Welcome Back Steven

Hello there everybody.   I hope none of you have forgotten about me just yet or deleted me off of your Blog Readers and such.   I apologize for my absence the past few months.

To be quiet honest I've been in a real slump since November.   I pretty much shut down, photography wise, as the holidays rolled in.  I haven't done any work at all.  Most of my photo time has been done with small personal self-finding projects and a few family events.  What can I say?  In the past few months I've had a glimpse of what my photo life will be like if I don't take the next few key months seriously.

Right now I'm trying to schedule a bunch of things lined up for the month of February. So look forward to seeing a lot of new things coming out of Photolynch.com and this blog!   I do have a favor to ask of all of you though, if you know anybody that would like photos done, I'm looking to accomplish a bunch of things in February and March.  I will be doing a lot of Portfolio building shots, so as long as their ideas will work for my portfolio I'm all up for getting things moving.

You can reach me at
SJLPhotography@gmail.com
818-714-1158  (My new Business Line although I can still be reached on my old number 818-714-0395)
or if you have another contact method go ahead and give me a shout.

Here's a little update of what's planed for the next month
 My loving wife Tiffany is a couple of weeks away from Graduating from Beauty School.  As she prepares to take her State Board licensing test she will be joining me as a hair stylist and possible make-up artist for future shoots.   With her expertise it will be a great asset to have working alongside me.

First on the agenda is a shoot Monday with my good friend Sam Saletta.  (You may remember him from my previous work with the band "Jubala" as well as his past acting career.)


Again, Thank You everybody for your support and I look forward to seeing you all soon!


-Steven

Keeping Busy - Update

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I last wrote something.  I apologize.  I've been keeping busy with photography and have just not had the time.  So nobody worry that I have been slacking off.  (Laughing to myself here)

Let's see where to begin.  I'm actually going to keep this one short and just give you the basics and a photo from the event.  As you can see above  I shot my friends band "The Spring Leaves" last week.  It was a lot of fun and I got a few different shots that work really well.  You can visit the band at

www.Myspace.com/springleavesplanet  they are actually from Spain (where they have a full band) and are on a small west coast tour that started in Utah up to Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and back to Utah.  They had a small layover for a few days in Los Angeles so I took the opportunity to shoot them and give them their first promo shots.

The Spring Leaves's new Promotional Shot 

 This past Friday there was a big show here in Burbank featuring bands I have worked with (Jubala, Back Pocket Memory) along with a few other comical music acts.  I covered that for The Burbank Times which I work freelance for every once in awhile.  Photos and a blog should be coming sometime in the next week.

On Sunday I went Scouting to Mt. Baldy, CA with my friends and fellow photographers Kim St. Dennis and Gerald Gonzales and model / friend Stephanie Summers.  It was pretty fun and I got a few good shots that I will be able to use.

Stephanie posing for a portrait in Mt. Baldy, CA 

At the end of the Day she was getting pretty cold and tired

Just today I got an assignment for www.TheBurbankTimes.com to shoot the weekly wood carving class that meets at the Stough Park Nature Center in Burbank, CA each Wednesday from 1pm - 3pm.  I also took a couple of Environmental Portrait shots of "Mr. Nature Center" Mike.  He is a really nice guy and participates in all of the activities they throw.  You can also find him leading the weekly hikes that take people all around the Verdugo Mountains above Burbank.

Mike and Eddie working on a carving of a Road Runner

    

Mr. Nature Center Mike standing on the bridge to the Stough Park Nature Center 

Mr. Nature Center Mike standing on the bridge to the Stough Park Nature Center 

So there is a little update for all of you on what I have been up to keeping myself busy.   As my schedule starts getting tighter and I find myself shooting more I am definitely seeing where my photography is improving.  That makes me feel great!

Thanks for reading

-Steven

Update: Birthday, Shoots, Future

Hey everybody I know it's been a week or two since my last Blog. I wanted to update everybody on what has been going on with me and share some of the stuff from my latest shoots.


The Exciting News!
Ok... Well this is probably not that exciting, and as friends of mine will probably tell you I'm not really one who gets overly enthused about my upcoming Birthday. The thing for me is once you hit 21 it starts feeling like your just getting older now... where is the excitement? I actually have looked forward to my 25th Birthday, so I'll have to wait another year for that. Finally then I will be able to rent motorized vehicles without the premiums and junk. EXCITING!

So come this Wednesday I will be turning a grand wopping total of 24 Years Old. I'm not sure what I will be doing that day as the band "4th and Dock" who I really enjoy shooting and listening to is playing that night. I do seem to have a lot of friends that really want to do something this year, so hopefully I'll throw something together and you won't find me sulking under a rock! :-D


Photoshoots Galore!
So ever since the Salton Sea expedition I've become pretty good friends with our two models Ioana and Mindy. Naturally, I've been working with them to develop new headshots and looks for their books. They've gone from not having any photos to having some amazing stuff in the past 2 weeks. It's been a very fun and cool experience and they are really cool people to have around. The benefits for me is I can practice my lighting comfortably without the nervousness of a new model to work with each time. I am really improving with poseing and directing, and I'm getting a few good shots for my own portfolio.




Here is Mindy dressed up in one of my leather jackets and posing in my home studio. This is one of my favorites of all the shoots I've done with them. There is a certain quality to it, a great emotional expression that really comes through.


When Mindy (Previous photo) came over to do get some shots for her headshots last week Ioana came along as well. I ended up grabbing some shots of her before I tore down the equipment. I really liked this one and she looks amazing.



This is one of the headshots I took of Ioana on location in Hollywood this past Friday. We did a gorilla style shoot on the streets among bums, cats, and crazy Hollywood people.



Again here is Ioana posing in Hollywood last Friday. This was actually on the Balcony of her and Mindy's apartment. They have an interesting little area with big fluffy pillows and bamboo walls. It was a cozy little spot.


Looking to the future!
One of the most important things I've come to stand by in life is to always look forward to the future, so that is what I am doing. I'm trying to schedule and prepare as many shoots as I can to gain the experience and hopefully eventually move into the professional career that I want to. I was thinking about this the other day and if one does not even bother to try and reach for their goals they have already failed. So for the summer here I will be pretty busy with photoshoots galore. Hopefully I will have some beautiful things to show while developing my own style and come out into Fall with a new perspective, ambition, and goals with my Photo Career.

As a matter of fact I have a pretty big shoot planned for tomorrow which I'm sure I will be blogging about soon. It will be very exciting. My photographer buddy Kim St. Dennis and I are doing a Fashion / Beauty / Environmental Portraiture style shoot tomorrow with a beautiful model named Sara A.K.A. Radio Queen (Model Mayhem # 153756)

We will be shooting in a Studio on the West Side area of Los Angeles, then doing an on location beach / boardwalk shoot later in the evening.

Have a Happy Summer Solstice everybody and enjoy the beginnings of your summer.