The portrait
The frame holds three women on a downtown Los Angeles rooftop at sunset. Center: Jaime Pressly, red hair under a black beanie, sunglasses on, knee-high boots, messy curls, and one of the best six-packs I had ever seen. Two models flank her. Around them, Jaime's own bohemian Moroccan set: a lamp, an Arabic rug. Behind them, the downtown skyline in the last hour of daylight. No strobes, no crew lighting.
This is the shoot that built my career. When I look at this frame, I see the exact moment a 22-year-old kid with a flip phone portfolio became a working celebrity photographer.
The story behind the shoot
I moved back to Los Angeles in 2005 and met Jaime Pressly at a party. At the time, she was a sex symbol, known for Not Another Teen Movie, and she had just been cast on My Name Is Earl. I was a 22-year-old kid, fresh out of college.
I started talking to her and told her I was a photographer. She asked what type of pictures I did. I told her fashion, and that I had just shot the campaign for San Francisco International Fashion Week. Then I showed her my flip phone, which had a one-inch screen, and five pictures of my work. She told me she liked my work, then asked if I could do a shoot for her clothing line. Of course I said yes.
We shot at her building in downtown Los Angeles. Her line was dresses, tops, and leggings, primarily made of jersey material. I shot her and two models on her rooftop. Jaime set up the bohemian Moroccan set herself, with a lamp and an Arabic rug. We shot with the downtown skyline behind them and used the natural light of the sunset to get that nice soft glow.
She loved the pictures, and she ended up using me for her next two campaigns.
After we wrapped, she took us to Geisha House in Hollywood, one of the hottest restaurants in town at the time. I ordered Kobe beef and rock shrimp. She told me about her house in Newport Beach and a club called Sutra, the hottest club in Orange County with the best DJs, and said I should come check it out with her. I was very excited.
The pictures were published all over: US Weekly, InStyle, Vogue, and even Perez Hilton, the leading blog at the time. That shoot was pivotal for getting my name out there and building my credibility as a celebrity photographer.
The quote that opens this chapter of my memoir is hers: "If you want to do something, just do it. No one is going to do it for you." She lived it. And that night at the party, showing my portfolio on a one-inch screen, so did I.
The technical takeaway
For photographers, the lesson is the sunset. This entire shoot runs on natural light, and that is not a compromise. It is the point.
A low sun is the biggest softbox you will ever own. On that rooftop, the setting sun gave us a soft glow on skin, a skyline that fell off into haze, and jersey fabric moving in the evening air. No strobe could have made that frame feel the way it feels. When you shoot fashion outdoors, plan around the edges of the day. The middle of the day is your enemy. The last hour is your studio.
The second lesson is about who builds the set. Jaime designed the Moroccan setup herself: the lamp, the rug, the whole bohemian mood. A lot of photographers would have fought that or tried to art-direct over it. I did not. When a subject brings a strong visual idea, you build around it. My job was the light, the skyline, and the frame. Her job was the world inside the frame. That division of labor is why she hired me for two more campaigns. Photographers who need to control everything get one shoot. Photographers who collaborate get careers.
That instinct has carried through 27 years as a celebrity photographer in Los Angeles and New York: light first, ego last.
FAQs
When did David Christopher Lee photograph Jaime Pressly?
In 2005, for her clothing line, on the rooftop of her building in downtown Los Angeles. He was 22 and fresh out of college.
How did the shoot come about?
They met at a party. She asked what kind of pictures he did, he showed her five photos on his flip phone's one-inch screen, and she hired him for her clothing line on the spot.
Where were the photos published?
Everywhere: US Weekly, InStyle, Vogue, and Perez Hilton, which was the leading blog at the time. The shoot built his credibility as a celebrity photographer, and she hired him for her next two campaigns.
How do I book a portrait session?
Get in touch here and tell me about the shoot. I photograph celebrities, executives, and anyone who needs a portrait with presence, in Los Angeles and New York.
Book a Shoot
One frame can change how the world sees you. I have spent 27 years making portraits like this one. If you need a fashion photographer in Los Angeles who can turn a rooftop and a sunset into a campaign, book your shoot.