Monthly Archives: January 2013

Now if there has been any photo shoot that has been a long time in the making for me it is probably this one. I had met Rachel about 6-7 years ago through mutual friends. Over recent years I noticed she had done some modeling work wether it be for mainstream type of projects or for Primitive, but it was noticeable she wasn’t letting her good looks go to waste. I remember when I first had this notion of pursuing photography as a passion she was one of the first people I had hit up, for what ever reasons it just never came to fruition. Until recently, we had been keeping in touch and toying around with the idea of a shoot for awhile. And recently she just landed herself a cool vintage styled apartment which means lots of good natural lighting. Luckily for me she had a opening given her busy and demanding career so we finally had set up a day to shoot. This has probably been talked about between us for a good 3 or so years and I am glad it finally happened. It was a relaxed shoot just having fun and shooting the shit about life. Now here is the thing with photography and girls especially that in L.A. since there is a million of both and people are bound to shoot the same people or be shot by the same people. They way I try to look at it is like skating, do something different with the model that she doesn’t normally do. For Rachel she has done a lot of glamorous and beautiful looking sets, so I wanted to get the opposite. She answered the door in sweats and a tank top and I told her that outfit was perfect. And it is a bonus to me since I think girls dressed like this are just hot. Simplicity at it’s finest so enjoy!

Van Styles: What’s the age?

Rachel Metz: 22

VS: And the ethnicity?

RM: French, Spainish, Cherokee, Lebanese, Irish – or an easier description …a mut.

VS: Where were you born?

RM: Ventura,CA

VS: And where are you currently residing?

RM:West Hollywood

VS: Likes?

RM: Boxing, interior design, flea markets, tequila, music.

VS: Dislikes?

RM: The color pink

VS: What do you want to be when you grow up?

RM: CEO of my own company and to be one of the most powerful/respected business women in the game.

VS: Current employment?

RM: I work for a luxury brand and spirit.

VS: What are some of your influences?

RM: My family

VS: Have any favorite foods?

RM: Good Italian or dirty hole in the wall Mexican

VS: What is your favorite place traveled?

RM: New York so far but I have a million other places I need to get to – soon enough that answer will change

VS: And the llace you want to visit before you die?

RM: Paris (I know it sounds cliché)

VS: Do you have any favorite type of music?

RM: Love it all, can’t pin it down

Follow Rachel on instagram

Last week I was working on a video project for 3 days straight to meet a deadline. Coming from a videography background and moving  more into photography I noticed video work is very time consuming. To sit there in real time and edit play back edit play back etc. you get the picture. By day 2 I was driving myself nuts, I mean 10 plus hours sitting in a chair staring at a screen was a litte much for me so I needed to take a break and go outside to the world to see what was going in with my own eyes, not on a screen. I decided to head down to the P-Rod park in Pacoima, it has been around for 4 or 5 years now I think and is my usual spot to go to for a quick session. That day I just wanted to cruise over see what was happening and maybe shoot some flicks. So here are some pictures I got that day and it was also a reminder don’t over work yourself… remember the most important deadline in life is your happiness.

A good session was going on that day.

Focused

Snapped a picture of little man’s first ollie down the gap.

Tweaked f/s nose slide

Somethings never change….. like the excitement of a board break.

Sanctuary

This is Louie I have seen him at this park a few times usually on his own just skating away enjoying the ride…..

….. little does he know seeing him out there reminds of what skating is all about. Thank you for that Louie and keep doing your thing.

So this update of Test Shot has been sometime in the making. For those of you who are not aware I had a couple instagram accounts prior to my current one,but was deleted for suggestive photos. Some of the people who follow me had been doing so since the beginning, one of them was Drea. I think she has a unique look so much so that I had been following her for awhile after noticing she was consistently “liking” my pics. During this time I had reached out to her with the suggestion that we should shoot if she was interested. To my surprise she had replied back agreeing but now the tough part…. scheduling. We had attempted a few times to link up but they had fallen through. Luckily for me it is a new year with new beginnings and one of them being that I finally got to shoot with her and turns out she is cool as hell. To sum it up, take the personality of a funny/cool guy friend of yours and pack it into a beautiful girl with tats and that is Drea.

