Luis Aguirre Blog

the portfolio edit

aguirre — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:41:48 +0000

Sifting through 10s of thousands of images trying to narrow down the winners, is a time consuming task.

On December 28th of 2011 my greatest co-creation came to be: A 9 lb baby boy named, Jackson. I put down my camera and have been loving every minute of being a devoted father and watching little Jacks evolve and develop.

One thing I’ve learned from past experience is that I can never really put aside the need to create. I’ve been playing with some iphoneography which is fun and rewarding but my real camera’s been calling to me. I believe my hiatus is officially over. It’s time to book and shoot.

There’s a lot of changes and a lot of work ahead: A new portfolio, a site redesign and a new photographic direction.

I’m currently in the process of updating my portfolio for both print and web which is a process that’s challenging and can suck the life out of you. You have to overcome a lot of self doubt as you realize sifting through 10s of thousands of images that you’re suddenly not all too pleased with your body of work. The next killer photograph is always the next shoot away. But regardless of what I think, my family needs to eat and bad, good or great a photographer needs a portfolio to get work.

I hope you’ll stay tuned for things to come…

29 ways to stay creative

aguirre — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:36:01 +0000

Not sure about some of these ways, like drinking coffee… but a lot of them are spot on. It’s not enough to watch this. Get out there and live these.

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

john jay on creativity

aguirre — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 04:42:27 +0000

Your title or career should never define or limit who you are or what you do. And you should never allow it to. John Jay of big-boy ad agency Weiden + Kennedy gives you a lot to take away in these 2-minutes.

“Sometimes in our industry, our professionalism, we get [put into] silos…it should be all of our goals to break out of those silos. The more you work, the more people want to put you in a silo so they can define who you are by their terms. Our job is to never let anyone define who we are…”

inspiration: Steve Jobs

aguirre — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 05:56:34 +0000

I never met the man but somehow his passing is felt deeply. His Apple computers changed my life. My career literally exists because of the Mac. Mr. Job’s creation gave way to all the software I use on every single image I create. It opened creative doors, it inspired, and to this day his creations are the tools I use to make my art and my living.

He is a genius, an inspiration and an icon. My heart and gratitude goes out to you, Mr. Jobs and your family.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

inspiration: target’s branding

aguirre — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:10:35 +0000

I love this new Branding campaign for TARGET from Allan Peters, it’s simple, fun and effective. You can see the whole campaign on his site, cargocollective.com

recent work

aguirre — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:47:40 +0000

Studio shots from the MKC session.

365 cell phone camera project (day 123)

Luis Aguirre — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:43:53 +0000

The first question I get asked by aspiring photographers is, “What camera do you shoot with?” Aspiring and professional photographers are gear hounds and believe having the latest gigapixel camera will get them that winning shot.

I was drinking that Kool Aid for a while until I decided to experiment and see what was possible using only my cell phone camera (and cell phone applications) to shoot a picture a day for 1 full year (365 days). No computer and no photoshop.

The tool is only a means to an end and the best camera to shoot with is whatever camera you have on you at the time. Here’s a sample print of 9 images from the current set.

This print, along with two others available for purchase. Click for details

The complete set of images can be viewed here:

365 cell camera project

loaded chambers

Luis Aguirre — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:55:58 +0000

Had an opportunity to photograph a talented up-and-coming group who call themselves, Loaded Chambers. The first session shot in a dry lake bed went great with the exception of almost freezing to death and the band’s car getting stuck in the mud.

Band members Patrick, Josh and Arturo are busy putting together their first EP. I’ve had the good fortune of getting some rough cuts. You can take a listen here:

http://www.myspace.com/loadedchambersmusic

escape to wolf mountain

Luis Aguirre — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:55:20 +0000

I’d been itching for this shoot since Brianna (the model) contacted via email several months prior. She wanted a portrait of herself in her Native American attire alongside a real wolf. She sent me photos of the location: The Wolf Mountain Sanctuary, which was home to several wolves we could work with.

The Wolf Mountain Sanctuary (www.wolfmountain.com) is a short trip down an unpaved road off the 18 highway in Lucerne Valley, California. It was founded in 1976 by Native American, Tonya Littlewolf who is dedicated and devoted to the rescue of wolves in the wild and in captivity.

Although it was one of my more challenging shoots, everything fell into place. The biggest challenge was getting our wolf model, Wayland to cooperate as he was more interested in exploring the desert than sitting still to get his picture made.

Escape to Wolf Mountain Photography Shoot from Luis Aguirre on Vimeo.

The sanctuary is run purely on sponsorship and donations so if you’d like to donate, adopt, visit or become a member, make sure to check out their website at www.wolfmountain.com

I’d like to thank the staff of the sanctuary for their warm hospitality and all their invaluable help. This would not have been possible without it.

desert angel

Luis Aguirre — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:09:16 +0000

Driving into Hesperia the Sunday of this shoot, I was a little bit nervous. As my car kicked from side to side from heavy winds I couldn’t help worry that it might make this shoot too difficult. Luckily when we finally arrived at the Mirage Dry Lake Bed, the wind had subsided.

The lake bed is a popular recreation area for off roaders. ATVs, dirt bikes, go carts, trucks, etc. were racing by us in all directions. I’d felt like I’d stumbled onto the set of a Mad Max movie. All those vehicles turned the landscape into a giant dust bowl. By the time the shoot was done, me and my equipment were covered in a fine white veil of dust.

Angel, (the model) was a trooper. She braved the dust, the cold and my constant requests for her to jump or hold a pose. She stands no taller than 5’4″ but when she takes off, she literally flies. I was amazed at how much air she could get and how gracefully she looked doing it. She was amazing. Truly a desert angel.