The Charles, Buckhead | Luxury Lifestyle in Atlanta

Back in August I flew to Georgia to work with The Charles in Buckhead, an upscale community in Atlanta. My goal was to get great, high end images that captured the luxury real estate lifestyle of Atlanta.

I had one full day of scouting with the client when I first arrived. We shot additional B-Roll that may be used for other marketing material. I love doing this because it gives the client options and additional content to use in a few months.

The Charles had many beautiful areas around the grounds, so we had a lot of location to use. My personal favorite was outside and around the building - I thought those images showcases The Charles beautifully.

The next day, we had several local talent and I really wanted to capture a group living their life in this exclusive community. There was a lot of greenery and the lush summer in Georgia helped the images come to life. The humidity gave everyone a nice glow on their skin and I felt the Southern sweetness in the air.

Italian Epiphany Tradition

Pignarul (or Fogolar) is popular tradition from Northern Italy during the epiphany time. It consist in a big fire where on the top sometimes it's placed a made-up witch with old clothes and wood. It cleans up the past and negativity and represents the end of the holidays.

Supermoon in Hollywood

I'm sure I will find thousand of amazing photos of the super moon on line today. I just wanted to capture something different and more storytelling. The location was perfect, just above the Hollywood hills, on Mulholland Drive. A lot of tourists, photographers, curious people hanging out waiting for the moon to raise from the horizon. 
I wasn't equipped with a long telephoto but I wanted to photograph this moment in the place where I live.

From Mulholland Drive Vista Point

California Moonrise Fall 2016

To celebrate the changing seasons and the beautiful colors autumn brings, I shot the Fall campaign for California Moonrise. The goal was to showcase the painted yet vivid colors of the season so we shot at the Malibu Creek State Park and Paramount Ranch. Both of these locations have lovely fields of tall yellow grass, bushes and nice tall oak trees. Truly a beautiful California fall. It was important for me to catch the soft sunlight and warm, rich tones of the two locations. Paramount Ranch adds a bit of the Southwest and equestrian character that California Moonrise wanted in their photos.

It has been an ongoing collaboration with the clothing company and I love to shoot each season’s collection for them. As always I have a wonderful team and crew to work with on set. The models were Faith Picozzi, Candy Waltrip and Sydnie Miller. My friend Ali Levine styled the shoot, makeup was done by Anthony Pazos’ team and Cristina Fabian styled the model’s hair.

Love and Sunflower 2016 | at the Arboretum

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot with Love & Sunflowers for the third time. The boho, vintage fashion company is always a source of inspiration for me. The youthful spirit of the brand pushes me to capture candid and light images.

At this shoot we decided Arboretum Gardens in Arcadia, California was the perfect location. The 127 acres garden, is an arboretum, botanical garden, and historical site nestled into hills near the San Gabriel Mountains. It is absolutely beautiful place to shoot and has peacocks all around the property. Our models were Khia Lopez and Samantha Beining and they both had a natural friendship on camera.

To see some of my past work for Love & Sunflowers, click here.

Pixels Lifestyle Shoot | Malibu Paradise Cove

I recently teamed up with Pixels.com, the online lifestyle marketplace, to shoot assets for their website and social media outlets. In this sunny, Americana shoot, it was important to capture candid moments of the models in Paradise Cove Beach in Malibu. Our vision was to have the models connect naturally so we could capture the group as friends enjoying the Southern California summertime. Pixels wanted to show off their rounded beach towels while the group caught some rays, enjoyed a beach bonfire and the surf.

If you aren’t familiar with Pixels, they have revolutionized the way lifestyle goods, artwork, and apparel are bought and sold around the world. Local artist can sell their products while Pixels essentially take on production and shipping, freeing up the artist to focus on being creative. It truly is a marketplace where things come to life and this spirit translated nicely into the energy of the photo shoot.

This project required a pretty big production team, crew, talent, video team and stylist. I love collaborating on such a large job and am always meeting talented people along the way. I was also able to work with my friend, Anthony Pazos, the amazing make up artist. Trish Suhr was the creative director who has a explosive brain filled with contagious energy. A few of the models were Jesse Spence, Nicole Pedra, Heath Haden and Kaite Miller. On the production side, Santina Giuliano, Cortney Taylor Herron, Tawny Gestuvo and Tony Perez Make sure to follow this inspiring lifestyle brand on Instagram!

To see more, please click here.

