My photo shoot with Laura Ramsey is the kind of photo shoot that I aspire to have with every subject of mine. The location has a glorious 1930’s esthetic to it (this was shot in the immediate vicinity of the Canyon Country Store in Laurel Canyon at the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Kirkwood), the light was wonderful, with just the right amount of yellow to it, Ramsey was willing to do anything and everything that was asked of her, her publicist was genuinely helpful (!) and the results were artistic and beautiful. Rarely do all the stars align correctly like this and it is much appreciated when they do. • The funniest element of the shoot surrounds these photos (photo 1 and photo 2). I was shooting Ramsey in the middle of a street when a rogue gust of wind blew her hair back, off her face. Highlighted by the afternoon sun, the effect was electrifying. Unfortunately, I missed that shot as I was initially thinking that the wind would negatively impact the picture. When I realized the folly of that reasoning, I then quickly realized that, since I was shooting at the bottom of a valley, there was no natural source of wind that would enable me to get that shot of her in the future. While some indoor photo studios have large fans and other instruments to create this desired effect, we had to go guerilla style to get it here. I consulted with Ramsey’s hair and makeup guy, Jeff, to see if there was anything he could do to get her hair to look like that without wind. He thought about it for a moment, told me he’d be right back and disappeared into the Country Canyon Store. Three minutes later, he emerged with three old issues of Variety Magazine that he’d found and had sort of strapped together. He nodded at me and we soon were synched up: Jeff would fan Ramsey with the issues of Variety from just off camera and about a second later I’d shoot the wind blown results. I am constantly amazed by the fact that the very low-tech, no-budget ways of getting a shot almost always work as well as the extremely expensive methods. • Just an aside: it was Ramsey’s choice to forgo shoes, not mine.
