Since last October we've had the pleasure of working with The VIA Agency on creating images for 1800 Tequila. The images appeared on Instagram, Facebook and their website and many were tied to a certain date or event.

The brand has a very specific look and it was a great change of pace for me in the approach to this project. To begin with we shot almost everything at night, on my Nikon D800's and with a minimal crew. I also decided to shoot most of it with one continous light source and one or two small reflectors, instead of strobes. This gave me the look and feel I wanted as well as kept the amount of gear and lights we had on location down to a minimum. Since we shot many of the images on location in restaurants, bars, and public places not having to take over the space with a million pounds of gear and people was super helpful.

We provided VIA with the RAW files and they put the finishing touches on in post to provide the consistent look. I loved all the creative concepts they came up with and as usual it was a blast working with them!

Below are some of the final images.  

If you're in my business you know that you have to continually shoot personal work in order to stay fresh and conitinue to develop your creativity. Otherwise your work will begin to suffer simply by virtue of doing things the same way over and over. Sometimes the personal work you shoot is everything you hoped for and more, sometimes it's more a way to discover new directions or techniques but either way you continue to learn and grow.

I recently set up a lifestyle shoot to capture some images of teenage fun. I decided to push the envelope a little and use real people instead of professional models. Using real models can sometimes be a gamble which is why when I go this route for a client I always hold a casting session ahead of time in order to see how the people will react on camera. I've shot real people many, many, times but in this case, I decided not to have a casting. Instead I chose to use two teenagers I knew and then push myself to get the images out of them that I wanted. To push it a little further, I decided to use my daughter Isabella as one of them, which if you're a parent you know that choice can be just like shooting personal work - sometimes it's everything you hoped for and sometimes it's not :).

In this case, it was everything I hoped for. I have photographed Isabella before but never like this and never for 3 hours straight. She was terrific and her friend Alafair was fantastic. The two of them took direction beautifully. The cast was stellar, particularly since the weather wasn't what I hope for and I had to use strobes which can slow down the action and the pace on a shoot like this.

Big thanks to Coco Grace who did their hair and make up and to Liz Parsons with Team Artists who did their wardrobe , to my awesome producer Kristin who makes everything happen so all I have to do is show up and to my assistant Christian who is always hustling. Here's some scenes from the shoot along with a few of the final images:

Thats my girl Isabella, in make up heaven with Coco

Liz in a cloud of steam making everything look perfect

Alafair's turn

Isabella checking out the lighting tests with me that we did while they were getting ready

Kristin...best producer ever!

Christian caught me thinking. I included this picture here because it reminds me a lot of my father, memories of him in my mind have him in this exact pose.

Bogey's new best friend our intern Sara who in addition to making my dog happy all day hustled to help make everything happen.

He calls this the "light stand dance".

Here are some of the final images:

If there's one thing I've learned during my time in this crazy business of ours, it's to expect the unexpected. And repeat clients are won or lost over how well a crew handles the unexpected.

I could tell stories for days, but my favorites include a model who showed up for her 8am call time, stumbling drunk and the time we flew everyone to Texas, for sunny weather outdoor pool shot, only to have a freak 45 degree, rainy day. We never quite know what we might wake up to when we're in the middle of a shoot, but we always find a workaround and that's what sets Heath's team apart from the rest.

One recent job for Staples presented us with yet another, unexpected, hitch in the plan and I am so proud of our team for handling it with grace and speed and, wow, the result was awesome!

With just 24 hours to go before our lifestyle shoot, we learned that the location was no longer available to us. Every producer's nightmare and a stylist's opportunity to shine. Less than a day to create a hotel lobby set? No problem for Woodward Studio!  With just one days notice, Caroline Woodward and her equally talented husband Jeremy designed and built a hotel lobby set to be captured right inside Heath's studio. Check out the final ads, below and in Staples stores now!

A huge thanks to Woodward Studios for being there in our hour of need! Here's to always nailing the unexpcted! ~Jenna

For the last couple years I have been shooting a Christmas card for some friends of mine. The objective has always been to poke a little fun at all the holiday cards we all see every year and to do so in the style that I have shot much of my conceptual work. Taking it over the top, plus a good dose of humor is a given so you can imagine the fun we have shooting it. This year we also shot the whole thing in the studio which as you will see was something of a production to make and pull down. There's a time lapse of it at the end here.

Coco Grace does all the hair and make up and although it doesnt seem so - Lucy was having a great time.

Verne Cordova was, as usual, the master of props and set decorating!

Typical work day for Drew.

Just another day at the beach.

and the final image:

Time Lapse of a Conceptual Lifestyle shoot from Heath Robbins on Vimeo.

Every shoot has it's moments. Fun ones, stressful ones, creative insights, creative confrontations, the moment you really need a cup of coffee or the one where you want something stonger, when partnerships form and when it all comes together...

We recently had a shoot for PartyLite that involved 12 models and 9 crew members on location for 2 days. What struck me while editing was not, however, anything like I described above. It was looking at all the outakes of the shoot I saw two things: 1. We have a really good time on set and 2. I could put some really funny captions on some of these moments in between takes.

Here are some of them and just to be clear - I never yelled at anyone, at anytime. Never out loud anyway...

Let's start with some of the models caught off guard. The titles below are what I thought should be in thought bubbles somewhere in the image. Feel free to add some of your own below.  ~Heath

"Jerk.."

"You shouldn't have yelled at her. Now look what you did."

"Seriously? Did she just throw something at me?"

"Those look really good"

"I don't feel so good"

Three thought bubbles here. From left to right:

"She's mine, don't get any ideas",  "This is awkward",  "Yeah well, we'll see about that"

"Try it again and I'll slap you"

"Yikes.."

And then there were all the shots with my crew, standing in, or, well, sometimes you just have to be there.. but I think you'll get the idea.