I can see it so clearly. I’m 8 years old, and I’m in the Pleasant Plains elementary school library. I’m looking through my first National Geographic, and that’s when I see it—my first African tribe. I knew it right then: I had to get there—I was going to go live with them, learn their language, dress in their clothes, and do my darndest to become one of them. That was my dream, anyway.

So last month, while I’m on safari in Kenya at the Masai Mara wildlife preserve, I ask my driver if he can put me in touch with a local village chief (mzeé). He thought I was a bit nuts, but he came through with flying colors. He found me a guide who not only lives in a nearby Maasai tribal village (manyatta), but actually speaks a bit of English thanks to working nights as a safari camp security guard. I meet my guide, Meingati, the next morning, and he introduces me to the son of the chief, Kamwana (the chief was visiting friends in another village). Kamwana gives me a price to hang out in the village for an hour and take pictures. I tell him politely, no thank you—I want the real deal. So he agrees to let me stay in the village for two days, and it only costs me a cow.

My new friends welcomed me to Oltepesi village. They introduced me to members of their tribe, and showed me the usual tourist displays, like how to make fire, and a few tribal dances, including the ceremonial jumping, where men compete for brides by seeing who can jump the highest (seriously). I finally convinced them they didn’t need to entertain me—I just wanted to kick it with them however they, well, kick it. So we went off into the bush, tracked antelope by their poop, brushed our teeth with frayed sticks, and sat in the shade dodging the heat of the sun and napping. Then, we went to the Maasai market, which only happens once a week—I considered my timing extremely lucky. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Maasai walk from villages as far as Tanzania, to barter, haggle, and shop for everything from goats and cows to weapons (daggers, staffs, bows and arrows, AWESOME! I felt like I was playing D&D). I met many of their friends, some from distant lands, and ALL extremely friendly. I used this as my opportunity to learn some of the local Maasai language (Ma), which is completely different from the Swahili spoken throughout Kenya. Among my favorites were “Ero Sopa” (a familiar ‘hello’), “Ashi ashi” (thank you), and “Olesére ölcheré” (goodbye friend).

When we got back to the village, I played with the children for nearly two hours. I was surprised that a few of them even understood a little English. I realized then that the indigenous tribes are in every bit as much danger of cultural extinction, perhaps more, than the animals in the neighboring plains are of a physical one. That night, I drank cow milk from a giant gourd, listened to tribal songs, and slept on a floating cowskin stretched between four poles—one of the best nights of sleep in my life. The dwelling I stayed in was incredibly well-constructed, built by the women in the village, who do all the construction and build the entire village themselves. I lay there on my cow-bed, in awe of the wonder of the world, and enamored with my surroundings. The cool cross-breezes put me to sleep in no time.

The next morning, Kamwana came to my dwelling. He had a noticeable confidence apart from the others in the village, one that can only come with knowing you’re going to be the next chief (and having five wives). He gave me a Maasai bracelet, beautifully and thoughtfully sewn together bead-by-bead, and a shúkà, the traditional cloth cape worn by the men. He also gave me a Maasai name: Sarúni, meaning ‘the helpful one.’ I left just before nightfall on the second day, thanking my friends and wishing them well—and hoping it would not be the last time I would see them. I didn’t take as many pictures as I thought I would have. I felt a barrage of photos would have turned my experience into little more than a circus, and I wanted to keep it as genuine as possible. Sometimes you just need to turn off the camera and actually live.

My time with the Maasai was a defining moment in my life, because it symbolized the completion of a childhood dream. I only hope that these tribes will still be around for future generations to dream about. Olesére, ölcheré.

INDEX:

TOP IMAGES: (1) Maasai boy in Oltepesi village, (2) my guide, Meingati

ROW 1
1: (left to right) Meingati, Kamwana, Yenku, unknown
2: Village girl and traditional Maasai home
3: Maasai women performing a ceremonial dance
4: Kamwana making fire
5: Looking to Tanzania
6: Welcoming me into the village
7: Inside Kamwana’s home (30 second exposure…it was pitch black until your eyes adjusted)

ROW 2
1: Drinking cow milk from a hollow gourd
2: Yenku
3: The future chief, Kamwana (right)
4-7: Oltepesi village children

A few times a year, I force myself to leave the country. For me, it’s the four Rs: A chance to relax, reflect, refocus your energy, and remind yourself why you work so hard.

