Los Angeles-based travel and interior photographer Natasha Lee spent the day in a land of whimsy and color whilst shooting a Venice, Calif. home for Domino Magazine.
Natasha has been working with Domino Magazine, a publication featuring American homes, since the Summer of 2020. They had been on her marketing list but she was also referred to their photo team around the same time.
Funny enough, my first story for them featuring furniture designer Eric Trine was also super colorful!
In terms of pre-production, Natasha received both scouting shots of the space, as well as a fairly specific image list from the photo editor. Both helped make for a one tidy day of shooting.
They leave it up to my discretion if something is not working or if something else might work better during the photo shoot. The scouting shots are always so helpful for me.
The day was delightful and spent in the good company of interior designer Jessica Ayromloo and stylist Merisa Libbey. Natasha and Merisa had worked together for a previous photoshoot for the Wall Street Journal and were already familiar with each other.
Our visual styles are totally aligned so we moved through the shot list pretty efficiently.
An assistant accompanied Jessica, as she was pregnant at the time of the photoshoot and needed some help with the heavy lifting. Jessica was collaborative and helpful while still allowing Natasha and Merisa to get their work done.
It was nice having Jessica there and asking her questions and hearing about her design process and insights about her vision. We all got along great and there was a lovely feeling of camaraderie during the shoot.
The project was quite inspiring to Natasha, who had never clapped eyes on anything like the visual delight that Jessica had designed.
I’m always in awe at all the different spaces I get to photograph and this was one so special in that it felt so new and fresh — unlike anything I had ever seen before. So many of the fixtures and furnishings were custom and I was excited to capture Jessica’s vision and hard work.
No matter what project Natasha is working on, her intention is to capture spaces the way the eye sees them, as well as how one would feel if they were there.
I’m always very careful about balancing the ratio of ambient light with strobes so that it still feels natural and not overdone. I was extra careful about exposure on this one so that the colors would read accurately in the final images.
Several elements of this surprising, playful home didn’t even make it into the photographs, such as an elevator.
It was such a treat to be there. The home was right on the Venice Canals, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Los Angeles, so we had lunch with the doors wide open to the canals.
See more of Natasha’s work on her Instagram.
Credits
Photo Editor: Andie Diemer
Stylist: Merisa Libbey
Writer: Lydia Geisel