Condé Nast Brides Shoot and Warren Buffett

Five days left until "The Election" and I can't stop thinking about how fast this year has gone by and how fast things can change in our lives.  This election is not at the end but the beginning.  The beginning of hope for a better economy, better careers, better chances and more possibilities. The wonderful thing about America is that each day we wake up we have possibilities.  We can go from being homeless to a billionaire, unknown to famous, weak to strong and all of this is not because we have the power to change our lives if we just believe in ourselves.  America is about possibilities.  Please vote and get all of your friends to vote.

Brides Magazine is one of my favorite clients.  The editors there are wonderful people whom I love working with on each and every assignment.  They have become almost like family to me and we catch up on our separate lives each time we meet.  During my assignments we talk about our lives, mates, travels outside the US, hopes for the future and this crazy economy.  For years I've been a big fan of Warren Buffett and now all the things I've said over the years are happening and the advise I give to my assistants, interns, clients and friends is now something everyone is interested in hearing.    One of my favorite quotes by Warren is "Be fearful is others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful".  It seems the entire world is fearful at this moment but I told my clients and assistants that this is cyclical and prosperity will again come our way but we must all be smart at this time until things change.

The beauty of making a living as a photographer is that I love photography, so it never really seems like work.  I certainly love shooting for Brides Magazine and having the opportunity to make amazing images with clients I like and models that are talented.  The models on this shoot were both great to work with but this session was a re-shoot to a story I'd shot in New York a few weeks prior.   A few weeks ago we shot this story with three models but one of the girls wasn't as strong as the other two and my clients and I agreed it would be better to find a stronger third model and re-shoot.  I didn't mind and I was headed back to New York from LA anyway for other clients so it all worked out.

As many of you know, I am a big fan of using one light source and this shoot was done with simply one light.  We had other lights on the set but only used my Para umbrella.  One rule to remember is the bigger the light, the softer the light and as you can see from some of these images I'm using a big source.   The light here is the Para 220 umbrella.  This light comes in three sizes and for the most part I use the smaller two, but both are not really that small.  The 170 is the smaller of the Para, but I use the 220 the most.  The 330 is just too big for most of my uses but I have had times when it was appropriate to use.  I use the Para with Profoto strobes and have done so for years.  I don't own the equipment but simply rent it each time I use it but no matter how many times I order it I get a call from the equipment rental house telling me I can't use Profoto with the Broncolor Para and for years I've told them I use it all the time.  My assistants laugh each time I tell them this!

I shot Digital for the 2nd time for Brides on  this assignment.  We've always shot film in the past but in the last month we have now gone to digital.  I miss working with film a lot and now it seems I am doing so less and less except on my personal work.  Even my assistants are not as on top of things as they were with film and I have to remind them more often than in the past.  More on film later.  Time to edit yesterdays shoot!