Portrait of Santa Barbara Supervisor Das Williams for The Town Market

Photographing local politicians

Das Williams by Santa Barbara portrait photographer Jonas Jungblut

I have been working closely with The Town Market here in Santa Barbara and part of what we have been doing is documenting (in this case taking portraits) of local people that are having an impact on the community. Das Williams came up and having run into him from time to time over the past decade I was excited to finally be able to photograph him.

We met at his house and I found a spot to put up this blue background. I lit him with a Profoto monoblock but then also decided to use natural light for a variation. The above portrait is the natural light version, it worked well with the pastel colors of the background and his shirt. Shot on the 501cm Hasselblad and Kodak Portra 400 film.

Portrait of Holly Williams in Nashville

An editorial portrait of the singer/songwriter at the White’s Mercantile in Nashville

This was photographed for Naturally Danny Seo magazine and we only had a few minutes to figure it out. Holly was super sweet and after we played around with a couple of poses I took the above image and we were done.

I lit this with a single Q-flash that was popped into the ceiling, off to the side. Nothing too precise but given the timeframe it was the best thing to do.

There is something about 3 minute portrait set ups. Love them or hate them, you gotta be able to whip something up…

portrait of a spear fisherman in Santa Barbara

the challenges of underwater photography

There are some technical challenges to be considered when photographing with professional equipment in the water (and believe me I know all about technical issues. I once drowned $5000 worth of camera gear in a leaky housing off the coast of Tofino, B.C. during a shoot). But they can usually be solved with money. You just throw enough money at the challenge and it goes away. Not so with the practical challenges. You have to keep yourself above the water. But you are missing at least one arm and hand combo to aid with that since you are holding the camera. There are currents, waves, wildlife, all messing with you. Then you can barely frame through the viewfinder while trying to stay afloat. Changing any setting to adjust for exposure is a pain. There are drops of water on the front lens… the list goes on and eventually hits the point where you have to be cool with swimming where there might be sharks lurking.

But all that makes for images taken in the water being just kinda special. Underwater or in-water photography has definitely become easier over the years but it’s still difficult to master.

The above portrait was taken off the coast of Santa Barbara. I was following a friend around while he was spearfishing. He was actively trying to catch some fish so he didn’t waste time posing for me and I had to guess where he would pop up after being “under” for a while. Fun exercise…

Portrait of Cisco Pineda in Pasadena

One of the portraits from an editorial shoot featuring Cisco Pineda of Cisco Brothers Sustainable Furniture. Photographed at Cisco’s house in Pasadena.

Cisco cooked a fantastic lunch for us, one of the perks of being an editorial photographer: sometimes the subjects treat you to something truly unique…

Portrait of actor Constantin von Jascheroff in Berlin

I first met and photographed Constantin, or Conna, at his house when he must have been no older than 16 and then a year later at the old NSA surveillance station on the Teufelsberg in Berlin. A relict from the cold war built on top of the rubble from world war 2, dramatic but to the Berliner: just another piece to an insane puzzle.

After that second shoot a few years went by but for the next one we booked a studio in Berlin and spent a day. We played around for hours. I went from one lighting set up to the next and from dark to light, inside to outside, we changed outfits from casual to dressed-up to not dressed at all and towards the end a bunch of looks I can’t show here. I would say this shoot was definitely the most creatively unrestricted we ever did together. It would prove to produce the most powerful portrait I would take of Conna to date and likely ever.

Constantin von Jascheroff

After that I would call him up every time I was in Berlin and we would shoot some portraits. At his house, him jumping on the trampoline in the backyard. He would make crazy faces or pose super serious. Me always trying to catch the vulnerable moments in between.

We both share a love for Porsches and one year he had started to accumulate all these cars. I was excited but I also was worried because taking a portrait in front of a car is very difficult to pull off without it looking super cheesy. Especially since he was still young. It’s one thing to have an old man in front of a vintage Ferrari or something but a young guy in front of a 90’s Porsche is a tough one.

