More Spring Break Shots

So here's Hean So lol.

This kid's pretty cool. So damn random, but he's chill. He just started tattooing like a year ago or something but he's pretty damn good especially since he just started. We're slated to do my first one once I get back to SD. I can't wait!

Spring Break

Finally got these up.

I went back to Sunny San Diego for spring break and while it was a busy, busy week, it was still really good to be home. I had a couple assisting/intern gigs lined up but those fell through. I did, however, get a chance to sit down with those photographers and talk to them about the biz which was valuable as well. I got to eat my fish rolled tacos from Los Panchos off 3rd ave in Chula Vista as well as some In N' Out. Mom also got me some Do-Si-Dos girl scout cookies which made me grin ear to ear haha.

Anyway, here's a few of the pics that I was able to shoot during the break.

I did a portrait with a buddy, Joel from Team Showpow.

Big thx to him for letting me use his lights.

Alan from Showpow.

This kid I've known since like high school...and now he drives a Mercedes. Good stuffs, yo!

Prospect St, 1st floor + owner

Almost forgot to post this lol.

Lou is in the middle...chillest landlord ever.

Phase 3 Self Portrait

Ok, ok...here it is. ;p

8) OMG SEKSI V2
Self Portrait.

Win.

This image came out exactly how I imagined it. Unfortunately, though, it's not original. I got the idea from this BADASS studio car photographer Kev Brown. I found this image he did which is pretty much the same thing but instead of my 94 Accord, it's an Austin Martin Zagato. The only difference is that I envisioned myself sitting in the driver's seat w/in the outline.

Big ups goes to Mark Nelson for helping me out on this one. He helped w/ the setup and the breakdown of the set and was really, really fast at it especially with the breakdown.

Phase 3 Addtional Personal Submissions

So in addition to our mandatories, we had to submit more images but not pertaining to any criteria whatsoever...except for maybe having it support our current body of work and adhere to our career business plans. I wanna do car culture stuff. So here goes. :)

I'll start off w/ what I feel is one of my weaker ones.

1) Mini Tach

This one was inspired by a shot that Easton Chang did of a Civic SI (?) tach. I shot a Mini Cooper's tach since, well, Minis tend to be...cute but sporty. I'd rock the S model for sure...and fly around your fat mustang in the corners hahaha.

Oh, and yes, that's 41*F outside...I was in a sweater. I've officially shed my SoCal skin but I'm ready to feel the friggin sun again.

2) Subwoofer
So sound is a big part of car culture. If the person two blocks ahead of you can't hear T-Pain's "tunes" blasting out your car, you ain't doin' it right...lol.

So anyway, I wanted to shoot something in the tabletop studio. This didn't turn out the way I pictured it. It actually turned out better. I originally thought of it floating in space so you can see it emerging from the shadows...nope. I went on the Kicker site and saw that they designed some cool-looking background for their speaker so I decided to draw my inspiration from them.

Word.

Ok, now on to the real stuff.

3) Mini Dogfight
I was hella inspired by Scott Dukes, tuner mag photog extraordinaire. He shot a Porsche RS60 Boxster vs. Carrera GT in a very similar fashion and since he shared a photo breakdown, I thought I'd try my hand out on it.

I teamed up with Ben Spell on this one. I used Katy Pritchett's Cooper S. The red one's Ben's. This shot was a MAJOR P.I.T.A. Oh science...for one, it was cold as hell. Second, we didn't have the right sync cords for the remote triggers. Third, Ben went home to pick up some of his wireless triggers but when he came back, his batteries were dead lol. So in the end, we just relied on a slightly longer exposure and good communication. Ghetto! But all in all, a decent learning experience.

4) Nakey Helmet
So the reason I started out w/ the first two images is because I didn't want to start off w/ some semi-noodies haha. Here you go.

I shot Ilene again. She's awesome. It was a little more difficult this time for some reason but we definitely got the shot. I love the expression in her eyes since it's basically what sells the image...other than the fact that she's half-naked.

I didn't have an extra $200 laying around so I hit up the local bike shop Green River Honda to borrow some equipment. Big ups to PJ Short. He definitely hooked it up. At first he was a little reluctant, but after I mentioned that the lady would be wearing a helmet--and only that--he was a little more willing to lend me the gear lol.

5) Bike Shop
I came back a day or so later and asked if I could use Green River's garage for another shoot. Here, the lovely Shannon Bradley was gracious enough to model for me. Justine Rosazza was my assistant and helped out a bit w/ lighting and styling.

Hawt S#!t, huh. lol.

Back to the rides...*ahem*

6) Turner's Car
There's this one dude at school who presented one day as a guest speaker. Then all of a sudden after his lil spiel, we get word that he's going to be joining the staff full-time! So who cares, right? Well, if you know anything about fashion mag W magazine, then you know something about his pictures. Anyway, before coming up here from NY, he went at got this sick-a$$ Audi Quattro 2.8L V6. He just let me drive that bad boy around the town looking for locations and stuff. Let me say that YES, I want one now lol...

This is a lot closer to what I want to be doing with my life. It's kinda cool looking, but I definitely have a LOT more to learn.

Oh, I got yelled at by some dude on a power trip for being on the road since it's a private access road with designated parking spots. The whole 2.5 hrs I was there, a whole three or so cars went by and like, 10 pedestrians walking their dogs and whatnot. Apparently, leaving about 20-30' of open road and not being in the proper runoff is a crime. Kids, don't do this at home! Whatever, I got my shot. I'm happy. :)

7) OMG SEKSI...
I don't even have to write any words for this one...

Thanks goes out to Peter Chilton on this one for lending me his Mini Cooper S. Thom Burden for opening up the garage for me. David Turner for pointing me in the right direction. And Johnny Jones for helping me out with the shoot itself. The original shot I wanted to do was of a blue Cooper S by Trevor Pearson but since we're ill-equipped here (no 20'x30' soft box/scrim) we had to make do.

Still, one of the sexier shots I've ever taken.

I have a self portrait done already (lol if you've seen it already) but I think I wanna save it for another post. ;)

So that's about it for Phase 3. Now that I'm done a day early, I get to go home and chillax. Now I can just concentrate on packing, getting some rest, and doing my laundry before I'm off for sunny SoCal for Spring Break!

Misc. Props:
-Bridge Street - Good times...
-Erin Kirtchner - Thanks for letting me borrow your mini.
-Chris Myska - Thanks for the Sub and all the Armor All products lol.
-Pat Stepney - Thanks for always lending me gear.
-Scott Dukes - Guidance and inspiration.