Some people look good no matter what you do to them.

"Sarah"

Have you ever noticed that some people just can’t take a bad picture?

This is Sarah. She happens to be one of those people. I’ve seen hundreds of photographs of her and not one in the bunch is a “lemon”. Really!

This is a digital portrait I just created from one of her wedding photographs. She has a way of looking into the camera with pure intensity. She’s like that in life as well. Very intense, fun and charming all at the same time. Now that’s an art.

As you can see, her eyes are her strong point as they pierce you and you dare not look away.

Photography is an interesting medium. Some people can pose and some just can not stand to have their picture taken no matter what you do. It is an invasion of one’s privacy to a certain extent as the camera never lies and it has a way of capturing the moment whether you’re ready for it or not. And, if you’re not comfortable and ready it will emphasize that even more.

Fortunately, Sarah doesn’t have any of those problems. All you need to do with her is point and shoot. She’ll make you look good as well!

A good looking couple

The technique continues with more of the 16 portraits commissioned by Norman Taylor & Associates. This is one of my favorite. What do you think?

The Color of a Beautiful Woman.

Here’s another portrait just completed of an attractive woman. The color just intensifies her attributes.

A mother’s love is incomparable, uncompromising and unconditional.

This is another portrait commissioned featuring a woman and her child. Pure love.

Environmental Art happens everyday.

Some days you can walk out your door and if you’re really aware of what’s happening around you, well there’s always a way to define it as a form of art.

Take for example yesterday. My wife and I decide to go to the beach. It was very hot and we knew the beach would be considerably cooler than where we live so backed up the car and the last minute I decided to take along the camera.

As we were driving through the canyon toward the West side of Los Angeles we looked over our shoulder and noticed a very large plume of smoke coming from the fire in the LaCanada area which is about 15 miles from where we were driving.

I remembered a lookout spot on Muholland Drive and thought we should take a short detour and try to get a photo of the fire.

This is what I saw – I meant to just photograph the fire but when I saw the sign it screamed visually to me to include it into the picture. It is a visual statement that to me get’s the point across about how dry it is out here in Los Angeles.

But it also demonstrates how you can create a little art by just being aware of your surroundings and be willing to think with aesthetics. It’s a good exercise and it’s fun.

The next photo was taken from the beach to show that even from that distance the fire was very visible and still had a threatening quality to it. People couldn’t ignore it’s presence.

Years ago I would walk around everyday in New York City with my camera for just the same reason. I shot primarily in black and white as to me the city always had that quality and looked best as Black and White  because the brought out the grittiness of that environment including the people.

It’s a habit I’m trying to get back into -drawing art from the environment.