I met Haley Reinhart at Rock Night Out, an event my partners and I put on in Los Angeles every month showcasing up and coming bands that take you back to the roots of rock and roll { IF you haven’t heard of us make sure to check it and join us for a show sometime https://rocknightout.com/ }

Haley and I connected throughout the evening while jamming out to “Dirty Honey Band” and “Des Rocs” on the Moroccan Stage. We traded social media info and a few weeks later I had an opportunity come up that Haley would be perfect for. A magazine shoot I had spent weeks planning had gotten cancelled last minute so instead of calling it off altogether I reached out to Haley to see if she would want to fill in and do a fun day of creating; no pressures just art. Three days later, I had her in front of my camera with my favorite creative team on set ready to create this fire of a series.

Huge thanks to Lariss Raquel Photography for majority of these beautiful behind the scenes photos from our shoot!

GETTING READY

MAKEUP ARTIST: Hali McGowan and TALENT: Haley Reinhart — **MAKEUP ARTIST:** Hali McGowan and **TALENT**: Haley Reinhart

TALENT: Haley Reinhart MAKEUP ARTIST: Hali McGowan and BTS PHOTOGRAPHER: Larissa Raquel — **TALENT:** Haley Reinhart **MAKEUP ARTIST:** Hali McGowan and **BTS PHOTOGRAPHER:** Larissa Raquel

LOOK ONE

TALENT: Haley Reinhart MAKEUP ARTIST: Hali McGowan PHOTOGRAPHER: Heather Koepp — **TALENT:** Haley Reinhart **MAKEUP ARTIST:** Hali McGowan **PHOTOGRAPHER:** Heather Koepp

TALENT: Haley Reinhart and PHOTOGRAPHER: Heather Koepp — **TALENT:** Haley Reinhart and **PHOTOGRAPHER:** Heather Koepp

LOOK TWO

TALENT: Haley Reinhart STYLIST : Gabriela Tena MAKEUP ARTIST: Hali McGowan — **TALENT**: Haley Reinhart **STYLIST** : Gabriela Tena **MAKEUP ARTIST:** Hali McGowan

TALENT: Haley Reinhart STYLIST: Gabriela Tena — **TALENT**: Haley Reinhart **STYLIST**: Gabriela Tena

LOOK THREE

LOOK FOUR

Photographer: Heather Koepp STYLIST: Gabriela Tena — **Photographer:** Heather Koepp **STYLIST:** Gabriela Tena

LOOK FIVE

LOOK SIX

TALENT: Haley Reinhart MAKEUP ARTIST: Hali McGowan — **TALENT**: Haley Reinhart **MAKEUP ARTIST:** Hali McGowan

This was such an unforgettable day, Haley was such a pro to work with and really believed in the visions that I had; she brought her own flair to the mix and together we created a dynamic series of art. You can view some of the featured images over at

FORBES:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2019/03/27/haley-reinhart-takes-us-on-her-lo-fi-soul-tour-of-l-a-for-superb-new-album/#2d9d767473df

BILLBOARD:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2019/03/27/haley-reinhart-takes-us-on-her-lo-fi-soul-tour-of-l-a-for-superb-new-album/#2d9d767473df

My team really brought their A-Game for this one. Shout out to the creatives!!!!

STYLIST : Gabriela Tena https://lagab.style/

MAKEUP: Hali McGowan https://halimcgowanbeauty.wixsite.com/mysite/print

BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOGRAPHER : Larissa Raquel www.larissaraquel.com

Lets face it, not every photo shoot is going to be held at a luxurious location complete with a glam team and hours set aside to create. Sometimes you’re given just a few precious minutes with an artist, set in locations that are rather uninspiring and you have to create awesome photographs despite it all.

It can be intimidating when you’re faced with all these obstacles and yet still have to be creative. Here is a few tips and tricks Ive learned from shooting these quick band promos

Research Your Artist
Research as much as you can about the artists before your shoot. It pays to know the person you’re working with; obviously you want to be familiar with their work and the style of music they create but to go a step further from that and find what makes them unique. I find browsing an artists Instagram is the easiest way to learn about an artists vibe; by analyzing the captions, the filters and the content you can really learn about the individual/ group esthetic.
Bring Props
You don’t need to bring anything too lavish but I do find that the use of props helps in more ways than one. In addition to helping”tell the story”, props can be a welcome distraction for subjects who are shy or uncomfortable in front of the camera. Some of my favorite things to bring are suitcases, old film cameras, mirrors, florals, etc. I also am known to bring furniture like benches and chairs to shoots as well.
Scout Your Location
Whenever the band is being interviewed by my partner for the written part of the feature, I like to scout the location for the ideal place to take portraits. Being a natural light photographer I always try to find a place that has access to nice natural light and doesn’t have a lot of clutter or distractions in the background- unless I can make it work with the storyline of coarse
Have a Game Plan
Once you have your research on the band, the location and the props you want to use form the story you want to tell. Have an idea of the poses and prompts you want to use to get the shots you need in the short time frame you have.

Here is an example of one of my favorite “5 Minute” Photo Shoots with band “Houndmouth”. We were at the Warner Bro’s Studio Office which is not as glamorous as it sounds. Its literally just an office building with people working at their desks making calls, working at computers…Inside my head I was just like, “Oh Crap”

Here is the lovely interview room

Yikes, right?! So during the interview, I snuck outside to scout and grab some props from my car and by the time I came back with the 3 large 1970s suitcase in hand, the band was ready to go.

I handed them their suitcases which just so happened to color coordinate with each of their outfits and we got to playing

The guys opened up one of the suitcases and saw some old granny glasses that I had used on a previous shoot and let me tell you, once they tried them on…it was the funniest shoot I had ever been apart of

Thanks for reading everyone. If you use these tricks next time youre out on a shoot, I would love to hear if it improved your work. Also, feel like to add your own tricks of the trade to the list in the comments!