9 Yoga Poses With Maria Bertrand
Very Fun! A great feature “Improve Your Confidence With These 9 Yoga Poses” written by Maria Bertrand, featuring Maria Bertrand and photographed by me! On Beachbody … Take a look! http://bit.ly/1Kace1l
1st Place For Muscle Beach Fun!
At the Muscle Beach/Venice fitness and bodybuilding competition on July 4th, if there would have been an award for having the most fun and being the most fun to watch, it would have gone to Theresa Russell. The enthusiasm of this gorgeous 50 year old woman was totally exhilarating! I am so happy I had the chance to photograph her!
At the upcoming Muscle Beach competition on Labor Day I can photograph you too! You can have your photographs on stage and back stage in the world famous workout “Pit”. You can even have your own mini photo shoot the day before at the beach for yourself or as a couple. But you must sign up ahead of time and as soon as possible. So here is the link for more information and to sign up. Only a few weeks away so no time to wait and Thanks! https://squareup.com/market/secondfocus
Photo Shoots At The Iron Man Naturally Anaheim
Are you doing the Iron Man Naturally competition at the Anaheim FitExpo on August 22nd? I will be at the show and expo on Saturday, but on Sunday August 23rd, I will be doing a limited number of mini photo shoots at a nearby gym. So whether you are a bodybuilder, physique, bikini or figure competitor, or perhaps not even doing the show, this will be an opportunity to shoot with me at a greatly reduced cost. To chat about it, send me an e-mail to SecondFocus@mac.com. This will be very limited so best get to me as soon as possible. Thanks!
And yes I might make you work just as hard as Travis Ely did during his last show prep for our photo shoot. Shot on a Hasselblad camera. Only the best!
A Helping Hand
Photo shoots can be so busy that it is always good to have an extra hand. Especially when we could not let a totally gorgeous and very fit Katie Madden participate in getting us in trouble on Social Media. Makeup and Hair Styling by the Notorious Natalie Lyle. Photographed on a Hasselblad camera. Only the best!
Muscle Beach Only Weeks Away!
July 4th at Muscle Beach had a very beautiful Stephanie C. Ramirez standing on the stage that the entire world thinks of as the place “Where Muscles Were Born”. Yes Stephanie went home with a well deserved trophy. She truly looks gorgeous and photographing her with a Hasselblad camera makes for those perfect skin tones, the wonderful colors and a radiance that is so much what you expect to see in that Southern California beach sunshine. Only the best!
The last Muscle Beach show of this Summer is coming up on Labor Day only a few weeks away! The Muscle Beach Championship will find me photographing bodybuilding and fitness competitors on stage and backstage in the world famous workout “Pit”.
But if you want me to photograph you, you need to sign up ahead of time so I can make sure I get you in front of my camera. I have made it very inexpensive so I can shoot photographs of as many of you as possible. Truly my purpose is to get great photographs for you who have worked so hard to stand on that stage and have come to Muscle Beach. Many of you from around the world! I do share in your enthusiasm and excitement.
I am also offering mini photo shoots the day before the show on Sunday, September 6th right there at Venice Beach or nearby on a beach in Marina Del Rey. Available to individuals and couples, you do not even need to be a competitor at the show the next day. Again I have made this very inexpensive so as many of you as possible can get some great photographs.
So please sign up now or as soon as you possibly can. Here is the link for online sign up, prices and more information. And Thank You! See you there at the real Muscle Beach! https://squareup.com/market/secondfocus
Only Made More Scenic
The scenic road along Mulholland Drive made much more scenic by Maria Bertrand. From our photo shoot. The dress, so very beautiful on Maria is Guess by Marciano. Photographed on Hasselblad.
Wanna Shoot With Me?
I bet you can guess that I shot this photograph of Chris Jantz over the July 4th weekend! It was the morning after Chris walked away with some great first place bodybuilding wins and trophies at Muscle Beach.
We are coming up on the last summer competition at the real Muscle Beach for this season on Labor Day. So if you are doing the show, it is time to sign up with me for photographing you on stage and even backstage in that world famous workout Pit.
Also on Sunday, the day before the show, you can shoot with me with your own mini photo shoot at locations at Venice Beach or Marina Del Rey. That is open to anyone even if you are not doing the show. You can even do a couples photo shoot.
Now is the time to make sure you get signed up to get your photographs if you are doing the show. And this will be the last time I will be doing mini photo shoots for this price this year. So click on the following link to get more information and to sign up. And if you have any questions, please send me an e-mail to SecondFocus@mac.com and Thank You! https://squareup.com/market/secondfocus
Photographed on Hasselblad. Only the best!
