2014 Year in Review

Time sure flies when you’re having a good time. Since 2015 is quickly upon us, all of us at iLHP want to have a brief look back at how far we have come this year. We launched our new format on July 7, 2014. We had a simple mission statement, to consistently bring high quality original content. We wanted to do something different, and that is to not only focus on gear but also focus on the art & craft of photography. You guys responded overwhelmingly.

Our unique readership has averaged 200% per month growth since July. Almost all of that has been organic, from search engines, reposts, and word of mouth. Thank you for your support. Rest assured, we won’t be resting on our laurels. We have brand new features planned for 2015, from a greater focus on travel, street, and wildlife photography to more exclusive How-To’s and photography contests.

In the meantime, each of us would like to share our favorite iLHP moments of 2014 as well as what we look forward to in 2015.

First Impressions – The Sony A5000 with the Kit 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

I recently hit a wall with my Sony A7 while doing a guerrilla fashion shoot in a busy supermarket. The camera had on a hot-shoe flash and a manual focusing Leica 35mm (the widest lens I had at the time). The results still came out great but I was struggling with the gear all night. A MF prime lens in a fast moving shoot really slowed things down. The non-TTL flash required constant readjustments. I didn’t have the right tools. Something was missing.

Terry Richardson with Penelope Cruz holding onto the strap of Terry’s Panasonic Lumix GF1

I needed a camera that was even simpler and more inconspicuous. I needed a camera with pop-up flash. I needed a camera with go-anywhere capabilities without worrying about the choice of lens or a lack of image quality. I needed a modern day Yashica T4 Super D, a snapshot point and shoot.

12 Holiday Gift Ideas for Photographers

Happy holidays our dear readers. With two weeks left till Christmas, you’re probably either looking forward to having some time off from work, to finishing your exams and going home during your winter break, or to having your family gather under one roof. Maybe you have all your holiday shopping done. If you’re like me, maybe you haven’t quite finished with your shopping list and are starting panic.

Here are 12 holiday gift ideas for your photographic loved ones or significant others. Maybe you just need an excuse to spend that annual bonus on yourself. We tried to recommend quality items rather than trinkets to be thrown away before the new year. That being said, these suggestions range from $9,995 to $0, so there’s bound to be one to suit your budget.

Model Q&A with Isabella Cammarata, the Teen and Future Supermodel

There is power in youthfulness. The cosmetics industry is built on it. The world spends billions of dollars to stay, feel, and look young. The same goes for the modeling world. Kate Moss was discovered at 14 at JFK airport, Candice Swanepoel was spotted in a flea market when she was 15, and Lily Aldridge, my personal favorite, began modeling at 16. Unlike other careers where the older you are the more salary, prestige, and respect you can command, being young and beautiful is incredibly marketable in the beauty industries. It is a bizarro world.

It is difficult to capitalize on this advantage when you are also inexperienced. Teens are young adults still learning their way through social situations, family situations, and professional situations. At the same time, I sometimes dread booking young models because I’ve been burned many times when they don’t show up to a shoot. How do teen models deal with the pressures of school, early adulthood, family, and a modeling career?

At just 15 years old, Isabella is currently our youngest model at iLHP. She is extremely professional, mature beyond her years, and yet malleable and open to new ideas like most young people are. She is just starting out in the north east and we had a chance to speak with her after our Terry Shoots last month. With her Candice Swanepoel cheekbones and teenage-attitude stare, this Korean Italian bombshell will undoubtedly have a long and successful modeling career.

Model Q&A with Lizzy S., a Designer and a Businesswomen

In an abandoned quarry thirty minutes south of Boston, I had the opportunity to talk and shoot with Lizzy S., a model, a designer, and a businesswomen. Within the buttoned up North East lives this free spirit originally from Oregon who just started her own brand called Nug Lyf (a play on Tupac’s “thug life”)

The shoot was in the Terry Style and if you notice in Part 3 of our “How to Shoot like Terry Richardson” series, she made a brief appearance in the middle of that article. Sadly, this was also my last shoot in Boston before I relocated to Los Angeles. But this particular location was so full of colorful graffiti and drawings, that it was a gem of a location to cap off my life on the East Coast. Rock climbers seemed to love this place too!

At an abandoned quarry, overlooking Boston in the distance.