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!
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
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 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!
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.
One of my dearests, Jennifer Chung, has been making some crazy changes in her life.
Throughout my 6 year friendship with Jen, I’ve seen her grow many ways as a person and especially musically, but this year she has made some amazing jumps from chopping all of her hair off (and dying parts of it purple) to moving to Korea to work on music there as well as spend some quality time with family she hasn’t seen in forever. I’m always so proud of her hard work and will continue to root for her from the other side of the Pacific. I absolutely love seeing videos, Instagram photos, and posts from all of my friends scattered all over the world continuing to chase their dreams.
Literally a couple of days before Jen jet off to South Korea, she asked me for one last shoot before her adventure. We got to spend some quality time shooting close by (close as in on my front stoop) and to talk about her excitement and anticipation on what her trip to Korea will bring.
Please follow her adventures and support her music quest on her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Jen isn’t my only friend attacking the music scene in Korea right now. My friend Marshall Bang is also over there singing. Here’s a video of them doing an impromptu street performance over there!
LA weather has been really fickle. We keep going in and out of heat waves with rain in between them. While Grasie still needs to throw in some looks in shorts & dresses, the rainy & cold days in between have allowed her to get some great sweaters and fall looks in there. These are the outfit posts we shot for November. (:
I clearly remember the phone call that Kenny and I received one evening while we were driving in SF from our dear friends, Joseph and Ashley, telling us that they were expecting! I was so excited for them. It’s insane at how they do things so unexpectedly yet it all feels so perfect. I remember getting a phone call from them several years earlier telling us to meet them in San Diego because they were getting married the next day and needed witnesses. And now we got a call saying they need godparents. ❤
As Ashley’s tummy grew, Kenny and I made a trip up to visit them (they live about 3 hours away from us) so I can take some photos for them as a gift. The beautiful baby boy, Jae-sun Bayani, was born a couple of months ago and I cannot wait to see him and take photos of him!
And here is the father & godfather in all their excitement.
Shooting with Grasie in October was exciting for several reasons. Los Angeles has finally decided that it may want to start feeling like fall. We’ve had lots of hot days in Oct still, but we had a couple days of rain and even some weather where we can wear pants and a jacket.
What really made October exciting was that Grasie got engaged to her long time beau, Damien!
I’m so excited for them! On one Wednesday of every month on her blog, Grasie has “Wedding Wednesdays” following her wedding planning adventures. Her first “Wedding Wednesday” post was all about her unique, vintage ring.
And now, on to the outfits from October!
As many of you know, I love photographing dancers so it was a no-brainer when the talented designer Joey Thao asked me to photograph a collection of fantastic dancers for his brand, Ingenious Fashion.
IF’s pieces are unique and funky yet easy to move in and are body conscious – things that every dancer looks for, especially when it comes to auditioning in LA. It was such a treat working with Joey (as always), Mindii, and the talented dancers (Karen, Kasey, Natalie, Ragon, and Amber). Dancers have a different awareness of movement and their body than models which is why it’s always interesting and fun to shoot with them. We really wanted them to bring their own dance styles into this shoot since each piece is as different as each dancer is.
You can see more photos from the shoot on Facebook.
Designer/Styling: Joey Thao
Makeup/Hair: Mindii
Dancers: Karen Song, Kasey Davage, Natalie Lyons, Ragon Miller, Amber Madison
Follow Ingenious Fashion:
Facebook: IngeniousFashion
Etsy: IngeniousFashion
Twitter: @IngeniousF
Tumblr: ingeniousfashion
Photography. Music. Fashion. Food.
A photographer from Los Angeles. Sometimes I blog about my work and other times just about things I love.
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