LACP First Annual Gala and Print Auction Fundraiser.

Saturday 13th September marks the Los Angeles Center of Photography's first annual gala and print auction. As a regular summer teacher for the schools the teen program, I am proud to announce that I have a lovely print of the fabulous Kate going for auction at the event to be held in Bel Air in just over a week. 

"Kate", (see picture below) will be featured along with 163 other wonderful pieces of work up for grabs at the auction.

Anyone is able to attend the event, information about the auction is below as per the LACP website. 

"Kate" available as 24 x 16 print with 2 inch border and frame
© All rights reserved Jasmine Lord 2014

"The Los Angeles Center of Photography cordially invites you to our first annual gala and print auction fundraiser in the Bel Air home of Hayley & Michael Miller.

Our goal is to create a community of dedicated visionaries by providing education, scholarships, grants, encouragement, and exposure through classes, focused programming and community outreach. We strive to shine a light on significant social issues and also to foster individual growth of photographic artists.

If interested in attending, please see details at the link below:
http://juliadean.com/first-gala-and-fundraiser-sept-13/

$75 per person prior to the event
$100 per person at the door
(Limited capacity, so purchase your tickets soon!)"

DIY Reflector & Scrim

I'm a huge fan of the Westcott Scrim Jim. I use it a lot when I'm on location shoots. Although, I haven't purchased one yet. Sometimes I use different sizes depending on the room I have access to and the gig itself might not call for the larger frame. Like the California Sun Bounce, the Scrim Jim is easy to assemble and transport. I like the Scrim Jim for its ability to mount onto a C stand, and I like the silk. California Sun Bounces are great if you have an assistant and you need to follow the talent. Both cost between $350-$500. Considering a lot of things cost about $300 it's easy to start to wonder where you should be dropping cash first. And let's be honest, it doesn't stop.

Upon hearing that Calumet Photographic Inc were closing its doors, I finally trekked into Hollywood to see if there were any bargains left for me to grab. With 9 days left till closing the store was already heavily picked over, but it never hurts to check thoroughly.

Right at the front entrance was my gold. Some black, silver, translucent & zigzag panels for bounce and diffusion. Granted the translucent material wasn't silk, but I had an idea. Calumet had  a range of sizes. I quickly found some 42"x42" and 42"x78". Alas, no frames, but at $4.40-$9.80 per piece I wasn't leaving that behind. Add a purchase of a couple of filters and a clamp, I had spend a whopping $60 and left feeling rather stoked and bittersweet. I'm happy to score a bargain but it's sad when it's due to an closure of an institution.

Next stop: Home Depot to build a frame. I was torn at first between aluminium or PVC. I like the look of aluminium, it's clean, professional but more expensive and the sizes I was after would need to be special ordered. PVC was cheaper and they had all the parts. At the advice of Fred (our friendly neighbourhood Home Depot professional) I stuck to PVC.

I headed to the plumbing dept and picked up some PVC piping, elbows and a PVC cutter. Enough to make two full frames with at both 42" x 42" and 42"x 78".

I measured my piping accurately only to discover that the fabric wasn't quite at the specifications listed. In fact, the facric was shy on the measurements by 3-4 inches on all sides. This is where the PVC cutter came in handy. I little tweaking & before you know it, I had my first frame. 

It was perfect!!! And done in the Home Depot parking lot. 

Now to the long frame. 

It worked too but felt a little flimsy on the long side. I thought back to the California Sun Bounce & decided to add a handlebar.

A few extra elbows and PVC & I finally did it.

I needed to cut the long edge in half and add a T section which ended up giving me more stability. I also purchased some glue to keep some elbows and t-parts fixed. Be sure not to glue all pieces, it's nice to be able to pull the frame apart for easy storage.

Having the handle now enables assistants to manoeuvre the bounce as needed.

The PVC, elbows, T sections, glue and cutter cost me about $25.

Granted its not a Sun Bounce or Scrim Jim, but for a total of $60 for all materials (taking out my clamp and filters), it's a handy tool for my kit and it's pretty damn close to the real thing. 

Now, what was next on my list of things to buy...

DIY Save The Dates- Some Cannes Inspiration.

Last year, coconspirator, Sarah Ledesma told me of an idea she had to recreate the Cannes Film Festival Poster for her wedding Save the Date postcards. The original poster was shot by Melville Shavelson in 1963 and features Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. The poster for 66th Festival de Cannes was brilliantly conceived and executed by The ★ Bronx Agency (Paris).   Sarah works in social media marketing for a film conservatory here in LA and her fiancee writes for a major animation network. Both lovers film & old Hollywood, they plan to tie the knot in Malibu. Wanting to honour and pay tribute to something that is dear to their hearts, they wanted to recreate the poster and sent the image as personal save the dates for guests invited to their up-coming wedding. This was all for personal use in no way shape or form used for commercial purposes. If you love the poster as much as we do, you can always purchase it on Amazon. 

I was incredibly tight for time so most of the planning/producing was done by Sarah, but I really want to demonstrate how much it takes a team to create something. (keeping in mind, this is a re-creation, all the original concept and execution was done by  The ★ Bronx Agency (Paris).)