I spent a month in Kenya this spring, and two days after I hit the ground, I was on a bus to Masai Mara, the enormous wildlife reserve on the Kenya/Tanzania border. After all, what self-respecting photographer can pass up a chance to see the greatest animals on earth in their natural habitats?

I brought my Canon 5DII on this trip, as the Hassy proved much too bulky and inflexible for this scenario, and I was really happy with the Canon results on my Morocco trip last year. I was actually shocked to see that almost everyone on safari was shooting with small point-and-shoot digitals, save the always-prepared Japanese tourists.

My jeep driver, Lawi, was incredibly accommodating, and had an impeccable sense of timing. We spotted cheetahs chasing antelope, a family of lions taking down a buffalo, and huge, mind-blowing elephants—creatures so wildly beautiful the camera can’t even do them justice. Seeing a wild elephant up close (we were 6 ft away) makes you feel like you’re in Lord of the Rings…they are officially now my favorite animals on earth.

Index:
1: Storm on the Mara
3: Wildebeasts
8: Lilac-breasted Roller
11-13: Lions hunting & killing African buffalo
14: Masai Mara at sunset

I suppose it’s every photographer’s dream to travel the world and shoot someplace with crystal waters, perfect weather, and timeless architecture. So when the publisher of SHOW approached me about putting an international shoot together for rising-star-model Laura Doré, I was all too happy to suggest shooting in Italy.

I’ve found many excuses to travel to Italy over the last few years, starting with shooting Cities of the Underworld for History Channel in early 2008. Since then I’ve been back 6 times, and have made an effort to improve my Italian with each trip. Once the magazine concept was greenlit, I went immediately into producer mode.

The Amalfi Coast is world-famous for its scenic old-world ambiance as well as it’s breathtaking views. I knew we’d have no shortage of places to shoot, so I flew out a week before the rest of the team, scouted some hot spots, and secured lighting equipment in Rome (I was intent on re-creating a full-scale Slickforce-sized shoot, but there was no way I was going to bring all of my equipment from the US). Once the locations were secured, I flew out my best-of-the-best from LA, including make-up artist Gaby Ramos, hair stylist Al Ingram, lead assistant Christian Arias, and wardrobe stylist extraordinaire Diana Chan. I also hired assistants from Italy and London, all of whom I’d worked with on previous shoots in Europe, and a local driver complete with passenger van. We took over 7 cabanas in the small coastal town of Sorrento, where we lived for 5 days.

Once the massive logistics were out of the way, I could finally concentrate on the shoot. Since I had my usual gear, most of lighting setups didn’t vary much from the work I produce at home. What I’m most proud of, however, are the setups on the beaches of Capri. Capri is a small island—and there were no docks or piers to the beaches—so we put all the gear on motor-boats, and cruised as close as we could to the coast. Then we loaded the equipment onto inflatable rafts, jumped in the ocean, and literally towed the rafts to land, generators and all. This was simultaneously the hardest day we’ve ever had and the most fun and awe-inspiring shoot I’ve ever experienced.

And check out the setups. We had lights hanging off of rocks, ringflashes levitating over the sea, and even lit from moving boats! Christian knows I insist on shooting tethered (I loathe lighting to a camera LCD), so she developed rigs for floating my Firewire and laptop cables back to land, while we all did our jobs either perched on rocks or in the water. These shots make me laugh because my awesome crew is doing the same thing they do at home, only this time they’re in bathing suits and up to their navels in water. This is that shoot that every photographer lives for—the one you will never, ever forget.

Thanks to SHOW and Laura Doré for the opportunity of a lifetime, and to Christian Arias, Daniela Guerrero, Hayden Phoenix, Steven Feralio and J.P. Monittola for these amazing behind-the-scenes pics!

Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian recently asked me to photograph a new campaign for the re-launch of their DASH Miami boutique. They wanted something that would stop everybody in South Beach dead in their tracks. What better, I thought, than having them get naked?

Well, that’s not entirely true. I did suggest strategically painting the DASH Miami logo across their bodies, so as to keep the ad below porn-level. I wasn’t completely new to the body paint scene, as I got a lot of press for my Vida Guerra painted-as-a-tiger cover a few years back. But what I did remember was that THAT paint job took 3 hours for one model, and I knew we couldn’t burn that kind of time. So I called one of the best body paint artists in Miami, Keegan of Body Art by Keegan.