She drove up from Long Beach to the Valley to go take some flicks. I rented out a location in the hills for this shoot and I am glad I did, there was this huge open window we shot in front of with her wearing all black lingerie that off the bat my mind was already processing as black and white, figured this would be a good set to use for this update so enjoy!

Van Styles: Lets start with the age.

Drea: Deuce Deuce

VS: And the ethnicity?

D: Mexican/French/Chinese/American Indian

VS: Where were you born?

D:Long Beach, Ca

VS: Where do you currently reside?

D: LB<3

VS: Tell me about some of your likes?

D: I’m a gym-a-holic. Anything that has to do with fitness or sports. I also love cooking in the nude. Anyone need a chef? ; )

VS: How about the dislikes?

D: I live by the phrase “FUCK IT”. I love trying new things and ill try anything once, so I really dislike boring closed minded people. Bitch don’t kill my vibe!

VS: What do you want to be when you grow up?

D: I don’t want to grow up.

VS: Any influences?

D: Amelia Earhart.

VS: What is your favorite food?

D: PIZZA!!!

VS: What is your facorite place traveled?

D: So far…Portland Oregon

VS: Is there any place you want to visit before you die?

Paris

VS: What is your current employment?

D: I’m my own boss

VS: Do you have a favorite type of music?

D: I start my day and end my day with music. Anything from punk, classical, blues and rap to pop, r&b, reggae and beyond.

Follow Drea on instagram

With the weather L.A. has been having I figured I would share this video from a photo shoot with Lily LaBeau. We were shooting for my HUF Calendar project at the time and thought this might inspire some warmer thoughts.

p.s. I can’t wait for summer

This week I was pretty happy to see the release of my most recent collaborative project with legendary skate brand Venture Trucks. I was approached to do this a few months ago, and at the time I was shooting with Chelsie Farah which you might remember from my test shot segment we had done. Well during that day I figured since I had a good model with me might as well see what I can get, and we got some awesome shots. I sent them over to Bram who is the brand manager for Venture that night and he liked what we came up with. A couple weeks later some mock up’s of the t’s were made and I was stoked, for me I still to this day trip out on being able to work with such amazing and cool brands. But to do something with such a iconic brand was just so nostalgic being that the very first complete I had bought when I decided I wanted to start skating at 12 years old (back in ’92) had…. you guessed it Venture Trucks. I have always respected the brand not only for their design but for the quality of products they put out. Backing what a company stands for and their product I think is a very important factor wether you are supporting it or working with them, and I am proud to say that I got to work with them as well as all of the brands I have done something with. This t-shirt is only available at your local skate shops that carry Venture so go get one while you can!

The other day was a fun one for me. Aside from having a good week already I got invited to go down to Girl Skateboards headquarters which also serves as home for Lakai Footwear. I had bumped into Scott Johnston a few times in the past month and he suggested I stop by sometime. Well I am not one to pass up a opportunity like this, so I made the trip from the valley down to Torrance. It had been sometime since I was last down there but always smiling faces were around every corner in that place. I got to hang with Scott and his dog Blue in his office and just shoot the shit about skating,sneakers,careers and life. I got to see some of their upcoming line which looks really good as expected.

And I just have to say I love the fact that there are brands like Lakai and Huf around, I came from a area where as skateboarders we never had a problem coming up with something for ourselves. We never had any official endorsement from Nike,Adidas,New Balance,Puma,Converse,etc. until recent times. So skaters did what they know best, they started their own skate shoes. Now there was a time when these shoes pretty much defined you as a person, I remember when if you wore Etnies (long before they were ever seen in journeys or tilly’s) or even Airwalks (I am talking ’93/’94 here) people were able to identify who you were. Even if you didn’t skate and say you were wearing these types of shoes you were most likely billed as a skater. Now it almost all seamless blends together, but there was something to be said about a culture having its own look. A look that in a sense we created and we developed…. and I believe that is what Lakai continues to uphold. When you think of how many core skate shoe brands there are owned and operated by skaters it is sad to say that these days there aren’t too many. And it brings a smile to my face and keeps that fire of being a 13 year old skater burning in my heart to see these guys doing so well and creating such good product. Not only from the design of their shoes but also to their team as well as ads,they nail it on all angles. So thanks Scott for the invite down it was definitely a pleasure.

