Model: Alexia Rae Castillo | @alexiaraecastillo
Shot for Arsenic
Whip It Good
An interesting day at the salon.
Models: Chanon Finley & Ana Chentsova
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.
An Afternoon with Cynthia
From the Archives - Eufrat
Eufrat by Steven Williams
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.
Where Is My Mind?
Here's a video I threw together with footage I took using my GoPro Hero 3+ last week while snorkeling in La Jolla, CA.
Snorkeling in La Jolla Cove while messing around with a GoPro
My Model Wish List Collection | August 2013 - July 2014
Here's a collection of models on My Model Wish List since August of last year. I've worked with a few of them before and hope to work the the rest of them at some point.
10 Habits Of People Who Follow Their Dreams
Mount Laguna, CA | photo by Dmitry Word
1. They see challenges as opportunities
Most people interpret fears as obstacles and tend to run away from them. People who live their purpose successfully have developed the capacity to see fear as a sign of what they really need to go for and put all their courage and energy into it.
2. They see life as a game.
Having this vision of life opens up space for playfulness and creativity instead of limitation. This also cultivates qualities of resilience, problem solving and confidence that helps them take risks to get to the next big place.
3. Living the life they want is the only option.
They’re so committed to making their dreams a reality that they banish any possibility of a backup plan whatsoever from their mind. They don’t think things like, “If it doesn’t work, I’ll just go get a job.”
4. They always speak their truth.
They’re able to speak it because they make a conscious effort to connect to their truest desires, their inner voice, and their spirituality without fear of judgment. This connection is typically fostered through meditation, journaling, being mentored and being surrounded by like minded-people.
Through The Glass with Alyssa Julya Smith
A few selections from a shoot I did with Alyssa Julya Smith last year for Arsenic Magazine.
10 Things That The People Who Love Their Lives Are Doing Differently
This is a great article my sister posted on Facebook. It's written by Paul Hudson for elitedaily.com, but upon reading it, it sounds exactly like what I tell people when they ask me how I live my life.
Surprise, surprise… happy people live their lives differently. They don’t have different lives. They just do a better job at living them than those who are unhappy.
Happiness is the result of subjective interpretation of perception. Of course, what we perceive isn’t always done so by choice — life does throw things our way.
However, most of the time, we find ourselves in the situations we are in because of actions we took and decisions we made. It’s the way that you live your life that largely decides whether or not you will live happily.
They don’t bother trying to make others like them — mainly because they don’t care if they’re liked.
They like themselves and they are the only people they ever answer to. You could like them. You could hate them. You could pay them no mind whatsoever — doesn’t make a difference to them.
They do what they do because they decided to do it. They aren’t trying to gain your approval or acceptance. They don’t want to be part of your team — they’re a team of their own. They live their lives the way they see fit and if you like them for it, great. If not… then so be it.
They do things because they want to do them, not because they believe they have to do them.
They don’t believe they have to do anything. Other than pay taxes and die of course — everything else is a decision followed by deliberate action. If they are doing something, going somewhere, participating in something, it’s because that is exactly what it is that they want to be doing.
No one coerced them or tricked them into doing it because they value their opinion above everyone else’s. They do what they believe is right and don’t bother to ask for permission — they just do it.
They love their friends but don’t rely on them.
Friends are tricky because they aren’t really yours, are they? You don’t own them. They are their own people who have their own wants and needs — people who will always put themselves ahead of you and your goals. Friends are great to have, but relying on them too heavily will leave you disappointed.
Those who live happy lives have very close friends, but they keep their independence in order to avoid those moments. It’s the lack of independence and over-reliance that often comes to ruin friendships — all relationships for that matter.
When you ask them what they do, they don’t give you a job title.
They tell you about the things they are doing with their lives — the places they have visited and are planning on visiting. The projects they are starting or part of. The problems they are working towards solving and the communities they are working with to get those problems solved.
When you ask them what they do, they respond with what they do in their lives, not what work they do in order to pay for the lives they want to one day be living. The real trick is that these individuals know better than to wait to live the lives they want to live. You live life whether you accept or ignore the fact, how you live it in the moment determines how happy you are.
When you ask them where they live, they say, “At the moment…”
Happy people tend to move around a bit. Maybe it’s because traveling does the soul good. Maybe it’s because the stagnancy of staying in one place their whole lives bores them.
