I loved it. Kim emailed me requesting a shoot…just because. People always seem to need a reason to be photographed – graduation, wedding, birthday, model portfolio, etc etc etc. Those are all great reasons, but I think I loved Kim’s the best. Just because! She totally brought it with some killer traditional attire – I absolutely loved the color and style of the her clothing. Thanks Kim, you were awesome, and I had great time shooting with you!!!
Archive for the ‘Editorial’ Category
Kim
August 17, 2011Marie Antoinette
April 20, 2011A friend of mine, Melinda (AKA Marie Antoinette) recently approached me about doing a shoot for her new website. She’s an event planner and set designer and we had worked together on a previous project. I was sold immediately when she told me the concept…Marie Antoinette goes Bridal. The shoot was a ton of fun, and we had a lot of brilliant collaborators, listed below. And Melinda, by the way, is incredible at what she does, so if you’re in the market for an event planner or need any set design, definitely look her up!
Marie Antoinette: Melinda Anderson
Wardrobe: Adriana Pavon
Makeup: Sharla Mohney
Hair: Cornell Jermaine
Manny and Mia – Editorial Shoot
March 7, 2011We set out with one objective (my objective…they were game for whatever). Shoot a Detroit night scene from the top of a parking garage. The image was crystal clear in my mind, and it was what I planned the entire night around. We started out at a couple locations around the studio, then headed out to find us a parking garage. But as fate would have it, the shoot took a path of its own, and within five minutes of getting to the top of the garage, we were politely asked to depart. So, we improvised. And to be honest, I’m SO glad we did! Manny and Mia were great subjects and we had a ton of fun hitting the streets of Detroit. The shots below are a handful of my favorites from the night.
Light and Shadow
March 3, 2011Have I ever mentioned I LOVE LIGHT? And almost as much as I love light, I love shadow…mix those two beauties and you start getting some pretty amazing results. I’ve recently had this fascination with experimenting with different methods of lighting. Of course I spend the majority of my time in shoots with the typical sources, hot shoe flashes, strobes, and natural light…but I’ve been obsessed with finding other ways of modifying my light or using non-traditional methods of lighting a subject. Every object I see that has any element of translucence I find myself wondering how I could use it to light a subject and what it would do to my light.
Sometimes it works. And, a lot of times it doesn’t…but you’ll never know unless you try. The shoot below is the result of one of those experiments, and likely one of my favorite shoots in a long time. Moral of the story? Experiment! You never know what might happen, it might be cool, it might completely suck, but either way, you’ll learn something from it.
Sara – Model Shoot
January 27, 2011Wow, it seems like ages since I blogged! I almost had to get out the blogging manual and brush up on how to log in and post some images! OK, so I’ve never been the master blogger, and it’s probably obvious that if there ever was a blogging manual, that I haven’t laid eyes on it…but since it’s a brand new year (I still have 11/12 of the year left…) I’m going to be SO MUCH BETTER! I’m committing myself to actually putting words on the blog. Even if it just has to be mindless rambling like this, I’ll add a few words to my posts…not that anyone actually cares what I have to say, but I’m committed none-the-less. So, from here on out, you all get words.
So back to the blog neglect I’ve subjected you all to. There’s a reason. It’s not just that I’m lazy. I actually have lots sitting around in Lightroom, waiting to be posted and shown to the world, and I’m excited to share it all with you! But…in addition to my recent work, I may or may not have been working on something special…something big! Stay tuned…more info coming soon 
.
So let’s get back to Sarah. I met Sarah and much of her family just before Christmas. Here are a few images from our shoot.
Makeup
December 30, 2010Makeup. Not enough can be said about having great makeup done and having it done by a great makeup artist! Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to work with several makeup artists on different projects, and it’s been great seeing how each can bring their own creativity and talent to life through their work. One of my favorite MUAs to work with is a girl by the name Courtney Peters, based out of Canton. Here are a few images from our last shoot.
Is there a key to success?
