BEHIND THE SCENES : learning hair perfection with serena radaelli -

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sometimes you get to work with masters in their craft.

sometimes you're lucky enough to befriend them.

and sometimes, they share their talents with you,

simply because they decide you should know things.

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i am lucky to have a friend,

serena,

who is like that.

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she recently took me on a two day tour of the world of hair on film,

how to capture,

better light,

better move,

better . . . well, how to make it the hair

that we all want in our dreams.

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yes, even me.

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every set up was an art director's dream,

every detail attended to by my crack beauty team:

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i call them "the lion the witch and the wardrobe"

because they make magic all the time,

and make me look like aslan.

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our talent was alexandra pappadopolous,

a young student who has only been at this for about two months,

and whom i clicked with in a casting session.

quite the find.

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please note, 

serena was always up with the talent or checking her work on the monitor.

the ringleader at work.

manacop and jo?

dashing in to save the day when summoned.

bic?

hugging the stairs.

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in the end?

well, you can see a bit here,

but wait til you see the film . . .

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spring awakening. a musical, but also what i like to call it when i re-stage the house. i title these things because it amuses me.

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so this spring,

after cleaning, 

things moved around.

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my mother did this often in our home in houston,

she kept an armoire filled with seasonal "props"

(objets to artworks.  candles to candelabrum.  candleabras?)

so the eye wouldn't get "tired".

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i completely understood that,

even at seven.

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so this spring,

the balinese teak foo dogs

(remember?  the ones i saved from the burning saab in the GAYEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE?)

moved, finally,

outside:

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personally,

i love how avec seems to think she's related to them.

she has yet to sniff one,

but she will curl up and watch them intently.

waiting.

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a new table moved to the living room,

and tim's sculpture moved downstairs,

along with assorted glass collections:

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all in all, it's lighter,

brighter,

and a place where you can kick of your shoes.

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as long as they "go" with everything.

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LENORA CLAIRE'S BIRTHDAY AT MR BLACK, L.A. :

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i've known lenora since the start of mr black out here,

when she came with luke and crew to be shot for the opening event work.

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i've shot lenora for my entry into a W magazine contest

(which in hindsight, might have been a bit much for old W)

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but i didn't really see her shine until she threw her bday bash a few weeks back

at mr black.

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it started, of course,

with a unicorn at the door:

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i love larva's tribute to the lady of the evening.

(hers were NOT real.  lenora's are.  fyi.)

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luke was swirling up the party, per usual:

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the rest of the crowd?

ranged from insane

to intangible.

you'll see:

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as for me?

i spent the night as a toy soldier:

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ordering tequila, neat,

from the cutest bartender i have recently shot half naked on my roof:

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and catching up on gossip from ms. natascha:

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happy birthday,

indeed.

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memorial day in vivid color, but sans people -

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tim cooked.

nuff said.

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puppies basked in the attentions of jo and serena and adam and scott and luke,

but i realized that without my small camera

(part of the stolen "stuff")

i don't really take candid people shots as much.

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damn the food was good.

we sat out on the newly installed back lawn,

lit the hurricane lanterns,

ate, caught up, and laughed alot.

just the way you should,

every chance you get.

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the dogs are still, well, you know . . .

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PERFECT.

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i mean, come on.

look at that face.

don't you want to just grab it and kiss it and . . .

sigh.

puppies > people.

still.

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and now, back to our regularly scheduled programming:

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so here's what's been going on since we last talked:

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in an unexpected,

but nonetheless extremely timely,

surge,

i have started to get busy.

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i landed a campaign from charlotte russe,

the women's clothing store that is in the middle of a relaunch

to come shoot their new denim line.

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which meant new cameras,

new plans,

new lighting techniques,

and a day filled with stills and hd video,

that will launch them with a long form web film,

some commercials,

and a full print campaign.

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it was heaven.

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then,

a call to film the launch for a new active line here in l.a.

called EA apparel,

a very chic team of kids with a new concept,

and that got the books busy.

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tim on the road, a lot.

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a spec commercial shoot for my reel,

using the talents of serena radaelli to explore new ways to shoot hair.

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two days of intense,

non-stop,

learning-curve busting

hair heaven.

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bits and pieces of a social life.

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a car break in and bag theft on a shoot.

(bummer.)

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a realization of how much i am thankful for this past year

to hone the craft,

learn new things,

grow my portfolio,

solidify my creative partnerships . . .

and not care so much about the barney's bag and "stuff"

that got taken,

cause the rest is still here.

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being busy helps the happy.

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for the next few days,

bits of what i DID photograph or record:

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arabesque of pit bull parts -

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travels with tim -

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tim is on the road quite a bit these days,

his new role at charlotte russe 

has him scrambling to relaunch and rebuild and redesign

their ecommerce,

their photography,

and other things that get handed to he and his team on a daily basis.

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he loves it.

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i miss him.

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but when your partner is lit up with the challenge,

and electric with possibility,

there is joy in the knowledge of his growth.

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so when he gets home,

you save your pennies

and have dinners out at places like cecconi's,

where you can sit outside,

and remember each other,

live:

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playing with color :

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much of the learning curve in photography

has been the extreme ways you can adjust film

(well, digital imagery)

after you shoot it.

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for example,

nearly a year after shooting them,

i found adding a vintage feel by dialing green into the lowlights

and softening the highlights with gold,

gave this shoot 

a whole new appeal:

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and dialing a bit more blue into keifer grimm

gave him a slightly more menacing edge:

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and that, basically,

even someone named Nero

can take a bit more black in the shadows:

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most of these experiments are on skin tone,

but you can see the range,

and i promise,

i'll keep expanding.

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BEHIND THE SCENES : men's fashion editorial shoot at CHURCH boutique, los angeles

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BEHIND THE SCENES : GUAPO PHOTO SHOOT AT CHURCH IN LOS ANGELES from landis on Vimeo.

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more to follow . . .

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