So I just finished a new blog posting about the new Profoto D1 monoblocs. I give a bit of behind the scenes info on a shoot and lots of technical lighting info. Take a look and let me know what you think!
http://blog.profoto-usa.com/?p=1642
Behind the Scenes - Profoto D1 Shoot
Profoto D1 - A closer look
So after some late nights of working, the first blog post for Profoto is done. This first post focused specifically on the the old vs new zoom reflector and the Softlight reflector.
This post is a very controlled side by side comparison of the lights and light shaping tools.
Here is the link: http://blog.profoto-usa.com/?p=290
Thanks to everyone at Profoto, Samys Camera, Southbay Studios and Stephanie Sawyer for making this possible.
I made this video for Rhys Millen Racing. They take a new Hyundai Genesis Coupe to a Redline Time Attack event at Willow Springs Raceway. This was a test to see how the new RMR parts help to lower lap times with each group of additions. They started off with a stock car, got a base time and then started modifying everything from wheels, tires, intake, exhaust, differential and suspension.
The day was sooooo hectic that we never really had a chance to sit down and record interviews between each session telling about the modifications. I shot the footage during the event, running back and forth from the pits to the track, trying to get a different angle each session. I had to head down to RMR the next day to get a voiceover of what happened and match footage to the audio. Not ideal, but it worked out well to tell the story of the RMR parts.
Here are some of the photos from the release party for the new Forza 3 on XBOX 360. The event was held on the roof of the parking structure at LA LIVE. Lots of amazing cars, good food and good people. Some of the hero cars on display were a tricked out R8 V10- the hero car of the game, a Ferrari California, a Porsche 997, Nissan Skyline R33, Acura NSX, Lamborghini LP640, Corvette ZR-1 and a bunch of other SICK cars.
They had a game simulator with Forza 3 spread out over three screens. The seat even moved around as if you were in the car- every time you hit something it violently shook around like if you crashed in real life. DJ Skee was on the 1’s and 2’s keeping the music bumping all night long. Open bars and free Wolfgang Puck catering does not suck either… 
I even got to take home an XBOX 360 wireless steering wheel!
Thanks to SA Studios and Edelman PR for letting me photograph another fun event.
For all the images, Click Here
So last night my buddy Ian, the owner of Learnaboutwine.com, invited me to an event hosted by Max Riedel. Max gave the most informative presentation on why using the proper Riedel wine glass is ESSENTIAL. Both my girlfriend, Nicole, and I were amazed at the way the wine completely changed from glass to glass. We went from the proper varietal glass, to the wrong glass, to a plastic cup. I could not believe how the aroma, the taste and everything about the wine changed from glass to glass.
I am currently drinking Chardonnay out of this glass:
They describe the glass as “Offering a larger volume, the Vinum Montrachet glass reveals the intensity and the wine’s layers of aroma. The size of the bowl enables the rich bouquet to develop its wonderfully diverse range of aromas, emphasizing the finesse, while minimizing the risk of it becoming over-concentrated.” Very well said, and wow, the wine is good… Want more info on all the glasses? Go here…
Ian set me up with Max to shoot some photos, and here is the result. Nothing like having 5 minutes to set up and 3 minutes to shoot! All-in-all I think I got some decent shots considering…
Max Riedel 1
Max Riedel 2
Max Riedel 3
Max Riedel 4
Max Riedel 5
Max Riedel- The WRONG Glass
Max Riedel Class
Click here for the full gallery. More to come…
So the company that manufactures the lighting kits I use- Profoto- had an event at Smashbox Studios in Hollywood (AMAZING facility by the way). They were debuting their new Pro 8 Air kits. Without getting too technical, this lighting pack is faster, more powerful and provides greater flexibility than pretty much anything else out there. This is essentially a contest to win $10,000 in Profoto Gear- as long as you can take a photo that demonstrates the 1/10,000th of a second flash duration. Yes, I said fast- fast enough to stop Mindy mid-air. By the way- she is a 5-time Extreme Martial Arts Champion- now retired. More on that later…
I had the chance to put the AIR adapter onto my camera and instantly be able to control, modify and tweak one of 4 Pro 8 Air kits around the studio. They had two strip lights and one of the new umbrellas for us to use at one station and a beauty dish and 25º grid at another. So basically around $150,000 in lights at my disposal.
