Bubblegum editorial

Flashback to earlier this year, February to be exact.  I had started testing with Willow Model Management back in 2012, and they'd always been great to work with, but it wasn't until early '13 that I was finally starting to produce some decent images (by my standards) and felt confident enough to approach them with  an idea to shoot an editorial.

First up was assembling the team. I had worked with a few of the talented artists at eFoxx Hair in Sherman Oaks before, specifically hair stylist Nicole Bellows and makeup artist Rebecca Gonzalez, so was happy to have them onboard. Owner Eric Fox graciously agreed to allow us to use his establishment for a salon themed shoot, and I tapped wardrobe stylist Elvira Zamora of Wardrobe Divas to style, so all I needed now were some models!

Our location for the day

Willow lined me up with two great models for that day, Merissa and Jessica. Merissa had just moved to LA from the east coast and this was to be her first shoot as a Willow model; Jessica and I had communicated before about collaborating so this was shaping up to be a great shoot. Unfortunately, as these things happen, Jessica was called to an out of town event at the last minute, which sent me into a bit of a panic since the theme required two models. Fortunately, as had been the case before when the unexpected happens, Willow found me an awesome substitute, Rebekah, and so the shoot was on!

Since this was Merissa's first shoot with Willow, I decided to shoot a few looks just with her. We shot a few images just walking around Sherman Oaks near the salon, and then some inside the salon where I had setup a backdrop with a roll of seamless.

Keeping that hair nice and smooth :)

I also did a quick look just with Rebekah.

With the individual looks finished, we moved on to the editorial. One of the things I love best about model photography, especially when doing an editorial, is the creative freedom and ideas that the different team members bring. I had pulled together some inspiration images, but it's always fun and gratifying to see how different viewpoints and ideas add to the shoot.

Our stylist making the most of some down time :)

It ended up being a long day, and I celebrated the successful shoot with Nicole and Rebecca with dinner at the absolutely amazing Local Peasant.

With the shoot over, my work really began. I edited the selected images and started submitting to different magazines -- and was ecstatic when Ellements decided to pick it up. Here's how they ended up being published in the May issue.

Thanks for a great job, Rebecca & Nicole!

Credits
Photographer: Norm Lao
Model: Merissa Pence, Rebekah Davis, Willow Models
MUA: Rebecca Gonzalez, eFoxx Hair
Hair Stylist: Nicole Bellows, eFoxx Hair
Stylist: Elvira Zamora, Wardrobe Divas

Test with Sophia (No Ties)

Stop tickling me!

I have a real love/hate relationship with social media. As a photographer, I understand the need to get my name out there using every possible form possible, and I've gotten a few gigs from using them. And so while I have a website, a Facebook, an Instagram, a Twitter, a Tumblr, and a We Heart It page, and try to keep them from getting too stale, I just feel like I don't have the energy to keep a blog going as well.

I actually had this Blogger account from 2006, well before I started getting into photography, but hadn't even thought about posting until stylist Sarah Shimoda posted on her blog about a recent collaboration, and Blogger wouldn't let me post a comment without identifying myself, which led me to looking at a bunch of my dopey posts from 2007 and forcing me to clean house.

Which brings us to the present. Most of my photography is posted to the aforementioned sites (especially Instagram) but I will admit it is fun to be able to add a few ramblings to my images as well. Just don't expect this to become a habit :)

This was my first formal test for No Ties Models, based in San Diego; I had previously shot with the beautiful Joy Liu while she was in town over the summer, but that wasn't through the agency. No Ties graciously offered me an opportunity to test with Sophia, and I jumped at the chance. This was also to be Sophia's first formal test as a No Ties model so I wanted to impress. As usual, after arranging studio time (at my usual, Studio OC), I went about getting an MUA. Although I had worked with Yen before, it had been over a year since we did a shoot together with Emily of Willow Models, so it was nice to be able to work with her again. But I wanted something a little different this time so I reached out to Sarah of Lamé Chic for some styling help; I think she did a phenomenal job for her first formal shoot, how about you?

Credits
Photographer: Norm Lao
Model: Sophia Richards, No Ties
MUA: Yen Pham
Stylist: Sarah Shimoda, Lamé Chic