A Difference You Can See
A close up from the photograph in the corner of model Kristen Dugas. Photographed by me just recently with a Hasselblad H5D-50c camera and Broncolor lighting with the Broncolor Para 133 reflector. This was during the Hasselblad Bron ProSolutions Tour at Edge Studios in Los Angeles.
Now look at the details of her beautiful face. Look at the detail in just the pupil of her eye, the pure and perfect colors, the real life skin tone and hair color. Look at the color and detail of her lips. This is what a photograph looks like when it is shot right and especially with such amazing camera and lighting equipment.
So very many of you are showing photographs that are so terribly bad. I know you shot with a part time photographer who says he is a pro, but it is to your detriment. No matter how many “Likes” you might happen to get because the photographer had you bend over in some juvenile sexual imagination of a pose. It is just that nobody ever showed you what is good and what is not. It does not serve you well if you are a model or fitness model trying to build your career when you have these photographs with your completely flattened out skin that looks like plastic and more bright orange than anything else. It does not serve you well when the bikini you are wearing looks brown and your clothing sponsor sent you a green one. It does not serve you well when your white shirt looks like just a big bright white out area when here should be lace visible or fine fabric. It does not serve you well when you actually look at the photo and it is just plain out of focus! We see so much bad photography that it has become the normal.
I could go on and on but feel free to send me any questions or inquiries you might have to my e-mail at SecondFocus@mac.com. Whether you are a model or an advertiser or a magazine or otherwise depend on quality photography I just want to see you do better. And I can do that!
Photo On Business Card?
I am often asked by other photographers if they should put a photograph on their business card. Well if you shoot photographs like I do of gorgeous women with amazing physiques like Heidi Marissa Cannon… Yes! I sure did! Heidi is on her way in two weeks to Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel to stand on stage at the WBFF World Beauty Fitness & Fashion Competition. Although I think she is not hitchhiking. Outstanding!
Wind and Hair And So Very Sexy
Sometimes the wind blows and hair gets messed up. I love those moments. Some are funny but some with the right look on the right model are so very sexy. And so this moment with Maria Bertrand. From our photo shoot the other day along Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. Photographed on Hasselblad.
Sexiest Summer FitBodies
Katie Madden featured as a Sexiest Summer FitBody for 2015 in the latest issue of Planet Muscle Magazine. And Katie is 56 years old! Is she just not too amazing for words! Good thing I shot the photographs. Makeup and Hair Styling by the ever wonderful Natalie Lyle. And yet another magazine feature photographed with my Hasselblad camera. Thanks!
My Mulholland Drive Tour Guide
My Mulholland Drive tour guide for the day. Maria Bertrand told me she had some good photo shoot locations in mind and wow was she right. And wow is she gorgeous! We did a few different looks for a few different themes to go with magazine feature stories and more. Here she is in a Guess by Marciano dress that was just made for her. Or maybe she was made for that dress! Just perfect! All photographed on Hasselblad which is why you are seeing so much detail in the fabric of that dress, the perfect colors and skin tones and the looks like you are there feel to the photograph. Also just perfect!
Girl Just Gotta Have Fun!
Behind the scenes, as Maria Bertrand and I went off to do a photo shoot along Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles last week. Maria is just too much fun! I am so lucky to have this woman who has been in the pages of Vogue and more in front of my Hasselblad camera! Keep watching here for a few photographs from this shoot. We did back up traffic along the highway for sure!
Another From The ProSolutions Tour
Another photograph from the Hasselblad Bron ProSolutions Tour at Edge Studios in Los Angeles the other day. Model Kristen Dugas looks incredible in this shot I did with a Hasselblad H5D-50c camera with a Hasselblad HC 100mm lens. The lighting was a Broncolor pack and head with the Broncolor Para 133 reflector. Truly amazing lighting and the skin tones and colors are perfect. Then there is the sharpness of details and an almost three dimensional feel to the photograph. I am very happy I am shooting Hasselblad and very impressed with Broncolor! 
Beautiful Model; I Say Use The Best Cameras And Lighting
Wonderful fun the other day at Edge Studios in Los Angeles, trying out and courtesy of, Broncolor lighting equipment and Hasselblad Cameras. Here I photographed our model for the day, Kristen Dugas with a Hasselblad H5D-50c camera and a Hasselblad HC 100mm lens. The lighting was a Broncolor pack with their very unique Para 133 Reflector. The photograph gives you an idea as to why lighting from equipment like Broncolor and the Para Reflectors is called light shaping. The dimension, detail and overall quality are equally only best interpreted by Hasselblad cameras. I am so very truly impressed with Broncolor and Hasselblad. Ok I am pretty impressed with Kristen Dugas too! Thanks!
