I spent a beautiful Saturday morning at Sunset Beach Pacific Palisades shooting a bunch of costume-clad surfers who were there for the 7th annual Doo Dah Surf Day, a fundraiser that benefits the West LA/Malibu chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, which aims to protect the world’s oceans and beaches. Larger than normal swells apparently kept a lot of the surfers away, but a couple dozen still showed up in a variety of costumes like aliens, grandmothers the “chairman of the board,” and even “Octomom,” complete with red puffy lips and 8 baby dolls fastened to the nose of the board.
On Thursday I did some work as an event photographer at the opening of an art exhibit by Venice artist Jay Mark Johnson at the Ace Gallery in Beverly Hills. He’s doing some very cool digital photography using a jerry-rigged slit camera, which has been traditionally used for taking photos to determine the winners of too-close-to-call horse races. Depending on the way it’s used, the results are either these incredible images of expanded and compressed objects, depending on their speed, set against colorful backgrounds of horizontal streaks or, as in the top photo, flattened 360-degree views, similar to the way a globe is flattened into an atlas. That particular image is taken from the center of a ferris wheel. I enjoyed seeing the work, and as a photographer, watching the way others interacted with it. Despite the size of the prints – some were more than 10 feet wide – people were constantly coming up within inches to examine them and try to figure out what they were seeing. If you’re anywhere near Beverly Hills in the next 6 weeks I definitely recommend swinging by the Ace to check them out.
Pulling teeth
This was almost as painful to watch as it must have been for the kid. While I was at the Sea of Ink tattoo shop the other day photographing Tyga, the owner’s young son happened to be working on pulling out a loose tooth by wrapping a string of dental floss around it. With some encouraging from his father he finally got the nerve to give it a full-strength tug. Unfortunately, I lost focus when he reacted, but I think I got the essence of what he was feeling. The tooth fell to the floor right after this and he went screaming to the bathroom to check out the damage. At least he was generously rewarded for his bravery, receiving $20 from his dad and another five from a co-worker. More than I ever got! Then again, I think I usually waited until the tooth was ready to drop out on its own.
Just a quickie post from a fun 4th of July party. TK biked from Santa Monica to Marina del Rey with that shade on his head.
Well, the engagement’s not really a surprise. Just a fun moment that happened while I was photographing Erinn’s sister, Heidi, and her fiance Seth south of Los Angeles in Laguna Beach, a town I’ve been told is famous for the MTV show, Laguna Beach. I’ve never seen it, but this parody gives me a pretty good idea. Anyhoo, the two are getting married in Michigan next summer and I’m doing their wedding and engagement photography. As for what’s going on behind me, you’ll have to ask Erinn’s mother.
View more work by Venice wedding photographer David Zentz.
I recently produced a few slideshows for a popular LA fashion blog called SNOB Style. The blog is the passion project of Erika Stanley, pictured at top and bottom right, who writes and shoots videos about all things fashion. For this project she was demonstrating, with the help of makeup artist Robyn Fisher, three different looks for summer makeup. Definitely one of my tougher assignments! What with the wine and cheese and Robyn’s studio, which is at her Studio City home on a high hill overlooking the valley. The full project can be seen here.
Here’s my share of the coverage of the immediate aftermath of the passing of Michael Jackson. On the day of his death I was hired by Newsweek magazine to cover the initial reactions of fans who, along with swarms of media and police officers, had gathered outside of the UCLA Medical Center and outside the home he had been renting in Holmby Hills nearby. In the days that followed I had a few more assignments for the AP, first covering a vigil in the Crenshaw neighborhood, then staking out his house with the rest of the media and finally meeting with his business manager, Dr. Tohme Tohme, for a quick portrait. Sometime that week I noticed a sign hanging from the window of the Sea of Ink tattoo shop across from where I live advertising Michael Jackson tattoos. I had met one of the tattoo artists who works there on a previous occasion and went up and asked her to give me a call should anyone actually get one. I hadn’t heard anything all week, until I received a phone call while lying in bed at 12:30 a.m. Monday. Turns out their first taker was a young rap artist named Tyga, who was there after hours getting his MJ tattoo. Lucky, the owner, says they often work on celebrities after hours so they can have their privacy. I almost didn’t go, but figured what the hell, since she was nice enough to remember to call me, and dragged myself out of bed. I’m still not sure if it was worth it. As of yet it remains unpublished. Still, made for an interesting conclusion to my Jackson coverage and I had a fun time. For the memorial service at the Staples Center I joined the majority of people, watching it at home on the TV.
Normally, I’m not too thrilled to cover celebrity news, but this was a little different. Whether he was a celebrity or not, he was arguably the most well known person on earth and his death was tragic and unexpected. It’s really unfortunate that he’s gone, but in the sense that it was a significant event for people all over the world, it was something in which I was interested in taking part.
There are several more photos after the jump!
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