los angeles model

Aolani & The Colorado Street Bridge /  by Mike Daclan

Yesterday I had a chance to shoot in a location I've been wanting to shoot at for a very long time.  I drive past it nearly weekly so once I found a model in Pasadena, I knew immediately where to book the shoot.  It's definitely a popular spot as there were three other photo sessions that were taking place over the course of the afternoon/evening.

Aolani joined me with her mom as a chaperone and we had a very fun time on this shoot.  Her would pop in every now and then to help adjust hair/makeup and swap stories with us while we walked to a different location.  She's been at this since she was 5 years old and with her 18th birthday coming up later this year, she's excited to do some more traveling for work and see the world!

We joked and laughed throughout the shoot and she very much felt like the little sister I never had.  By the time the shoot was wrapping up, we had already begun to plan our next shoot together later in the year.  The themes and ideas she had for that one were things I haven't done yet so I'm excited to try them out!  

Ami & The Disney Concert Hall /  by Mike Daclan

Super excited to be shooting with Ami again this weekend so I wanted to throw back to our first shoot together at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. 

She has a great energy about her which is super infectious! I’ll definitely be needing it as we have a super early shoot time tomorrow to try and avoid the triple digit weather. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

52 Week Project - The First Few Weeks /  by Mike Daclan

Before 2017 was over, I had found myself taking a few more portraits than I normally do.  It was fun and a little bit outside of what I would normally do.  To keep myself motivated and challenged, I figured I would engage in a portrait a week challenge for all of 2018.  I had never done something like this and I figured it would keep me moving forward and constantly try to push out work.  It's not been the easiest of challenges to be sure...but so far I've only missed one week.  

These portrait project updates will typically fall on a Wednesday on my Instagram Account.  I'll post a little story about the shoot either that same day or the following day.  The goal will be to continuously stack portrait sessions in advance so I can have everything ready to go once the day hits.  Ambitious (for me) but I'm going to try and stick to it.

Week 1 was kicked off with a selfie...because why not? Seemed easy when I first thought about it but I found out quickly I don’t like taking photos of myself. Here were the ones I considered. 

Next week I met up with my good friend Lauren for a few beers and an impromptu session at The Yardhouse. I really love the coloring from the lights inside.  She’s a huge beer fan so I think this turned out to be a perfect setting for her. A few shots we couldn’t use because the guy in the booth behind her would pop his head out or get into the frame. 

For week three I was able to connect with a lovely model who was in town. It was fun going through Chinatown and discovering some interesting light sources and backgrounds for the photos. The original plan was to use window lighting but by the time we got out there most of the shops had closed. We made do and I, but most importantly the model, were very happy with how it all turned out. 

So that's it for now!  Keeping checking back as I add in some more while I play catch up and post the other weeks.  Hopefully I can be caught up by next month there won't be a slew of new posts every week (unless you are enjoying these!).

Cheers.

/  by Mike Daclan

The other weekend I had the opportunity to shoot with my friends daughter for a senior portrait.  This was my first time shooting a senior portrait so I did come in to the shoot a bit nervous.  Luckily Taylor was easy to talk to and after some basic chit chat she really began to open up and take confidence in her poses and general attitude.  I think it really shows in how the first few pictures came out versus the ones at the end.  

As a dancer, she wanted to incorporate some of her moves into the shots and after throwing out a few ideas (and a little encouragement from her Mom & Friends!), we started getting really creative with the poses.  Again, with the confidence in place you can see how much she began to enjoy herself.  We moved to a few different locations using a few different outfits.  We really had a lot of fun knocking out some of these poses and despite the hot ground, she held it all in place like a champ while I snapped away.

Finally, Taylors little sister and best friend wanted to get involved in the shoot.  With some helpful guidance from her Mother (and my dear friend) Ryan, we were able to get in a few more fun looks.  My favorite from this set is a totally relaxed shot when she's leaning against a sign pole.  It was a totally candid moment but came out so well.  At the very end when we were getting ready to go I had her do a few more solo aerials for some nice action poses to round out the day.

The day turned out to be a very great experience for everyone involved.  Taylor and her Mom were super excited about the photos and loved them all.  I do have a few more ideas that I want to incorporate with her and her friend involving some long exposures around downtown Los Angeles and light painting.  Those will make for some great photos!

Cheers!

Warm LA Nights /  by Mike Daclan

Earlier this year I had the pleasure to work with a great up and coming model.  Since we last shot, she's gotten to shoot with other photographers and build up quite an impressive portfolio.  As you can tell from these early photos, she had a lot of confidence and knew how to pose.  

The backdrop of Little Tokyo suited the shoot very well.  In total we captured three great looks and here was the first of the sets.  You can check out her MM profile here and make sure to follow her on Instagram!


New Year...New Post! /  by Mike Daclan

I am so glad that the year is done.  2014 was not kind to me and I'm glad I survived it.  The new year holds a lot more promise however and I'm interested to see what develops.  I'm already starting off the year with a much better job than I had all last year.  This alone has put me in a much better place mentally and emotionally.

In terms of my photography, I'm trying to branch out a bit more into different styles.  I've started working with a few models which has been a great change of pace from the typical street and documentary styles that I'm usually shooting.  I met with one model named Rosie and together we did a very fun semi-boudoir and portrait session.  Being one who doesn't work big studio settings, I loved doing this in a nice room with a lot of natural light coming through the window.

She was very fun to work with and we were able to talk and joke around a lot which I think helped to ease both of us into the shoot.  I brought some donuts for us to snack on in between shots and to go over what we shot.  It turned out to be super helpful and we even included it in one of the photos!

I have a few more model shoots lined up already for the month of January to go along with the traditional street/documentary sessions.  One of my personal resolutions is to build up my site more and more so look forward to more changes and upgrades to slowly roll out and of course...more posts! 

Cheers and happy New Year!