Over all these years one image from that shoot in the studio stood its ground. It was obvious to me right away when I first saw it that this was a special portrait and it has remained as one of my favorite photographs I have taken. It’s one of these moments where he was sort of in between posing and relaxing. This photograph really pushed me towards shooting in this style and it is in my mind every time I take a portrait that has the potential to rival it.

Constantin von Jascheroff

Constantin von Jascheroff

Catalog shoot for the Walking Company in Carpinteria

These images are from a commercial catalog photoshoot I photographed in Carpinteria for the Walking company a little while ago.

Some beautiful portraits and lifestyle with the always stunning backdrop of Santa Barbara. This was shot in January, not too bad…

Being a Santa Barbara based commercial photographer I usually have to travel for shoots so when the local jobs come through it’s always nice!

It’s also only in Santa Barbara that your assistant drives you to the shoot in a vintage Alfa Romeo… which you then put the model in front of, of course…

portrait in Myanmar

An umbrella for the sun - portrait of a guide in Myanmar

I was on assignment for Naturally Danny Seo mag in northern Thailand and we were so close to the border to Myanmar that we crossed it for a couple hours one morning. We explored the border town and then went to a temple where this young woman was showing us around. She offered an umbrella to us but we didn't take it. After walking around for a little while with her following our every step I realized how the light colored floor acted as a perfect fill light so I asked her if I could take her portrait. She happily agreed!

portrait of Jessica Iclisoy

Jessica Iclisoy founder of California Baby photographed on her farm in Central California

This was photographed on assignment for Naturally Danny Seo Magazine. We got to spend the day with Jessica on her farm and went through multiple looks while baking in the hot Central Californian sun. I photographed lot’s of portraits like the one above and a few environmental images of the Calendula. Fun shoot and Jessica couldn’t have been nicer!

Jessica Iclisoy amongst her calendula plants on the California Baby farm.

portrait of mountain biker on snow

Biking Mammoth - and getting a portrait on the snow

A buddy and I took a biking trip to Mammoth and the top of the mountain was still closed for skiing so we rode around the bottom part. But even there we encountered some massive piles of snow. And this was in May. Naturally I took a portrait of my buddy with his bike on the snow. The clouds in the blue sky made the snow sort of blend into the sky, too. Surreal…

portrait in the dunes

Dunes - always a great backdrop

This was shot in the Guadalupe dunes in Central California. There is just something about the clean lines and perfect surfaces of dunes that make them such a fantastic environment for photographing. Especially when you contrast them with a person.

Santa Barbara Channel Islands

Kayak the coast, fish, dive, hang out and take photos

It was short notice. It was also a little bit of a reach. A trip to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of California. Purpose: Kayak the coast, fish, dive and hang out. Matt would do the spear fishing and I would do the documentation. So we went.

I had to scramble and organize a kayak since I don’t own one but having lived in Santa Barbara for close to two decades, this turned out to not be a problem. Getting it from the boat to my car was a different story. Instead of paddling it through the harbor and to the boat launch where I could have parked the car I carried the thing (estimating ~100lbs) on the dock and to the car in the parking lot. This was a mistake. But it did work out and the next morning we boarded the Island Packer boat in Ventura for the one and a half hour journey to Scorpion Bay on Santa Cruz Island.

It was overcast and moody out. An early morning funk was sitting on the coastline, smells of fish and seaweed mixed with seagull droppings and coffee wiffed through the air. Classic harbor. I was a little taken aback by how many people were getting onto the boat and especially how much stuff was going on it. It took us several trips down the dock to get all of our gear to and onto the boat and the whole situation took a good 30 minutes. People were chatting and excited but there was an underlying tension of getting the loading done so we could leave on time.

Once we cleared the harbor the boat picked up speed and was zooming across the surface, cutting through the water and whipping whitewash up into people leaning out over the railing too far. The loud rumble of the engine combined with the wind making any conversation a little bit more of an effort.

