Take Ivy: Desert Shoot & La Venta Inn

After a successful show of my friends band, Take Ivy, asked me if I could shoot them in the desert.

We discussed idea's and what not and the final decision was to shoot at El Mirage with a couch as a prop. El Mirage is awesome, its a dry lake bed in the middle of the desert - great for off roading and photo shoots! The last time I was at El Mirage was during high school. This was the place where I first learned how to operate a manual transmission - on an ATV!

Most photographers know when the best light occurs which is our "golden hour". Since there was no way we would make it to El Mirage during that hour I had to do the next best thing, rent a generator and blast them with 2000watts.

The gear:
- Honda gas powered generator (rental from Home Depot)
- Two Speedotron Force 10 monolights (1000watts each)
- Two Speedotron 22" beauty dishes (thanks to J. Ho for one of them)
- Two C-stands and one sand bag (thanks again to J. Ho for the sand bag)
- Canon 1D3, 5D, 70-200 2.8IS, 16-35
- Creative Vado HD (I'll post video once I figure how to edit)
- One Sun (used as key and rim/back light)
- One band (thanks to Take Ivy)
- Mary (band members sister)
- Me =)

Onto the goods:

That day was super hot in OC but really cool winds in the desert with the exception of the strong sun and lack of shade - except for Adam holding the umbrella!. IT WAS SUPER BRIGHT in every direction which made it tough for the band's eyes. What I did was have them close their eyes, count to three, open and I click.






















Here is a sneak peak for a wedding I was privileged to document. It was held at La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes Estates.














Lots more to blog later!