This year I was involved again with the Paul Mitchell Schools FUNraising Gala held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The evening was hosted by John Paul DeJoria, Angus Mitchell, and Winn Claybaugh and there were special appearances by Betty White, Marie Osmond, Fran Drescher, Kristin Bauer, and Kathy Buckley. The night ended with an amazing performance by grammy nominee Natasha Bedingfiled. Paul Mitchell the School future professionals and staff raised an astonishing $2.5 million dollars for various non profit charity organizations such as Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation, Childrens Miracle Network, Morris Animal Foundation, Food 4 Africa, Cancer Schmancer Foundation, Gary Sinise Foundation, No Limits, Best Friends Animal Society,and Magic Johnson Foundation. All great causes that are very grateful for the “fun-raising” efforts of the Paul Mitchell Schools throughout the country. Learn more at paulmitchellschoolsfunraising.org





The image above is a gigapixel panorma. Be sure to check it out in full screen mode. The reason why it is called a gigapixel panorama is because it is the culmination of about 200 individual images that have been stitched together to make a single “5 gigabyte” file. The image measures a whopping 87 ft. on width and 30 ft on the height! Feel free to zoom into this massively large image to find and tag yourself and share with your friends on Facebook! If you’d like to see more gigapixel images we’ve taken at sporting events and concerts, check our work out at Crowdzilla

Before the actual event, all the attendees were able to get photographed with John Paul Dejoria, Angus Mitchell, Fran Drescher, Marie Osmond, and Betty White. The gallery below contains all the images taken before and during the event:

I am very happy to hear that one of my images made it on the front cover of #1 NY Times best selling author Laurell K Hamilton’s upcoming book, Kiss the Dead! This book is part of her highly acclaimed Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Her new book is due to be out in June. A big congratulations goes out to the model, Nicole who pulled it off. I actually posted a blog about this specific photo shoot years ago that you can find here.

This year I was excited to be involved with the Academy Awards Red Carpet Celebrity Style Lounge Event at the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills. This “Invitation Only” event is attended by Oscar Nominees, celebrities, producers, media/press, stylists and other Oscar VIP’s. Those attending the event, received gift baskets that included jewelry, cosmetics, apparel and accessories. Some of the celebrities I got to meet were:

Jaime Hilfger
Connie Stevens
Tara Macken
Andes Wigand
Fiona Gunkleman
Kerri Randels
Patrick Gallagher
Adria TEnnor
Steven Bishop
Amara Mills
Diedra Hall
Donis Leonard Jr.
John Lon
Temir
Booboo Stewart/Fivel Stewart
Landon Russell
Massiel Tavera
Kristin Bauer
Michelle Stocks
Tara Mackin
Stasha Pieterse
Alex Mayo
Erica Chase
Judy Tenuda
Vincent Spano
Jenny Leeser
Jared Kusnitz
Lorielle New
Jennifer Taiero
Evy
Beverly Mitchell
James Dumont
Julianna Rose
Kate Linder
Patrick Cunningham
Santana Kay
Faye Es
Alice Gretchen
Jennifer Hackett
Marcelle Lee
Thurshari Jayasekera
Taylor Tuminic
David Faigeblum
Wendi McLendon-Covey
Bia Ling
Gia Skova
Penelope Ann Miller
Maddie Hasson

While most of my photography over the last 14 years has been photographing people, I must admit that I’ve enjoyed the different challenges that architecture photography presents over the last five years. The equipment used and the creative approach are vastly different from portraits. Maybe I got this from my father, but there is a highly technical side that I find stimulating. And while it may not be as “cool” or “glamorous” as photographing models to some, I find much pleasure in helping to make a space look as attractive and inviting as possible. In that respect, my work is the same no matter what I am photographing.

I think one of the biggest challenge faced with Corporate Headshots is when you have to actually set up a makeshift studio in the actual corporate office. Sure it’s no problem when when people come to your studio but trying to coordinate busy corporate execs to spend half a day traveling to where you are stationed can be extremely difficult. Fortunately for me, I have acquired gear over the years that makes it fairly easy to set up shop anywhere. That’s why I was delighted to reconnect with my dear friends Jim and Cheryl Markham who founded Pureology and were founding another company called ColorProof. Their need was simple, they needed updated headshots of themselves and their staff. They didn’t have time to come to me so I needed to go to them. The challenge was when I arrived at their corporate headquarters, all their offices were being used. We managed to find an office space that was under construction in their building but had no power. Luckily I had my battery powered strobe lighting with me and this is what we pull off in a less-than-ideal shooting space.

Normally I am commissioned for one of my specialties but in the case of Atlas Healthcare, I was asked to provide some stunning interior images as well as a group image of the staff. They felt I was strong in both areas and who am I to argue with a client. The most challenging part of the photo shoot was finding a place to take the group shot as their actual facility offered no space big enough to set up a group shot of 12 people. We decided to set up the group part of the photo shoot outside and luckily for us, the weather was cooperating that day.