Katana!
Had my martial arts instructor looked like Stacey Naito when he wielded a Katana, I dare say I would still be training with him. This woman is so gorgeous! From our photo shoot. With Makeup and Hair styling by the wonderful and very fun Blanche LeBeau.
My Ball Career Is Over
I don’t think I am going to be able to go back to my ball career. So I need you to sign up for me shooting your photographs on Labor Day weekend for the bodybuilding and fitness competition at Muscle Beach. If you are doing the show, you can have your photographs on stage and also backstage in the workout Pit. On the Sunday before the show you can have your own mini photo shoot at the beach whether you are doing the show or not. And you can even have a couples photo shoot. So please sign up as soon as you can so I can get everyone in. I have no idea where my mitt is anyway. Just click here and Thanks! https://squareup.com/market/secondfocus
Behind The Scenes For Sure
Amy Jantz, who is too cute for words and more than beautiful, just could not resist a combination of selfie and behind the scenes photo. Offering to carry my camera bag as her husband Chris Jantz and myself walked out to the rocks at Venice Beach for more of his photo shoot early Sunday morning after his competition at Muscle Beach on July 4th. I thought she was just walking along behind us. Little did I suspect her mischievousness! Just too fun! Thank You Amy! 
Does A Body Good!
She is 56 years old! Born in 1959! Katie Madden is everything all about fitness and healthy living and the gym. This woman is what I call motivation!
Poolside in Palm Springs with wonderful Makeup and Hair Styling by Natalie Lyle. From our photo shoot with a Hasselblad medium format digital camera system. Lighting courtesy of 350 days of Sun here in Palm Springs. Body by Katie Madden!
Catching Muscle Beach Fun With My Camera…
Chris Jantz looking serious as he pumps up in the workout Pit at Muscle Beach on July 4th. But now look past him to the right. I think she is enjoying her view of Chris from the other side. It has always been that way at Muscle Beach and along the Venice Beach Boardwalk. All part of the fun looking at the great bodies on men and women in the Southern California beach sun. I am just really happy that I caught some of that fun with my camera!
I Want It!
I don’t care what it is, if Ava Cowan is promoting it, I want it! Cell phones, posing suits, swimwear, hair style, supplements, whatever! When you look this gorgeous I am all in and there! A selfie from just the other day from one of the most respected and admired women in fitness, Ava Cowan. Go visit her website to get more of a look… AvaCowan.com
By the way, I Do Love Selfies! If you want to send me your selfie and a paragraph about you to be published across my social media and be seen by a huge audience, please do. I will try to publish as many of you as I can, but I do get quite a few, so I may have to stretch them out and pick and choose. But please do! Send them to my email at SecondFocus@mac.com and Thanks!
This Is Muscle Beach!
This one photograph I shot at the July 4th competition to me speaks volumes about what Muscle Beach is all about. United States Marine Corp Gunny Sergent Jaren Wright looking good and having fun on stage. Obviously he has worked hard building his physique and I am sure he will keep it going. And he certainly deserved the two trophies he took home. But even more, Jaren will always remember when he stood on stage at the real Muscle Beach at the only real Muscle Beach competitions!
And as a photographer, again I am so very impressed with shooting with a Hasselblad camera. Bodybuilding and fitness photography has it’s own very unique needs to get right when taking photographs. Definition, color rendition and skin tones are what separates really great bodybuilding photographs from all the others. Just look around at other bodybuilders photos you will see orange skin, blurry looks and unrealistic color. Stop and compare to what you see here. When you do that, you see the difference. As I say, Hasselblad does not just shoot photographs, it duplicates reality, and maybe makes it even better!
First We Contact The Mars Rover…
First we contact the Mars Rover. Then we turn it around and light you up for my camera. And then I make you look so good! Try me! Send me an e-mail to SecondFocus@mac.com and Thank You!
My Secret To Working With Gorgeous Models
I am often asked by newer inexperienced photographers how to get the most out of models during photo shoots. It can also be especially intimidating for new photographers when working with tall, gorgeous professional models like Maria Bertrand. I will tell you my secret… Cookies and Milk. Yes that’s it! You can get the best photo shoots ever with a model if you give them Cookies and Milk.
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