First A Great Model!
The first order of business… select a great model! Makes all the difference in the world. Gabriella Muttone is one of the absolute great models I have had in front of my cameras. An extraordinary photographer herself, she has a keen sense of body movement, facial expression and style. You can see in this photograph from our photo shoot at the Palm Springs Air Museum how she places herself so perfectly with this aircraft, engine and propeller. Just wonderful!
Photo shoot notes… Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lightning. The aircraft is a beautiful Grumman F8F Bearcat. The design for this was done by my good friend and superb graphic design artist Dennis Johnson. Only the best! Thanks!
Elegant At The Redbury
Gabriella Muttone in our photo shoot at the Redbury Hotel in Hollywood. Fashion, Makeup and Hair Styling by Gabriella herself. Gabriella is an extraordinary model and photographer. It makes her an amazing resource for models, especially for models who are learning and working better posing. She just knows how to light up that camera and that scene.
Join Gabriella Muttone for her movement and posing workshop for models on this coming July 8th or July 9th. Having done photo shoots with thousands of models, I can assure you that your time with Gabriella will be very well spent! Here is the info… https://lacphoto.org/event-category/modeling/
Gabriella Muttone photographed by me at the Redbury Hotel in Hollywood. Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Nothing but the best!
Waiting?
Is she waiting or just thinking she forgot something? A train station perhaps? Hmmmmm… What do you think?
Our photo shoot with NYC fashion model Nora Zainglein. Makeup and Hair styling by the extraordinaire Estee Lauder artist, Blanche LeBeau. Somewhere in downtown Los Angeles with a Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Assisted by the too much fun, Harmoni Everett. Only the best!
Hair Raising!
A very amazing Harmoni Everett showing great control by being able to raise her hair by just thinking it. Yes! Notice her tremendous concentration as through great personal will and exceptional hair muscle power, she was able to get her hair to stand up as I photographed the moment. Don’t try this at home! Truly an incredible woman!
BTS Details
Getting lots of questions about my studio shoot last week with NYC fashion model Nora Zainglein. It was in a studio near downtown Los Angeles at the Brewery Arts District which is very cool I must say. Had not been there in many years.
Some of the really important details are the people I get to work with. Blanche LeBeau is a premier Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist working around the world with Estee Lauder. I cannot begin to tell you how lucky I am to have her enjoy shooting with me. This shoot was even more fun with her talent of body painting! Very Thankful for Blanche LeBeau!
Then there is my newer buddy Harmoni Everett. Wow is she a find! Harmoni is best friends with another best friend of mine, a most gorgeous professional model, actress and beautiful woman. Harmoni has been a professional model, a successful actress and has worked in producing photo shoots. And is a wonderful photographer herself. She not only worked with me on this photo shoot as my assistant carrying and moving heavy stuff, but also wardrobe ideas and shooting behind the scenes photos. On top of all that we photographed Harmoni too and those photos are astonishing! She is wonderfully creative! You will see those photos soon.
Then there is Nora and she is wonderful. Blanche introduced me to photos of Nora probably a year ago or more and I said then that I really was looking forward to photographing her. This is now our second photo shoot together and she is just perfection. Nora looks incredible in front of the camera, knows her stuff, easy and so very fun to work with. I adore this woman!
It is the people you work with who are so very very important! Now people always say it is the photographer and not the gear that makes great photographs. And that is certainly true. But for me I do not like to short change what I do or what I do for my clients. So I go with the best gear possible. It is just what I do.
My camera system for these types of shoots for me is Hasselblad. I have always admired Hasselblad cameras and the images they produce. And the history of Hasselblad creating the photographs, the most memorable in history including going into Outer Space and to the Moon. Only sorry I didn’t start with Hasselblad sooner in my shooting. Then there is my lighting gear, Broncolor. For any number of reasons moving up to Broncolor is like going from a great car to a Rolls Royce or Ferrari. There is just nothing else like it.