California Moonrise Spring 2016. Behind the Scene

Here is finally the behind the scene of the California MoonRise photo shoot at the Raven Spa and Santa Monica Beach for Spring - Summer 2016. ‪#‎bts ‪#‎fashion ‪#‎theravenspa ‪#‎californiamoonrise ‪#‎lifestyle
Thank you to my team !!!
Make Up and Hair: Anthony Pazos
Styling: Ali Levine-Jacaruso
Video: Jason Jonas Gonzalez
Model: Terra Grantham

Scott Free Production Portrait in West Hollywood

I would like to share my latest portrait work for Emmy Magazine. I had the opportunity to photograph the iconic director Ridley Scott and his production team (David Zucker, Clayton Krueger and Jordan Sheehan) at Scott Free Productions in West Hollywood. Mr. Scott directed iconic movies such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise and last year, the Martian. I'm really honored. Thank you Emmy Magazine.

Betsy Beers for Emmy Magazine

Recently I got to shoot the very talented Betsy Beers for the April issue of Emmy Magazine. She is the executive producer of some of the top shows on television right now. Her roster includes Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder and currently The Catch. She’s a force to be reckoned with and a powerhouse behind television’s most prolific production companies.

As a very powerful woman in the industry, I wanted to capture her professionalism but keep the shot soft and inviting. I loved talking with Beers about her career, her creativity and drive. “I don’t make anything I wouldn’t want to watch.” Beers states. This statement resonated a lot with me because I never want to take photos that no one wants to see. It’s important to be a tough critic of your work and make sure it’s as high quality as possible. 

Nudie's Rodeo Tailors

The infamous Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors is one of the most recognizable suits in history. Celebrities like Elvis Presley wore Nudie’s suit; he sported a gold lame´ suit. Each suit embodied ‘Western machismo with a bit of unconventional dazzle’. I met with Jamie Nudie, who is the granddaughter of the original founder, Nudie Cohn. She is hoping to continue the family tradition and keep the rhinestone-cowboy spirit alive. Additionally, she runs Nudie’s Custom Java, a coffee and sandwich shop connected to the famous tailors. I was able to photograph the entire Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors space and it was unbelievable! I am so inspired by fashion daily and being surrounded by such custom tailoring is incredible.

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This pieceappears in American Airline’s Inflight Magazine and can be seen in any flights operated by American.

History for Hire for Emmy Magazine

I always want my shoots to look as authentic as possible. It helps add depth, beauty and allows people connect with the photographs more. Authentic and antique props are essential to many photo shoot. The tricky part is finding the exact prop you need and knowing where the good prop shops are in Los Angeles.

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Recently I had the opportunity to work with History for Hire to capture the prop shop on camera. The two story 35,000-square-foot space showcases props and pieces from the past 150 years. The owners Pam and Jim Elyea are veteran prop masters and set decorators in Hollywood.  It was amazing to take photos of stacks of vintage TV sets, military gear and props used in Mad Men. I really enjoyed shooting almost any prop you could imagine! I was also very inspired for future shoots. You truly felt as though you were surrounded by Hollywood’s history.

More info:

Web Site: www.historyforhire.com

Read the article on Emmy Magazine: CLICK HERE

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Peter Mondavi Sr.

Today I received the sad news that Mr. Peter Mondavi Sr. has passed away.

He represented one of the latest great family winery owners in Napa Valley. He was the founder and owner of Charles Krug Winery and I remember him as a wonderful person, charismatic and dedicated to the hard work.

I had the possibility to photograph him at his winery two years ago. He was wearing his favorite blue shirt and proudly posed for me.

Thank you Mr. Mondavi, you will be really missed. R.I.P.

Good Bye 6th Street Bridge

Remember the infamous car race in the movie Grease where the starting line was under the 6th Street bridge? It was one of the most memorable moments of the movie.
Two years ago, I was lucky enough to work on a photo shoot assignment for 3rd and Army fashion apparel where we recreated the same scene with a fun group of classic car aficionados. It was a great day and I remember that one of the drivers mentioned to me that the 6th bridge was going to be demolished soon.

Pretty sad, since this has been an iconic staple of Los Angeles.

It’s built over the concrete Los Angeles River bed as well as railroad tracks. It’s located a few blocks away from aging industrial tracts. Home and shelter of many overnight visitors and an ideal location for many photographers during the day.

Yesterday was the first day of demolition and I drove very early to capture the first moments of the process. The air was full of dust, coming from the concrete disintegration.
I just wanted to share some images.

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