One of the joys of living in Los Angeles is meeting talented local artists, one such as the lovely Olivia May pictured here. She enlisted my help in creating an image that fits in with her classic country music.  I immediately start thinking of wide open spaces, golden light, guitars, cowboy boots and a pretty summer dress blowing in the wind

On to the first item in that list.  There’s a Japanese Garden nearby, part of the water treatment plant in Van Nuys, that’s been used for photo and film shoots a number of times.  I recall that on the way to the garden there happens to be a wide open park area with cycling and jogging trails, that’s also filled with a lot of lush, unmanicured natural growth, which I think will provide a fitting environment very nicely.

The weather, normally very reliably sunny, had been acting weird the past two weeks.  Low clouds, fog, overcast skies and chilly temperatures all around.  It literally felt like I was back in the Bay Area.  Luckily come shooting day though, not a cloud was in the sky, and the temperature was just about perfect.  Hot, but not sweltering.  Check!

Olivia May arrived wearing this stunning dress that she bought at a secondhand store.  What a score!  That’s one more item checked off on my list.

We had plenty of time.  I took a lot of shots at various spots in the park, but in my mind I only had one image I absolutely must have. All I needed is to wait until the sun comes down to around 15-20 degrees above the horizon.  At the appropriate time, I got Olivia in position with her guitar.  I placed her in the scene with the sun around 45 degrees behind her to her right, and snapped the photo.

I think this image captures the mood of her songs rather nicely.