hi all, just announcing that i was featured on a new photography blog with roots and interests in la/california and generally speaking the west coast.  kinda cool stuff.  nice to see a little community in the commercial world of photography.  does not seem to exist as much in other areas of image creating.  

Hi all!  I have had the pleasure of shooting many assignments with lisa keeping, a orange county, ca based makeup artist that travels between san diego to san francisco to make pretty people better!  in fact, i think as i write this, lisa is in texas on assignment.





Q: How much to budget for commercial makeup?


A: There really is no set scale for artists and stylists which is why there is so much variance in pricing.  It can depend on many things such as the experience of the artist, how many models, how many hours, drive time, whether special costs have been added to the artist for a specific look (lashes, body paint etc.) It may differ region to region, artist to artist but for a non-agency artist rates vary anywhere from around $200 - $600+ depending on whether it's a couple of hours or a full day and the type of project. People will usually work for less for editorials (tear sheets) if they think their portfolio will benefit from it. A celebrity artist was speaking at a trade show about the going rate for the cover of one of the top fashion magazines. When she said $150 every jaw in the room dropped, but once you have that cover you can up your rates and book bigger and better jobs.



Q:  How much time do you need to prepare the models?

A: It depends on the style of makeup and the model. This is where communication and images are important. The clearer the photographer or art director can be about what kind of look they're trying to achieve the easier it will be for the makeup artist to create it. You also have to take into consideration the quality of the model, flawless skin will certainly save time. I find it takes me about as much time as I'm given. In other words if I've got 10 minutes I'll make it work in 10 minutes, if I get 45 I'll take 45. I'd say anywhere from about 20 - 40 min. would be pretty standard. You can always ask your artist how much time they are comfortable with. I am speaking for makeup only, if your artist is doing hair as well you may need more time depending on the complexity of the hair style. One more thing to consider is that usually the first look will require the most time because we are prepping the skin and starting from scratch. If you are doing multiple looks those don't usually require as much time because small changes are being made to either the eyes or lips. Also it is easier to start with more natural looks first and build on them rather than try to wipe off a heavy look to get a clean, natural look.



Q: What do you need to know to hire a makeup artist?

A: You need to see their images. I find you can usually get a pretty good idea of what an artist is all about from their portfolio, just like photographers. Many may specialize in the same thing but it's just like buying a painting, there could be 100 paintings of the same thing and they would all look different. Find the style that you think will compliment the image you are trying to create. They should be using quality products and following hygenic standars such as using clean brushes, diposable mascara wands and not double dipping. You may also want to ask what they specialize in if you have a very specific request. Not every artist is skilled in all areas such as body painting, airbrush, period makeup, special effects etc.




Q: What is your speciality?

A: This is a hard question. I've been trained in all areas from fashion and airbrushing to extensive special effects but I would have to say currently I'm specializing in clean beauty and commercial fashion. I feel like my favorite images are the ones where everything comes together perfectly, no one thing stands out too much - unless it's intended to. Sometimes you look at an image and all you can see is overpowering makeup or another aspect that is off. Living in southern California there is obviously a big beach influence as well. I love surf culture and the fashion industry it's created is a huge market now. It's always smart to know your market and your clients. I know that I don't live in Milan or New York so I don't have a portfolio full of high fashion, avant garde images. The west coast is more about that bronzed girl next door look or glowing celebrity, that being said it is important to have variety. It's good to push yourself outside of your safe zone sometimes to stay inspired.



Q: Who are your clients and how do they find you?


A: I have had the pleasure of working with national brands such as Dragon Eye wear & TJ Maxx as well as many local brands like Island World Apparel, Havika Swimwear, Aviator Nation, Kitty Chen Couture, Hudson's Magazine, CYH and many leading cosmetics companies including L'oreal, Lorac, Bobbi Brown and Benefit. It seems that almost everybody finds me either online or through someone I know. I don't know how we did this before the internet?


Q: any other quesitons that you want people to know?

A: I think that's about it.

You can contact lisa at this location:
http://www.lisakeeping.com

since everyone really liked the lucy shot, here are outtakes with gummy bears.



and for future post, by request...i am working on 1) lenses i am using, 2) the underwater equipment i suggest, 3) QandA with lisa keeping, my makeup artist/guru. stay tuned!

hi all, as you may or may not have remembered from a blog post about 3 months ago...i was invited to join in on a 15 year celebration of Aurora Photos in photography.  The concept is a pool of Aurora photographers was selected and a chain reaction of inspiration is created by shooting a self assigned session based in concepts, ideas, color, subjects or whatever from the previous photographer image.

so i patiently waited until my turn, which came up 48 hours ago.  so with out much more info than that...here was the image that Logan Moc-Bunting created as a screen capture off the aurora15.com site:




I love this image.  tons of character, concept, color, shape and tone.  so i had a lot of work with but honestly very little time to create.  so i was going to hit it at a 3 concept level, the dog, aviation and color and shape.  here are the 3 images that i create in about 15 mins.



so which one did they pick?  you tell me!  you be the editor!  in the comments below...pick: blue sky, pilot portrait, or lucy and ice cream.  the winner will get...

a 5x5 inch fine art book from aurora photos
and fast portrait session by me...if you live in san diego, must be  shot in carlsbad or oceanside, as if you want that..

so vote away!!  you only have till the image posts on aurora15.com...about 45 hours.  all the winners will be dropped in a hat and one winner picked.  you have to be present to win, just kidding!

good luck!

these past few shoots i have had the pleasure of having michel sandy join me for some hd shooting. man i luv it! he has a great eye, fantastic sense of editing and timing and i just really enjoy seeing the finished cut. also nice that he has found a little room for some of my pics! we are becoming a well oiled machine. You can see my underwater technique in this video, plus a really cute family, as if you can forget them...
The Whitney Clan from Michel Sandy on Vimeo to contact michel about video projects: www.michelfilm.com mjsandy@gmail.com

well, honestly is there a bad time to be shooting?  is there such athing as bad light?  how can there be bad light?  light is just light, right?! ;-)  well, i admit to being that photographer that sometimes puts the camera away high noon because the light is tough.  but clients don't want to hear that...they just need the images created...so working in bad light was my challenge today.

case and point, had this quick shoot, was postponed from last week, now was the time we could do it and now is in the middle of the day, what the heck, lets shoot it!  funny thing is there was a german creative team and photographer shooting portraits of professional cyclist.  you can see the team in the shot over allies shoulder.  they were shooting a few profoto heads and they must of looked at my like i was crazy.  i could see what they were doing...i think i like my shots better! ;-)

here is the whitney clan! my favorite kids portrait photographer, tara whitney, emailed and asked about shooting her family!! lucky me, look how cute these guys are...and what style! i feel very lucky to have met these guys and all the kids are very sweet...and a bit crazy!! which i like.

Some highlights were playing kenna's character game, anna's super outgoing nature, and watching nate and drew surf for the first time, pretty cool!
 

one of my favorite brands! told you summer was not over yet.  all the suits are spring 09, so this is a little peek.
   

was called by heffner to shoot bree.  had a fun session.  it was a first session for bree and i think she enjoyed it.  thanks to lisa for making bree look even better!

makeup - www.lisakeeping.com
agency - www.hefnermanagement.com


for agency testing, contact me to set up a session, thanks!