Another Side Of Ashley…
I said I would show you another side of Ashley Owens Gulina from our photo shoot. I hope you like this side as much as everyone liked her other side yesterday. You can sure see the hard work she put in to get her on stage at the NPC USA Figure competition in Las Vegas last weekend. And I must give a big Thank You to Natalie Lyle for her superb Makeup and Hair Styling for the day.
My Date… Well My Photo Shoot Date…
When my date showed up yesterday I decided to not post on Facebook all day. Well she was actually my photo shoot date. Ashley Owens Gulina fresh from her weekend on the NPC Figure stage at the USA in Las Vegas. That working out stuff does a body good! And she is so beautiful. Over the top fantastic Makeup and Hair Styling all day by Natalie Lyle.
My Own Selfie
My own Selfie. Myself and the city of Budapest captured with the photograph displayed in the window of the X6 Photo Edition Gallery in Budapest.
Maybe I Should Be Wearing…
Maybe I should be wearing a tie and jacket when I do my photo shoots? A suit or tuxedo perhaps?
Classic Photography – Not Digital…
I am always amazed and gratified that my skills as a photographer can equal the great looking people I get to photograph. Jake Sawyer works very hard to sculpt his physique so even better that we get to shoot at fun locations in a classic photographic style. Most of you will have no idea what I am talking about when I say that this was shot on medium format film. A film that is actually of historical importance, Kodak Tri-X. Anyway, one of my favorite ever photo shoots! Thanks!
Who You Gonna Call? Me Of Course!
Who you gonna call? Me of course! When you want to shoot those gym photographs after you put in all that hard work. When you are doing your ads for the magazines or billboards or banners. When you are planning your magazine features. Or when you are looking for special photographs from my archive. I think Mark Ebinger in front of my camera was the right combination. He sure put in all that hard work! I can do it for you too. Thanks!
My Idea Of A Race Driving Uniform…
End of the race and Regina Piazza got there first! Any question that she knows how to dress for driving and winning! From our photo shoot with Makeup and Hair Styling by Natalie Lyle.
“When Selfies Won’t Do” And Your Photos Stink!
My beautiful friend Saye Yabandeh from our photo shoot some time back. Saye has become a very accomplished and award winning actress and producer and being very smart about her image along the way has served her well.
To those of you for whom your image is important and that is many of you, I keep noticing a continuing bad trend. You are using photographs of yourself that are just abysmal. I don’t care who shot them, your faces are over processed, the exposures are too bright or too dark, your skin color is orange, the composition stinks and the posing awkward at best. That does not mean I want you to come do your photo shoots with me. I just would like to see standards come up and not keep sinking so low. Many of you will say, well I don’t know what is good. Yes you do! Compare to the photos you see all day in good magazines like Vanity Fair or Vogue or in fashion or cosmetic ads. Any similarity… No.
Here is an interesting story I urge you to read from a recent issue of the Fashion & Style section of The New York Times… http://tinyurl.com/kmh6tzq
“When Selfies Won’t Do”
“Wearing black leather pants and a cape top, she reclined on a velvet armchair under the frescoed ceiling of a 19th-century Florentine villa, flanked by a hair and makeup artist, as a photographer clicked away.”
“People buy you, more so than your exact services or goods,” she said. “My business is truly and authentically me, so I wanted to make sure that this came out in my social media presence.”
“Indeed, an impact photo is more than just a vanity statement these days, since it’s hard to say where “personal” ends and “professional” begins on Facebook and Twitter…”
“Social media is a place where real business is actually happening…”
Again please read the story in The New York Times and if you have any questions, please feel free to send me a note. Thanks! http://tinyurl.com/kmh6tzq
Hair Up For Tuesday Morning!
Here is Tuesday morning! One of my favorite photographs from one of my all time favorite photo shoots. For publicity photos for their screenwriting work, the dynamic writing team of Meghan McCaig and Maria Bertrand. Love them!
A Win From Venice Beach To Pittsburgh!
A few weeks ago she stood in front of my cameras at Venice Beach. Then on this last Saturday she stood on the bodybuilding stage in Pittsburgh and walked away with her IFBB Professional Bodybuilder Card! Congratulations to an astounding Lisa Marino Sanders! Just wonderful!
Whoa!
The photo my assistant shot as he scrambled out of the way. As I stood up they were an arm’s length in front of me but Victoria Kirsanova had brought them to a stop. You can see the big smile on her face. What a fun photo shoot with an amazing and truly unique and very beautiful Victoria Kirsanova. A professional horse trainer and personal fitness trainer and top rated NPC Bikini Competitor. Just outstanding!
The Perfection Of The Lines Of Her Body
Look at the perfection of the lines of her body in that dress! Good thing I had a camera or I would have stared endlessly! Sasha Brown in our photo shoot at the Salton Sea.