Maybe it’s because they love meeting new people and having new experiences. Maybe it’s because they haven’t found the right place to settle down just yet. You see, these individuals see the world as their home — no single country or city. If you ask them where they live, then they’d answer “earth” if they wouldn’t come off sounding highfalutin.
They have their own philosophies, their own religion they created and live by.
You don’t need a book to tell you how you ought to live your life. You can live your life by whatever philosophy you wish — as long as you found truths that satisfy you. They have a strong grasp of right and wrong and are their own judges.
They embrace their impermanence.
They know they’re only mortal — having this knowledge and accepting it fuels their every step. You will do. Why? Because it is inevitable. There is no way of avoiding it, only dealing with the fact.
The happiest of people don’t fear death. They don’t do their best to avoid it. They see it as the inevitability that it is in and live their lives by their terms. They may not be able to control death, but they know they sure as hell can control their own personal lives.
They see the world as their playhouse and their mind as the conductor.
They don’t believe there is a single way that the world is — a single reality that exists. Instead, they believe themselves to be the originators of their reality.
They believe they have full control over how they interpret what they perceive. They see the world the way they choose to see it because they understand the power such a skill has. We all live in a reality of our own construction. Some of us just construct our realities better than others.
They live in the moment, but dream in the future.
Happy people have hopes, dreams and goals. They have wants and aspirations, but they don’t allow themselves to get caught up and lost in them. There isn’t so much a time and place for dreaming as there is a maximum allotted amount recommended.
You can’t live life doing nothing more than looking towards the future because you’ll miss the only time that things actually matter or exist: the present. The present, the immediate moment is the only moment that you can actually live in. The rest is only an illusion.
They don’t bother changing others, but instead learn how to deal with them appropriately.
Devoting your energy to changing other people is a waste of it. People do change, but they only do so on their own accord. They have to decide to change themselves and that only happens in time — you can’t push and force because it doesn’t work.
On the contrary, it often does the opposite of what is intended. Instead of wasting time and energy trying to do the impossible, why not do the next best thing? Learn to deal with people as they are in order to get the result you desire. If you can’t change them, then guide them to do as you wish. Otherwise, let them go.
Shooting with Cynthia Chavez
Model: Cynthia Chavez | instagram.com/missbolivia20 | twitter.com/MissChavez20
Photographer: Steven Williams | instagram | twitter | facebook | tumblr
Sunset in Santa Monica
Here's random sunset shot from the other day when I was hanging out in Santa Monica.
New Projects with Gabriella
I was in LA the past two weekends to meet up with my good friend Gabriella who was visiting from Hungary. She and I have known each other for a few years and try to meet up whenever she's in LA. We've shot together a few times in the past and from our first meeting we've thrown around the idea of doing some sort of road trip project together in Europe. Recently I've been talking to a friend of mine at a production house based in Silverlake and we've been trying to develop this idea a bit more. This past Friday the three of us were able to meet while Gaby was in town and he gave us a homework assignment which was for us to shoot a bit of random content of ourselves that can be used to help put the pitch together. Since we didn't have a whole lot of time to do something cool before Gaby left town we decided to throw a GoPro in the car while driving around LA to show us interacting with one another. I'll shoot some more content of myself over the next month that will show some behind the scenes stuff at a photo shoot, content of an ammo project in Nevada and South Africa, and a wine project I'm working on up in Santa Barbara County. Gabriella will shoot a bit of content back home in Budapest and then we'll throw together a little 3 minute reel.
In West Hollywood on our way to Urth Caffé for some boba.
Wearing eyewear provided by our good friends at William Painter.
William Painter On Set w/Arsenic Magazine
I was able to snap a few shots with the models sporting the very awesome William Painter's during yesterday's shoot for Arsenic Magazine.
Models: Jesse Golden & Cynthia Chavez
Behind the Scenes - "Spring Fling" for Arsenic Magazine
I was in LA yesterday taking photos for Arsenic Magazine's "Spring Fling" photo shoot. This shoot was more fun than usual because my good friend/photographer Janet Vuong was hanging out on set shooting some behind the scenes stuff. She also let me borrow her Nikon D800 and play around with some of her lenses as well. I'm definitely feeling the need to upgrade soon. Here are some of the behind the scenes shots, I was able to snap a few of Janet as well.
Models: Jesse Golden & Cynthia Chavez
MUA: Daniela Grasso | www.danielamgrasso.com
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.
Chanon Finley
Model: Chanon Rosefelt-Finley
Photographer: Steven Williams
Client: Arsenic Magazine
Location: Los Angeles, CA
