Web Journal

Hello All. It’s been a minute. Happy New Year by the way….ha!

I am very happy to present to you the Approved Creative Sketches of the Version 2 Sugar Factory website that is now in Development and will be replacing the current site that is up now.

Sugar Factory is an up in coming confectionery company that has hit the U.S. by storm about a year ago. Their signature product the Couture Pop is endorsed by celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Pussycat Dolls, & Spice Girl, Melanie Brown (AKA Scary Spice). Sugar Factory has made themselves very well know in the candy business as well in Pop Culture.

My vision for each page was if you were actually at a candy store. An overwhelming abundance of sweets flashing in your face. Like you can almost grab them from the screen.

And of course having the Celebrity element to support the products.

Oh!! A BIG Congrats to Simon & Jonathan (Sugar Factory’s Dynamic PR Duo) for their show Kim is doing for them!

This Page is one of my favorite parts of the V2 web site.

Basically this page lets you create your own candy gift basket from over 40 items. Pretty intense!! Thank God we have my boy Seany on the team! Sick programming skills that kid has!

In the last blog I was talking about inspiration and what sparks an idea. With this project I listened to a lot of these guys and watching Dexter. Don’t ask me why, but it was like we all had this crazy connection. ha!!

I love Dexter. I am so addicted.

Right now, I am working on some design projects for Hello Kitty and Holly Madison. If you want to know what is driving the inspiration. I am reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (incredible by the way) and listening to a lot of these guys!

Anyway. Thanks for checking me out. I hope all of you are well and enjoying the nice weather.

Talk soon!

Hello,

This past weekend Holly Madison, star of the reality show, “Girls Next Door”, and from the Las Vegas act “Peepshow” came by the Sugar Factory store for a signing.

Here are some of the photos I took for Sugar Factory to send to media.

So last Sunday morning. I am sitting poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. I’m drinking orange juice and trying to find the strength to eat these amazing fish tacos. My buddy Bo starts telling me about the silliness that happened the night before at Teddy’s and how for some reason I didn’t remember. And In fact I was part of the silliness…..

Alcohol does some funny things to people. It can be kind at first, it can mean as well. The part I dislike is how it makes you feel the next day.

As I am finishing up brunch and my buddy Bo gets back to work, I start looking around and I start to daydream about what I have to do this week coming up…. Gilbert Yvel.

MMA Fighter Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel.

I am a big MMA fan! I am very familiar with this gentleman and what he does to his opponents.

For example: (View at your own discretion)

That day I was feeling a little similar to what that man was feeling after the fight…. just kidding. I didn’t feel well thou.

The shoot was set up by Gilbert’s Jujitsu instructor John Lewis.

John Lewis trains with a lot of the professional MMA fighters, like Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn, Randy Couture and so on.

To be successful in this sport you have to train and train and train. Always have to be on you “A” Game.

It really is a full time job for most of these guys. 8 hours days. 5 days a week. Or maybe more.

Being intimidating I am sure is a plus as well.

But honestly, Gilbert was great. Funny, laid back, and a bit soft spoken.

I was very confident that the photo shoot would be a success.

Business as usual.

Looking back at the “silliness” the happening in LA, the state I was in, and how I was gonna make it back to Vegas in one piece.

I was very motivated to make project a successful one.

NOTE: If you want a larger view of the horizontal images.
Right Click, then Click; “Open Image in new Window”.

Hello. It’s been a while since I had anytime or ambition to sit down and write/post thoughts, work, and so on. So for the people that used to read some of my posts, please accept my apology.

I am a admirer of the simplest things. Yes, I am a commercial artist and it’s my job to be innovative, but being innovative on a daily basis can fry the brain, believe it or not. I guess that is why I enjoy the simplistic things in life.

As weeks pass like days and months like weeks. Working in the fast pace industry of advertising and marketing, especially in entertainment. Time flies and you don’t know where it has gone. It seems like yesterday I was creating the branding PURE Management Group….

Ahem….

This cutie is my “M”.

Yesterday during morning tea, we spoke about photography with models. And how a photographer knows if a model is photogenic or not. I told her to start, it’s all about personality. Nothing more. Just being comfortable with yourself. Then you move from there!