Stacey Naito Always Leaves Me Speechless
Stacey Naito never fails to leave me speechless! From our photo shoot.Stacey is so amazing and beautiful in front of the camera! Makeup and Hair styling by Estee Lauder Makeup Artist extraordinaire Blanche LeBeau. Just Wow! Thank You to my good friend, and a great photographer as well, Jaime Klein who hosted us at his studio in Van Nuys CA. And Thank You to my assistant Clyde Sawyer for doing so very much!
How Do You Get Your F-16 Home After Your Photo Shoot?
It’s Good To Have A Pool!
One of the advantages I enjoy in having my own pool to use for my photo shoots, especially during the really hot weather here… I have no problem getting Randalene Sergent in it!
The outstanding Makeup and Hair Styling by Natalie Lyle.
My Monday Mind’s Meandering…
Wouldn’t this be very cool as a bus bench! Would you take the bus if Maria Bertrand were waiting for it with you? And wouldn’t it be more great if people dressed more fun like this all time! My mind’s meanderings as I think about the week. More Please!
You Can Get My Attention For Your Photo Shoot!
First person to bring me a battleship for a photo shoot has my full attention and resources!
I Love Selfies! Wow Natalie!
I Love Selfies! And I especially love this Selfie! This is Natalie Lyle, the Makeup and Hair Stylist on so many of my photo shoots for a long time. When Natalie started with me a few years ago right our of makeup school, she had never been exposed to the world of bodybuilding and fitness. Well with me, she sure has many times over and embraced it. Now look at her! Check out those arms and shoulders! Keep it going Natalie! Outstanding!
I invite you to send me your selfies and I will show you off on my Blog and all of my Social Media as well as my Facebook pages. You will be seen by so very many! Girls and guys, whatever you want to send. In the gym, showing off the hard work you have put in, at the pool, or just having fun. Anything a little too edgy will go on my Blog and I will censor it for Facebook. You don’t have to have ever done a photo shoot with me or even met me in person. It will also be a great way for me to see you and talk about photo shoots. Let’s do this, it’s all fun!
You must send me the selfie to my e-mail at SecondFocus@mac.com or as a message on Facebook. I will say that I might have to pick and choose to make it manageable and hold some or change when I decide to post them for one reason or another. Thanks!
Which Camera? What Settings?
What camera do you use? I hear that all the time. Or what settings are you using? Thinking that if someone uses the “same” settings they will get the same result. Well not going to happen. The camera and the settings are only a small part of the equation.
Here is a photograph of Maddy who was kind enough to follow my lead about what I wanted in a look. This was a demonstration shoot at the Leica Store Los Angeles of the Leica S-System. Last night I decided I wanted to re-look at the photographs I shot there to see the differences in that camera system from others. When you are holding a $30,000 camera and lens in your hands, you have to shoot better to really take advantage of it. Also on hand was lighting by Dan Cuny with Profoto USA. Thank You to everyone for letting me play with all that gear! Truly an asset when you can take advantage of such fun opportunities.
Trying out the Leica S-System at the Leica Store in Los Angeles.
Ok Let’s Do This!
Bodybuilder and fighter Daniel Hill in our photo shoot.
Wineries Not At Muscle Beach
Thursday was a wedding and then Friday was touring wineries. These wine grapes at Leoness Cellars. Although the wines that were a favorite of the day was at Lumiere Winery. Not at Muscle Beach but in Temecula. There are a lot of wineries in Temecula! Very Fun!
A Wedding And Not Muscle Beach
A huge congratulations to Aaron & Kelley Maman. Aaron is the son of long time friends, so being at the wedding even mean’t me not being at the show at Muscle Beach for the first time in 10 years. Well worth it and great fun! I know I should post a photograph of the groom and his bride, but this photograph just is too good and it was the last one I shot for evening. And I just fell in love with Kelley watching her all evening LOL! Thank You Yossi and Scarlet Maman!
Photo Shoot Time Is Now!
Have you been thinking about doing a photo shoot with me? Or doing your advertising or a magazine editorial. I will be booking up the next 60 days as much as I can possibly get in. So send me a note now and you might find the time is right for a lot of reasons! Visit my website to take a look at what I do across the big screen of your computer. The photographs look much better than on Social Media! Also click on my Blog and take a moment to subscribe to my updates. I can show you much more there than I can ever do on Facebook. Thanks and click here… http://www.secondfocus.com
A Swim On A 1920’s Luxury Ocean Liner…
Wouldn’t you love to do a photo shoot here! This pool was a topic of conversation the other day so I thought I would follow up with a post about it. This is a photograph I shot of The Health Club Pool at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
Modeled after the decks of 1920’s luxury ocean liners. Solid brass trim on windows, doors and railings, teakwood deck chairs and hand-laid Italian mosaic tile on the walls and in the pool are original.The Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel had it’s grand opening in 1923 and was the largest hotel West of Chicago. It was the early home of the Academy Awards and the place of the 1960 Democratic Convention acceptance speech of John F. Kennedy.
SecondFocus Blog 