Editorial Portrait Shoot in Novato Yurts for San Francisco Magazine
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to shoot my friends, Michelle Stauffer and Lindsay Upson in the yurts where they were living in Novato. SF editorial portrait photographer
Michelle Stauffer has been a producer for the 70 Degrees West and writer for the Huffington Post. The 70 Degrees Project is especially intriguing. She teamed up with photographer, Justin Lewis, to create “multimedia documentary project that will follow this line to illustrate the impact our modern world has on eight unique regions and the people who depend upon the stability of the fragile environments.”
Lindsay Upson is a freelance photographer and stylist living in the bay area that specializes in portraits, children, and travel. In 2013, her work was published in PDN’s March issue for the World in Focus Photography Contest.
What are Yurts? Good question. A Yurt is a portable, round tent traditionally from Central Asia. This is a great option for living off the grid.
Below is a sneak peak of the photo shoot taken for San Francisco Magazine. I can’t wait to add these portraits to my website.
Not every editorial shoot starts with a studio and a brief. Some of the most interesting assignments begin with a phone call that ends with you driving to Novato to photograph two women living in yurts.
The Location: Yurts in Novato
Michelle Stauffer and Lindsay Upson were living in yurts — traditional round, portable tents with Central Asian origins — in Novato, Marin County. As an editorial photographer, locations like this are a gift: they're inherently visual, they tell you something about the people who chose them, and they offer textures and light you simply can't plan for in a conventional interior.
The Subjects: Two Bay Area Creatives
Michelle Stauffer is a documentary producer whose 70 Degrees West project — a multimedia collaboration with photographer Justin Lewis following the 70th meridian across eight regions — had garnered attention in the Bay Area creative community. She also writes for the Huffington Post. Lindsay Upson is a freelance photographer and stylist with a specialty in portraits, children, and travel; her work was published in PDN's World in Focus Photography Contest in 2013.
Shooting for San Francisco Magazine
This was a shoot for San Francisco Magazine — an assignment that requires both the visual quality of high-end commercial photography and the authenticity of editorial portraiture. The challenge was to create portraits that felt like these women, in this place, at this moment — not staged or over-styled, but genuinely present.
Environmental Portrait Photography in the Bay Area
I regularly take editorial portrait assignments throughout Marin County, Sonoma, and the broader Bay Area. Environmental portraits — shot in the spaces where people actually live and work — are among the most interesting and demanding of any photographic genre.
Thanks @fboulaire for helping out!
Planning an editorial portrait shoot in Marin or the Bay Area? [Contact Marc] to discuss the assignment.