We passed the oil rigs and mainland California became more indistinct. Trees and houses melted together and soon there was little detail left to make out. At the same time Anacapa Island emerged from the fog. Isolated rays of sun poked through the dense cloud cover and made for a dramatic scene. A wild place. One that is fantastic to experience from the safety of a boat but also one that would be scary to navigate on a kayak…

I remembered a previous trip when some friends challenged themselves by swimming across the Santa Barbara Channel on more or less the same route we were now traversing. Dodging sharks, fighting fatigue. Romantic but painful.

Once we arrived at Scorpion Bay the weather had drastically improved. The clouds had parted and we were bathed in sunshine. We slowly pulled up to the pier and I looked down into the water and was taken aback by it’s clarity. I had been out on the Island before but I must had forgotten. It was so intensely beautiful. Blues and greens and red of seaweed, I wanted to jump in right there and then.

The boat connected to the pier with its nose. All the people who just came out for the day got off and walked away. Next were all the campers. This group formed a line down the length of the pier to built a chain which would transport all the gear. And boy there was gear. I had watched it being loaded but since I was loading myself and had only caught a fraction of the items. Now part of the chain, I more or less touched every bag, cooler, paddle, rucksack, stove, sack, life vest, fishing rod and kayak seat that came off the boat. And once we found ourselves at the end of the pier with all our stuff we had to carry it for about three quarters of a mile down a path and to our camp spot. It was painful. It was getting hot. The bags were heavy. And there was no other option. No pain, no gain. This was not the Four Seasons and that was ok.

Our spot was to the left of the path under a large, beautiful tree. There was a level patch which I claimed for my tent while Matt decided to built his bright orange tent in some bushes by a dry creek bed with difficult access. We went through the entertainment of tent building, especially me watching Matt deal with his choice of location and unfamiliarity with the (new) tent and since I was done before him I ran out of things to do. This turned out to be a rather unusual situation. It almost never happens. There was absolutely nothing for me to attend, fix, sort, set up or even think about. For a few moments I felt a little lost and without purpose. I then came to the conclusion that I tent camped too little and that I should take a nap.

In the afternoon we got our gear together to go kayak down the coast towards San Pedro Point and spear fish. That is Matt would spear fish and I would take photos with my new underwater housing. The kayaks were loaded up with plenty of supplies for the unlikely case of getting stranded for some reason (A year earlier we had a boat sink in the waters off the next island over so this wasn’t being paranoid) and we headed out, wind on our backs. We traveled quickly, thanks to the wind pushing us and paddling was almost unnecessary. Matt was trolling lines and I was taking photos. The surface of the ocean was pretty choppy and there was quite a bit of splashing happening. This all changed once we pulled into a little cove. The water’s surface became glassy and calm, the temperature rose and it felt incredibly pleasant. Despite the occasional wave crashing against the rocks it was peaceful. We decided to fish there.

Matt changed into his wetsuit while I paddled as close to the tiny, little, rocky beach as I could between waves. Once I saw a wave approach I had to make sure to get beyond the breaking zone to avoid getting pummeled over a small reef and onto the rocky shore with all my stuff spilling out of the kayak. Sort of a fun little game, seeing the water suck out over the reef, exposing the rocks and letting you know you are about to get smacked.

Matt was in his element diving around for fish and popping up in random spots throughout the cove. I took photos of him whenever I would be close enough, another fun little game, chase a diver.

Then he popped up cussing. He had shot a fish but his spear had hit a rock or something to that degree and the tip had come off. This of course was bad news since the whole spear is useless without the tip. To my surprise he kept diving to find the tip. A metal piece about eight to ten centimeters long. I figured finding this little piece in sixteen feet deep water with a semi strong current and plenty of seaweed and rock formations was a hopeless endeavor but he was so pissed off about it that I just let him vent and dive. This went on for about fifteen minutes and I was ready to say something when he popped up and triumphantly displayed the tip! I couldn’t believe it (and I think he was semi surprised finding it as well)! After a few more minutes of reassembling his spear he kept on fishing and finally shot a Calico Sea Bass.

