susan sabo photography

hey, you! yeah, you there...the one with the mom!

While I'm working on my brand spanking new site/blog, I've got a Mother's Day offer to share. Yeah, you know your mom loves photos of you, or you and her, or, maybe her and her dog :)

From now until June 30, I'm offering a 1-hour portrait session for only $150. Way better than flowers...although flowers are really nice they do get that stinky smell when they're a few days old. I guarantee you that the pictures you get from a session with me will never start to smell.

Since Mother's Day is coming up soon, you can also get this for her as a gift certificate.

And don't worry, even though your mom really loves her dogs and/or cats, I'm sure she really loves you too, and will want you in at least a couple of shots.

you know it's going to be a great vacation when you can't wait to start taking pictures

Just got back from a week in New York, loved loved loved it. I stayed in Cold Spring, in the Hudson Valley, with my good friend Jen. we ventured into the city for one night, stayed at the most awesome Pod hotel, and did the tourist thing at Times Square.

Second best thing about this trip is that I left my pro camera gear behind and took only my Olympus point-and-shoot. What a liberating experience! I think that one big mistake I made when I started to load up on pro gear, and shoot for money, was to put away my point-and-shoot and stop making time for shooing for fun.

That's what the last week has been about; just shooting for fun and having a blast.

I <3 New York

 

Oh man, I've had the best time in New York staying with my friend, Jen. I leave for home tomorrow; it's been awesome here but I'm getting lonesome for the vatos and Mr. Susan and J. 

Preparation for this trip caused me a ridiculous amount of anxiety; my photographer friends know this dilemma: do I take my gear, or do I take my point-and-shoot? I've never gone anywhere without my gear, but I love to travel light. After packing and unpacking probably 5 or 6 times, I finally decided to go with the point-and-shoot (I use an Olympus Tough 8000, which is waterproof, shockproof and delivers 12 megapixels of awesomeness). 

Oh yes, you all said I'd regret it. "You'll be sorry!" you all told me, and ack! I stressed on the plane that I'd made a mistake. But I didn't. By being able to slip my camera into my jacket pocket, I could carry it everywhere and it completely freed me up to take tons of touristy (and more artistic) shots. loved.it. 

This is an iPhone shot, the last I took in Manhattan as I was checking our room at The Pod (omg, the best hotel in Manhattan and super reasonable!) for Things Accidentally Left Behind. :) 

Back in Los Angeles tomorrow; yay! 

Jump! Jump!

My dogs don't remember that song. They can be very unhip.     

Open "Audition"

Ahh, yes, a very catchy title. It's meant to be. Two years ago today, I started a photo project in my old studio called "Audition." I put a call out for performers to come to the studio to be photographed, with the only prep given them to wear their favorite outfit. They had no idea what they were coming for.

When they arrived at the studio, they were told to pick their favorite song from my iPod (which has over 5000 songs on it), and once they did, I played the song and asked them to dance. For me. While I photographed them.

Aside from being great fun, it was a really interesting project for me because I know that actors and performers are almost always asked to be someone other than themselves, especially when going out on an audition. I wanted to see how they would react to an audition to "be yourself," and I wanted to get photographs of it. A sort of social experiment, especially relevant to LA.

Everyone was a great sport and for the most part, completely cut loose once the music started.

The shot above is of me and a friend of mine who happened to drop by the studio during shooting. Yes, I made her dance, and yes, I photographed her :)

Seven of the original shots will be on display starting April 9 at the Melrose Place Cafe on Melrose Place in Los Angeles. I think it's fabulous that these unknown actors are finally going to get some great exposure being just themselves. Sort of ironic.

If you're in the area of La Cienega & Melrose Avenue, stop by, have a cup of coffee and take a look at the bravest people I've ever met. And I promise that their moves are better than mine.