This was a unique shoot in the best possible way. Several days before I shot with Mary Flynn, I’d spotted a location at the Culver City Town Hall that was fantastic. It had lots of arches, lights in the ground and the ceiling and was accessible even after it closed. I contacted Mary and asked her if she’d be interested in shooting there and she was. Since it was getting dark around 9:00PM, we decided to meet at Venice Beach at 7:00PM, shoot for a while there and then move over to the Culver City Town Hall a mile or two away.

When Mary showed up at the shoot she did so with her mother and more wardrobe that I can ever recall seeing in one place. The outfits that Mary brought with her filled up more than two rolling racks. I know this because Mary had packed two rolling racks as well. This was the first outfit we chose; it works perfectly with the beach setting. It’s loose, flowy and perfectly matches the color scheme of the ocean and sky behind her. Unfortunately, it was so loose and flowy that her breasts kept popping out. I’d simply yell out, “Fix your top!”, Mary’d adjust her dress straps and we’d move forward.

You wouldn’t know it looking at this photo, but we were on Venice Beach and there were scores of people around us. Easily into the hundreds. There were surfers in the water, people walking on the beach behind Mary, kids running all over and homeless people prepping to sleep on the beach. As soon as the people on the beach saw that I was taking pictures of Mary though, they’d walk behind me and keep on going. And that’s how you make Venice Beach look empty and secluded at 7:30PM on a weekend.