I will not say that I am a great photographer but I can say I give it all I have got all the way around. So my results are quality, consistency and sometimes really great photographs. And I always try to make sure that everyone has fun doing it! That is my behind the scenes details on this and many of my photo shoots. Thanks!
Hair Raising Behind The Scenes
Harmoni Everett managed to get the almost exact moment when Nora Zainglein had her hair at the top of the her head swing and the strobe fired as I shot the photograph. Wow! That Nora a great model to work with and absolutely beautiful! I love her in front of the camera and she is fun to have around too!
Behind the scenes with the very professional New York City fashion model Nora Zainglein. Body painting, makeup and hair styling by premier Estee Lauder artist Blanche LeBeau. Photo assistant and behind the scenes photography by Harmoni Everett. She is also great with wardrobe and a great model herself! Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Only the best!
Side note… my clothes are looking a little baggy, lost over thirty pounds since February. And more to go yet! I am liking this! Thanks!
Beauty And The Bald Spot
Behind the scenes photography by my assistant for the day Harmoni Everett which clearly exhibits the incredible gorgeousness of our model from NYC, Nora Zainglein but also my increasingly declining hair volume. More ‘behind the scenes’ than I expected lol.
The incredible Makeup, Hair Styling and Body Painting (you will see that soon too) for the day by the premier Estee Lauder artist Blanche LeBeau. Studio photo shoot in Downtown Los Angeles, Hasselblad digital camera equipment and Broncolor lighting. Always the best!
Body Paint BTS
Behind the scenes last week in Los Angeles, studio photo shoot with my buddy Nora Zainglein, fashion and lifestyle model from NYC. Just love this woman and she is gorgeous! Body paint, makeup and hair styling by the Estee Lauder premier artist Blanche LeBeau.
My assistant for the day, the ever surprising Harmoni Everett. She carried heavy stuff, took some turns in front of the camera and shot the behind the scene photos. Gonna see if she will wash the car next time too… ok maybe not.
I Confess…
Remember when I said I met her when I saw her dancing around a pole on a deserted road around the Salton Sea? Well that might have been a little stretch of imagination.
I first met Nora Zainglein when I saw photos of her from my friend Blanche LeBeau who is the Makeup Artist extraordinaire with Estee Lauder. Blanche had met Nora in NYC and as we spoke I said I would love to shoot her. Blanche said she would love for me to shoot her too. That may have been as long as a year ago. Nora is indeed a fashion model who has worked with some very major fashion houses and beauty brands.
The time had come and Blanche brought me Nora make up and hair style ready. Blanche was on Estee Lauder business here in the Palm Springs area so I met them and Blanche entrusted her in my care. Off we went to the Salton Sea!
From the beaches at the North Shore near the Yacht Club to Bombay Beach to the geothermal plants we had a ball shooting. I dare say it was a different world for a fashion model spending her time in Manhattan. I think she had fun, I sure did!
Nora is just nothing but beautiful and striking. She is endlessly fun, easy to work with, knows what she is doing, and indeed “a delightfully sarcastic deviant”. Love this girl!
So that is my confession! I hope you scroll through my Blog for more of my created intrigue with Nora along with the photos. Actually the happenings are true!
What next with Nora? Well maybe some magazines with the photos we have shot. And she will be back in a few weeks and we are planning something really cool and I must say… well you will not want to miss it. Thanks!
Hay!
Last I told you about my impromptu (it’s all true, I promise) photo shoot with Nora around the Salton Sea and Bombay Beach. The feeling was sultry, I was pouring cold water over her and down through hair, and she was wearing more which was really less. On my Blog here to get you started.
Another oddity at Bombay Beach… a wall of hay convenient to the shore, of course! A recent addition for the Bombay Beach Biennale just past. What better place to lounge and take a break with Nora changing into something appropriate to lounge and take a break in. Well at least for a Manhattan fashion model laying around on hay. More of this tale to come.
