7
Sep
2011
Bahati Racing photoshoot
Upon news of one of my frequent visits to LA, pro cyclist Rahsaan Bahati hit me up to see if we could squeeze in a shoot of his new kits. Last year’s kits were the best in the biz, and now this year’s kits are even cooler… Not to mention Bahati’s fro is a bit shorter this year. Of course I took him up on the offer.
Rahsaan also brought along local cyclist Stella Tong as well to model the women’s outfits. She was like the Asian MacGyver, she had a reflector (reflective car sun shade), flashlight and a bike shop in the back of her Xterra. Also big thanks to Roxie for assisting, Nick Saglimbeni for letting me borrow his AMAZING Canon 85mm 1.2L lens, and my boy Luke Munnell for letting me borrow… everything else! That’s right I didn’t even use my own camera or lights for this shoot.
A few items are available to purchase here.
On a serious note… on the day of the shoot, Rahsaan got word that his first cycling coach that brought him out of trouble, and on to a bike of limitless opportunity, had passed away. The cheetah marks on his uniform are symbolic of his coach nicknaming Rahsaan “little cheetah.” Pedal on big cheetah, you’re an inspiration to myself and many others.
11
Oct
2010
FROM SOCAL TO SOCAR
After nearly 5 years living and working in Los Angeles, California, I found out my heart belongs in South Carolina. Funny how the place that you swear upon yourself that you will move away from as a child turns out to be the place that you eventually want to dig your roots deep. It was an insanely tough decision, which ultimately involved me jam packing up my awesome little Scion xB with nearly everything I could fit in there, and drive 2,487 miles to my new destination.
Along the way I didn’t bother to take out my well-packed Canon 5DmkII. Instead I conveniently used my iPhone 4. I highly recommend a cross country trip to anyone. Preferably with a good friend. Fortunately for me I had Domo to keep me company. He’s quiet, and makes a good pillow.
Mapped out and ready to go. Phoenix, Austin, Mobile, and Atlanta would be my pit stops along the way.
Poor box. Not an inch to spare. The Border Patrol in El Paso, TX were laughing at my car for being so ridiculously low. I just told them “this car is a tank, it’s made the trip before!”… of course after the German Shepard sniffed around my car, and asked about my US citizenship.
Thank the tech gods for GPS. Something about seeing a blue dot move across the screen makes me feel that I’m not actually driving in circles.
New Mexico knows how to put on a good sunset show.
3am somewhere in West Texas, yep.
After 17 straight hours I arrived in Austin, TX at a friend’s house. Along the way I picked up a few hitchhickers.
Ben Sassani was shooting a wedding on Oct. 2nd in Austin, and I thought I’d help out. I didn’t know free beer was involved. I also didn’t know that Ben is THE master at Angry Birds. WTF!
Introducing the (2nd) best bar-b-que I’ve ever had. And where else than The Salt Lick outside of Austin, TX. Arguably the best part about The Salt Lick is that it’s BYOB. Meaning you can BRING all the beer you want. Now that’s what I call family fun. The 1st best bar-b-que? Easy, that’s Bessigner’s in Charleston, SC.
Next is the legendary Lance Armstrong’s Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop. Do I really need to say more? BIKING UTOPIA!
Meet Shah, Fred Sassani’s dog. The biggest, scariest, nicest Doberman in Austin Texas. He does lots of circles. And is awesome.
Now meet Chewy, Ben Sassani’s dog. The exact opposite of Shah lol.
Louisiana is fascinating if you love wetlands. Chick-Fil-A is ALWAYS fascinating.
This threw me for a loop. One second I’m driving through rural Alabama, and the next I’m going through a time-warp tunnel under Mobile, Alabama!… at 41mph.
After a night in Daphne, AL (just outside of Mobile), I took off to Atlanta. Now THIS is what I have in mind when I think Alabama. Old, empty, long, 2-lane roads being hugged by tall trees and blue skies. For kicks I listened to country music.. for 5 minutes. That’s all I could handle, but it felt right.
I rolled into Atlanta, and my friends Lieze and Andy Sapp invited me to come along and see Jeff Koons at the High Museum of Art. He’s one of the most successful artists of our generation. Yes, please.
We got to ride the Marta train to and from the Museum. A little scary around midnight, but living in Los Angeles trained me to be tough!.. but that’s not a street tough, that’s Andy taking some pics 
After a good nights rest, I drove the remaining leg to South Carolina. It’s good to be back. And Domo was thankful to get out and stretch his legs, and touch REAL grass for the first time in his life. Cheers!
20
Dec
2009
Los Angeles Gets a Bath
Los Angeles gets on average 15 inches of rainfall a year, which is roughly 35 days out of the year. And on those rare 35 days, the rain is comparable to a bird bath at best. Taking full advantage of my new place smack dab in the middle of downtown LA, I grabbed my rain coat, tripod, camera, and headed down to the streets… Because today sir, we have rain!
At first I started on the streets. I figured the sooner the better. Probably not the best idea to stroll around downtown with a nice camera after midnight ya know? Who knows, I’m growing a thicker skin day by day to the “amenities” offered by LA.
After roaming around the streets, I headed up to the rooftop of my building to get some more shots. My camera got very intimate with a Ralph’s plastic grocery bag.
16
Dec
2009
Livin’ on the edge
It pays to be my friend. Clinton has now been in front of my camera 3 times. Previously with a gritty downtown LA theme, and also a cowboy/western theme. This time he wanted a fashion theme. I wasn’t sure what he was going to wear until he knocked on my door… Pointed black shoes, grey wool slacks, leather gloves, and a matching grey wool beret? 1920′s here we come! Which would go PERFECT with my loft’s atmosphere since it was built in the 1920′s and well maintained since then.
Most notable about The Chapman building are the beautiful 13 floors of marble stairway. You just don’t see that anymore unless you’re in a 5 star hotel. I was trying to get a lot of depth, so placing Clinton at the very edge of the frame while looking down gave me the look I wanted.
The roof is the main attraction of any downtown building. A quick jump over a neighboring wall and we’ve been transported from The Chapman’s green grass, lawn chairs, and jacuzzis to a tattered and worn down roof… perfect for that old rustic feel.
Clinton survived the “jump” 
Of course the above image is a composite. One of him jumping, and another over the edge of the building. Now personally I turn into a spineless puddle of mush when it comes to heights, so crawling over the railing and hanging my camera 5′ beyond the ledge made me just a tad queezy. But I’m very happy how this image turned out.
On to the behind-the-scenes shots.
My lovely trusty and beautiful assistant Lauren snapped some shots on her iPhone of the stairway. Just goes to show how beautiful and well restored this building has been kept for over 80 years.
The finished shot spans 3 floors. On each floor was an AlienBee strobe. Since the marble is practically white, the power had to be set relatively low, and constantly adjust each light to get the balance I wanted… With each tiny adjustment meaning I had to climb 3 flights of stairs, I got a decent workout in!
Pulling back from a ledge shot you can see what I was working with. Yes I wasn’t lying about shooting on a ledge, that 2nd photo wasn’t a composite folks! Mad props to Clinton risking his neck for a shot! Where I’m taking the picture from is just about how close I like to come to a high ledge! Both feet on solid ground. Also note that in the final pictures, I edited out most modern elements such as cars and new buildings.
I’m very happy with how this shoot came out. So how about getting in the Christmas spirit and give the gift of comments 