I flew to Miami and quickly assembled a clone version of SlickforceStudio, so the girls would feel right at home. They cast two of their very own DASH Dolls to join them in the campaign.  Once the ladies were all on set, we experimented with a few different poses and body positions, calculated logo placement, and then the fun really began.

Special thanks to SlickforceStudio assistant Gabe Parra for these awesome pics!

Last week we had the pleasure of being an exhibitor at PhotoshopWorld in Orlando, Florida. It was not the first time SlickforceStudio had a convention booth (our longtime Southern California fans may remember way back to ActorFest, Glamourcon, and the Sci-Fi Conventions at the Shrine), but it was certainly our largest public display to date, and our first convention foray on a national level. It was also an important convention because it marked the debut of the DVD box set of Mastering Retouching™.

It was a pleasure and an honor to meet so many masters of their craft, as well as the countless friends, customers, fans, and curious public that approached our booth. I, personally, got a chance to meet many people who I have known on-line for years but never met face-to-face.

I pulled together a power-team for this conference, including magazine covergirls Esther Hanuka and Erica Jackson, Mastering Retouching™ beta-tester Matt Timmons, and SlickforceStudio man-behind-the-curtain powerhouse Kevin Savarese.

I’m proud to say that Mastering Retouching was extremely well-received, so much so that we actually sold out our entire convention supply. Brand new Level 7 volume “Exotic Features” was also included in the series for the first time, and has now been added to all new orders.

We made many new friends, both professional an personal, including NAPP-founder Scott Kelby (photo 1), retouching-guru Dave Cuerdon, and best-selling author Matt Kloskowski (photo 2). We had a blast at PhotoshopWorld, and hope to see those of you we didn’t meet at PhotoshopWorld West in Vegas later this year!

It goes without saying that Kim Kardashian is one of my favorite clients. So when she contacted me to shoot not one, but both of her 2011 calendars, it didn’t take much convincing. Now, why would anyone need two calendars, you may ask? Good question.

Kim made waves on the gossip circuit when she went renegade last summer, tossing aside her classically perfect brunette hair and swapping it for a blonde look. When fans cried for the return of natural Kim, she called me. “I have to go back to brunette for the show,” she said, “but I want you to capture the blonde before I change it back!”

Deal. So two days after returning from a shoot in Italy, I got Kim in my studio and we shot her 2011 calendar. You can read her words on the shoot here. Later, when I sent her the final images, she had a brilliant idea: “Let’s do TWO calendars! One blonde, one brunette!” And that, my friends, is why the woman is a mogul. She can sell anything.

Shoot #2 was scheduled in late January. And finally, on our fifth shoot together, I successfully convinced her to let me bring in a behind-the-scenes crew (you gotta understand, this girl has cameras following her everywhere…) This shoot was incredibly relaxed, as her crew and I have now worked together several times. We’ve learned to play off each others strengths, as any good team does, and Kim really has fantastic people on her team. Mario Dedivanovic’s make-up is flawless, Frankie Payne nails my favorite windblown look every time, and Monica Rose’s styling is always mind-blowing.

Look for an upcoming post once the calendar previews are released!

Thanks to Slickforce’s own secret-weapon Joyce Park for these great production shots!

I said I’m watching Gossip Girl, b*tch!

Once in a blue moon, a project comes by that changes my style forever.  Mirage was one of those projects.

My good friend and writer/director Stephanie Jones approached me with an interesting concept. She had a feature-film script that she was about to pitch to a major studio, but as those in the entertainment industry know, the execs that greenlight films are rarely artists themselves, and as such, they often have a hard time visualizing how a script will translate to the screen. Stephanie was a USC Cinema alum, like myself, and I had worked with her as a cinematographer several times. She was hoping I could take what was in her head and capture it visually. It would be just like storyboarding, only far more realistic.

Logistically, this shoot was a beast. There were 8 full concept shots, each at different physical locations, and all containing multiple characters. The beauty of motion picture is that you can rack focus from one character to another. But in a still it meant I’d need an enormous depth of field to keep all characters in focus.

