Long Beach Transit Mall Photograph Installation

I am thrilled to be chosen as the photographer to showcase eight images of Long Beach for the new Transit Mall!  The mall is located on first street between Pine and Long Beach Blvd. in Long Beach, California.

I would like to thank Craig Watson with the Arts Council of Long Beach and the Transit authority for selecting my photographs to represent this beautiful city.  Each photograph matches a poem that is located on the other side of eight newly designed bus shelters.  You will now know exactly when your bus will arrive with the new technology installed at the mall and are able to relax in comfort with the state of the art sail cloth shaded shelters.

The grand opening celebration of the new Mall is scheduled for June 2nd at 5:30p.m at Promenade Park (off First St., between LB Blvd. and Pine).  I hope you are able to make the opening and if not, please be sure to take a stroll down first street if you find yourself in downtown Long Beach.

My images of Long Beach are for sale on my photography website so you are able to have these prints at home.  To see more, click HERE.

Photo Shoot In The Laundromat

I am not sure why I picture certain people in certain places for a photo shoot but for some reason, I thought my friend Carrie would be perfect at the laundromat.  Luckily, she agreed.

After deciding on a location, it was time to sneek in and start an impromptu photo shoot in the early evening at the laundromat while people were inside doing their laundry, as expected.

I used natural light since we were near a window and had plenty of daylight shining in.  I gave Carrie little to no direction on what to do except to kneel down, move her arms or move just to the left or right.  She decided to jump in a basket and lay on the bench as part of the fun that day.  I also wanted to get a shot of her outside on the pay phone since it seems to be a rare sight.

Carrie's red hair and spicy personality worked well in the situation at hand.  It's hard to believe but she was a bit nervous for the shoot but it didn't take long for her to warm up and actually enjoy it.  I think her bright personality is what shined though on her photographs.

In The Tub

I've had a vision for a long time of my friend (and artist) Jamie in my bath tub and I was thrilled when she agreed to help me realize my vision of her.  I enjoy taking photographs in places that can be the most intimate and vulnerable place to be such as a bedroom or the bathroom.  Lately, I have been obsessed with the bathroom.

I didn't want bubbles, but a bath that was still, while leaving something to the imagination.  The trick to accomplish this was to fill the tub with a mixture of vitamin D milk and warm water.  Jamie was a sport to do a photo shoot in the tub and was open to just about everything I suggested.

A week later I was able to photograph artist and friend, Traci in her bath.  This time, I took a photo of her reflection from the bathroom mirror while I was standing on the toilet angling the camera down towards the cabinet mirror.  I chose to have it empty with her in her white robe.

After this, my friend Carrie was also open for a shoot.  I wanted it to be a little different this time.  Once I asked her to submerge in her head in the water, I noticed that her makeup easily washed away in the water and smudged on her face.  To make it a more dramatic effect, I had her apply more eye liner and slowly submerge in the water with her mouth closed and then again with it open.

These photographs are the results from these shoots.

A big thank you to my friends for trusting me and being open to play around with this idea.

Bringing Ideas To Life

A bulk of my daily thoughts are of photographs.  I imagine ideal situations and what would work for an individual based on their spirit and personality.  Sometimes when I get these ideas, I jot them down on a piece of paper to remember for later.  I have a few pages of them for people I know.

I was challenged to make one of these ideas a reality.  I took the challenge and I am glad that my friend Kristy Jo was up to help me realize the vision I had of her.

Most of my portraits include the surroundings to give you a sense of place of where I took it.  I don't tend to get close to the face until now.  I am starting to move in closer to get a more intimate look at each subject.

K. J. writes her own music and plays the guitar so I wanted to incorporate both in the shot and keep it up close. I saw she had a small wall painted in chalkboard paint so I thought it would be perfect if she hand wrote some lyrics on it and stand in front of it with her guitar on one side of her face, her face in the middle and the lyrics on both sides of the frame.  As you can see with my scratchy sketch, I was able to get close to my vision.

When I take a portrait of someone, I am open to let things happen naturally.  She turned the guitar around and hugged it and it turned out to be my favorite of the bunch.  Although I wanted the image I drew out to be serious, the one that seemed to bring out her personality is the one with the smile in it and by chance, her "smile" lyric happened to be in the background.

I look forward to get more images out of my brain...