Bri's Headshot

So I drove out to my favorite "park" in LA to shoot Bri's headshot.  We meet through her friend Felisha, who has been trying to get Bri, who is at least 5'10" modeling.

After we nailer her headshot, she wanted to try a bit of a fashiony look.  While it may not have been the best spot to shoot a for what she wanted, we worked it a bit and I love how this turned out.

Sweet Headshot photography by Los Angeles headshot photographer David Cutts of Cutts Imaging Group.

Kim agency test

I drove out to Malibu, CA Monday afternoon to shoot a quick test with Kim.  Kim grew up in Juneau, AK and came to LA for the weather, but I bet she had a job too.  Kim is a competitive jump roper, and like me, you didn't know there was competitive jump roping!  She's represented as a model by Sports + Lifestyle Unlimited, and looking for some new images for her comp card.

She needed some lifestyle beachy images for her book, I of course had to grab a headshot.

We originally had agreed to shoot Sunday morning, but a tickle in my throat Saturday morning erupted into a full blown cold by Sunday morning, and it would have been freezing (okay California freezing).

I did not neglect my lensbaby which quite often sits in my bag neglected.  It's a fun little piece of glass which I tend to think of as a toy, but it's actually a tool like any other lens.  I just need to spend some time mastering it.

Sweet photography by Los Angeles headshot photographer David Cutts of Cutts Imaging Group.

More personal work

The royal we here at Cutts Imaging Group have been busy, and that's groovy.  A shoot we had scheduled for Saturday morning got canceled so T and I took a little drive up to Wrightwood, CA for a little date/scouting mission.  On the way home we stopped at one of T's favorite places Mormon Rocks, where I shot these first two.

After a coffee break we headed up old Waterman Canyon road to an organic fruit stand T wanted to check out, we picked up the last apples of the session and a couple of avocados, awesome.

Mojito Bikini Look Book by Cutts Imaging Group

I shot a little look book for Mojito Bikini a few weeks ago.  I hooked up with Caroline an Australian designer living here in LA.  We meet at a Elyria Canyon Park, set up a makeshift make-up station for Genevieve, who knocked it out of the park.  I got to spent the afternoon shooting Maggie.  It was hot ... um, I mean the temperature was hot.

Anyway these are my picks from the shoot, Caroline has a different needs and I delivered her those files.

Friday Fan Letter #4: Walt Simonson

So if your read my bio page, you know as a young man I wanted to draw comics ... next up Thor artist Walt Simonson.

Walt:

I don't remember when I started reading comics, but my parents recognized I was reading, and encouraged me.  One of the first books I started reading was "The Mighty Thor", it was the 1980's, you were working magic on that book.  I'm a bit of a completest, so I scoured the local comic book stores for back issues I read them out of order as I could afford them.  It's hard to read a story out of order, I didn't get it, and I was like ten or twelve.  When you left Thor I followed you to X-Factor, but I might have already been collecting that series.  At some point I picked up the Star Slammer graphic novel after lusting after it for months, it's still one of my favorite books.   

You and the Marvel artists of time, made me want to draw comics.  Which started me down the road to being an artist which lead me to photography.  I figured out pretty late in high school I wasn't going to make it as a penciler.  I did apply to art school, but chickened out and sneaked into college at the last minute.

Anywho thanks, for making great art and inspiring me to be an artist.

Sincerely 

David CUtts

More personal work

Burns Park #1 Los Angeles, CA 09/05/2012 

Burns Park #2 Los Angeles, CA 09/05/2012 

Burns Park #3 Los Angeles, CA 09/05/2012

I went to the LACMA yesterday

And I love Donald Judd, on a Florida to California trip to visit Tara before we were married I stopped in Marfa Texas which was ... well if you get a chance just go.

Funny Cosplay

I found this amusing.

I'm not really into cosplay, I suppose I'm geeky enough, and mostly what I see is fat geeks in Star Wars costumes, drooling over booth babe Wonder Woman ...

Okay men drooling over booth babes is a time honored convention tradition.

Friday fan letter #3: Guy Bourdin

Preamble ... since this is my photo blog I'm writing these fan letters to some of my photographic influences (yes Robert Smithson was a big influence on my early photographs), and since I'm a chicken, I've been sticking to dead ones.  It might be weird to write a mostly unintelligent letter to David LaChapelle (and honestly I like his work, but not a big influence on mine) and actually have him read it.  I bet he has a google alert set up for his name.

I'm not sure when or how I stumbled on Guy Bourdin's work, but it was in the last couple of years.  Any who here goes number three.

Mr. Bourdin:

I wanted to write you a little note, letting you know that recently no other photographer has inspired my work as much as your fashion photographs.  I've masqueraded as a photographer for 15 years then three years ago started making a living with a camera, and when ever I get in a funk lately I check you out on Google for a little inspiration.  I love that your work is about the girls, and the garments, not about big productions.  Yeah it's a little kinky, and I'm a dude so I dig that, but it's a fun kink, like Helmut Newton an appreciation for what was in from of the lens, not a objectified object.  Yeah a feminist might kick me in the balls for that, oh well.

 Another thing that draws me to your work is probably a product of the time you worked.  I like photographs that are photographs, what I mean by that is when I look at contemporary fashion images they aren't photographs any more.  With all the retouching and photoshoping I think fashion photography has become fashion photo based illustration.  I'm over perfect plastic looking skin, porcelain white eyes, not a hair out of place, perfect symmetry, and liquified bodies.

