Whether you need eCommerce Product Photography for your Shopify or Amazon stores or Lifestyle/Lookbook imagery for your print catalog, social media campaigns or online store header, we’ve got you covered.
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Headshots & Portraits: Which Type Is Right For You?
I’ve been getting more and more people requesting corporate headshots and portraits for their company’s management team.
Even small business owners understand the need for good portraits - especially people who are building a business around their personal brand. Good photos help your current and potential clients connect with you.
Ask yourself… do your photos photos help you build relationships and establish trust with your target customers?
I also have been getting requests from entertainment industry folks (actors, singers, personalities, etc) for portraits that they can use for submitting to different types of castings, for their websites, and for their social media usage.
While I live in Los Angeles, and it seems everyone takes headshots here, not all headshot/portrait photographers are equal. It’s kind of like comparing a frozen/microwavable White Castle burger to a fresh Wagyu Beef Burger from a high end steakhouse. There are many options out there, so you must think about what end result you want to achieve from your portraits, and then reverse engineer things so you can pick a photographer. (Let’s face it. Some people actually like frozen burgers from the microwave.)
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Video Production
My team and I constantly shoot different styles of corporate video projects and commercial shoots for companies.
Sometimes these videos center around products or food. Or, for service-based companies, we produce videos that help people form personal connections and build trust with their management team.
Here are some examples.
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Driver Promo Videos for Blancpain GT Challenge, GT4 America, and TC America Racing Series
During my time working with the Pirelli World Challenge Series and the SRO Motorsports GT4 America series a while back, I was asked to shoot several driver profile videos for teams in the series.
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Commercial Photography & Video for Kawai Pianos
Kawai was founded in 1927 in Hamamatsu Japan by Koichi Kawai, and has grown to become one the largest and best known musical instrument companies in the world.
My team and I were chosen out of a HUGE pool of companies bidding for the projects to provide commercial photography and video production services to Kawai.
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Beauty and Makeup Photography
I have friends who have been specializing in beauty and makeup photography, and they are consistently busy with fun looking client work.
Since my 15yrs of shooting experience has been focused on a completely different photographic specialty (motorsports and automotive stuff), I figured I’d buy a new set of lights and lighting accessories so I could build up a beauty and makeup portfolio to diversify my client base.
As it turns out, shooting beauty/makeup is pretty fun! Who doesn’t want to shoot well-lit images of beautiful models?! Duh!
Here are some of my photos… I’ll keep updating this page as I build more relationships with beauty brands and makeup artists.
I’ll keep shooting, so keep checking back!
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My Camera Gear - Current List
A lot of people looking to contract me to produce content for them have asked me to list off the gear that I have.
While I think "a gear list" doesn't adequately define how good a photo/video creator is because a list can't show if the shooter knows what to do with the gear or not, I decided to make a list and post it online anyway so I don't have to keep typing this stuff out every time someone asks me.
I own and am highly proficient with the most current, top of the line full frame digital SLRs (1DX Mark II) and mirrorless cameras (EOS R) that Canon makes. I also recently bought Sony’s top-of-the-line flagship mirrorless camera, the Sony A9.
So here goes - this is the current list of photo equipment I have. This list changes frequently because I always have my eye on some new equipment and am constantly investing back into myself and my business...
Content Marketing for Lawry's Restaurants
I was recently contacted for a content marketing campaign for Lawry’s Restaurants, a well-known American restaurant group that first got its start in Los Angeles in the early 1900s, with locations in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, just to name a few.
The photos and videos will be used for the Lawry’s websites, newsletter marketing, paid social media campaigns, and regular content for Facebook and Instagram.
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Content Marketing Videos for Hiraizumi Law Group: Estate Planning Law Firm
When it isn’t race season, I typically like to expand my range and skill set by shooting non-automotive projects.
The types of projects I get involved in span a wide range - from fashion, portraits, products, fitness, travel, food, corporate… really, they could be any type of video and still shoots.
A few months back, I spent some time with attorney Jill Hiraizumi-Artino, founder of Hiraizumi Law Group, an Orange County based law firm that specializes in Estate Planning, Trusts, and Wills.
Here are a few videos from a series of videos we produced, shot, and edited for HLG.
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Content Marketing for LA's historic Tam O'Shanter Restaurant
Brothers-in-law Lawrence Frank and Walter Van de Kamp co-founded a whimsically designed roadhouse in 1922 that would become the Tam O’Shanter, the first of the family’s restaurants. Today, it is Los Angeles’ oldest restaurant owned and operated by the same family in the same location.
I was recently contacted for a content marketing campaign for Tam O’Shanter, as part of a larger content marketing campaign for Lawry’s Restaurants, a well-known American restaurant group that first got its start in Los Angeles in the early 1900s, with locations in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, just to name a few.
The photos and videos will be used for the Tam O’Shanter website, newsletter marketing, paid social media campaigns, and regular content for Facebook and Instagram.
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Relaunching My YouTube Channel
“Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first.”
