INK

I recently linked up with Rebel Ink and Urban Ink Magazine to shoot a few editorials for the upcoming issues.

The first shoot was with Lydia Tavera who was on the most recent season of the hit reality TV show Big Brother. The theme for the shoot was 1940's "Rosie the Riveter" and with the location, styling and hair/make-up, the shots came out amazing! Big thanks to my make-up artist iLene for the behind the scenes pics!

The next shoot was with former professional body builder and 5 time Iron Man Pro Flex Wheeler. The mag wanted the look to be "Cali inspired" so I decided to shoot at the world famous Venice Beach. Along with Flex and the two female models (Azza and Oshone) we got A LOT of attention from tourists and onlookers enjoying a Sunday at the beach. Big thanks to Christina Guerra who did an amazing job on the girls hair/make-up.

The last shoot was with skateboard legend and punk rock icon Duane Peters. I met up with Duane in the Glendale area then we hopped in his 1979 Chevy van and cruised around Los Angeles while stopping at some of my secret locations to shoot. Duane was one of the coolest people i've had the privilege to work with. He was very humble and had some good advice for staying positive and driven. We got some of my favorite portraits i've ever taken...hands down. Big thanks to Alex and Frankie for helping out!

I also pulled out the old 4x5 view camera during the shoot to snap some polaroids...

Stay tuned for behind the scenes videos and be on the look out for the upcoming issues of Urban Ink & Rebel Ink Magazine at a newsstand/bookstore near you!

Portrait: Kev-Nice

Portrait of Harlem born rapper Kev-Nice at his house in Marina Del Rey. We were hanging out just after his birthday so we set up the lights and did a make shift photo shoot in his living room.

Spader Clothing Australia

Check out some of my work on the recently updated website for Spader Clothing (Australia).

TWITTER PHOTO OF THE DAY

I have recently been posting a "photo of the day" on my Twitter Page of random photos from my collection...old and new. If you have a Twitter account you can follow me @tobycphoto

New Equipment/Test Shots

After years of renting lighting equipment on a shoot to shoot basis, I finally made the jump and bought my first legitimate professional lighting system! This is a huge step for my career and i'm excited to finally be able to experiment with different lighting techniques....whenever I want! The kit I got is the Dynalite MK10-2303. They are super portable, generate really nice/even light, and give me the ability to have studio power lighting on location or in the studio.

Here are some test shots I did over the weekend of my cousin Alex Ramos and his dog Tank. There were some really nice clouds out so we decided to seize the opportunity and did a make shift photo shoot in his backyard.