I watched him gut the thing in the water and was happy to sit in my kayak. Lots of fish guts in the water, lots of shark boys smelling a dinner.

It was getting late and we were both a little worried about winds picking up and the paddle back becoming painful if not impossible. While it was nice to be pushed along by the wind on the way down, going back, it was going to blow head on, completely changing the task at hand. I started out while Matt was still arranging his things and the second I paddled out from the shade of the cove the wind hit, the water got choppy and I realized that this was going to be some work. So I started working. The wind blowing and splashing water in my face I made my way west along the steep cliffs shooting straight up from the waters surface.

Within five minutes I was sweating but I got into a rhythm. I quickly realized I had to keep it steady. Stopping wasn’t an option since the wind would blow me back immediately. I hugged the cliff as close as possible to make use of any little rock outcropping that diverted the wind and sort of got into the grind. Every now and then there would be another cove and I could rest for a small amount of time but then I got back on it. At one point I looked straight to the left over my shoulder into the cliff to monitor how fast I was going given the intensity of my paddling and it was devastating. I was moving so slow, it was painful. So I kept on looking ahead and found little landmarks to get to. And once I started passing them it felt much better, I was actually getting somewhere.

Matt was far behind but I couldn’t really wait since I was going to drift all the way back so I kept at it until I reached a wind-sheltered spot right behind a little island just south of Scorpion Bay. I rested there and checked out the ocean floor through the perfectly clear water until Matt caught up so we could paddle-in together.

Back at camp Matt filet the Calico and dumped all the fish remains in a bag. This caught the attention of the island foxes. Very cute, little creatures. They wanted what was left of the fish and they tried to get it. It got to the point where we had to keep the bag real close and then dispose of the fish right after dinner to avoid the foxes going nuts on us.

We used the task to hang out by the ocean for a little and shoot some star trail images as well as a portrait of Matt with his kayak under the starry sky. The ocean was calm and the night was incredible!

In the morning Matt set out to Kayak around San Pedro point and rendezvous with me at Smugglers Cove, where I would hike to. I had to leave that day and didn’t think that I could make it back in time for the boat if I kayaked as well. Plus, I did want to experience the island on foot as well. I set out and climbed the dirt road up the cliff to where I could overlook Scorpion Bay. It was early but already warm and just mind-blowingly beautiful. There was nobody around and I hiked along listening to the birds and the wind. At one point I stopped and it was so quiet that I could hear the grass pop from getting hit by the sun. It was the most surreal moment. A couple hundred feet away a bird was flying and I could hear its wings flap. I turned and looked down the slope of the meadow below me and on across the Santa Barbara Channel and towards the mainland and the grass was popping all around me and I thought: “This is the spot to have your ashes spread!”

When I reached Smugglers Cove Matt wasn’t there yet. So I hung out for a while and watched the few boats anchored off shore. There was little activity. On the other end of the cove someone was paddling a Stand Up paddle board around and eventually landed it. About 30 minutes after I had arrived a couple walked down the path and sat in the shade of the trees. I was sitting on a large log and just took it all in, ate and drank some and was with my thoughts.

Then Matt paddled up out of nowhere. I didn’t really see him until he was just behind the breakers which was weird. He now had to navigate the surf. And there was a bit of it. I had watched it for a while and directed him towards a channel where the waves were a little less close out and big and he made it through.

He hadn’t caught any fish but the paddle seemed to have been pretty easy. We hung out for a while and then he headed back out to try and fish some more while I had to get back to make my boat. Getting off the beach took a little coordinating sets of waves but he made it surprisingly well. I hiked up the dirt road.