Where the magic happens

Verbage

SJ

Blue

Kicks

Lil Lakai

Grabbing a photo of me for instagram…. I hate getting my picture taken.

Scott was on point but I think Blue was a little camera shy

Couldn’t leave without getting a photo of some classic Girl and Chocolate decks

This past weekend on a crisp and cold L.A. night (really though what the fuck is this weather?!?) I bundled up and headed out to Culver City. The event of the evening was the opening reception for Ed Templeton’s newest showing titled “Memory Foam”. If you either grew up skating in the late 80′s-90′s then you are very familiar with Ed’s work being not only the owner but the creative drive behind his company Toy Machine. If so then you are familiar with his art and his out look towards life with his photography especially if you are on of his 50k followers on instagram (probably would have been more but he has gotten deleted a couple of times). He had a great collection of photos from what appears to be a lot of time spent down in Huntington Beach mainly Main St. and the Pier. There was a amazing turn out of people as well as some familiar faces in the skateboard community as Ed sold some limited edition photo books as well as a meet and greet along with signing anything anyone brought in front of him. The show will be up for a month or so and I recommend that if you are in the area and looking to see some cool imagery then cruise on over. I posted the flier with the info at the bottom of this post.

What up Steve Hernandez

Kenny Anderson made it out

Former Toy Machine rider and now legendary skateboarder Jamie Thomas

There was a slide show showcasing some great pictures as well

Culver City resident Daniel Castillo was in attendance

As was Clint Peterson and Daniel Shimizu

Bo Mitchell of East Bound and Down fame came to check out the flicks

Another Toy Machine alumni Jerry Fowler

What up Huf

Performance artist or just some jump ropers?

Apparently Neil Patrick Harris is a fan of Ed’s work

Ed giving me some custom art in one of his photo books I purchased

What up Tempster

Fun times were going on outside as well

Well here we are a new year and a new test shot segment. This time I got to shoot with Anastasia Esper. I had met her years ago through my pal Asa Akira. We had been talking about the idea of shooting photos for a long time now but never got around to it. Maybe it is scheduling or maybe things just happen when they happen, if that makes any sense. She had just recently relocated to the Beverly Hills area in a cool vintage apartment. Since we actually had finally planned a shoot she suggested we shoot there after she settles in, well she got settled and I came and shot a few sets with her. Anastasia already has camera experience mainly in the form of acting. and some modeling so shooting with her was fun and easy. I picked this set due to the setting of being in her hallway of her building and the great lighting it had which made for some good pictures,take a look below for yourself to see.

Van Styles: Age?

Anastasia Esper: 25

VS: Ethnicity?

AE: Mexican, Lebanese, Spanish

VS: Where were you born?

AE: Michigan City, IN

VS:Where do you currently live?

AE: Los Angeles, CA

VS: What are some of your likes?

AE: All art forms of expression, human psychology, good food, and kisses.  Anything and everything that deepens my understanding of the world I live in.

VS: And dislikes?

AE: Routine and close-minded people.

VS: What are some of your  influences?

AE: My parents are my greatest influences.  To all of those around me that are courageous and ambitious:  I dig you.

VS: How about your favorite food?

Ae: This changes all the time, but currently tacos & cupcakes

VS: Current employment?

AE: Actress

VS: What do you want to be when you grow up?

AE: A memorable contribution.

VSL How about your favorite music?

AE: I refuse to choose!  I am a huge music-junkie.  Different artists and genres speak to different aspects of me that feel just as personal as the next.  I come from a long line of musicians in my family, so music has always been a major outlet.

VS: Favorite place traveled?

AE: Machu Picchu, Peru

VS: Place you want to visit before you die?

AE: The moon.

Follow Anastasia on twitter: @AnastasiaEsper and instagram: @stasiiii