Girl's Life Magazine Photoshoot.

Wanted to share the Feb/March 2024 edition of Girl’s Life Magazine starring Kylie Cantrall.

Photographed in Downtown, Los Angeles at FD Studios.

I photographed the cover and editorial spread.

Photographer: Mike Azria

Make Up: Sophia Hutch

Hair: George Fragkioudakis

Styling: Lo Von Rumpf

Editing: Jenny Podushko

Lifestyle Photography Tips

As a Fashion Photographer, it can definitely be hard coming up with new ideas or concepts. When we can’t come up with something interesting, we often just decide not to shoot anything at all. This is a creativity killer!! I was out of ideas a few months ago and decided to push past my hesitance and just rent the coolest house I could find for a 2 day staycation. Before booking it, I called Emily Hall… one of my favorite models to shoot with. She’s fun, easy going, doesn’t mind being a goofball. She also kills it with her posing. She was available. The house was an awesome mid century modern house with a pool and it was a scorcher that weekend. I had her bring a bunch of her own vintage gear and brought some pieces I already owned from prior shoots. I also made a stop at the market to buy drinks and fruit which I planned on using in some of our photos.

Day1, I just stayed at the house, hung out and got a feel for the home. I figured out where which areas I liked and the times it would be best to photograph in those spots. I may or may not have dipped in the pool at some point to further enjoy the creative process :)

Day 2, Emily showed up around 1pm and we decided on some looks and ideas.

Now, as a fashion photographer, I am used to using flash quite a bit and I am also used to having an assistant to make my workflow go faster… but on this day, it was just me and Ems. I set up for our first shot in the living room since the sun was still pretty high above. I set up my flash and quickly realized that using a flash would make the image unauthentic to the time period, and that it would eat into our shooting time. Quickly made the executive decision that we would go old school with just a camera and nothing else…

This took me out of my comfort zone of being able to control all the details in our shoot, but opened up the freedom of just stating focused on the composition, mood and connection to the reality of our surroundings. Here is one of the shots from our first set up:

I was super please with the result, and frankly kind of excited to see how the rest of the images would turn out.

For the next set up, we kept it inside knowing that he sun was still not our friend. We moved to one of the 2 bedrooms. Staying with the same vibe, here are some of those photos:

Loved the energy and light heartedness of this set. Next, we moved into the living room/dinning are for some more indoor shots. Here are some of those:

Now, during the summer, the sun in Los Angeles can be pretty unforgiving… but sometimes you just have to say “what the hell” and go for it. Our next few set ups were outdoor, no flash, no bounce, just old school shoot and go.

Getting back to the point of this blog… At the time of this shoot, I decided to surrender to the authenticity of the moment and stopped trying to stage or manipulate things (which we often do on modern day shoots).

For the editing portion… I decided on a not so standard Kelvin temperature… I raised my white balance to an orange glow, reminiscent of those old photos I used to find in my parent’s memorabilia boxes. Messed with highlights and contrast, threw in a bit of grain… and Voila :) Emily and I were both really stoked on how the shoot came out, and we were both just happy to do something unscripted and fun for a change. A week later, I posted a single photo on Instagram…which led to an amazing NYC magazine called FADDY NY picking up the photos for an editorial!!! Had I decided not to shoot because I “couldn’t think of anything creative”… I would have missed out on all the fun and an editorial opportunity!!!! I’m glad I didn’t :) Stay active friends!!!!

Love and Recognition.

Been a photographer for a living is quite a blessing, and sometimes it is hard to know where you stand exactly. “Am I good enough”? Do people like my work? Do I like my work? Could I be doing more? etc… and then sometimes a little blog from Peerspace.com makes you feel really good about the direction you chose :) Thanks Peerspace!! Both for your services and the LOVE!!!

VIXIN BRAND

Being a fashion photographer in Los Angeles is such an awesome privilege. I was recently able to collaborate with the owner of VIXIN brand. Vixin is an awesome collection of fashion forward women’s bracelets. The product also comes with a really beautiful printed scarf (which come with the bracelet or can be purchased separately). We shot from my studio in West Hollywood. I covered everything from the product photography to the campaign images. Here are some previews.

Going ANALOG.

Being recently engaged to the love of my life… is one of my biggest blessings!!!!!

I am also blessed that she happens to be stubborn & won’t let me shoot her in digital format :)

The compromise… to capture her in film.

MAGGIMAE and I took a trip to Palm Springs California and stayed at the AMAZING Monkey Tree Hotel which was designed by Albert Frey!

Here are some of my captures from our trip.

On our way!

We made it!!! The Monkey Tree Hotel room number 12 :)

It’s 108 degrees!!! EVERYWHERE!!!

Make sure that your shutter speed does not exceed it’s limits! :)

Ahhh…shade.

Lounge until your heart is content <3

Coors Banquet is ‘choice’… Remember to stay hydrated!

Embrace the backlighting situations.

Remember to always have FUN and to keep things light! :)

AVEC LES FILLES

Editorial compilation of my shoot with Avec Les Filles.

Model Brianna Mellon/ Nomad Los Angeles.

Make Up and Hair by Brittany K Leslie.

Art direction and Photography by Mike Azria.