Pretty soon after I left the cove I ran into a group of teenagers who seemed to be on a class trip or something. There was one all by himself and then another one trying to catch up to the first one, I think they were in a race. Then a group came down right in a super steep part and they were all on their phones, either listening to music or actually looking at their screens. It was perplexing. After my moment of silence earlier I couldn’t believe how disconnected they were to their environment. It was sad.

Not too long after my encounter with the group I was at the highest elevation of the hike and I realized how much the clouds were helping me out. They were scattered and it was a mostly sunny day but there was enough cloud to keep me from burning. It was hot. Anytime I wasn’t in the shade of a cloud it got pretty painful. I was happy I had started as early as I did.

Two other friends were going to join us that day and take over my spot in the campground. They came in on the boat in the morning and when I got back to Scorpion I ran into them on the beach. We walked back to camp together and they said they had something to show me. We walked to the picnic table and looked under it, to where the cooler was stored tightly shoved under the table top and with one of Matt’s t-shirts on top of it. Right there in the middle of the t-shirt was a good sized piece of fox shit. I about fell over. Our two friends looked at each other in confusion. They had been wondering if it was a fox shit but were doubtful since there was so little room between the top of the cooler and the underside of the table. I then told them the story of the foxes trying to get the fish last night and us chasing them away for a while until we disposed of the fish elsewhere, practically robbing the foxes of a tasty dinner. Mess with an island fox, get your shirt pooped on!

portrait and interview with Alex Schodt in Santa Barbara

When did you start your journey and what was your goal as far as timing goes?

Actually I was planning not that much. The main goal was just get to Australia. From Switzerland. Beginning 2014, in early March, from Bern, Switzerland to Australia. But I put it in steps. The main goal was just to reach the Balkan Sea in Siberia, Russia. So when I get there, I will flip a coin and see if there is any opportunity to continue or should I return, but I had this answer already in my mind. Because you spend a lot of time during a ride, thinking about… The goal was clear, jut get to Australia.

In what timeframe?

I got to Australia at the end of 2014, so it took me, like, 10 months.

Tell me about what you are carrying with you. And how do you carry it?

So, I’ve got pretty much everything. Al the camping equipment, spare parts, tools… And when I talk about camping equipment, like kitchen, stove, pots, everything. Tupperware I put my supplies in, rice, noodles. Most of the time you have just noodles and rice, because it’s easy to make and to carry for a long while. So what else? My camera, the charger. A laptop.

What about clothes?

Not that much (laughing). Because you wear your gear all the time, your riding gear. And then you have some clothes to change when you go out. Like short pants, long trousers, two shirts, three t-shirts, underwear, that’s it.

Tell me about the bike!

The bike. I bought this 1200 adventure bike from BMW. Brand new, almost, 4000 km on it. And I bought it for $18,000. I chose the bike because it has a big tank, you have a good range and a drive shaft, so you don’t have to take care of the chain, clean the chain everyday. And the boxer engine from Germany which in my opinion is the best. For long distance travel bikes, touring bikes, BMW was my idea.

What is a must have item that you have with you at all times?

Uhm…, Camera, to keep your memories. Uhm…, maps, GPS.

Paper maps?

Yeah, paper maps and GPS, because you won’t trust your GPS all the time because sometimes in some places its difficult. When your map shows you a track, a road, a dirt road somewhere, cause you wanna do, you don’t wanna stay on a main road all the time, you wanna explore, you wanna do adventure. So you go off road. But then, for any reason, the road just disappears or crumbles off… so yeah you have to then figure out another shortcut. so then you just do the double check with your GPS and the maps at the same time.

Do you usually buy maps locally when you get somewhere, along the way?

Yea… so… Now we talk about 2016, it’s almost three years and I bought all the maps to go to Australia, which I carried with me all the time. Because some places you can’t find real maps. I am looking for small roads, they usually only have tourist maps and they just show you the main roads but I am looking for small, little roads. Also to find camp sites. And little creeks and lakes, okay, maybe there is a little, small, tiny road… so and I can do a loop around, I don’t have to go all the way back, I can continue. That was always my goal not go back on roads, you always wanna go forward.