I used to be so insecure about my video editing skill because I was worried about other people might think. I was concerned and overthinking potential judgment from others.
Even though I’ve been working as a professional stills shooter for over 15 years, shooting and editing video on my own is something I’m still working to master (because of my nitpicking perfectionist nature), but I realize I have to embrace the process and just put in my required 10,000 hours of PRACTICE.
My lifelong passion for cars and photography has taken me on adventures all over the world.
It’s about time I share these unpublished photos, untold stories, and unseen video clips with everyone.
If you like CARS, TRAVEL, or PHOTOGRAPHY, I’d appreciate it if you subscribed to the MotorMavens YouTube channel and SHARED IT with friends:
Video: "Built, Not Bought" Mini Documentary Film for Content Marketing Campaign
Last year, I shot and produced a series of video projects for automotive eCommerce giant FCP Euro. Rather than starting with a new subject, we decided to shoot a full video about a person who we previously featured on the FCP Euro website - Justin Fon Cashmore.
The owner and builder of this Renault Dauphine, Justin always wanted to own a stylish, fast car… but after he retired from the US military, he decided that he would use his skills and ingenuity to build himself a fun car with his own two hands instead of saving up for a Porsche or something.
This video tells his story. A careful eye will also notice some subtle product placement in the footage. When I showed up to Justin’s garage, I noticed he actually had a box from FCP Euro sitting on the side of the garage. When I asked him what was in there, he said, “before you shot my car, I had never previously heard of FCP Euro… but I started checking out their website since my car was featured on it, and since I wanted to rebuild my engine anyway, I bought a bunch of rebuild parts for my Volkswagen-powered Renault, as well as the other VWs and Mercedes builds we’re working on here at the garage.”
Video: "Attention To Detail" Mini Documentary Film for Content Marketing Campaign
This is a preview of the mini documentary film series I've been producing and shooting as part of my annual content marketing contract with my client, FCP Euro.
This video is just a pre-release ROUGH DRAFT - this has not been officially published yet.
We'll be featuring this and other videos prominently on a newly revamped FCP Euro YouTube channel that we're helping launch for the European car parts ecommerce giant as part of a larger content marketing campaign.
This marketing campaign helps to boost FCP Euro's online sales, brand recognition, search ranking, and online reputation through the creation of high end feature stories highlighting the cars of authentic car builders, race car drivers, and passionate car owners that make up their customer base.
The woman featured in this video, Belinda Sarooei (aka @BelindaBenzo on Instagram), is a stark contrast from most of the "car guys" that normally get featured by automotive brands.
Belinda is a successful entrepreneur and CEO of a clothing company, but is well known and respected in the car community for her tireless dedication to her W111 Mercedes Benz fintail. We decided to highlight Belinda in this video to show that just like music and food, the passion for cars is something that unites people of many diverse backgrounds.
Shortly after we shot this video, she was honored and featured by Mercedes Benz in their own magazine, as well as the esteemed Automobile Magazine from the Motor Trend Group.
This entire production was done by a two person team. I produced and shot the video, and it was edited by Travis Hodges.
Who do you know that could use a video like this to tell the story of their business or personal brand?
Shooting for Recording Artists
Have I shot photos of recording artists before? Yep.
Here are some photos I’ve shot, with the music videos below the photo.
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Commercial Photography for Alpha Wheels
When companies approach YOU to do work for them, it certainly is exciting. I was approached by the CEO of Alpha Wheels to create imagery that would help them convey their message and ultimately, develop their brand image.
Swimwear Lookbook & Catalog Photos
Swimwear Lookbook and Catalog photos
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Video: Short Documentary Films for FCP Euro
I recently began working on a series of short films as part of my content production contract with automotive parts giant FCP Euro.
This is a preview of the first film, which features Formula Drift competition driver Andy Hateley and his obsession with BMWs.
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Shooting the Sonoma Speed Festival
Shooting the Sonoma Speed Festival was amazing. There were soooo many cars at the event that I had only seen in old magazines or books, or on the internet. There were several amazing invaluable race cars worth over a million dollars that were running on the race track - it was insane!
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Content Marketing Program: FCP Euro
I recently began working on a content marketing program for FCP Euro, a large online car parts reseller/distributor from the East Coast.
I’m super excited about this particular project, because it allows me to meet tons of new people as I travel to different race tracks and events to scout lots of cars for feature shoots (I’m at the racetrack CONSTANTLY). This project also allows me to work with lots of people that I truly respect and enjoy working with. This is how all projects should be!
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House of Marley Exodus Wireless Headphones: Perfect for Filmmakers and Music Aficionados
I've finally found the right headphones for my needs. These Exodus headphones from House of Marley are DOPE.
Last week, I posted on FB, looking for some high quality, foldable over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones that I could travel with - that ALSO come with a cable to connect to my Canon cameras and/or Zoom audio recorder when I'm shooting video and interviews at super loud motorsports events. These Exodus joints tick all the boxes for me.
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