Dark pinup at the Umbrella Company!

It’s almost midnight and I’m sitting down to make a post before bed. It was a balls out Steemit day, guys. Start to finish, 12 hours of Steemit related work! Earlier this week I announced a Minneapolis Steemit-centric introduction film project in my blog “Steemit short film project this Friday, June 23rd open to ANYONE in Minneapolis!”. Today was the day and holy shit did we have a turn out! I shot introduction footage of @mada, @greatdabu, @lovejoy, @kooks88, @millsguthrie, @vermillionfox, @elderfinancial, @boxcar, @moony, @jezebel, @denno, @tarotbyfergus and myself! We even did a seriously gangster slow walk video I’ll be showing in a few days. The entire day was shot on an iPhone 7 Plus using an Osmo mobile gimbal bought entirely with STEEM rewards! I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

Tonight’s [late] post comes from a recent shoot I had in LA. I was working with Doris Mayday and the usual hair and make-up team. We needed a cool place to shoot and that’s always the hardest part of Los Angeles. Doris’ fiancée is a brilliant interior and set designer and had been working on readying a new bar in Hollywood for opening. It’s called Melrose Umbrella Company, and had a rich history in the facilities beginnings as an actual umbrella company. They kept much of the original wood and architecture and modified the manufacturing space in to an open bar area. For me, it couldn’t have been any better. It completely fit my style and esthetic.

At this point, I’d been working with Doris for years. We’d gotten incredibly use to our process of shooting and collaborating. She took the lead at times, finding unique poses as I’d direct her the rest of the way in to something just slightly further than her original idea. There was no end to the possibilities of photos we could make with the venue’s surroundings. I was able to shoot through old, original glass does and wrap Doris up in the original wooden chairs that were stacked high against the wall. I live for these kind of locations and to shoot it with a model as professional and talented as Doris was a true pleasure.

We wrapped in under two hours with several lingerie looks courtesy of What Katie Did who has sponsored my shoots since the first session I did with Doris in Los Angeles. Melrose Umbrella Company was an unbelievable place to shoot and a year later, I’d return to shoot the “Breathtakingly Beautiful” look book for Pinup Girl Clothing at the same location. I hope you enjoyed the editorial.

For more photography, art, illustration and thoughts on life in general, be sure to follow me here @kommienezuspadt!