Photo shoot notes… New York City Fashion Model Nora Zainglein. Estee Lauder featured Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Blanche LeBeau. Hasselblad digital camera system. Did I mention that I am the photographer? Thanks!
Bring Water
Have you been following my Blog about meeting Nora the fashion model from New York City? The woman I met when she was dancing around a pole on a deserted street at the Salton Sea.
Last I told you we ended up at Bombay Beach. I have seen that sometimes the Salton Sea has kind of an effect on people. Maybe it is the eeriness of the place, the hot sun and the heavy salt water at 227 ft below sea level. Then there is the post-apocalyptic look of the place. Kind of a sensual oddity to it at times. I think Nora was getting into the mood of the place.
Nora had been doing wardrobe changes along the way and now she changed into more. But sometimes as you can see, more is less. Maybe it was the heat, it was hot, and getting hotter. Nora had me pour cold water in her hair and over her. I had bottles of water on ice in a big cooler I brought along. She said it felt really good. So I poured a few or more. I was still feeling the heat, but I liked it.
Photo shoot notes… Fashion model Nora Zainglein. Makeup and Hair Styling by Estee Lauder featured artist Blanche LeBeau. Hasselblad digital camera system. And always bring lots of cold water.
Sexy Back
Interesting how a photo by model Nora Zainglein of herself in a photo on the back of my camera could be so very sexy!
Makeup and Hair Styling by Blanche Lebeau. On a Hasselblad digital camera system. At Bombay Beach at the Salton Sea.
Bold!
The adventure around Salton Sea continued with my new friend Nora Zainglein, a fashion model from New York City. If you look back on my Blog you will see that I found her dancing around a pole in the middle of nowhere. All true of course! So after the part where she didn’t hear me and the black lingerie we moved on. Her, me, her little suitcase of clothes, my Hasselblad camera and luckily her makeup and hair styled by super duper Estee Lauder star Blanche LeBeau.
Next stop was Bombay Beach which is a little hard to describe. Maybe call it post-apocalyptic chic? With my favorite dive restaurant, the Ski Inn where some people might refuse to stop, but that would be a mistake. Even the famed Anthony Bourdain stopped and shot a segment of his Travel Channel show “No Reservations” there!
However back to my photo shoot with Nora who had now changed into what I guess we would call lingerie or underwear perhaps. We had already shot in a one piece black swimsuit and then a black corset with black garter panties and black nylons. Why would I now be surprised about a bra, panties and long net pantyhose. As I came to learn, Nora is just a little more bold that I had first expected or anticipated.
And that made it sure fun! If you follow my photography, you know I do have a preference for more bold, shall we say. Just scroll through my Blog. So I can say I am loving Nora! Guessing you are loving Nora too by now! And more to come…
Black Lingerie Salton Sea
More of this amazing tale, all true I promise! My new friend, model Nora Zainglein from NYC had this small suitcase with her with clothes. I showed her this shoreline at the Salton Sea and she said she knew just what to wear to do some photo shooting. I just said OK and within a few minutes she had changed by the car and we went off and started shooting.
If you read my prior post about how we met and then how she didn’t hear me, you know more about the day so far. You see other photographers going on with simple statements and direction to models during a shoot but Nora was doing just great all by herself. I had heard from someone who knows, super duper Esteee Lauder MUA, Blanche LeBeau who styled her that morning, that Nora as a model is the “real deal”. So we actually just had some talk getting to know each other.
It crossed my mind wondering how Nora decided to pick gorgeous black lingerie to wear at such an odd place as the shoreline of Salton Sea, so I brought it up. I think here Nora was explaining that it just seemed so obvious to her, obviously the right thing to wear for the moment, or maybe all the time. Looked really good through the viewfinder of my Hasselblad camera. So I could not disagree!
She Didn’t Hear Me
If you read my prior post just below, you know about my chance meeting with Nora Zainglein at the Salton Sea. Also especially lucky that I had my Hasselblad camera with me. Just one of those things when you meet a New York City fashion model dancing around a pole on a vacant road. It is all true! Trust me!
