This was a photo shoot that was in discussion and planning for some time. I am pretty well know for trying to get as much out of a day as possible especially when we have someone flying in to shoot. And we were going to have Ava in from Florida to the beach side town of Marina Del Rey in Southern California. Marina Del Rey is right next door to world famous Venice Beach. So my plans were made to also come in and bring my lighting and general assistant and my favorite make up artist and hair stylist. The gear was assembled for the shoot which included some different strobe heads and portable power packs. Concepts were discussed, locations set up and rented and the day came. And first for the day was a beach shoot at a little bay right across the street from the hotel.
Now let me back up a little first. The day actually started with a text message to me from Ava at 4:15 in the morning. Well I was up, way too early, and called her back. Ava just had some ideas about wardrobe for the day but I am old and at 4:15 wasn’t quite getting it all, but it was a nice wake up call. So for our planned 7 A.M. start time, Ava showed up at my hotel room at 6:30 ready for some food and coffee. But then my make up artists showed up 15 minutes later so we got things going. And then off to the beach where Bill my assistant (I hate to call him that, he is just as capable as I am) was waiting.
I always have specifics in mind for a shoot and for this part of the day we were shooting at various places around this beach in just a few different outfits from work out wear to bikini. It was early, it was fast and I think Ava got right into it.
Next up was off to the studio. I sent eveyone ahead and Ava and I followed after a quick stop for some protein shake and energy drinks. Bill and crew were well on the way to setting up, he knew what I wanted in the way of lighting well ahead of time from our working together and our planning. Victoria, my makeup artist started doing the changes to Ava that I wanted and then we were shooting again. First was a lot of different colors and styles of sports and workout clothes from BodyBuilding.com.
And then we wanted something more fun so we did move on to a very sexy bikini which you will get to see another time! We also did sneak in some time to have food sent in too. But Ava was starting to get tired of hanging around in almost no clothes so she slipped into a little thing she brought along and we got her a chair.
Well the chair was the best thing going! Ava worked that chair really well and we had the most fun of the day for sure. That was one happy chair that probably needs to be put in a museum now!
But we were still not done. When I felt we were done there I said “Break it down!” and we were off to the “Pit” at the boardwalk at Muscle Beach, Venice California. Now you can’t just show up and shoot there. I had made the arrangements and shoot we did. Well you can expect that we were photographed as much as I was photographing. The tourists and Venice folk loved it and of course they loved Ava. We moved some weight and plates and Ava did some posing and I think she had a great time again!
Well before too long we were done, tired out, finished. Everybody said bye and Ava and I headed back to my hotel for a promised dinner that would break her diet for the first time in a long time. So what was on Ava’s mind for dinner? First off bread and butter and then more butter! A really nice Chilean Sea Bass for the main course and then…. dessert. A chocolate mousse thing that she really couldn’t finish. Happy girl!
Anyway it was a lot of fun but a long and exhasting day. You will be seeing the photos in lots of places so keep an eye out. You will like them! And say Hi to Ava at her BodySpace!
Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More…?"
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