Life Rolls On

My friend Ryan Demont is a wonderful musician and I was very honored when he chose me to shoot the images for his debut cd, Life Rolls On.
He's a gentle soul and his music and lyrics are so deep and thoughtful.
Love, not surprisingly, is the subject matter for most of his songs and you imagine that this young man must have had his heart broken a couple of times.......but with those good looks I'm sure he's been the reason a number of girls have listened to a sad song or two as well!
You can hear his music at myspace.com/ryan demont , there's even a music video to watch. And if you like what you hear he's playing Friday July 6th at The Mint in Los Angeles. See you there.

Most Eligible Bachelor

Q. What do you get the man who has everything?
A. His own fashion shoot in a magazine!

Tall and handsome, successful businessman Jeff certainly looked as though he could grace a page or two in GQ, so he was the perfect subject matter when The Beverly Hills Times recently decided to do a profile article about him.
The shoot began at his fantastic home in the hills just off Sunset ( same street as Paris...) with views and a walk-in closet to die for. No stylist necessary for this photoshoot, the man has impeccable taste!
Then it was time to play with some of the toy's Jeff has aquired......check out that helicopter. He mentioned that he thought it was romantic to pick a girl up for a first date in it!!! And he's the pilot.
But before you start emailing me for his address, ladies.......he also admitted that he has had something of a six-month expiration date with most of his romantic involvements. LOL. Oh well, seems as though he'd be fun while it lasted!

Cocktail Week

As a luxury lifestyle photographer I have the pleasure of participating in some
wonderfully decadent events, one of the most recent being Cocktail Week in my favorite city.....San Francisco.
Two dozen of the city's best bars participated in the seven-day affair which, along with the upcoming "Tales of the Cocktail", assists in the revitalisation of New Orleans' hospitality industry ( the cocktail museum is in N.O. after all...).
The event celebrated the rich cocktail tradition of San Francisco and highlighted the use of local ingredients with an emphasis on the organic. A number of the liquors used were also local: Square One vodka is made in Novato and the distillery for 209 gin, voted best new gin by Gourmet magazine, sits right on the Pacific Ocean at an old pier ( more on that later! ).
I had a lot of fun trying out most of the bars involved, along with The Liquid Muse, Natalie Bovis-Nelsen.
San Francisco's bartenders take their job very seriously ( no offense to LA's bartenders but c'mon guys.... most of you will freely admit that you'd rather be on set! ). Some of these bartenders even grow/dry/roast/ their own ingredients!
I think my favorite cocktail was made by Ronaldo Colli at Cortez...the Tore Margarita, with roasted jalapeno and tamarind puree. Yes, these guys do get creative.
The most notable name had to be The Classic Corpse Reviver, which I was told by H. Ehrmann, owner of Elixir, is created from an old hangover-cocktail recipe. Hair of the dog that bit you indeed!
Along with Cortez and Elixir I got to visit Rye, Jardiniere, Harry Denton's Starlight Room, and the wrap party location
Absinthe.
Yet the highlight of my tour was definitely the 209 Gin distillery. Who knew all of those tedious chemistry classes at my Hogwarts-esque high school would come in so handy!? What a location, surrounded by the turquoise blue of the ocean.
Technichal director Arne Hillesland gave us the grand tour, and showed us some of his secret ingredients. I felt as though I were in some ancient apothecary!
Maybe Los Angeles is too vast and spread-out as a city for cocktail week to be successful here. Perhaps it doesn't have the same drinking culture. I still think they should give it a shot ( pun intended! ).

Brycie & Colby

Sonoma in Springtime.
Early-morning mist still clinging to the mountaintops surrounding the perfect rows of vines.
A hawk gliding effortlessly overhead.
Arriving at the beautiful home of Bonney and Ewing Philbin for their daughter Brycie's marriage to Colby was almost like being transported to a different country ( France, to be exact! ).
Imposing Gothic gates led into a gentle, peaceful drive of rosemary hedges and olive trees which wound around the gardens and up to the house framed by lavendar hills. The smell alone was wonderful, and the words, " I could live here, I could live here, " kept repeating themselves like a mantra in my head!!
The chicken coop, lettuce patch and apple trees added a slightly Beatrix Potter edge for me, which may have been quite fitting since the bride and groom met at Oxford, Brycie having vowed not to date any Americans while she was there ( Colby is of course from the good old US of A ). Well, the groom's outfit was British at least! Colby wore a traditional morning suit, and Brycie a beautiful Caroline Herrara gown.
Thankfully, the food wasn't British! The fabulous Italian feast was served in the reception tent and as the sun went down lanterns and candles began to light the way, while the 12-piece band played into the night.
My tripping over a snake ( and thinking it must have simply been an electric cable..ha ha ) didn't have any ill effects ( on either of us...) and the wedding was a joy to shoot from start to finish.
It's great to see familiar faces at weddings, and I certainly saw a few here! Brycie's brother, Nick, married Susan last year in Colorado....and I had the honor of shooting their beautiful day since I was also the photographer for the wedding of Susan's brother, Brian the previous year in Manhattan! Confused yet?!
Hopefully, this family can find some more relatives for me to shoot ( with the camera, with the camera!! ), because they're certainly a pleasure to be with.