In what became the most memorable image of the series, known as the “Alley Fight” (pictured above), I had 12 characters in the shot, ranging from 2 feet to 70 feet from camera. It was also scripted as a night scene, which meant I’d need a ton of light to get a reasonable depth of field at 100 ISO. And I’m guessing Stephanie thought I didn’t have enough to worry about, because on top of all of that she told me 6 of the actors would be in fast motion (running and flying through the air!), so slow-shutters were impossible too. I love pressure!

Given the technical demands, I decided that capturing the shot in one take was impossible. I would have needed to shoot at F32 at 100 ISO…yeah you try that, lemme know how it works out! So I had to get creative. I locked down the camera and broke up the scene into four stages: foreground, middleground, background, environment. The environment shot was key because I wanted to avoid the fake look of green-screen photography. I needed to know where my lights and shadows would fall if you actually saw this fight on the street. At dusk, I shot the alley at a 30 second exposure. Then I had all 12 actors stand in, and we blocked the shot just like an actual film scene. I needed to make sure all the action would be seen and that actors wouldn’t be blocking each other. Once we marked the characters’ spots we then pulled them out and shot them in groups. The foreground was the most important, because it featured the leads, so I shot that first. Then the middle ground, which was perhaps the most fun, because it was a full-on stunt scene, coordinated by my friend and action-director Alex Wen (The Matrix, Lethal Weapon 4).  Take a look at the raw capture and you’ll see that we really threw that guy in the air—full invert! Then finally we shot the background stage, as well as various exposure plates, such as smoke from the truck and wetdowns on the street. It’s also important to note that we ultimately color-timed the final image to match the environment plate, rather than the other way around—yet another reason why it’s so important to shoot scenics first whenever possible.

This was relatively early in my photography career, before I started bringing in a behind-the-scenes photo/video crew, but the uncomposited images tell almost as descriptive a story.  In the end, only two of the shots were done in-studio on green-screen; the rest were all shot as location composites, in similar form as described above.

The alley shot went on to win the Grand Prize GURU Award at PhotoshopWorld for Best Compositing. I’m really proud of the fact that it’s a location composite versus an afterthought shot in studio, which I think adds to the visceral nature of the final image.

Vida gets smokin’ hot for our 100th Cover!

I’ve always like shooting with Vida. She’s as pro as they come, so much so that some days don’t even feel like we’re working. She does her thing, I do mine, and we’ve each done it 1000 times. So when the publisher of Vida’s mag (yes, she now commands her own entire title) contacted me with the “after dark” concept, I thought “Well, here’s something new.”

For one, I’ve always shot not only Vida, but nearly every other model either in a studio or outdoors in sunlight. Suddenly with an issue that would predominantly feature outdoor night shots, I had to get creative—especially technically. I decided to reach into my old cinematography bag of tricks and pull out all the “night shot” classics: fog machine, silhouettes, out of focus cityscapes—the works.

We shut down the Highlands club in Los Angeles for day one (it was pouring down rain and my poor photo assistant Ashley slipped 🙁 and fell down the escalator.), and the shoot went relatively smoothly until an hour before wrap. We were shooting the cover shot (cabaret on stage with smoke) and our fog machine tripped the smoke detectors on the entire complex. Though I apologized profusely to the LAFD, one wonders how in fact the club didn’t set it off nightly. Sensitive little buggers.

On day 2 we secured a house high atop Studio City, with a killer view. The owner was, let’s say, eccentric. Naturally, in freezing October temperatures I forced Vida to get in the unheated pool (I’m horrible, I know).  But my favorite setup was the lingerie look on dry land. I had my assistants smoke up the background, but the wind was strong so it kept blowing away. I had them put it on full-blast, but then suddenly the wind stopped, and then the fog was so thick I couldn’t see Vida. So for haha’s I took a test shot—and fell in love with the look. I could barely make out her silhouette, and she was surrounded by an ethereal glow. Magic!

Though I didn’t know it at the time, we were shooting what would become my 100th magazine cover. Though I hardly feel my career has been long enough to look back, moments like these offer a great opportunity to stop, reflect, and realign yourself with your new goals.

The cats are out of the bag.

You asked for it…you got it. I’m finally revealing my top-secret industry retouching techniques! Pre-orders are now available for my new long-awaited 6-volume super-tutorial Mastering Retouching™!