What was your favorite or least favorite area to travel through?

I hear this question many times. And the first idea I have in my mind is Mongolia and Russia.

As the favorite or least favorite?

Least favorite? You talking about least favorite?

Well, both…

Okay, favorite: Central Asia including Russia and Mongolia. Least favorite: Other riders like it, but me, not at all. It was Indonesia.

Indonesia?

Yep, South East Asia.

Hmm, what made Russia and Mongolia nice and the other one not so much?

It’s been exactly where you want to go. In the total open wideness. Just only you, the bike and enjoy the scenery and nothing else. That’s what you are looking for. And go just straight, you know, somewhere, just off-road, just little treks. And without seeing people for several days.

Was it difficult to get gas in that type of situation? Did you bring a canister?

Yeah, I carry a spare canister. And the bike can do about 600 kilometers. So plus a spare canister can give you about 700 kilometers, which is pretty good. But I ran out of fuel twice or three times in these countries.

Eww, and then what? Did you have to wait for somebody to come by and help?

You know, it’s so weird sometimes and then you get really used to it. Sometimes you feel like you might be an angel or ask yourself “Why does this happen to me?” On the good side and also the other. Because, I remember, when it happened in Mongolia, I checked my fuel, my distance. I was like, ok, I have to reach the next gas station in something like 50 kilometers. And I checked the GPS and the map and it showed a little village up the road so I said there might be a gas station but is it really for sure? Or is it really just the wrong information? An old mark on the map, put in years ago? That doesn’t exist anymore? So you double-check all the time. You go to the people, the locals and ask them. So, I saw these little yurts, huts, nomads, they are all nomads. And I went over and asked them “Hey, look at my map!” And they haven’t seen any maps so they just look at me like, what’s that? But, look! We are here! And I wanna go there! And they don’t speak English at all so you have to really say fuel, and you point to your tank. Fuel! Is there some fuel? And they, yeah… come in come in and I don’t mind you have to go right away and you sleep there and they offer you a delicious meal… You need to get used to it. It’s not like what we have in Europe or here in America. So… I had some horse Schnapps, alcohol, they drink a lot there.

Horse Schnapps?

Kinda like milk, it’s like horse milk but it has alcohol inside… so… disgusting. But I was exhausted after riding days and weeks and only off-road. So I got really tired and fell asleep and the lady she prepared a bed with tons of blankets, you know, she put blankets on top. So it was soft and comfortable. And then I awoke in the morning and I went out of the yurt and I saw three canisters next to my bike. I don’t know how he did it. He recognized what I was asking for and then I could definitely reach the next village.

Tell me about a particular lesson you have learned from undertaking this adventure.

A lesson, like, what do you mean?

Something that you took a way, like a life lesson or a wisdom that you feel you learned from this.

Just really always go with an open mind. And appreciate every single day. And think positive. Never think negative. Then you get really in stress. It’s gonna work out. In any situation you are in and you feel like you really fucked up and you ask yourself, many times: “What am I doing here? It doesn’t work out.” But obviously it does. So, just keep going, find the solution, make a double check. Think again and try again. Just never give up.

Anything that you absolutely did not expect?

Shipping. Shipping cost. Super expensive. And they screw you up because it’s not official for private using…

So you put it (the bike) in a container?

Yeah, a container. If you do it as a company it’s much easier. You know, because they fill up the container with anything. But just to find a little space in a container to share, to share a container with someone, and, you know, you have to involve companies to do that. But why should they do it? It’s extra work. So that is the worst part.

Tell me about a magical moment!

Magical… (laughs). Magical moment can be when you do a border crossing and all your paperwork gets done and you are allowed to enter a new country, that’s kind of exciting. And you feel like, yeah, okay, you made it, cool! Actually I call this border crossing a border day because of my experiences. It can take ages or days. For example, that’s a magic moment. And of course, when you meet people or a sweet girl and then you hang out and you do something different. For example in Indonesia when I was just kind of mind blown and tired and sick of all. So I just stopped and did also other touristy stuff and did scuba diving and hung out with other travelers and just doing something different. When you are tired of it, do something different!