By the look in her face, I felt that she didn’t believe me. So I told her to stand be the window and push her hair back……

And Voila!!

It was so great to get out of Vegas!

Before I started my voyage I had a very important objective to accomplish.

The opening of Sugar Factory’s 1st Boutique located inside the Mirage Resort in sunny, but really hot right now (112 degrees today), Las Vegas.

All the hard work is starting to pay off it seems. I am very proud of the guys behind Sugar Factory! They’re really incredible individuals when it comes to their profession and what they do.

All around the event was a success! Lots of press national press came out for the opening. Some familiar faces rolled by to do some interviews as well.

Ran into my old friend Mark. He interviewed Kim for this piece. We chatted for a bit and got straight to business when the guests arrived.

The event got a lot of press which is good news for sure!

My favorite person was Bethenny.

She’s in some show called Housewives of NYC or something. I never heard of it before, but then again all I watch is this, since I do have a 4 year old. Anyway, she was so nice, so flirty. Man she worked the crowd and photographers and they loves her for it.

At the end, everyone had fun. The crowd, the media, and the Sugar Factory staff.

Well, that scratches another event. I am really happy that everything went to plan and a great job by the management for being on point with everything.

I have a much respect for them and the administrative team that was hand picked for Sugar Factory.
They really know how to make people comfortable in any situation.

That sums up the evening before my journey.

Sometimes people look at me and wonder why I chose to work on a candy project coming from one of the best nightlife organizations in Las Vegas…. Well, I believe in helping others to be successful is good for the spirit…..

But I am also working with one the best Nightlife organizations in the US as my 2nd job.

It’s hard work trying to save this economy.

But some people have to do it!

Thank you for taking the time to read my rant.

Cheers from a “Hot as a Pizza Oven”, Las Vegas.

For those of you who are confused about the blog title. Or maybe you are thinking that for all this time Carlos Larios has been shooting with an out of date, worthless, shitty, camera?

Yes, you are right! Now-a-days there are camera phones that shoot with a higher mega pixel rate. ha!!

Well, I was always the one who wanted to get good at something, before I invested in upgrading to Professional gear. I managed to be able to come up with images with my 10D, that some photographers with full frame cameras still can’t achieve.

And for that I feel very blessed, as well as thankful for my experiences and friendships with the many talented industry photographers that I had the chance meet.

I write this blog as a thank you and farewell to my Canon EOS 10D!! Because soon I will be sporting the Canon 5D Mark II. Yes, it is in route! That is all I can say about that:)

So what better way to say farewell, then to post the last photos we took together.

This was shot recently. This cute little girl is my niece. It was her birthday.

Also… During the last days of the 10D, I thought…. Why not shoot the people closest to me:) I think it would be a nice parting…. ha!! (I’m a nerd)

Recently it snowed in Vegas (1 week ago)

This was the 1st time my son had a chance to play in the snow!!
It never snows in Las Vegas…. Like, NEVER!! Seriously… NEVER!

A little lens flare action….! I didn’t have my flash with me. THe only light source was the out door lights by the house. I had my setting at 1/60 F 2.8 400 ISO. Not the best photo in the world, but I think it caught the moment:)

What is funny is that on this very day, we were getting on a plane to hit up this place….

f/16 1/160 100ISO… It was a bright day!

Yeah!!! The Bahamas. Atlantis Resort.

The beach was so beautiful and private, I think it is every business persons dream. The reason I say that is because of the peace and quietness. And the ability to not worry about things or deal with stupid people like these idiots or hipsters , Thank God!!! ha!!!

Anyway. I had a blast, and my kid had a blast.

Kids are the best!!

So happy building his sand castles….

Anyway it was a great time and it was so pleasing to spend time with old friends. I got introduce to some awesome people… hit up a bunch of local spots and was treated like family.

I even got to see some familiar adverts!

It’s still funny seeing my old designs still being used…. it’s an honor thou

Great times we had and great images we produced, my 10D and I

Much love!!

Thank you for reading this!!

Cheers from a not so snowy Las Vegas.