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Deborah Depolito is a skilled stylist that has 15+ years of experience under her belt. Working with world-renown clients such as Under Armour, Uber, McDonald’s, and Microsoft, it is clear why she is so sought-after in her industry. Her strong relationship with photographers and clients have allowed her to work with on various commercial and editorial campaigns. See more of her work at www.deborahdepolitostylist.com

When people think of styling, they quickly assume that it’s only related to getting the perfect outfit together. What most fail to see is that without a proper styling professional onboard an editorial project, the message being conveyed can be lost. Styling is so much more than it seems – it not only includes props, hair and make-up but also matching people to fit brands and products.

(Director: Gary Land // Executive Producer: Abe Sands // Photographer: Nick Taylor) 

My keenly trained eye for the client’s mission and ever-evolving awareness of color and style ensures that my clients are happy with the end product, every time. This may seem like an easy task – in fact, it’s very difficult. When you’re styling, you not only have to put yourself in the company’s mindset but also in the client that they are gearing the service and/or product to.

Photo by: Stephanie Rausser Photography | www.stephanierausser.com

I believe that it is my warm nature and sense of humor that allows me to complement my ability to dress talent in an authentic and beautiful way. Without this light-heartedness, the work would seem inauthentic and it would create an end-product that my clients would not be happy with.

Photo by: Stephanie Rausser Photography | www.stephanierausser.com

Want to be featured as a guest blogger? Email us at social@livebooks.com!

We are thrilled to introduce Claudia, one of our outstanding support specialists, to you today. She has been with the team for four years and loves her funny and interesting co-workers. She can often be found hanging out with friends, playing board games, watching movies, reading or riding her bike. Fun fact: in 2015, she won best Catan player in Brasov!

Quick Facts:
Hometown: Brasov, Romania
Favorite liveBooks 8 Feature: “I love the new editor, how easy it is to update the content and design of the website, but if I had to choose from all, it would be the in-line editing and easy responsive preview.”
Favorite Brand: H&M
Favorite TV Shows: Seinfeld, Walking Dead, Band of Brothers & Friends
Words to Live By: Don’t count the days, make the days count!
You will never see Claudia without…: Her Bracelets

Goran Kosanovic is a commercial, advertising, and editorial photographer in the Washington, DC area. We are excited to share his story and a bit about how his career and liveBooks 8 site came to life with you today:

I am originally from Serbia, and while growing up, my father was in charge of taking our family pictures with an old Czechoslovakian camera. Back then, black and white photos were only available in a format size that was a little bit bigger than a business card. I always wondered: “Can they be bigger and in color?”

Once I came to the US, I chose to change my studies from mechanical engineering to photography. I went to the Brooks Institute of Photography and moved to Santa Barbara, CA. While in school, I managed to assist many great photographers from the LA area. This experience being with commercial photographers while watching them create amazing images was priceless. Back then, everything was on film, so there was no margin for error. Everything was done in camera – lighting, composition. That was the way I learned and is how I continue to create my images.

Upon graduating, goranfoto was created, and I slowly started developing my brand with a website, business cards and a logo. As I love to cook, food was a natural subject choice for me, so I focused my work mostly on hospitality and food photography.

I currently call the Washington DC area home, where I live with my family. It was the perfect place to expand my hospitality and food photography business. The city offers cuisines from around the globe, and for me, it was not very hard after leaving the West Coast, except the weather of course!

See more of Goran Kosanovic’s fantastic images on his liveBooks 8 site at www.goranfoto.com.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

GK: Easy to use. I always knew that I needed something very simple.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

GK: I do it very often. I try to update it every week, either with new gallery images or with some blog type of news.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

GK: I try to rotate images that will attract jobs and potential clients. My greatest hope is that visitors to my site will understand my style and what I am all about.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks 8? 

GK: Simplicity. I do not want to waste my time creating and re-creating pages and pages of my website. In today’s world, it should be simplified so the time used is minimal for me and for the viewer.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

GK: At this point, I think picking the right images, while making your site easy to navigate are the major things to having a great website.

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.

Lou Bopp is a talented photographer, director, and producer that is currently based in New York City and St. Louis. Recently, Lou has worked to craft a new director’s reel. With years of experience in the field and wonderful insight, Lou details the struggles and successes of creating a great production below. 

To see more of Lou Bopp’s fantastic portfolio, visit his site at www.loubopp.com.

It’s all about the croissant.

My new director’s reel is long overdue. Creating fresh work and sharing it with prospective clients is vital. Curating said work is not the easiest – I would much rather be shooting. However, I work with awesome people and having others to bat around ideas with, from the perspective of great editors, makes a world of a difference. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, The field cannot be seen from within the field. 

When it comes to my directorial approach, whether I’m working off a creative brief, a board or run & gun, I’m always on the lookout for serendipitous moments. As I am often hired to shoot both motions & stills, I direct in a manner that compliments one another. The train of thought and overall conceptual vision are about the same. However, the implementation is a whole other ballgame. Screw it up, and you risk losing the brand message and the project becomes discombobulated. Finding the right DP is paramount and pivotal. Same with producers, location managers etceteras even the catering. Because at the end of the day, no matter how great the final piece is, the client may only remember a stale croissant. Great producers are key.

In this reel, you’ll see projects from Hershey Chocolate, The Aalsmeer Flower Auction in Holland, which is the busiest floral market in the world, Mississippi tourism, a disaster mitigation firm, CSpire, a telecommunications firm, a company called USG that probably made the ceiling tile that you’re sitting under, Traders Point Creamery, FM Global, a huge solar farm on the Mexico border and more.

I’d like to thank the awesome folks at rukus post who were instrumental in making this cut. I hope that you enjoy!