You cut all ties when you left. You are also not in your early twenties anymore. Do you foresee a type of nomadic life in your future or would you like to settle? How do you feel about where you are in life at this point?

That is a very good question! Honestly, I don’t know yet. It’s really tricky. Aaand… It’s my second world trip. So, I did my first world trip as a backpacker and as a journeyman, a traveling carpenter and I did it for four years. Around the world. And then I went back home. And then I tried for another four years to be serious, to settle but it didn’t work out either. So I left again. Now we are talking about another three years. But now I feel like, yeah, I wanna settle. That’s enough traveling. I have done this more than ten years now. I need a place to be… just put my energy into creating something. Do something different. But it’s really, really tricky. Because you get used to… Because you are all the time by yourself. You can decide whatever you wanna do, you know? But it’s also kind of tricky because you always have the chance to escape. Or just run away, you know?

Nothing is tying you to anything.

Not at all. You are always the stranger, the traveler. And you can always choose places where you like to stay. When you don’t like it cold you go somewhere a little bit warmer and more comfortable, so it’s all up to you, but it’s not, it’s pretty tricky. If it’s all the time up to you you get really kind of… only you. And that makes life hard in society and find company or the real love. Maybe it happened already many times and I haven’t realized because I was always on a jump, had other things, my things in my head.

So you think that doing that is almost… because a lot of people will say “Oh, go travel and get that out of your system.” But by doing that you might actually ingrain it into your system to where then it is really in there and you can’t… It’s the opposite of what should happen.

That is the way of, you know, surfing… I call it surfing my life. And I hope there will be the next big wave which will throw me right on the shore and, you know, spit me out and here I am. And that’s what I wanna do here in America.

Any final wisdoms that you’d like to share?

Just be a good man. Try always to be a good man. Do at least one good thing everyday. Never give up. Live the struggle of your life and you will get what you deserve. Just really be positive, be a good man and find always the good solution for everyone. So everyone is happy and satisfied at the end. That’s the point.

Portraits of Bud Bottoms and Bob Sollen for Pacific Standard

In 2017 I had the great honor to photograph portraits of the late Bud Bottoms and Bob Sollen. Both of these Santa Barbara icons were involved in uncovering the 1969 oil spill which ultimately helped find the environmental movement and Earth Day in the US. The article these two portraits were taken for here in Santa Barbara can be accessed on Pacific Standards Website. It narrates the story of the ‘69 oil spill and the people involved in bringing it to the public.

portrait of rice farmer in Sri Lanka

I shot this portrait of a rice farmer during a travel assignment for Naturally Danny Seo Magazine in Sri Lanka. This man was just walking up and I gestured to him that I’d like to take his portrait so he stopped and I snapped this image.

Portrait of Amy Smart

I was on a walk with my wife one day and my phone rang. I usually don’t pick it up in this situation but for some reason here I did. The voice on the other side goes: Hi, this is Amy Smart!

I grew up in Germany and I always loved Amy but of course only knew her from the screen. And here she was on the phone!

I ended up shooting images for a commercial project of her husband and her’s but I built-in a request to take a portrait. So for about 10 minutes in between shots I got her in front of a cream colored backdrop my assistant had put up just outside her garage. It was open shade and soft light. I wanted her to sort of melt with the background with her blonde hair and fair complexion. I also shot color negative film to further this blending effect.

I only shot two rolls of film I think. She kept looking to the side, just off camera and I didn’t quite know if she did it intentionally or not. We were comfortable with each other at this point so I ruled out that she was messing with me and I just went with it. It created these moments that were powerfully clean and yet vulnerable. Then she did this little smirk and I pressed the shutter. That portrait has some vulnerability to it but the smirk and the gaze to the side keep her in control. I was happy and we returned to the job.