December 27, 2010People often ask how one becomes successful in the competitive market of photography. Everybody is looking for the key to success. The formula for “making it” in an industry where the barriers to entry are very minimal and ever getting smaller. I think I’m not alone when I say, there isn’t one! There’s no secret recipe, no special formula, no kit. But if there’s one thing the past year and half have taught me, is that nothing can help one become successful more than tearing your face away from the computer, getting out in the public, meeting people, and most importantly, always shooting! Forget for a moment about marketing campaigns, business plans, gear, and everything else filling our heads, and let’s just get out there and do it! Shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. Zack Arias (who I tend to quote a lot…sorry!) said during a training, something along the lines of “quit trying to be the next big story, and just get out there and do your thing.” It will come. It won’t be easy, it won’t be fast. But it will come. For the first several months after quitting my job and diving head first in this career as a photographer, my goal was to shoot at least 3 times a week. If I didn’t have paid gigs, I didn’t care, I’d find anyone that would stand in front of my camera. Two things happened. First, I got better, not a lot, but a little every shoot (I still leave every shoot having learned something I consider significant). Second, people saw my images. My portfolio started growing, with consistently improving work, and people started knowing who I was…not a lot, but people all the same.
One thing I absolutely love about being a photographer is the constant opportunity I have to meet new and talented people. For example, about 8 months ago, I met an incredible fashion designer by the name of Adriana Pavon. I’ve absolutely loved working on several projects with her, and through that relationship have met several people in the fashion industry who have been great to work with as well.
Adriana invited me to attend Fashion in Detroit…
where I met a photographer, Piper Carter, who invited me to an event she was hosting at her studio in Detroit…
where I met a model who was interested in working together, and who later brought with her to a test shoot (images to follow soon) her boyfriend…
who happens to be the very talented rap artist, Kanglosta (you can see more of him at Facebook and Youtube)…
shortly after my shoot with L’Oreal (the a fore mentioned model), I ended up booking a shoot with Kanglosta.
Moral of the story? If you’re not out constantly meeting people, shooting, and making yourself visible, you’ll never know who, or what you might have missed! I had an incredible shoot with Kanglosta, and despite the cold, I think we made some fantastic images. Here’s a short glimpse of our shoot.
And….I’m back!
September 7, 2010After what seems like an eternity, I’m finally back. The reason for the trip was a large photography conference, but we were able to fit in a little family visit and a little play while we were at it. Jean was very diligent and stayed home and worked while the boys and I drove out west…in retrospect, I’m not really sure which one of us got the raw end of the deal . I joke, of course, and my four boys were troopers…I’ll post a few images from our adventures maybe later this week, but this post is more dedicated to the conference and my time in Las Vegas.
So, while in Vegas, I had the opportunity to hear from some of my photographic heroes – people like Vincent Versace, John Paul Caponigro, Joe McNally, Cliff Mautner, and Zack Arias (just to name a few). It’s always inspiring to hear from these people and see their work. I think the best part of the conference was during a lecture by Vincent Versace. After several minutes of fighting with his computer (for some reason it kept crashing in the middle of his photoshop presentation), he broke into a rap song…the guy seriously cracks me up! If you haven’t spent any time learning from him, I highly recommend it. However, be prepared for your brain to hurt…the guy is a genius and often dives into some very technical waters.
In addition to the conference my friend Brittni Schroeder and I set up a few editorial shoots, which I’ll share with you over the next couple blog posts. The first I’m posting here, is with Jlene. When we contacted her, she said she was interested in shooting in a lake bed. I thought to myself, I didn’t realize there were any lakes in Las Vegas…and after we arrived at the location, I realized that there aren’t! But the location was awesome! I’ve never had the chance to shoot in such a desolate, arid location, and it was a great change from what I’m used to. The skies were completely blue, not a cloud in sight. We arrived later in the day, so heat wasn’t an issue, and we ended up getting a beautiful sunset. It was incredible seeing the vivid colors setting against the deep blue and purple mountain horizon…really made me miss my western sunsets! Jlene was a great subject as well. She was a ton of fun to work with, and if anyone is ever in need of a model in Vegas, I highly recommend her.
Here is the final set of images for my shoot with clothing designer, Adriana Pavon. Clothing modeled by Katelynn Polidan and Cynthia Zhang.
Welcome to day 2 of the posts from my shoots with clothing designer, Adriana Pavon. Clothing modeled by Cynthia. Come back tomorrow for the final series of images from our shoots (at least for now…).