I wanted to get a clear plain shot that would be easy for Paul (Sarah's brother and graphic designer) to comp and play with in post production. Sarah and Peter arrived at my place dressed and ready to go. I set up a 3' roll, bright white paper backdrop along the floor rolled out to fit my two stars. We used a step ladder and shot directly down our bride and groom using a speedlite and ceiling to bounce light. Charles (Charlie) McIlvain directed, paying attention to the details that would make a balanced image. Unlike Joanne Woodward who was 5'4", Sarah is over 6', as is Peter, so Charles was sure to direct them so they matched equally. If you notice in the poster, Joanne Woodward has Paul Newman's head cupped in her hand, almost like she is slightly propping his head up. Charlie paid attention to those finer details so Sarah and Peter had a close match. 

For me the process was very simple, shoot a crisp and clear image of the couple to pass onto Paul. It was Sarah and Paul who then worked on the efforts to match the poster. It was a time consuming process as both Sarah and Paul have their own work to do, but the aim of sharing this with you is that work, big or small, takes a team. That team can be two people, it can be twenty, but it is always rewarding. I recently had a photographer friend who was feeling in a bit of a rut, ask me my opinion and thoughts on creating work. Does someone do it on their own or is there a team? TEAM. Always a team. Every magazine ad and editorial has a team of wonderful creatives who put that work together. It is important at times of frustration when you feel that your work hasn't changed or grown to recognize that. To go easy on yourself and to keep exploring, keep learning. Meet new people and create with friends. This applies in film making too. It takes an army sometimes but the rewards are well worth it. 

Just recently Sarah received the postcards to send to her guests. We are all stoked. It was a great match and captures Sarah and Peters love for film. 

Here is our little re-creation. For a budget of nothing, we had fun and didn't do so bad. 

Producer: Sarah Ledesma
Director: Charles McIlvain
Photographer: Jasmine Lord
Designer: Paul Ledesma
Groom: Peter Diccico
Bride: Sarah Ledesma
Hair/Makeup: Sarah Ledesma

Still Life Challenge

In an effort to truly study light and composition, I have decided to set myself a challenge. A still life challenge. Everyday over the next month, I will shoot a single still life image on my trusty Rebel G. Yes! Film camera.

A study I did while at the Global Cinematography Institute 

My rules:

*I can not shoot the same object twice. 

*I must find a new lighting setup every week

*can be both colour or black and white.

*natural light only

*only 1 recreation each week, (for the purpose of studying and achieving a look in lighting) BUT...I have to build on it

Cup of tea, a study of still life while at the Global Cinematography Institute.  

I will update you when my first roll has been shot, from there I may look at extending the challenge. 

New Food Gallery Images

Naked Foods Cookbook Images

When it comes to stills photography, I have found myself to be shooting more and more food. To be honest, I'm loving it. I love working in a team environment trying to perfect a shot that best shows how a dish can be presented. I feel very fortunate to have worked with some incredibly talented nutritionists both here in the USA and back home in Australia. I love working with stylists, I always feel that I have so much to learn from them. I also enjoy shooting for restaurants and foodies who have blogs. Every shoot is different because the person who I shoot for has their own flavours, style and taste.

LEFT: Wholesome to Go RIGHT: Malibu Food Shoot 

I have recently up dated my Food Photography section of my website, and it's always nice to reflect on how I have grown as a photographer and see where I would like to develop my skills in the future. One of the many wonderful things about working in film, TV and photography is that there is always room to grow, always more to learn and new challenges presenting themselves, no matter your experience or age.

LEFT: Wholesome to Go RIGHT: Pizzeria Ortica

Where I feel truly lucky is that I have had the pleasure of working with some very talented and wonderful nutritionists, caterers & restaurants. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have a good working relationship with the teams at Eat Naked, Wholesome to Go and Eat Yourself Healthy. Although not all images are out yet, as time rolls along and I'm able to share other work in the food domain, I will. For the time being, enjoy.

Wholesome to Go 

[ri-frak-shuh n]

Keeping in with my love and profession of working with the moving image, I recently created a new abstract video called [ri-frak-shuh  n]

[ri-frak-shuh  n] is an audio and video instillation designed to be viewed on a flat screen TV turned into portrait mode (aka on its side). It would be then mounted at eye level onto a white wall (preferably in a small empty room). This would enable the viewer to not just see [ri-frak-shuh  n] but feel it as I, the artist intended.

[ri-frak-shuh  n] is a study of surface phenomenon and transmission media.

Artist: Jasmine Lord
Sound design by: Flying Penguin Sound and Big Room Sound

New Works in the Fine Art Gallery

It has been a while since I had time to do some work for my fine art gallery. This year got off to a flying start but a last minute change to my shooting schedule meant I was in LA this past weekend instead of Australia. Turns out, everything happens for a reason. I have recently found myself painting again and while I paint purely for myself, it has helped unleash a new exploration for my fine art works in photography. I recognize that I love geometric shapes and patterns. Squares, triangles, perfect circles, straight lines. Sometimes I like the contradiction too, the organic, crooked and messy lines that are presented to us in nature. It appears to be something that I keep coming back to, heck it's even in my tattoos. Hard lined symbols, geography and constellations. Not very original but I'm drawn.

It would be fitting then, that in my love for space science and geometry (I have been ingesting way too much Brian Cox and Neil Degrasse Tyson) that I have created the following works. I am exploring a simplicity. I present to you three new pieces; Planetary Eclipse, Untitled and [ri-frak-shuh  n]. Enjoy!

Planetary Eclipse. 

Untitled

[ri-frak-shuh  n]