Portrait of Kyle Korver

Portrait of Kyle Korver in the outdoor studio

Over the years Kyle and his family had become good friends. I documented a personal challenge that he was part of, stand up paddle boarding across the Santa Barbara channel, a 26 mile adventure. Other adventures and evenings around the dinner table followed.

I photographed him working out in the off season but I had never taken a proper portrait of Kyle. He is rather private and I wanted to respect that. It got to the point though where I just couldn’t hold back so I asked for a short session in my outdoor studio.

For what I had in mind there is only a 20 minute window of the light being right. That window is towards the end of the day, right around sunset. I built the studio to face north and direct light is not really the issue but right within those 20 minutes it just looks right. Anyways, there wasn’t a lot of time since I was also photographing Kyle’s wife.

Kyle is tall. I am not. And shooting with the Hasselblad I lost another couple inches since I was looking down into it. So I was scrambling to gain some height with the help of apple boxes. We are comfortable with each other but he is not an extrovert so I was trying to find the moment, the opening. I chose a wider angle lens so I could get pretty close and gain access just by proximity. It’s hard to disregard something within 2 feet from your face. I also used a diy light panel so I was able to control the light on his face very precisely. I shot a few frames with my Fuji XPRO2 from a little further away and got what I would call a very clean and safe shot. It’s good but then I also added another light to the background that created a very random shape. I went back to the wide lens on the Hasselblad and I got this portrait that wasn’t so safe. Kyle had just come out of the NBA finals arguably bruised and this shot captured his state of mind a lot better. Vulnerable and under scrutiny but strong amongst a chaotic scenario.

Gabby Reece and Laird Hamilton

I photographed Gabby and Laird at their property on Kauai, near Hanalei. I was dealing with great anticipation. Laird had been a person of admiration and mystery for a very long time and I felt nervous. I knew that the only way to get them to open up was to be absolutely real, no bullshit. So I decided to just wear a t-shirt some board shorts and no shoes. Something I would be wearing at home. It was a little bit of a gamble but taking the risk would pay off.

We got to Laird’s hangar-type structure and after a little while he came in from Hanalei Bay and up the path towards us. After initial hellos he made us some of his coffee and we all hung out in the kitchen for a little while. I took some documentary style images of what was happening and we started to warm up.

I didn’t know beforehand how much time we would have together but it quickly became clear that nobody was in any rush. Laird started playing with his foil and we all just sort of hung out in the hangar and chatted. All the while I documented and created little set ups here and there to take more posed portraits of them. I told stories of my family, vacations in Italy and I could tell that both Gabby and Laird took a liking to me, they opened up more and more. As always the old, mechanical Hasselblad was intriguing and raised some eyebrows.

The day progressed and at some point Laird went down towards the boats and cut some fresh coconuts for us. It was a great moment. Here was Laird Hamilton, arguably one of the - if not the most - prolific and inventive surfers of all time and he was cutting coconuts for us in his boardshorts.

As the afternoon neared it’s end Gabby suggested we go out on the boat into the bay. The light was turning magic and we floated on this tiny little nutshell down the river and into Hanalei Bay. Laird pointed out the way the sunrays were filtered through the clouds and created this magical display of light, just spectacular. It was an incredibly personal moment and I felt humbled being there with them.

As we came back in we shot past the house and went upriver for a little bit. All the time their little dog was jumping all around the boat in excitement, sometimes ending up standing on me like I was just a convenient object that allowed him to gain some height. It earned amusement around the boat. Then we came through a spot in the river that was a little tighter than the rest and I took this portrait of Gabby and Laird that perfectly described the day I had just had with them.

light testing

This was a light test of a light panel in the outside portrait studio here in Santa Barbara. The panel can be adjusted in output but it’s not strong so it has to be used late in the day when the light is almost gone. Creates wonderful light for portraits!

Light Panel Test

for dramatic portraits