So we drove down a dirt road I know which takes you to a somewhat hidden way to get on the shore of the Sea. Nora seemed to have a wardrobe idea for this spot and changed by the car. Makeup and hair had been somehow perfectly readied by the premier Estee Lauder artist Blanche LeBeau.
No one there of course and the Salton Sea was beautiful in it’s usual eerie sort of way. Noon and the Sun was high and the temperature hot. Nora embraced the feel and view of it all. Just having been in Manhattan the day before made it quite the scenic change for her. Amused by the long line along the shore of mummified Tilapia, I was sure that thoughts of lunch were not on her mind.
Walking along she raised her face to the Sun and closed her eyes. I said “Nora what are you thinking about?”… She didn’t hear me.
More to come…
Along The Way
You have been seeing a lot of my aviation photography mixed in with my bodybuilding and fitness, as well as my edgy lifestyle photo shoots and photo excursions. It goes back to when I was 9 years old and taking pictures of my model trains. At 12 I was shooting through my telescopes at the skies. My bodybuilding and weight lifting started at age 12 too. Building model airplanes as a kid and then getting in the airplanes. My interests along the way have always been accompanied by my photography or driven by it. Anyway some were asking, so I thought I might say something here about it all. Thanks!
Fit Fashion
Of course I can do that fit fashion photo shoot for you. And fit fashion can work all the time especially if you are the gorgeous Randalene Sergent. Fitness wear by Bodybuilding.com. Makeup and Hair Styling by Natalie Lyle. Thanks!
Skin Tones
Skin tones, white balance, color correct… part of what you look for when you are doing it right; photographs that is. Best verified and adjusted if needed with a known color source comparison like an X-Rite ColorChecker. However I must say that since shooting with my Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting, getting skin tones and colors and white balance right have become what I have always wanted it to be… Perfect! And one of my most favorite models ever, Aristodeme deserves nothing less. For comparison, the full photograph and a closeup crop. Check out the details on the closeup!
Resplendent
Radiant, Dazzling, Gorgeous, Magnificent… Model Severine in front of my camera. Should I say captivating and sublime as well.
Makeup and Hair Styling by the ever so very talented Blanche LeBeau. The dress from Hot Miami Styles. Photographed with a Hasselblad digital camera system. Lighting by Broncolor. Only the best!
Safety Crew
So I came up with this new idea for staffing and uniforms for the Safety Crew at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Professional model Gabriella Muttone was kind enough to volunteer for a few photographs and show us what I had in mind. It is my understanding that the concept is under full consideration and everybody would like to see Gabriella return as soon as possible for further demonstrations.
Photo shoot notes… Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Only the best. And speaking of the best, Gabriella is one extraordinary photographer herself. Check her out at https://gabriella-muttone.squarespace.com
Is This What You Wanted To See!
“Is this what you wanted to see!”… From my photo shoot with Kajira. She is too good! Photo shoot notes… Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Only the best!
Don’t Tell Her
I am keeping this a secret. I think my buddy Maria Bertrand is one of the most incredibly gorgeous women I have ever known. As many times I have seen her in front of my cameras I have never been left with anything but without words. Photo shoot notes… Hasselblad digital camera system. The dress is Guess by Marciano. Off Mulholland Drive above Beverly Hills.
Looking At Her Looking At You
Look away, no you just can’t. Even when you do, you still see her looking at you. This gorgeous woman, Amber Flowers in our photo shoot. She also created her makeup, hair and wardrobe styling. One incredibly talented and beautiful individual.
Photo shoot notes… Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Only the best!
Space Travel Not Required
Found a new photo shoot location on a recent photo excursion. And no space travel required. I can see you posing in front of that landscape now! The question is… Who is you? Send me an e-mail to Ian@SecondFocus.com. Thanks!
SecondFocus Blog 