Behind the scenes and exclusive work during LA tour w/ Alyssa Marie!

Good evening, Steemit! I'm in the throes of an exhausting tour through Los Angeles and Palm Springs. This trip came up on me fast. I decided against NOIR I LA this fall. I love NOIR, but it consumes almost five months of my life from pre-production, booking and scheduling logistics through the actual shoots themselves, and then the months of editing that follows. "Dark Pinup", my upcoming book with @wcpublishing, is my focus through the rest of the year and with only so many resources [...and time] at my disposal, NOIR got the cut. Still, however, I've got bills to pay and I decided on one last trip to the west coast this year and here I am.

I'm already through 2/3's of the shoots during this LA trip. Wonderful clients and people, as always. I had a chance to reconnect with my original lingerie sponsor, What Katie Did, at their new location on Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank. I pulled a few looks for a shoot I've been really excited for. In some ways, this is a make-up [...as in, let's try this again, not cosmetics] shoot with Anastasia Beverly Hills make-up artist [...yes, cosmetics this time], Alyssa Marie. Alyssa has become this world famous cosmetics icon over the last few years with over 500K followers on her Instagram account! The last time we shot together was 2015. It was rushed, our original location fell through and although we managed to get a few keepers, it wasn't what I'd consider "my best".

This was such a powerful collaboration and I do feel like it balances the universe since our previous shoot didn't meet it's full potential. Hair was done by my brilliant friend, Lizette Garza of Silver Screen Vanity, and lingerie courtesy of What Katie Did.

I have two more shoots tomorrow in LA before making my way to Palm Springs to spend a relaxing couple of days with my friends Berrit and @danielkesslerart. That is going to be much needed recovery time after the toll this week has taken on me [...I'm also sick, but there are no sick days for freelancers]. I come back to LA on September 1st and I'll be having lunch with my friend @thomaskuntzart and shooting a few portraits for the forward of "Dark Pinup", which he is writing.

Thanks so much for reading. I post daily. For more photography, art, illustration and the stories behind the work, follow me here at @kommienezuspadt!