Video by Tracie Cotta

In part 1 of Shoot One we shot in Tracie’s front yard, her bedroom, downtown Fullerton, Disneyland and at a local park. That left 2 days… which took us to San Diego and back up to the OC Fair for part 2.

San Diego “secret” location

Years ago I saw some photos on flickr that were really cool… they had very dynamic lighting… and the location was outstanding. I’m not usually a big fan of girls in bikinis just for the sake of showing skin… but these were really good shots otherwise. I was about to do our first photo shoot of Paul Dateh and I wanted a really cool place to shoot… so I contacted the photographer and asked about the location.

“It’s a secret.”

Oh. Well that sucked. I sorta understood because if you have a cool location that you use often you may not want it to be swarming with every kid with a DSLR and a cute girl at his disposal… sooner or later that will cause problems with the owners/tenants/neighbors… someone. But I couldn’t just give up… so I plead my case a little harder… and he finally relented… but only after I promised not to share the locale with any other photographers. And I haven’t. So… don’t ask where these were done. I made a promise and I like to keep those. When I can.

We got to the location about an hour before sunset… we planned on getting through two outfits… I hadn’t even seen the first one, but LOVED it. Tracie knows how to put together an interesting ensemble, that’s for sure.

And she knows how to look fierce.

For the final shot, just after the sun dropped below the horizon, Tracie quickly changed and we took this final photograph… and then, like teeny tiny vampires… a flock (or is it swarm?) of blood-thirsty mosquitoes chased us back to the car.

The OC Fair

In the 16 or so years I’ve lived in Orange County… I think I’ve only actually been to the fair like 3 times. Once to shoot a Noodle Scar episode and twice just for fun.

This year Tracie and I decided to go on the last day it was open… and we ended up having a lot of fun and not shooting very many photos… but two stood out as ones I loved. The fair really is a good place to capture color and lights… kinda like Vegas. But with barn animals and carnies.

Amy, Ashley Rose, Ashley (not Rose) and Carlie asked me to come down and light a fun fashion photography shoot they wanted to do of Ashley Rose… with wonderful makeup and styling (as always) by Carlie.

I brought the Alien Bees down to Ladera Ranch, we climbed a hill… and photographic adventure ensued. I wasn’t really there to shoot, just sorta show them how I’d light the various things they wanted to shoot… since they are all wedding photographers they wanted to learn a little about fashion lighting when it’s dark. Lighting is just one of those things that isn’t the most obvious thing to figure out, and having a little guidance from someone who does photographic lighting often can make a big difference.

I brought my Holga which I had just cleaned out and loaded with film the day before… and decided to take a few shots of Carlie while we were all set up. I didn’t bother dialing in exposure or trying to get anything perfect… just had Carlie pose how she wanted and I snapped off 11 shots. These are the 5 I like. No PS, just Lightroom adjustments because the exposure was WAY off. I didn’t even remove the dust.

I see more Holga Fashion Photography in my future.

Holga photography is a lot of fun. You get unexpected results, not just from the camera but from yourself. Through the crappy little plastic viewfinder things look a little different, and so you look at things a little different. Also, looking through a square is a different experience as well, your cropping is completely new and fresh. Basically what I’m saying is that you should go and buy one. Just PLEASE don’t buy one from Urban Outfitters with their flashy colors and $45 price tag.

Go to Freestyle Camera and get one for $28 or click the photo below to buy from Amazon (it’s the same price as Freestyle but I get like $1.20, which is cool) and have some FUN.