Today, instead of bringing Darryl and Ashwyn to see the light rail train (something they both enjoy very much), I decided to have them do an “adventure” just outside our house.

They emulated what they saw from the cartoon “Dora, the Explorer”, and happily went on a treasure hunt – collecting stones, dried branches and duely displaying them in front of our door steps.

Darryl asked, “how about a picnic?”. “Hmm, a picnic? no problem”, I said. Out came the cookies, biscuits, bananas and grape juice, and we all had a blast enjoying our little “picnic”.

I have the good fortune of shooting with Courtney this recent Sunday in many favorite locations of mine.

Courtney initially found my profile on Model Mayhem and wrote me when she read about my project, i.e. location-based fashion and swimwear images.

We collaborated on our individual ideas before arriving at a series of concepts. Based on that, I further fine-tuned the various locations that we will shoot at. Separately, Courtney proceeded to secure similar-looking outfits, and came to the shoot with hair and makeup to match!

Talk about being ambitious and totally driven!!

I’m extremely pleased with the resulting outcome and l look forward to working with Courtney again.

Christi currently goes to school in Cal Poly and we corresponded with each other via OMP.

She scouted out the various locations she knows of in San Luis Obispo, and they all turned out to be fabulous!

These locations were in part derived from the high level concepts we had previously discussed prior to the shoot. It was obvious that Christi’s a natural to modeling and enjoys it very much. She also brings to the shoot her unique personality, energy and attitudes.

I would love to work with Christi again!

Makeup artist Pallavi found my modeling work profile on OMP and wrote me about working together on a project. She was looking to add “Indian Bride” to her portfolio and wanted to team up with a professional photographer for the purpose.

Pallavi’s portfolio was wonderful and demonstrated her skills for a variety of looks. I am always up for working with other people, experienced or not, and so I jumped at this invitation. A date was set, and I met up Pallavi and Kayla in Pallavi’s home in San Francisco one Sunday morning.

These shots were taken indoor and at the balcony.

Nikon D2X with 17-55mm f/2.8 lens, SB-800 strobe with Lightsphere.

Last week, Raekenzi wrote to say that she received the CD of our Dec ‘ 05 photoshoot together.

Here’s what she wrote in her email:

“WOW! I can’t remember if I have ever seen so many great photographs come out of one of my shoots. They are remarkable! I viewed them with a friend of mine and she kept seeing certain actresses in the photos. Completely blown away. Your work is amazing, breathtaking even.”

Nothing is more satisfying than a comment like this!!!