In my typical fashion, I sat back, watched what everyone was doing and then went COMPLETELY the opposite direction. I can appreciate even, soft white lighting, but I prefer the dramatic. I maneuvered the strip lights vertically and behind the models to act as a rim light. Here are the results:
Mindy 1
Mindy 2
Mindy 3
Mindy 4
Mindy 5
Fashion 1
Fashion 2
Fashion 3
Fashion 4
I am pretty stoked with the way the images came out- especially considering I was fighting with 40+ other photographers for the time with 3 different models and the lights. Met a lot of great people including Crystal Maria- the makeup artist for the event and Mark Rezzonico- the Vice President of the MAC Product Group (Profoto’s parent company). The best image of the day was Mark with his new Nikon point and shoot with the AIR adapter on top:
Mark Rezzonico- Big AIR, Small Cam
More images to come when I get caught up with everything… Til next time…
EDIT- Found a photo of me on the ProfotoUSA Flickr account showing the model what she looked like on the camera:
And me shooting Mindy:
Me n Mindy
Just got done producing a new ad for Motoworks. They wanted to show the diversity of applications in their product line. This is the third ad I have put together for them- trying to keep a consistent look and feel among all of them. All of the photography in this ad is mine from the photoshoots a while back. We wanted someone to turn the page and know right away they were looking at a Motoworks ad. Here is the most recent ad:
Motoworks Performance Ad
I have attached a copy of what their advertising USED to look like:
Old Motoworks Ad
This is my take on the same ad. Keep in mind there is the same amount of information on the ad that I produced:
Motoworks Carbon Ad
Before there was no main focal point- my eye didn’t know where to go looking at the ad. I tried to create a hierarchy with this ad- start by looking at the title, the product, then the magazine testimonials and finally the main text. The client was really happy with the way it turned out- not to mention I saved them money in the process! 
The other ad I produced for them was based around their race team and its success on the track. They wanted to showcase the riders and their accomplishments for the season. Here is how it came out:
Motoworks Team Ad
For more info check out Motoworks.com
Seeing as I am still getting used to this blogging thing, I figured I would show some of the other work I do- its not all cool videos, graphic design or even web design. Somehow in 2003 I got mixed up with BPM magazine and started shooting nightlife and party coverage. Here we are years later and still shooting fun parties along the way…
So last night I had the opportunity to shoot photos at a party celebrating the release of Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 for the XBOX 360 at SA Studios in downtown LA. Lots of celebrities walking around including Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray, Rob Kardashian, Mr. Choc from the Beat Junkies, The Lost Prophets and many other “Influencers.” They got to play on one of the 14 consoles set up in the new “Co-Op” mode of the game. Many of them even walked home with one of the new Resident Evil 5 Special Edition Consoles. (Maybe one of these days I’ll end up with one! )
I have played this game since the first one, and its amazing to see the way it has progressed in not only gameplay, but in graphics. I remember many a sleepless nights while I was at Pepperdine with all the lights off and running through Raccoon City- having zombies jump out at me every turn I made. Fun to be involved with the SA Studios / XBOX / Edelman PR crew.
Here are some of the photos. Click here for the full gallery.
Mark McGrath- Sugar Ray
Rob Kardashian
Resident Evil Edition XBOX 360
The Scene
This was the third event I shot for SA- one of the others being the release party of Righteous Kill – follow the link for the gallery.
So a couple of weeks ago my girlfriend and I coordinated a shoot so I can expand my photographic portfolio a bit. We called some of her girlfriends and then proceeded to transform my living room into a studio. After a bit of test lighting we started snapping away. Pretty low-key shoot, but I am very happy with the way the images turned out- see below. More images to come:
Cole- Veil
Cole- Beauty Shot
Cole- feather_eyes
Rachel- Vintage
Cole- Bandana
Tish- Blue
So this is the big one that I have been working on for a while, but couldn’t talk about. Now that they have officially unveiled the car at the Chicago Auto Show, I can talk.
I have been doing a lot of work for Rhys Millen Racing in the past few months and he recommended my work to Hyundai. I have been helping out since before SEMA- creating a video of the “Art of Speed” car as it was being built. This was blasted all over the internet and at SEMA. After the great response from the media and consumers, Hyundai decided to go drifting with Rhys behind the wheel. This is where I came in.
We needed renderings of what the car was going to look like for the 2009 season. I used the studio photography from the Art of Speed car and built upon it to make the car look real so it could be painted, put on the RMR transporter and media CD’s for the Chicago Auto Show. See the process below. MANY painstaking hours went into this final product, with Rhys at my side for good deal of them saying “Move that higher, lower, bigger, smaller…”
Here is the final car image- I didn’t take this one…
Can’t forget the team transporter..
And the media CD Cover for the Chicago Auto Show:
So from this rendering came the final car. Hyundai hired me to shoot photos of the vehicle and also to make a video for the unveiling of the car at the Chicago Auto Show. Here are the results:
Here is the link to the full gallery:
So from this came the video… Hyundai used this video as part of the unveiling in Chicago. They had PR people and Rhys talking about the project, showed the video and then pulled the silk off the car. This was debuted on Edmunds.com Inside Line concurrently with the unveiling of the car. Here are some shots of it happening on Autoblog. They were looking for something dynamic that showed the car moving… QUICKLY! “Sideways with lots of smoke” was the actual request… This was all shot in one afternoon, using my XH-A1 and Rhys’ HVX-100A, edited in Final Cut Pro and color graded in Color.
RMR / Hyundai Drift Genesis from DC CHAVEZ on Vimeo.
It has been an awesome project to be a part of. Hyundai is a great company to do business with and I am pretty stoked that they have given me creative license to do what I want. I am sure this is not the last time you will hear of me cranking out projects for Hyundai. Heck- I might even have some in the works as we speak- but of course I can only tell you later.
