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Photo District News and PDN's Professional Photo Source welcome you to California guide 2007.
In this issue we feature three California-based photographers who have made a successful living from the Golden State's most popular genres. In Three Cities, Three Specialties, hear from food, surf/lifestyle and celebrity photographers why the West Coast is the most ideal locale for their chosen field. Also, check out our End Page, West Coast Spirit, as
San Francisco-based photographer Thayer Allyson Gowdy takes us behind the scenes of her recent catalogue shoot for organic clothing brand Stewart+Brown.
In addition to our special features, the Guide offers in-depth mini-reviews of some of the most well-known rental studios, production houses, digital labs, retailers and equipment houses, as well as an up-to-date listings section with suppliers from across the state.
The compact, yet comprehensive Photo Source California Guide 2007 provides both experienced and emerging photographers with some of the newest resources, products and services that make California a spectacular and rewarding location for all kinds of photography specialties.
–The Editors
 alifornia has long been a symbol of opportunity and prosperity for the adventurous. With its expansive, unparalleled landscape and geography, the state has a lot to offer photographers: its economy is currently ranked number ten in the world, and the mild climate makes it a great place to live, work and take pictures. We asked three California shooters about the market, local clients and why living in the Golden State is ideal for their chosen field.
Photographer: Embry Rucker, www.embryrucker.com
Specialty: Surfing & Lifestyle
Local Clients (Action sports): Quiksilver, Billabong,
O'Neill, Nixon, Fox, Macbeth, Qualcomm, Salinas Swimwear;
(Local agencies and advertising) Vitro Robertson, Bolle,
Mires+Ball, Qualcomm, Taylor Guitars
While the beach, sun and sand are staples of southern California, they're also the backdrop for countless action sports, advertising and outdoor shoots. Photographer Embry Rucker is schooled in the outdoor genre as a commercial and action sports shooter for companies like Billabong, Volcom and Graphis Footwear.
"I moved to California because it was where everything I was shooting was happening; Southern California is the epicenter for action sports, and everybody I knew and traveled with lived here," he explains. "All the magazines are here, and all the companies I was dealing with are based here."
Though Rucker is no stranger to the sun and surf, his career began in a chillier climate as an English literature major at both the University of Wyoming and University of Montana. After taking a basic photography workshop to learn how to capture his personal travel photos, Rucker was hooked.
"I took a trip to New Zealand to snowboard, originally trying to turn it into a travel story," he relates. "While there, I shot a couple of snowboard pictures of some friends. When I got home I ended up selling one as an ad for a clothing company that sponsored my friend in the photo. The ad paid $350 and my rent was $250–I was set."
After traveling through the snow and mountains of the West Coast, capturing professional snowboarders for about four years, Embry was ready for a change.
"I was traveling so much to find the best snow or terrain, that I really just needed an airport nearby," Rucker says "I figured the beach was a good place to try out, so I went to Encinitas, California." Encinitas is located about 20 miles from Oceanside, California, home to Transworld Snowboarding magazine, where Rucker worked as photo editor for a year before going freelance.
He soon adapted his work to the warmer landscape, learning more about light and locations and working with local surfers on portraits and lifestyle shoots. In Encinitas–a mellow coastal town about 25 miles north of downtown San Diego complete with cliffs and beachfront views–Rucker is only about an hour and a half drive (95 miles) away from Los Angeles, a convenient location for a commute in either direction.
"Because I used to shoot action for a lot of the guys in the action sports world–like Quicksilver, Roxy, Burton–I now shoot their more commercial advertising," he says. His specialty with outdoor and action sports has led Rucker to more diverse jobs in recent years, including shoots for Canon and Men's Health.
"My recent work has led to bigger clients like AARP or Nokia," he says. "But I'd say the bulk of it is still commercial advertising work generated from the action sports world in southern California."
Photographer: Robert Gallagher, www.gallagherphoto.com
Specialty: Celebrity & Editorial
Local Clients: TIME and People magazines' Los Angeles offices
 While Los Angeles life allows plenty of time to bask in the sun, it's also the best city to bask in the light of celebrities. With more than a dozen film studios, thousands of major and independent film permits are issued each year, and countless actors call it home because of the mild climate and sweeping vistas.
For Robert Gallagher, whose clients include the U.S. editions of TIME, People and Sports Illustrated, as well as British Vogue, British Marie Claire, Mail on Sunday and Empire, Los Angeles is the ideal place to shoot. It's not necessarily the celebrities that engage him, but the diverse range of people who populate the city. "I didn't come to L.A. specifically to shoot celebrities," he says. "I wanted to do editorial, and I've always been interested in shooting interesting people in a photojournalistic sense rather than just a surface portrait–something with a little more depth. I definitely carry that into my celebrity work as well."
The British-born photographer lived and worked in London for nine years after college and arrived in Los Angeles in the mid-90s as a freelance photographer who pounded the pavement and established contacts. He's since compiled a solid list of editorial clients and his portrait work can be found in The National Portrait Gallery in London. But it hasn't been an easy ride.
