#FlashbackFriday: Let It Bleed

The SF Bay Guardian's Music + Food issue was the first SFBG cover shoot I had fully conceptualized, planned, directed and styled after the transition period with former art director Mirissa Neff had ended, and I'm still really proud of it.

The shoot itself was chaotic yet creative, with photographer Matthew Reamer and myself troubleshooting late at night, in real time at his Mission studio to make sure we had the right setup with the right props to best reflect a modern, San Francisco-focused version of the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed album cover...

It was definitely my first time running and directing a shoot, and I had a lot to learn. Looking back now, I would have kicked myself for not having sketched out how I wanted everything to look —even if we in the moment decided to stray from the plan, as some of the best work often does.

But the creative energy and on-the-spot design and construction was so inspiring, and made me realize exactly how much I was going to love this new job.

Walking home after the shoot, after having selected the final photos that would be on the cover and also printed inside with the article, slice of late-night pizza in hand, is still the moment that epitomizes satisfaction for me.

(But yes, the pizza was a leftover prop from the shoot... and yes, I guess that's at least a little bit gross.)

Christmas in February

This past December, my Gap Inc. team created a series of stories highlighting employees and their thoughtful gifting tips as a part of the company's #LoveWhatYouGive holiday campaign.

As a part of the campaign, we created a series of laydowns — highlighting each story's theme and chosen gifts — to be used on Gap Inc. social media channels and at the bottom of each blog post.

It was important for us to include props, which gave the product laydowns a lived-in, real-life feel, and helped evoke the personality and story of the gifters and their chosen recipients. I collected holiday decorations, chopped off a few branches from my Christmas tree, and we otherwise raided our homes for trinkets — including a stuffed llama I was gifting my 1-year-old niece — that could be included in the scenes.

While we're currently working on putting together a more elevated studio space, we approached this holiday laydown project DIY-style, clearing out the video editing bay and using a thick, clean piece of white foam core as a backdrop. Post-production, I used Photoshop to color-correct the warm lighting and remove the tripod legs.

Check us hamming it up behind the scenes. I blame the small room, hot lights, and excessive amount of sugar. (That holiday candy wasn't going to eat itself.)

Read all of the #LoveWhatYouGive stories on Gap Inc.'s aDressed blog, including one I wrote about Banana Republic marketing manager Sarah Quon and her strategy for last-minute gifting.

My virtual reality is made from cardboard

For the SF Bay Guardian's annual Sex Issue, we decided to base our 2014 cover shoot on our cybersex story, and go with a TRON-esque setup (inspired by Playboy's 2010 tribute) with Virtual Reality headsets, à la Oculus Rift.

We immediately found two perfect models: dominatrixes Maitresse Madeline and Lorelei Lei at Kink.com, which kindly allowed us to stage the photo shoot in Kink's Battlestar Galactica space at the San Francisco Armory. (Sidenote: Kink has the most amazing prop closet I've ever seen!)

And photographer Matthew Reamer took care of the blue and red lighting to perfection.

But I ran into problems finding an Oculus Rift VR headset that would be available during our scheduled photo shoot. After looking at a few VR spoofs online, I decided to make my own with cardboard, goggles, and spray paint:

I think my fake headsets translated pretty well in the final cover:

Guardian photo of Maitresse Madeline (top) and Lorelei Lee by Matthew Reamer

Here's a behind-the-scenes shot from the photo shoot, courtesy of Matthew Reamer:

From left: Maitresse Madeline, Eleanor Bleier, Matthew Reamer, Pony Gold, Lorelei Lee, Brooke Ginnard

Pumping iron + smoking weed

Things I learned on the photo shoot for the SF Bay Guardian's Pot Olympics cover:

1. The secret to staying young is exercising every day (especially skiing in the winter and hiking and/or playing volleyball in the summer) and smoking weed.

2. With the right equipment, my apartment (specifically the central space connecting my kitchen, living room and bedroom) can be transformed into a photo studio.

3. If you put your energy into doing the things that you love, everything will be OK.

4. Everyone has a cannabis card.

5. My neighbors do not care if the hallway smells like weed for an entire day.

6. Michael Keeney is a fantastic photographer. (But I already knew that.)

7. Medium is a hell of a show.

Guardian photo of Brad Olsen by Michael Keeney

Read the story here; flip through the full issue here.

Nude beaches

For the SF Bay Guardian's 40th annual Nude Beaches issue, I decided to transform an iconic nude image — Michelangelo's David — into a nude beachgoing bro.

I used Photoshop to transform the statue into a sand sculpture, and added modern neon props and colorful light leaks resembling an Instagram filter for a cover that's both a humorous allusion to an iconic work of art, and a parody on hipster culture.

I had SO MUCH FUN transforming iconic works of art in Photoshop ... despite the fact that putting a beer can in David's hand may be one of the most despicable things I've ever done.

WARNING: Past Nude Beaches cover photos, displayed at the end of this post, contain full-frontal nudity and are not safe for work.

Below are the cover photos from the past two years, both photographed by Matthew Reamer. (WARNING: NSFW!)

For the 2013 issue, I decided to experiment with nude typography. I gathered a group of friends (and friends of friends) to spell out the word "NUDE" on San Francisco's Baker Beach (the nude-friendly end, obviously), then used Photoshop to superimpose "BEACHES" on the sand below them.

The 2012 issue featured a photo of three people hanging out (literally) (sorry) at Baker Beach. It was the first time in the Guardian's history we were allowed to feature a penis on the cover, and we took full advantage. The cover photo attracted attention from Jezebel, whose online commenters also applauded us for featuring beautiful, real bodies.

Fun fact: The 2012 nude beaches shoot was the first photo shoot I ever coordinated for the SF Bay Guardian.

The garage door

The Garage Door Sessions is a project by photographer Matthew Reamer, who will occasionally roll up the garage door of his Mission district studio and take beautiful portraits of passersby. (You can find it on tumblr here.)

I was lucky enough to have my portrait taken in front of the garage door when I visited the studio late last year for the SF Bay Guardian's Year in Music cover shoot. I recently discovered the photo on his website ... and put it on my website.

Stay gold

Here's a video I filmed while on-set at photoshoots for two of the 10 Goldies winners — Malic Amalya (film) and Brontez Purnell (performance/music).

The photoshoots were at Amalya's and Purnell's Oakland and San Francisco apartments, respecitively, and were photographed by Goldies vets Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover.

Purnell lent me a song from his band, The Younger Lovers, to use with the footage. Enjoy!

Behind the scenes on two photo shoots for the SF Bay Guardian's 25th annual Guardian Outstanding Local Discovery arts awards. Winners Malic Amalya (film) and Brontez Purnell (performance/music) are featured in the video, with photographers Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover, who have been photographing Goldies winners for the past 18 years. Music is from Brontez's band, The Younger Lovers. The featured song is "Get Up, Get Up."

And here are the final portraits ...

Photo of Malic Amalya by Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover

Photo of Brontez Purnell by Saul Bromberger and Sandra Hoover

MicahTron photoshoot

Finally getting around to posting a behind-the-scenes video I filmed while on-set for the SF Bay Guardian's December Year in Music cover shoot, featuring stunning rapper MicahTron.

Shot at photographer Matthew Reamer's Mission studio, the footage features MicahTron, Reamer, dancers/club kids Saturn Jones and Jocquese Whitfield, and fashion designer Jim Zormeir — who created the white, warrior-like accessories to MicahTron's look with a handcrafted mold and lots of talent.

And here's the finished product ...

From left: Saturn Jones, MicahTron, Jocquese Whitfield. Photo by Matthew Reamer