From the Archives - Alexia Rae Castillo for Arsenic

Model: Alexia Rae Castillo | @alexiaraecastillo

From the Archives - Chanon

I've been really busy working on other projects and traveling so I haven't posted anything in quite awhile. I was just browsing through some old shoots and stumbled up this image of Chanon from a shoot for Arsenic Magazine in Beverly Hills a few years ago. I'm moving back to LA in two weeks so I hope to shoot more while I'm there.

Photo Therapy - Sedona, AZ

I'm going to start a "photo therapy" series to temporarily take you, or me, away from whatever it is I'm doing. This first post is a shot I took from Cathedral Rock in Sedona, AZ back in December of 2012.

Cathedral Rock | Sedona, AZ | photo by Steven Williams

Street Art by Perrier

Last month I was hanging out in London for 2 weeks and on the way home to San Diego I had a two hour layover in New York which turned into a week long stay. For those of you that don't know, since 2008, I've been working with a company called 3Dar which is a video/post-production/animation studio based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Our good friends/long time client Mirrorball was collaborating with Perrier on a street art campaign and brought us in to help with some video production to showcase the art and to create some interactive displays at some of the events they were doing in Toronto and NYC. Check out the some of what we were doing:

Nine murals were hand-painted by Colossal Media for the Perrier Limited Street Art collaboration. The paintings were inspired by Sasu, Kobra and JonOne's designs for Perrier. Video produced by 3Dar/Mirrorball.

If you thought mid-September was an uneventful time of the year, think again — today we reveal Perrier’s Limited Edition Street Art Collection and you are front and center for the big moment. This new creation is a groundbreaking collaboration between three global street artists: Sasu, JonOne and Kobra, who hail from Tokyo, Paris and São Paulo respectively. All three world-renowned artists were selected to complete one unique task — to redesign, refresh and renew the iconic look of the Perrier bottle in their very own way.

Defining a new era in Perrier packaging, this Street Art Collection brings one of the most popular contemporary art movements to the palm of your hand. Previously disregarded for its illicit and underground nature, street art has grown to be one of the most recognizable and democratized art forms. The bold, colorful and youthful packaging continues to emphasize Perrier’s daring and innovative nature.
Let the video take you on a special journey from the beautiful Perrier bottle to the innovative street art masterpiece it becomes today.

NIKON Announces Their Brand New Camera the D810

Enjoy spectacular results even on the most challenging assignments. The D810 delivers incomparable image quality with its 36.3 Megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor and EXPEED 4-image processor. 51-point AF with Group-area AF mode allows faster subject acquisition and highly accurate focusing, while extendable ISO coverage from 32 all the way up to ISO 51200 gives unparalleled low light performance. Top it off with Full HD 1080/60p video recording for the ultimate in professional, broadcast quality results.

Through The Glass with Alyssa Julya Smith

A few selections from a shoot I did with Alyssa Julya Smith last year for Arsenic Magazine.

Sunset in Santa Monica

Here's random sunset shot from the other day when I was hanging out in Santa Monica.

From the Archives - Alyssa Smith

Alyssa Smith and I met last summer on a shoot we were doing for Arsenic Magazine. We got together a few months later at her place in Los Angeles and shot some stuff for fun, here's one of the images from that day in September 2013.

GorillaPod by Joby

Awhile back LowePro and Joby sent me some really awesome bags and accessories. The bags I use all the time, but up until this point I never had an opportunity to put the GorillaPod Focus to use. Last weekend I was working on a photography/video project with an ammo company called Battle Born Munitions outside of Reno, NV. The first day I shot some footage inside their warehouse and the following day we went off the grid to capture footage of their ammo in action. While we were out there I used a 3 camera setup which consisted of two Nikon D7000s and one GoPro Hero3 Silver Edition. I had the GoPro on a tripod near a steel target about 250 yards away from where we were shooting and I had both of the Nikons focusing on the shooters. The GorillaPod came in handy because I was able to set it up really low to the ground to capture some cool video footage from a lower vantage point and on top of that my steady cam rig broke and the GorillaPod actually worked as a good substitute. I think they should create some accessories to transform the GorillaPod into a highly portable on the go steady cam rig. Anyway, here's a shot of the GorillaPod on the ground in front of the firing line, it was shot with my iPhone so it's not the greatest of shots, but you can see how the GorillaPod was placed and used.

Sneaking A Peek at Chanon

Model: Chanon Rosefelt-Finley
Photographer: Steven Williams
Client: Arsenic Magazine
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Chanon Finley

Model: Chanon Rosefelt-Finley
Photographer: Steven Williams
Client: Arsenic Magazine
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Arsenic Magazine

I finally have a bit of free time to go through images from my most recent photo shoot with Arsenic Magazine which took place on January 2, 2014 in Los Angeles, CA. I'll post more shots later.