"There's certainly a lot of competition in L.A., but I think once clients know you're reliable, the phone will always ring," Gallagher says. He also attributes the knowledge of local production practices to helping him get jobs. "Particularly for my U.K. clients, I think I offer them a pretty good service because I know what it takes to produce shoots in L.A., get permits, hire crew, hire a producer and get a location to agree to a shoot," he says.
In addition to shooting Hollywood's elite–movie stars like Penelope Cruz, Mark Wahlberg, Dennis Hopper and Jennifer Connolly–his portfolio includes advertising campaigns and photo essays dealing with diverse subjects like the training regimen of the Los Angeles Fire Department, the adult entertainment industry and bounty hunters in Southern California. Gallagher has won International Photography Award Honorable Mentions for his work in fine art portraiture, photo essay and sports editorial.
"Sometimes the phone rings and it's about shooting Nancy Pelosi; and the next day it's about shooting some bizarre reportage of the national political debate; the next week it's a movie star," Gallagher says. "It's quite a healthy mix and I like that. It keeps things fresh."
Photographer: Sara Remington, www.sararemington.net
Specialty: Food
Local Clients: San Francisco magazine, 7x7 magazine,
Diablo magazine, Chronicle Books
For a food photographer, culinary-rich San Francisco is like one big studio. With more than 900 restaurants, world-class wineries and small farms nearby, there is no shortage of subjects to shoot.
 San Francisco-based Sara Remington–who was named one of PDN's 30 Emerging Photographers in 2006–admits to being spoiled by the natural beauty of her surroundings.
"Living in San Francisco is great for my genre," Remington says. "I recently did a shoot with Alice Waters [owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley] for a Wine Spectator assignment at a small farm in Sonoma. The food came directly from the ground into [Waters'] basket, then right to the table. Things like these are what foster my creativity to shoot food–the food is treated so well, like an art form."
After graduating from Syracuse University in 2001, Remington moved to Los Angeles to escape the harsh winters of upstate New York. She assisted photographers and managed studios, but in 2004, packed her bags again for San Francisco.
"Los Angeles is so spread out that, many times, I found myself walking down the street in the middle of the city, and there was not a soul around," Remington explains. "In San Francisco, there is more of an element of surprise and physical connection–I love that."
 After her move, Remington worked as a full-time studio manager for National Geographic Traveler shooter Catherine Karnow, before going completely freelance. Although she didn't start out shooting food, Remington learned a lot about photography while working with Karnow. "I spread myself out in different areas of the business to meet as many people as possible and learn from the ground up," she explains.
Now, clients including Real Simple, Wine Spectator and Food Arts magazine, count on Remington for crisp images of farm fresh food that grace pages like a breath of spring-like northern California air.
"Generally, my best clients are editorial food and wine magazines," she says. "They are the best way to get my work seen by the right people, and many of them hire me because they trust that I can bring something simple and different to the table, so to speak, and are open to a lot of new ideas."
Remington's San Francisco work has also led to plenty of clients on the East Coast, including Jane and Travel + Leisure. "I always love shooting for editorials and clients outside of San Francisco, because there is often more of an element of excitement and surprise for them," she says. "They are not as familiar with the area as local San Francisco clients, and for me that fosters more creativity."
Photos from top of feature:
Rucker captured pro-skateboarder Tony Hawk at The Wave House in San Diego for Best Life magazine. (© Embry Rucker)
Mark Wahlberg, photographed by Gallagher, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, March 2007. (© Robert Gallagher)
Remington's stock images of organic brown eggs in rice and a still life of snow peas. (both images © Sara Remington)
 While San Francisco-based photographer Thayer Allyson Gowdy's laid-back, California-style images have attracted clients like Modern Bride magazine, Dockers and Williams-Sonoma, it's her recent shoot for organic clothiers Stewart+Brown that has Gowdy most amped. "It's one of those things that rarely come along, when you believe in what the client does, and [you are] excited about growing with them," she says.
For the two-day spring/summer 2007 catalogue shoot, Gowdy and her 12-man crew visited Wheeler Canyon in eastern Ventura County. Miles from civilization, the crew had scouted a property where the owners had replicated their own deserted town made up of eight buildings, two barns and mobile homes, all the way down to the roaming chickens, dogs and rabbits. As temperatures hit the 90s and the light meter read off the charts, the arid west-coast landscape reflected tints of bright yellow onto the golden grass and hazy, dirt roads.
Karen Stewart and Howard Brown, the husband-and-wife team behind the clothing line, insisted on an organic approach to the photo shoot, which presented an artistic challenge. Models were told to wander the grounds freely while the crew followed them to each location, gear in tow, adapting to the light at every site. "The photos are very organic and fun," Gowdy says. "They're about embracing nature...and the relationship between [the models] and the landscape."
For more of Gowdy's work, visit www.thayerphoto.com; for Stewart+Brown go to stewartbrown.com.
above: Thayer Allyson Gowdy's Stewart + Brown shoot took on an organic feel with free-range models. (© Thayer Allyson Gowdy)
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