punctilious

   For the past 11 years, I would round up my personal favorite photos that I took of my best friend (who happened to be my muse and creative advisor of 13 years) throughout the year and make a book out of it.  I would use these books to showcase them as my portfolio as well because even though I have many shows and celebrities, she was always my best work.  I would painstakingly make these books month by month to see if the photo we shot were worthy to be seen as a widespread, it made me look forward to the next photo session to see if I could do something better than what I just did.  My shots were important to the viewer because I made sure that the backgrounds were captivating as well, so you could look at the whole picture as one and not just the subject.  Regrettably, due to my best friend and I currently cutting communication, there won’t be a book this year.  I figured rather than leaving it in the dust of what could have been, I will showcase partials of what going to be displayed in the book.  I chose the word “punctilious” because we were working with a new camera at the time, and you could see the detail in every shot.

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punctilious (adjective) =

showing great attention to detail or correct behavior.

"he was punctilious in providing every amenity for his guests"

Cover Shot: February 12, 2019 - Las Vegas, Nevada

(Shot outside of a dispensary in Las Vegas, our first attempt shooting at this location we met with extremely high winds so we had to retreat for the night.  I asked my photo advisor if he could bring us back to this location and he refused because he didn’t like the area, so we snuck back to the same location without telling him some months later.  I finally got the shot that I wanted, it was then where I decided to make it my cover)

January 27th, 2019 - Los Feliz, California.

(Every time we drove by Los Feliz, we always saw this fountain on but we never really attempted to shoot it.  I decided to finally give a try after 10 or so years and became satisfied with the result)

February 3rd, 2019 - Inglewood, California

(This was shot on Super Bowl Sunday, not the wisest choice to shoot at this iconic location.  It was also gloomy with long lines for donuts, when we saw the donut color was no longer brown we were in shock.  We even attempted to shoot this some days later but the color remained the same.  This shot was dedicated to 2 hip-hop producers who were born on the same day that has passed on)

February 11th, 2019 - Las Vegas, Nevada

(My best friend really liked the angel wings and wanted to use them, she stood too far back on the first attempt her ears looked like wings)

February 12th, 2019 - Las Vegas, Nevada

(I really like going to Fremont in Vegas, as sketchy as it is that location has some excellent light sources.  This was shot at The Plaza, the lighting for this place is always my favorite)

March 10th, 2019 - Burbank, California

(I received something new in the mail, some gels that can be attached to your flashes.  We tried these gels at the same location for 2 days with mediocre results but I was happy with this shot because it reminded me of “The Matrix”)

March 17th, 2019 - Banning, California

(With 800 pinball games present for a once a year event, it’s hard to get a moment where nobody is around.  Every chance I got I always took it.)

March 23rd, 2019 - Chinatown, California

(Shot in the darkest bar in Chinatown, we were invited to DJ for this event.  I had to provide my own lights to make this shot seem more lively than it really was)

March 30th, 2019 - Chatsworth, California

(We were invited to a wedding announcement party, turned surprise wedding.  This was shot after the new Mr. and Mrs. said “I do”, the wife provided the lights in the background)

April 18th, 2019 - Hollywood, California

(Shot before a mutual friend’s performance, I had my best friend pose at the pool table so I could get the positioning and lighting ready for our friend for this shot.  Turned out better than I thought for the both of them)

April 28th, 2019 - Chinatown, California

(We were invited to another DJ set in Chinatown, shooting yellow and white in the daytime is very difficult but I made it work for this shot.  This was actually the one I was going to post on Instagram but uploaded the wrong one)

May 22nd, 2019 - Highland Park, California

(Shot in our favorite soda pop shop in Highland Park, as a rule I rarely have my best friend centered directly in the middle but I did for this shot so you could observe the surroundings)

May 26th, 2019 - Hollywood, California

(This is the elevator in our favorite record store in Hollywood, it is my favorite place to shoot and she was wearing a green jacket that matched the background perfectly.)

June 22nd, 2019 - Long Beach, California

(After a performance from one of our favorite bands, my best friend wanted to take me to “Signal Hill”.  The view was amazing, shooting it was difficult because everybody else had the same idea)

June 29th, 2019 - Las Vegas, Nevada

(We went to a casino that she’s not fond of at night, and they had these neon lights that we had never seen before so we used them to our advantage)

July 7th, 2019 - Van Nuys, California

(We had these sparklers for years and we weren’t sure if they were going to work but they did, went to the railroad tracks we shots came up)

August 21st, 2019 - Los Angeles, California

(I really liked the potential of these shots, we finally got around to go to the spiral staircase that we’ve been talking about for some time now.  The events of “spiral” also took place on this night as well)

Final Shot: May 22nd, 2019 - Los Feliz, California