Thoughts from Samurai Imaging

Over a year later...

2011-12-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

The last post was a bit pissy but now I know the reason. Model's mother is posing as the model on the aforementioned website. She's the one that posts photos, posts updates, replies to messages, asks for assistance in getting her to the next major shoot and so forth. In other words, she's scamming the members on the site.

I had a convo with the model on my last trip to the area and she has indicated she has never been on the site mentioned and doesn't even have access to it. Maybe I'll do another shoot with her now that I understand what's going on but I'm going to wait until she's 18 and legal.

If you want me to photograph you again...

2010-12-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

After photographing a model and providing a set of images which I think are of better quality than some of the stuff on her on line profiles, I have yet to get an acknowledgment or thank you from the model. Hey, if you're not going to post my stuff, at least say "thank you" on your own. Don't have someone else say thank you for you. It's not the same.

If the stuff you post on your profile is superior to my stuff, I would let it go but the stuff that was recently posted left something to be desired.

Messages or questions I left for the model either went unanswered or I may get a message from the Mom that someone is not feeling well because of some oral surgery. Hey, I understand if you're hurting but if you can post on your profiles or your FB page, how hard is it to respond to my messages?

Anyway... enough of venting... I'm guessing that you're no longer interested in shooting with me the next time I'm in town so I won't bother contacting you when I come back in the Spring.

Just use caution when you go out on shoots out of the country - especially without a chaperon at your age. I would rather you wait until you're of legal age (18) but I'm guessing that someone thinks that's an opportunity for you so is ignoring any warnings by others who have been in the business for a long time.

New website

2010-01-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

I got tired of the look of my old website so spent about a week updating the Samurai Imaging website.

Since I now have access to a video creation website, I figured that it would be more interesting to have video slide shows of the models than the old gallery that I had.

Hope visitors will like it.

New Photoshoot with Mariah D.

2009-11-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

Taken at Grapevine TX

Cierra's combined Photoshoot

2009-10-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Flew to Maui to photograph Cierra, Miss Maui 2009, One was a high fashion shoot and the second was a casual fun shoot.

Maui No Ka Oi!

2009-08-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

After the successful photoshoot with Miss Maui 2009 (Cierra Rauch) and Miss `Ulalena 2009 (Marissa Petsas) I figured why not do another shoot on Maui. Contacted Miss Maui again and another model whom I wanted to photograph after I had done one session with her earlier in the year.

Day 1 was with Cierra starting in downtown Wailuku town. I just looked for old buildings and areas that I thought would make good sets.

We then moved to the Pali between Wailuku and Lahaina and shot in the dry grass there. Yes, it was bright and HOT!

We then finished off at the end of the road past Makena towards sunset.

The next day I connected with Morea, a recent Seabury Hall graduate who will be attending the University of San Francisco pretty much on a full scholarship. She's a mixture of Filipino/Caucasian and looks older than her 18 year old age (which happened the day after the shoot).

Since she was a Seabury Hall alumni, we were able to get permission to use the school grounds as a location.

We finished the shoot at the beach by Mama's Fish House which was a major challenge in itself with the blustery wind and the bright sunlight.

Good luck to Cierra and Morea in their future endeavors.

When a makeup artist gets a crazy idea...

2009-07-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

And it ends up costing me $$$ but who cares? I got some really different stuff from the stuff I usually do. Mahealani approaches me and since she's on hiatus from her latest job, she wanted to get some portfolio stuff with local models having worked with a lot of fashion models from Europe recently. Fortunately, I met a pair of models who were the top winners in the Miss Maui Scholarship Pageant this year and both had the height whom the makeup artist (Mahealani) required. Being Maui residents, we either had to fly them over or go over to Maui. We decided that it would be advantageous to be on Maui. So I contacted the models, made part of the travel arrangements and started planning.

We had planned to shoot all day for two days straight. That meant and early morning wakeup to catch a flight to Maui. First glitch, makeup artist slept through her alarm. Fortunately she woke up when I called her cell. We get to Maui, get some food, go to first model's house. Check wardrobe, start makeup application. By the time she's ready, it's almost 10:30 am and nary a cloud in the sky. We go to the first location and it's bright burning HOT and BRIGHT! Good challenge to photography skills.

"Minerva" (private joke) made it easy even though I think I got sunburned. Sun is straight overhead so I nix any further shooting and we go to get some food. One of my colleagues (Jerry Grigory) meets us and we head towards Hana. Stop on the side of the road and Mahea needs to release some excess behind the bushes. We grab some stuff and do a shoot along the roadside dodging cars.

Next stop, the Bamboo Forest. No one tells me it's a half mile hike DOWN! Down is manageable, going back up with equipment is another story but Mahea wants water, rocks and dirt. Get some great stuff and "Minerva" is a trooper moving around in the water with tadpoles around her feet.

Shoot finally finished in Makena with some sunset bikini shots. We pretty much ran out of light that day.

I slept well that night with Mahea dealing with a cough that wouldn't go away. The next morning, "Mary" (another inside joke) met us at the hotel and after Mahea went over her wardrobe and did her makeup, it was another late start for the day. Fortunately, "Mary" knew of a location that might match the makeup so into the canefields we went looking for the abandoned Sugar Mill to get a different look for the model.

We finished there near noon so went looking for food again. After lunch we headed up Haleakala for some hopefully wild pasture shots but it was too sunny and Mahea was not feeling well because of the turns in the road up and down the hill (I was waiting for her to lose her lunch).

