A Collaborative Branding Session Built Around Personality
I love when clients bring props into the studio, and Mark brought a whole table full! Looking to establish his brand as a dietitian, Mark brought a bag full of fresh vegetables, his favorite cutting board, and a lot of personality to our personal branding photo session. The shoot was a collaboration of shots he had in mind, then he was open to my ideas like tossing the pepper up in the air for a shot! Below you can see the wide variety of shots we made during our session, from some clean white background 3/4 headshot type images, to personality focused photos, to bringing the veggies into the shots! I also got to take some of the veggies home with me after the shoot. Thank you Mark for choosing me as your branding photographer and for the broccoli!
Every headshot session is different, even when you have done hundreds like I have. You never know what is most important to a client until they are in the studio. My experience of making hundreds of headshots allows me to, in real time, provide what each particular client needs. At the start of Allison’s session to make a new headshot for her company’s website, I had no idea I would end up converting her edited headshots to black & white, but I just thought they really worked in black & white, in addition to color. Once we found the pose that Allison liked, we stuck with that and focused on hair position, and background color. We shot on two different gray backgrounds to provide the variety of headshot here, along with two different sweeping hairstyles. I did not know at the start this shoot would go this direction, but I listen to my clients and then make the best headshots I can based on that real time collaboration with clients. Shooting tethered to a 42” screen helps them see, again in real time, which direction they want to go for their headshot style. Thank you Allison for a creative shoot with some of my favorite black & white headshots I have made to date!
This was a meaningful shoot for me—not just because of the home itself, but because it marked my third time photographing this client’s Airbnb properties here on the Monterey Peninsula. Over the years, she has consistently invested in thoughtful updates to keep her listings competitive, and this Seaside property was no exception. After completing a series of upgrades, she reached out for new photography that would better reflect the space and help it stand out online.
This was my first time photographing an event for PG P.R.I.D.E. and also my first time photographing this large of a silent auction that ran the entire length of the event and was the main feature of the event itself. This brought about an energy and level of activity I had not experienced before in all my years of photographing events! Some time before the big day I met with Crystal and Brandy and other organizers here at my photo studio in downtown Pacific Grove to go over the shotlist and the photography plan for the evening. All this preparation on their part helped me get a wide variety of photos from the vendors, to guest portraits, to candid moments, to the full PG P.R.I.D.E. board members in a group photo!
Chase contacted me with a sudden need for a headshot, and not just any headshot, a military service style headshot, which I have actually never done before. Fortunately, I had time in my schedule to get him in my Pacific Grove Photo Studio the very next day. The scramble right up until shooting time was finding a flag to use in the background! Chase found one last minute, but it was too tall to stand up on its base in my studio even with its high ceilings. So I then had to figure out how to prop it up at an angle so it could first, fit, and second, look like it needed to. There was use of a lot of clamps and a couple of light stands to make the final background happen! But!! Then Chase had forgotten his tie and there really was not time for him to drive back home to get it. So I thought, let’s check the nearby thrift stores for one. We had to go to three to find one that was close to what he needed, albeit the wrong color. Dark blue was close enough, so that in editing I could adjust it so it looked black like he needed. As you can see, this was not the usual headshot session, but I was glad to be able to pull everything together in a true team effort to make these headshots. Good luck Chase with your applications!
A networking event at Monterey Airport was winding down. I was about to leave with fellow PG Chamber Ambassador VJ (owner of Monterey Car Company) when he said let’s go check out this area down a long, empty hallway. We discovered a viewing deck to the runway! In the twilight light passengers were boarding a plane. The railing was pretty high, so I had to hold my camera up over my head to get a clear photo. After a couple of attempts, I was able to get this one with the composition I wanted, a level horizon and since I could not clear the railing in the frame, I decided to use it as a leading line into the photo frame itself.
I have only flown once in the past 16 years, and it was in fact from Monterey Airport, but I do not remember seeing a viewing deck or my own plane boarding experience so this all felt like seeing a secret world I had no idea existed in the Monterey area. It is also a good feeling that “finding” a photo like this can still excite the old photographer side of me. I am glad to now share it.
Making the most of a tight location for Car Auction Photography in Watsonville
I am always excited when Brian of Peixoto Auto Group reaches out to me about photographing his latest client car. This time it was another car auction photography shoot for Cars & Bids. I drove up to Watsonville looking forward to making great shots of the white Lexus GS 350 he told me about prior to the shoot. The one challenge was going to be the location. I had seen it before, and at that time of day, the mix of sun and shadow would not really work. However, scheduling this one early in the day allowed for me to have the lighting and space to make it work. I used the barn as the backdrop for the required 360 exterior shots, then had Brian move the Lexus to another driveway spot to get cleaner backgrounds for the interior photos. I wrapped up the shoot going low angle getting some hero shots with my trusty 24mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.2 lenses. In the end I was very pleased with the variety of photos I was able to make for Brian in this location and really liked the inspiration I had in photographing the very cool looking interior of this GS 350. Thank you Brian for continuing to choose me as your car auction photographer and for the wonderful 5-star review!
