Shoots: Tatiana, Michelle, Chelsea,& Brett

Zuri Model and Talent contacted me recently about their intentions to expand from primarily repping children, to now include juniors/teens... and wanted to know if I was interested in testing some of their newest signs. The look would be more commercial-youth oriented, something that I had never really chased before... so I was happy to oblige, if anything to challenge/test myself with themes I've yet to explore much.

The agency secured a 5-acre estate in Malibu, as well as a full professional team of stylists and make-up & hair artists... which makes it incredibly easy on set, when I can just leave it to pros and not have to micro-manage. I could get used to this.

However, shooting four models individually and in various combinations, each with multiple looks, is a pretty tall order... so I brought on a good friend and fellow photographer, Sterling Davis, as a second-shooter. Sterling is not only naturally gifted, but is a technical encyclopedia when it comes to lighting-- both ambient and artificial/studio-- so, it was very comforting to be able to turn to him, if only to discuss every possibility when it came to assessing/composing any given setting. He was a huge help and I could never have covered everything that needed to be accomplished without him. A solid dude.

Once again, hit gold with the models-- they were all rather lovely young women who came on set to work and nary a complaint amongst them. I know I've been spoiled lately-- I'm just dreading the future shoot where the other shoe finally drops and I get some screaming diva... but that wasn't this day.

Call time was noon, which gave Sterling and I about an hour to prep our equipment and tour the estate to carve out which settings we were going to use. The girls came down in staggered rotations, which was efficient, but soon realized that we couldn't really break much in order to get through the day before we lost light. So, when the sun finally set and the last picture was snapped, we were totally exhausted... to only then face the 45 minute drive back to Los Angeles; I know 45 mins doesn't sound like long, but it is when you've been looking through a viewfinder with one eye for eight hours.

So, what did I learn? That early afternoon sun in the summer is a bitch to get a nice exposure with little to no diffusion. That with extended shoots you must force yourself to set the camera down for at least 30mins, lest you nearly careen off the PCH into the Pacific, due to fatigue. And that you should not schedule a shoot on the same day as the World Cup final game, as you'll find your concentration drifting quite often ;-)

Special thanks to Nikki Olson of Zuri for arranging everything and making it run smoothly, and to Sterling for all his help, guidance, and extended coverage. I'm not sure when/if he'll have his images from the shoot up on his site, but be sure to check him out.

PS: the compression on Blogger really, really, really sucks. Please know the colors in these pictures is much more clear/vibrant/awesome. I'll have them up on my website, whenever that long-awaited (by me) day it finally goes up.