After doing some shots by the Sugar Museum at the bottom of the hill, we headed for Makena again, looking for a rocky beach. Mahea was totally out of it and just lay on the sand and vegged while I finished the session. Think I got my best head shot at that time.

I'll be back on Maui again at the end of July to do a couple additional shoots.

What a difference proper makeup makes.

2009-04-05T10:47:00.001-07:00

Here are three shots of our current Narcissus Queen with three styles of makeup. See what a difference proper makeup makes in your photos.

This first one was taken for the souvenir book. I'm assuming that the makeup was applied by herself. It's ok but too light for photography so doesn't accentuate her features.

The next one was taken for the official portrait. The hair and makeup were done by professionals that normally help out with the pageant. She thought it would be better to have her hair down but whoever did her hair forgot that she would be wearing the special anniversary crown and gave her a hairstyle that blocked the view of the crown. The makeup was ok, but again was not properly done for photography.

Since another photo session had been scheduled, we decided to advise her how her hair should be done to make her look more elegant and I referred her to my favorite makeup artist Beverly Kaneshige (www.makeupbybev.com) whose work I trust as she knows how to properly apply makeup for photography. She also does hair so Bev created a hairstyle that would make her look elegant and properly show the crown.

Proper makeup does make a difference.

After a three month hiatus

2009-01-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

After recuperating three months for my back surgery, I finally had the opportunity to do a model shoot. I contacted Jessica, a recent Narcissus Queen to see if she was interested. Fortunately she was.

I wasn't sure what I was planning for the shoot but needed to do something, just anything to get back into the swing of things.

I arranged for my makeup artist, Beverly Kaneshige to do Jessica's hair and makeup as I knew Bev would do a great job. She didn't disappoint.

We started at the Sand Island Park in the mid afternoon. It was windy and we started by some structures on the East end of the park. We then moved to an area on the West side of the park but the area I had planned to use was closed so I headed out towards Makapuu on the other side of Honolulu.

As I figured, it was pretty windy out there and we were losing light fast as sunset was coming about in an hour and I had a lot of stuff I wanted to photograph.

Well, Jessica is a quick change artist and got in and out of her outfits quickly. She was also game for almost anything and took direction well.

I'll probably do additional sessions with her in different locales to get some different looks from her.

Offering TFCD sessions in Dec and Jan

2008-11-19T22:20:00.001-08:00

Ok, I had emergency back surgery back in late September which put me hiatus for any photo sessions. I'm now recovering and should be able to do full sessions by the end of the year.

For anyone interested, I am offering a select number of TFCD sessions so I can slowly get back into the swing of things. If you're interested, contact me and we'll see if we can work something out.

Models - something to think about

2008-08-05T01:14:00.000-07:00

Over the years, I've done many TFP/TFCD shoots. Some were great, others were ok and some were a total waste of time. So, if you plan to shoot with me in the future, here are some things that you should consider.

1. If you know how to put on your own makeup and can do a good job, great! If you don't, either get a qualified makeup artist to do your face or say something and I'll arrange for a makeup artist for you. A good makeup artist can make a ordinary model look really glamourous. A good makeup artist can make a pretty model prettier. Don't show up for a photoshoot wearing barely any makeup or everyday makeup. It makes a difference - trust me.

2. If you're going to do a photoshoot in a bikini or shorts or short dresses or similar, it's a good idea to shave your legs. It just looks better. If you're caucasian and think that because you have light colored hair so it's unnecessary to shave, sorry, it doesn't work that way. It DOES make a difference.

3. If you contact me for a shoot and we set something up, don't flake out on me. I've had too many models arrange for a shoot and when it came time to do the shoot, all of a sudden they disappear. Have the courtesy and professionalism to cancel the shoot in a timely manner and at least acknowledge any phone calls or e-mails or messages. Don't just drop off the earth. If you do something like that once, I am no longer interested in photographing you nor will you be considered for any jobs that may pop up.

Does this sound like sour grapes? Probably because I am sick and tired of models wasting my time and energy. End of rant...

Tattoos

2008-08-05T00:59:00.000-07:00

For some reason, more and more models that I shoot are getting tattoos. Hey, it's your body and I guess you can do what you want with it but for me I hate them.

I'll tolerate small ones which can be hidden but when you use your body as a canvas for your tattoo art, it makes me shake my head. I just went on MySpace and one of my favorite models is now sporting a tattoo which was quite visible. Sorry but it made me sick to my stomach when I saw that.

If there is a job available and it comes down to a model who has a visible tattoo and one who doesn't, guess who will get the job?

Sorry but I had to vent.

You were taking photos where???

2008-07-02T00:49:00.000-07:00

I'm always challenging myself when coming up with locations to do model shoots. Why? Because it'll help me improve my skills as a portrait and wedding photographer. It's how one finds locations and makes something out of nothing. This location is in downtown Honolulu on the outskirts of Chinatown about a block from the Nuuanu stream on a late Sunday afternoon. Any other time, this place will be teeming with humanity since it's right by the marketplace. Late Sunday afternoons, it's pretty deserted.

I had one of my favorite models with me working on some different stuff for her portfolio. This was the last location we ended up at after a three hour shoot in various places downtown. I had never shot here but as we walked around, I noticed some interesting backgrounds that would be a challenge. I'll post additional images later but this was one location and the different types of images that I got.

The model made it easy for me to place her, give her some basic direction and she took it from there. I used a single lens (my favorite 70-200mm zoom) and pretty much other than the shot above, parked myself on the sidewalk and starting snapping away.

Think we got some cool stuff. Having a great model makes my life easier.