A First Time For Xtine
Bombay Beach at the Salton Sea with model Xtine. Her first time around the Salton Sea, my assistant’s first time around the Salton Sea. Photographed with a Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Only the best!
Actually a partially overcast day so we had sun and then no sun. To my left 45 degrees to the model was my assistant holding a Broncolor white Beauty Dish, only one light powered by a Broncolor 1200L Move pack. He carried that in it’s shoulder case. Winds at Bombay Beach can be very significant, so that was a factor in my light modifier decision and to not try using a stand. By the way, Xtine the model here, is 6ft-1 in her bare feet.
Around The World
Super fun when I get to do a photo shoot with people from all the way around the globe. Raechelle Chase for New Zealand Fitness Magazine at Palm Springs Fitness Center.
Paradise
Seen in all the finest places around Palm Springs. And no I did not put it there! One of my photos monthly on the front page of the Palm Canyon Paradise newspaper. This photo of an incredibly beautiful Maria Bertrand poolside.
Golden Hour
The time at Sunrise and Sunset when the light is just right for photographs. I was asked yesterday in an interview if that is when I try to do most of my photography. The answer is yes and no. If it works out that way, ok. But more often than not it doesn’t, so you have to make it work. And especially when you have very bright hot overhead Sun much of the time.
The first step, someone gorgeous and fun in from of your camera, Maria Bertrand. Next step, an incredible Makeup and Hair Stylist, Blanche LeBeau. Third step, wonderful lighting and reliable equipment, Broncolor. Finally the superb Hasselblad digital camera system. See! Wasn’t that easy!
Diner Date
Don’t you love it when you get to the Diner and your date is already waiting for you. A somewhat edgy style photo shoot. Thanks!
Family Photos
I was asked yesterday if I photographed family photos with children. Well yes but perhaps not exactly how most people might think of family photos.
Photo Shoots In The Gym
From one of my favorite gym photo shoots ever. My buddy Chris from a advertising shoot we did for a multi page brochure for Bodybuilding.com.
Long Skirting The Issue
More behind the scenes posing fun with Kajira. We have more videos that you will only be seeing here and not on social media. Somewhat revealing. Think chic. “Porno Chic”…
A term created by New York Times art critic Hilton Kramer in the 1970s to describe the work of fashion photographers Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin and Chris von Wangenheim. Editorial and advertising photography that uses nudity, eroticism… sexual and sultry to be more than pornography. I also refer to it as “edgy lifestyle” and think it is great fun. That is why you see it in my photography. It is not just being naked.
Video on my Fujifilm X-Series X-T1. The strobes firing are Broncolor. The actual photo shoot on Hasselblad digital. Always the best! Thanks!
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!
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!
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!
You Know This Guy
Six times Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath. This photograph from his very first pro bodybuilding show win, the 2006 IFBB Colorado Pro. The photographer, me on assignment for Bodybuilding.com. If you have ever read a bodybuilding and fitness magazine, visited Bodybuilding.com, you have seen my photographs from shows, magazine features and advertising more than you would ever know. All around the world. Ready for me to shoot for you… send me a note to Ian@SecondFocus.com. Thanks!
Gym Shoot!
Been waiting to do your gym photo shoot with me? Time to get it going! To this day I am still one of the best known and most published bodybuilding and fitness photographers on the planet. Let’s do it! Send me an e-mail to Ian@SecondFocus.com. Thanks!
Robert Hatch during a photo shoot which became the cover photo and multi page feature in Planet Muscle Magazine.
Good Company!
Outstanding to be in such great company… On the Hasselblad Facebook page with my good friend and wonderful photographer Manuello Paganelli.
Peaceful Poolside
A moment of peace and harmony poolside with the ever so heavenly Catherine Kwong here in Palm Springs. Makes everything so much better!
Makeup and hair styling by the so very talented Natalie Lyle. Photographed with my Hasselblad digital camera system and Broncolor lighting. Only the best!
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!
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
So Many!
The subject came up about all of the photo shoots I did for Bodybuilding.com. Having become one of the most visited websites in the world, sales for the company had grown to exceed a half billion dollars per year. During those growth years, I photographed their advertising, online and print magazine features and endless bodybuilding and fitness competitions around the country. Most memorable for me, so many, very many. But way at the top was the advertising, video and features that came out of my photo shoot with Maria Rogers. “A picture is worth a thousand words” and way more!
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.
Bring A Friend
Sometimes the incredible, gorgeous and fit women I photograph bring a friend along on their photo shoots. One of the most wonderfully talented and creative women I have ever worked with, Victoria Kirsanova.
Makeup and Hair Styling by another incredible woman, Natalie Lyle
Reminder
I am known for photographing some of the most incredibly magnificent women on the planet. Sasha Brown is in that category many times over!
Just In Case
In case you forgot, one of my specialties is photographing incredibly gorgeous fit women. Way at the top of the list is the incredibly gorgeous and fit Sherry Goggin.
Come Shoot With Me!
Already booking up for January! So who wants to come shoot with me? Your portfolio in the gym? That poolside sexy shoot for your book? Dramatic wardrobe changes in a sea of black background. Maybe some special location, windmills, desert, vintage aircraft? Also your head shots which will be really affordable! Unlikely I will wear the bowtie. But I do have much better camera and lighting equipment now! Only the best! Send me a note and Thanks! Ian@SecondFocus.com
Contemplative
A bodybuilding pose begins between the ears. You can see it on his face. That is if you are going to do it right. Doug Brignole is one guy in bodybuilding and fitness who is widely known for doing it right. If there were a belt grade in bodybuilding as there is in martial arts, Doug would hold a black belt at the very highest level of the sport.
Photo shoot notes… Photographed with a Hasselblad digital camera system. Lighting with a Broncolor Para 133 reflector and a Broncolor Move 1200L pack for multiple exposures. Only the best!
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