If you’re not from the New York area, you might think I was making fun of the couple. DUMBO is an extremely popular location for engagement photos, a few spots are instantly recognizable by other photographers or locals. Though the locations are similar, I think each couple can bring a new taste to the photos based on their style and personality. My next lens will most likely be a tilt-shift lens.

Driving in excess of 40mph is not the proper way to execute a moving vehicle photo shoot.  This was our only makeshift method to get the motion blur as we were driving on the Pacific Coast Highway by Los Angeles, CA. This also happens to be my first attempt at a moving vehicle shoot, with my  brother on the Harley, his wife driving the chase car, with my 1D strap wrapped tightly around my arm hanging out the window, shutter activated by the wired remote, and communicating over a Bluetooth headset.

Without a neutral density filter, I was forced to shoot at ISO 50, f/9.5 at 1/90s with my Canon 16-35mm. There is obviously some major post processing and composites for the visual effects, but the motion blur is real. The overcast sky made it easier to get a softly lit image.

On my third trip back to California, I spent the first half of the week shooting at the beautiful bed & breakfast, Korakia in Palm Springs, about 2 hours from Los Angeles. It was an average of 110F degrees, but it was dry so I didn’t even break a sweat. 4 models in 4 days, I have to admit I haven’t had a disappointing client from the LA area yet, it’s been 100% success rate compared to New York’s 50%. The modeling photos will take some time to edit, but here are the location shots. The follow shots are all taken with the Canon 16-35mm 2.8L II USM.

My suite, Aegean Bungalow

The rest of Palm Springs

I’ve decided to occupy more of my data usage time on my iPhone for twitter.com. Now you can follow my every move.

I have often been asked who my favorite model is, a valid question but a hard one to answer. As time goes by, people come and go, I have to constantly find new faces to keep my work alive. So even though I may have an immediate favorite individual that sparks my interest, I know her own interest in modeling will only last a few sessions before she moves on. So what’s the point of having a favorite if you can’t keep it?

Perhaps I can better answer the question by revealing who have been my favorite models to date, and who I believe have made the greatest impact, impression, and pleasure to my work. I could easily describe my sessions shared with each of the following individuals as nothing but bliss, or a taste of heaven. Each girl offered a different look, a different experience, and a different personality, all contributing to the many factors in why each are my favorites. In actuality, my viewer responses also contributed in how successful I think a set turned out, and all three of these girls received nothing but the best. When there are females admitting they would turn gay for one of my female models, that’s another sign I picked a jewel.

If I could give my left pinkie toe to share the experience with these three lovely ladies again, I would. In fact, I have a session scheduled with one of them in a few days, so stay tuned! I am giddy.

Feel free to leave comments on who your favorite models have been!

Seira (San Diego), Nicole (Los Angeles), Liz (New York City)

You never know what you’re results will come from photo shoots even though you go to the same locations throughout the course of a year. Flowers will blossom and fade, the rain may visit, the colors of the scenery can dramatically change, and construction sites may even decide to find a new territory. Sometimes, just sometimes, you may even spot a celebrity.

My work has always been heavily based on referrals and word of mouth, usually through conversations, blogs, or wedding forums. So far, all of these referrals have been “personal” and nothing official or impressive… well at least not as impressive as being recommended by a personal concierge for a American Express Centurion card member. That was how my last intime client found me. She was looking for a boudoir photographer and called her Amex concierge service, and somehow my name came up. Needless to say, her apartment was an incredibly well designed and remodeled place, perfect for our photoshoot. Sorry, the photos stay private!

If Vietnam had idols, Tu-Anh would be one of them. Similar to the best of the Japanese idols, she has all the cute features you want with all the sexy features in the right areas - the only difference being Tu-Anh is 100% natural. The pool location was on the rooftop of an office building.

[tip] It is usually not wise to distort models unintentionally with wide angle lens. Portraits should be taken at telephoto lens, from 100mm-300mm. However, one neat trick to elongate the model is to stretch the end of the legs towards the edge of a wide angle lens - which gives the false perception of very long legs.

Who says you can’t feed the models? I find that happy models make happy pictures. After a relaxing lunch in Hoboken we decided to play photo shoot inside rather than walking outside in the hot humid weather. I can’t think of a better setting than a small white bedroom flooded with natural window light. The mood was perfect for my ideal photo session. As you know, I love girls and I love beds, and nothing is more heavenly than a girl in a bed. My only lens available was a Canon 24-70mm although at f/2.8, there was plenty of light, I wish I had my 35mm at 1.4 to create a more shallow depth of field.