Crescent Moon Over California

I was just going through some old photos that I had taken during a camping trip two summers ago with my buddy Jozias and stumbled upon this shot which I took while driving around Big Bear. We were camping up in the San Gorgonio Wilderness for a few days and then spent a a night or two in Big Bear.

Sneak Peek . . .

Here's a random selection from the shoot I did with Arsenic Magazine yesterday:

Traveling with Lowepro

Awhile back Lowepro sent me some gear and one of the items they sent was a Lowepro Nova Sport 35L AW. I'm currently in San Diego loading up my Nova Sport now for a shoot tomorrow in LA. I'll be doing some furniture shots for Furniture Porn followed up by some fashion work with models Kate Compton, Danielle Ruiz and Mina Doll for Arsenic Magazine. I've been out of town a lot over the past few months and this bag just got back from traveling with me through California, Peru, Chile and Argentina and really made traveling with camera gear much easier. I fly a lot and definitely recommend this bag to anyone else that travels with camera gear. The built in rain cover really came in handy while I was rolling my suitcase (with the Nova Sport secured to the top) through the streets of Buenos Aires. On the way down to Buenos Aires from Los Angeles I was able to fit my Nikon D7000 + 4 Nikon lenses (12-24mm f/4 G | 35mm f/1.8G | 50mm f/1.8G | 55-200mm), a Canon 6D + 3 Sigma lenses (18-35mm f/1.8 | 50mm f/1.4 | 50-150mm f/2.8), Nikon SB-600 Speedlight, a Macbook Air and a bunch of filters and accessories.

Photographer Spotlight - Jorge Aragon

I've been hanging out in Argentina for about 2 weeks now and even though this is my fifth time here I've been discovering and experiencing a lot of new things that I hadn't in previous trips. Each time I come here I stay for a few weeks to a month. During this particular trip I've been exploring the photography and fashion elements of this amazing city. So far since I've been here I've befriended some amazing photographers, producers and stylists and have had the good fortune of meeting and hanging out with Jorge Aragon. Jorge is a Colombian born, Argentina based photographer that I've been following for quite awhile and have been friends with on Facebook for a year or two. Prior to this trip we had never met in person, but yesterday we were finally able to get together and he's been introducing me to a number of great contacts in the industry here, I hope to repay the gesture next time he's in LA. He and the models have all been so cool and receptive and I really appreciate the kindness and willingness to help me get acquainted with the key players in the Buenos Aires photography and fashion scene. Jorge is a very versatile shooting everything from products to high fashion. I find his work inspiring and he's definitely one of my favorite photographers in Buenos Aires which is why I want to include him in my Photographer Spotlight series.

Jorge Aragon
www.jorgearagonphoto.com
www.facebook.com/JorgeAragonPhoto

JORGE ARAGON PHOTO™ / All Rights Reserved ® 2000-2014

A Deeper Kind of Sex

Back in August of this year I was up in Venice Beach working on a project with Arsenic Magazine which they've titled "A Deeper Kind of Sex." I was shooting stills for the project while Director/Writer Scott Burns (Bourne Ultimatum, Contagion, The Informant) directed the video. The video features models Tatiana Dietemen, Alyssa Smith, and Shay Maria.

From the original post on the Arsenic Magazine site:

The objectification of women: can't live with it, and can't sell billions of dollars of material items without it. It has warped a generation of men in all sorts of diabolical ways and has turned young women against food, each other and themselves. And yet here we are, confronted daily with our own appetites for youth and beauty and sex with access to an infinite internet receding into the darkest and most fascinating places. Sam Shepherd once said,

"In the middle of a contradiction, that's where you want to be."

This is where these images find all of us. - Scott Z. Burns

A Day Wandering In Tijuana

Yesterday morning I packed my Nikon and Custom SLR gear into my Lowepro Slingshot and headed across the border into Tijuana where I met up with my friend and fellow photographer Hugo. I've been to TJ numerous times, but never really got to explore the city beyond places that are within walking distance of the border. So yesterday Hugo drove me around to some places that I probably would have never seen. We stopped by some fish markets, a farmers market, drove up to a nice neighborhood that had a great vantage point with a view of San Diego and Coronado from a Mexican perspective, and finished the day at a small park. While in Mexico I did do something somewhat touristy which I never do when I travel anywhere else, I had a Caesar Salad at the restaurant where it was invented . . . it was good.

While south of the border I was able to snap a few quick promo shots for my favorite sunglass brand, William Painter.

Random Photo From Palomar Mountain

Here's a random photo I took earlier this year when I went up to Palomar Mountain with a friend of mine.

William Painter Spotted Again

A pair of William Painter sunglasses were spotted on model Pamela Moses while shooting near the USC campus with photographer Steven Williams for Arsenic Magazine.