Thanks for making great photographs for a long time so I have a bunch to look at, I hope you enjoyed it.

Sincerely 

David Cutts

Felisha From Tuesday morning

I met Felisha at a "park" in LA I've been shooting at lately.  She was looking for a couple of new shots for her agency, which we nailed.

I dig this third image, I struggled a little bit getting it how I saw it while shooting, I am happy with how it turned out.

I love this last one.

Friday Fan Letter #2 Richard Avedon

Hey Dick:

I know you are dead, so you'll never read this, but I wanted to let you know I'm a big fan.  Like most former photography students I studied a little art/photo history while we looked at your early fashion work, and some of your "art" what I enjoy most are your portraits.  As we expect they are technically

perfect, and in the digital age, I appreciate the craft.  It's the connection the subjects make with me, the viewer, that I am in awe of.  Make me a beautiful portrait thanks, make me a beautiful portrait that connects me with the subject ... LOVE it.  Go further take a risk and photograph not so beautiful people  and make me care, that's bold and I'm at a point where I don't care about "beautiful" or "important" people we see them idolized to often in the media.  I'd like to think you felt the same way, because when I look at your In the American West I see you giving your subjects the same care you would a    

big budget fashion shoot, or celebrity portrait.

Anyway thanks for making pictures for sixty years so we have a lot to look at.

Sincerely 

David Cutts

New personal work ... maybe.

So I got this great idea laying awake in bed one night, unfortunately not a rare state, so I had to go shoot some tests.  Now the light hasn't been great the last few days and we might not have interesting skies for a while here in Sunny SoCal.  Even so I'm liking how these first few tests (they are tests I know they are not perfect) turned out ... if you are one of the three people who read this you'll probably see more.

My wife is pretty awesome!

We've been married for 11 years, dated for five years before that (well we still date because a woman needs to be treated right), and we are expecting our first this December (it's a girl).  So this woman continues to amaze me she's smart and funny and beautiful.  She makes great photographs, mostly because she suffers form a disorder I've labeled excellent to perfect.  Which carries over to every thing she does.

Today I want to share a art project she's working on:

Tara has been making these shadow boxes with stuff she collected from her family.  I know she thinks of them as craft projects for our daughter, but I'm going to call them art.  What I love is the autobiographical nature of each box. The little stories she's telling about her grandmother, mother and her self.  The bottom box is for her mother and my grandmother who made tea for us as kids.  Jeanie (Tara's mom) bought the little tea set for our daughter , Annika, five years ago before she died, and  we were pregnant.  We also have three two dollar bills Jeanie made sure to give us for each of her grandchildren ... Annika might get all three.  

So for today that's why my wife is awesome. 

Letter to Robert Smithson

Fan Letter:

This crazy dude went out to the Great Salt Lake, pilled up a bunch of rocks in a spiral, but the lake was really low that year so no one has really gets to see it.

Okay Robert Smithson kind of has been an art hero of mine for 20 years or more.  I'm not an art history major, never played on on TV and have trouble stringing together more than a few sentences, but here goes.

Robert:

I've been out to the site of your Spiral Jetty maybe a seven or eight times.  The first three or four were quite disappointing, the tips of a few salty rocks ... who cares.  I care, Rozel Bay is a pretty spot, oh fuck that the most of the lake is amazing.  We camped and photographer around the lake a lot while at school.  It's an intoxicating place, I love it.  I love the light, the heat, the cold, the salt, the wind, also hate most of those things.  Mostly I hate what people have done to the landscape around the Lake.  Not that I'm an environmentalist, I have my sympathies however.  Most of what people have done around the lake is just sad, yeah it can make for interesting sophomoric photographs (I know I made them), but it seems to me what people have done in and around the lake have mostly been failures.  That's sad, the lake sucks up everything we pour into it, and doesn't seem to give a lot back.  Oh well.  I don't know if it was a trip out to the jetty that made me realize what you were doing or some thing I read.  I love that the lake swallow the jetty most years.  The work changes as the lake changes, and it won't be there for ever.  I guess the point is nothing will be here for ever, something to get used to, and that is awesome.

So thanks.

Dave

Just a little test, maybe a new project ...

Erin DeGraw for Virtual Noise.

Friday here in Edmonton I shoot Erin for an Atlanta based website www.visualnoise.org. We shoot for a couple of hours near her home, and I talked her into shooting a little portfolio piece for me. 

These are a few of her picks for virtual noise.

I thought the eye make-up was a bit much, however that's what they wanted for a sexy Oh Canada theme.

A couple of test shots

Like most photographers, I test my lighting setups (we used to shoot polaroids) before the talent is ready.  Ideally I like to get the basics right before the talent even arrives on set so I can get to know them a little while they are in hair and make up.

Avalon was our model a few weeks ago I grabbed this test of her, mostly because she's awesome.

A few months ago we rented a studio for a shoot.  While I was setting up and bullshitting with the studio manager (unfortunately I'm kind of horrible with names) he offered to stand in.  I love the braided goatee.

Yesterdays shoot with Avalon, and Kali

A couple of quick edits I banged out last night to send to the team.

Lookbook for Urbanite Designory

T and I shot with my friend Dee Tuesday.  I've been shooting with Dee for almost two years, she's a great client, and defiantly has a perspective all her own.

In april I stolde a quick shot in this style while on my shoot with Naomi, and Shaina, and I've been doing on most of my shoots since.  I guess they are turning into a little side project.

Final Edits From Friday's shoot with Mary and America