Los Angeles travel journal!

Oof! This one is taking some will power to sit down and write because I’m exhausted. Last night, @customnature and I slept at our hotel near LAX. He kept me up snoring with what sounded like sleep apnea, and he said the same about me. We both tried to pull ourselves together after a self inflicted night of awful sleep, then start our day. We made the 45 minutes drive across town to Woodland Hills to meet Jordu Schell. This was my brother’s reason for coming to LA. He commissioned Jordu for a creature sculpture in 2017 and, at last, its now in his possession.

From there, we made our way to Pasadena. I stay at a massive mansion in La Cañada that is the estate of Clark Gable. I’ve become friends with the owners and they allow me to stay and shoot for a ridiculously affordable rate. @customnature and I dropped off our bags then made our way to Saladang, my favorite Thai restaurant in LA. There we had lunch and talked about the notable memories from this trip. I texted @thomaskuntzart about getting together later that evening and after finishing our lunch, we returned to the Gables mansion for my only shoot of the day.

The model for this evening, arrived at the mansion and we immediately had chemistry as I explained to her my unique style of shooting with diegetic lighting. We ran down the street to an area where I saw flowering trees by the side of the road. I laid her down and set up a shot with contrasting colors. She took excellent direction and as we talked, we laughed at the fact that it was revealed we’re both Leo’s. We came back to the mansion and finished the last two looking in the study of the mansion. Easily my favorite room there.

When we finished shooting, I walked Roxanne back to her car and @customnature met me at my rental. We started the 45 minute drive back to Henri’s diner in Woodland Hills and met @thomaskuntzart for another diner session. This was one of the coolest parts of the trip for me. I’ve been friends with @thomaskuntzart for 7 years, but my brother was able to sit, laugh with him and even visit his workshop. As a fellow maker and engineer, the two of left connected on a level I can’t. Overall, a wonderful night. @customnature leaves in the morning for Pennsylvania, then I’m on to Vegas.