. Although there are 25 songs written so far, they continue to build, mold, and rework the music into something great (but not always what they have originally intended). As the members have also been shifting throughout the project, they are currently looking for a full-time guitarist and bassist so let them know if anyone is interested!

California Donuts

California Donuts is one of my favorite donut shops in Los Angeles so it was amazing to have the owners ask me to come do some food photography for them! The shop is well-known in the area and has tons of regulars (which I think says something about the establishment). Food man Anthony Bourdain was there a couple of weeks ago filming, too!
My favorite things there are their croissants (jalapeno ham and cheese? yum!) so if you ever drop by there be sure to pick some up. While I’ve been going here for some years now, I actually haven’t had any of their drinks before this shoot but they are really delicious.

The family-run business really loves to treat their customers well. They are having a Customer Appreciation Day on Saturday, January 5th, 2013 from 6AM-2PM so I recommend visiting then and seeing what sort of specials they have! Follow them on Facebook to stay in the loop!

12.XII.12

Photographer: Sylvia Gunde
Stylist/Concept: Joey Thao
Model: Sarah Roberts/Twigglet @ Willow Model Management
Makeup: Barbara Hori
Hair: Vanessa Hasset
Assistant: Jerrel Fajardo

[Behind the Scenes will be posted later!]

Erica

One of my favorite things about photography is being able to connect with all different types of people. I’m a social person and I really like getting to know more about clients than just what kind of photos they want.

I had the pleasure of shooting some portraits of Erica – an adventurous lawyer who insisted that she was terrible at taking photographs but wanted some nice ones of herself (which I totally don’t believe because all her photos came out great). We spent much of the shoot walking and talking about our many overlapping interests – traveling, food, pets, and grocery shopping (yes, really). All the chatter and the gorgeous Venice weather made the shoot have a great relaxed feel.

Her outfits for the shoot were styled by the amazing Grasie Mercedes of Style Me Grasie! While Grasie was unable to come to the shoot with us, Erica and Grasie met beforehand to put together some looks that really represented Erica.