The series will be available for instant-download on January 30, 2010, and as a ridiculously beautiful DVD Box Set on or before March 30 (may be earlier depending on shipping). Pre-order customers ONLY will get both for the heavily discounted price of one.

Order before January 30 and get $200 off your order. You’ll get the download, the DVD Box Set, AND our upcoming bonus lesson Exotic Features (available March 30) FREE with your purchase. You will also get access to The Matrix, a members-only section of the Slickforce forum for customers who have purchased Mastering Retouching™. There you can post your pics for feedback, get coaching on your techniques, and discuss upcoming volumes to the SlickforceSystem library.

I will be personally monitoring the forum to answer any questions anyone has about the product while it’s still in the pre-order phase. This series has been designed using all of your forum input, countless e-mails from the last 5 years, past students, fan requests, and customer wishlists. I’ve been beta-testing this bad boy with students who have taken my retouching classes AND complete newbs, and I’m convinced you’re going to love the final version.

The Lessons:
Volume 1: Tools & Basics
Volume 2: The Slickforce Technique™
Volume 3: Complete Workflow
Volume 4: Light Complexions
Volume 5: Dark Complexions
Volume 6: The Stuff No One Else Will Teach You!
Volume 7: Exotic Features BONUS (available FREE with purchase!)

We’ve also got testimonials from users and a heavily detailed FAQs on the site itself as well as a video sample. Visit MasteringRetouching.com for more info!

Thanks in advance for all of your input in helping my build the mother of all retouching mastery tools. Here’s looking forward to arming you all with lethal skills!

Scorchers in the desert

Production shots:

SHOWCase #2 was the 4th full magazine issue I produced in its entirety. I think I had gotten the publisher of SHOW hooked on desert shoots just like I was, so we shot the “sequel” to SHOWCase #1 within 60 days of shooting its predecessor.

For those of you who know my background as a cinematographer, it’s no surprise why I get so excited shooting on location. I mean, no photographer LOVES being inside the studio every day…it’s like letting a dog out of the house to run free. So as SHOW became more successful (which is 100% shot on seamless), I found myself pushing to shoot the special issues as far away from SlickforceStudio as possible.

I had just bought my property in the desert (which would become Ultimate Graveyard), but I hadn’t been able to put any real time into it, so I felt it wasn’t yet camera-ready. Instead, I chose Club Ed, one of my favorite desert locations as a DP. They’ve shot a billion movies here, most notably Rob Zombie’s “The Devil’s Rejects,” and “Nothing to Lose” starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins.

One of the reasons I like shooting in the desert so much is that it forces you to be on your A-game. You’ve got no water, no power and no restaurants for miles, so you have to run a really tight production. We brought in RVs, generators, and of course I had my crack team of super-assistants making runs around the Antelope Valley all day (my assistant Cherry got a speeding ticket that day too…sorry, Cherry!) I sometimes get a lot of flack for my super-sized productions, but I’ve never been a minimalist—it’s just not my style. My inspirations have always been larger-than-life directors and photographers, like Michael Bay, James Cameron, Antoine Verglas, and Herb Ritts.

The models for SHOWCase #2 were soon-to-be-Playmate Jessica Burciaga and urban-superstar-model Jesikah Maximus. I labeled my Capture folder “Jes².” I had worked with them both on countless issues before and I knew they were both great models (J-Max and I were in Puerto Rico shooting her “SHOW: In Paradise” issue exactly one year earlier) so I already had their trust. And that’s very important, because when the models trust you, you can push them very, very far.

These girls both had crazy bodies, and when J-Max showed up with her fire-engine-red hair, I decided was going to photograph them as if I were shooting a comic-book. I had them kneel on scorching-hot gas pumps, pour buckets of water on themselves, crawl on trucks, and roll around in the dirt. But man, did this issue kill. I have to say that this is probably the first issue I’ve shot that turned out exactly like I saw it in my head. And that’s not easy for 100+ pages of content. And although the day was long (15+ hours) and everyone was beat to sh*t, it was some of the most fun I’ve ever head on set. I think it was probably in my top 3 days of 2008. It’s one of those rare moments where you stop to reflect, take a look around, and realize you’re doing exactly what you dreamed of doing when you were a kid.