I recently worked with award winning DJ and producer, Kallaghan. I employed a range of camera and lighting effects to create a broad range of images that encapsulate the energy in his energetic music.
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Bold Colors and Shapes with Ballet Dancer Kristie Latham
My latest shoot with dancing queen, Kristie Latham. We’ve been shooting together for over a decade now and it’s fun to look back at how our work together has evolved over the years. I started off with a simple color and shape study with the Lindsay Adler Optical Spot (Kristie styled her wardrobe). Then I finished the shoot with some long exposure work (I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this technique).
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Femme Fatale Vibes with Molly Ridge
This was a short, impromptu study of color and mood, with Molly Ridge. Once again I used the Lindsay Adler Optical Spot to create sharp, bold shadows.
Read MoreShoot with Ballerina Francesca Jordan Dugarte
My latest attempt at capturing the beauty of movement over time. Been exploring long exposures while rotating my @prismlensfx linear filter and multi-strobing my flash. Excited at the possibilities! Also really loving the hard light and fast falloff I can get with my @lindsayadler_photo @westcottlighting Optical Spot.
Read MoreAll the Things with Annika
This was my first shoot with Annika Peterson and we did all the things. I started off with some light lighting, using a black fiber optic brush and orange gel from Light Painting Brushes. After that I explored making long exposures while rotating a linear prism FX filter and multi-strobing my flash. Finally, I took some shots with my fungus-filled lens, using shutter drag and an LED with changing colors.
Read MoreInterplay: Exploring the Relationship Between Light and Movement with Dance Couple Carly and Gabe
Last October I began experimenting with wrapping dancers in LEDs and making long exposures in the dark. In essence this turned the black room into a blank canvas and the lights turned the dancers limbs into (light) paint brushes (check out the old post here). Since that point I had it in the back of my mind to use this technique when photographing a dance duo to see how their light trails interacted. That time has finally come…
Read MoreThe Score- Head Up Photo Shoot
Grateful for the chance to create photos and motion for @thescoremusic upcoming album cycle. Super cool to work with @jesseleestout and @grantjamesorchard of @metaform.studio on their vision. Thanks to @baileykobelin for assisting and to everyone on the creative team for a great shoot!
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Creating Dappled Light with a DIY Reflector
What if I told you that i only used one light to create this image. It’s true. I used one of my favorite lighting modifiers— a DIY reflector…
Read MoreWater Drops, Light Painting, and Lens Fungus (Oh My)
When Lily arrived at my studio I decided to start off with some colorful water drop portraits before getting into the light painting…
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Tryzdin Grubbs (American Idol contestant) Photo Shoot
Tryzdin Grubbs is an uber-talented, 15-year old singer from Columbus. He also just happened to get accepted onto the latest season of American Idol. Before the episode had even aired, Tryzdin popped by my studio for a photo shoot. This was our third shoot in as many years and this one was the most dynamic yet. We’ve both grown quite a bit in our respective crafts and so it was cool to see what new things we were bringing to the shoot, from a personal and professional standpoint. Here are just a few of the different looks that we knocked out in the brief but efficient, one-hour shoot.
Read MoreBehind the Scenes Photo Shoot with Ronnie Radke of Falling in Reverse
Last month I photographed Ronnie Radke of Falling in Reverse at his home in LA. I set up a makeshift studio in his dining room and we knocked out six scenarios in just under three hours…
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Cyberpunk Flapper Girl and Other Photographic Mashups
It’s a rare occasion when I do a team collaboration on a personal shoot. I typically prefer to work directly with the model, having them bring their own wardrobe and arrive with their hair and makeup already done. It not only saves time and is easier to coordinate but I also love the challenge of coming up with a cohesive theme for the shoot, basing my techniques, lighting, and color palette on the items that they brought with them. That said, when I do get to work with a great team such as this, I can see how the images really elevate…
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Exquisite Geometry
This was my first time working with Amber. In preparation for the shoot I told her the same thing I tell all of my models: bring 4-6 different outfit options and have hair and makeup ready when they arrive. Once she arrived we looked through the items that she brought and decided a direction for the shoot based on what we had to work with. I love the improvisational element in test shoots. It can really take my shoots in new directions. It makes me wonder if this is what it feels like tobe a jazz musician, going in loose and riffing off the other collaborators…
Read MoreCollaboration with Clothing Designer Xuena Pu
This was a deceptively simple shoot. Designer Xuena Pu makes garments with bold shapes, so I decided to make a range of basic shapes in Photoshop which I projected onto fabric behind the model. I made the shapes orange and chose to light the model with a complementary color of cyan. I used a softbox to create even, flattering light, making to add a grid to in order to avoid overlighting the backdrop. I then posed Dajia so that her lines (or lines from the garment) either aligned or broke out of the projected shapes.
Read MoreTechnophobia: Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars Photo Shoot
I listened to more than my share of darkwave and industrial synth back in the day so I was more than a little stoked when the DC-based duo Technophobia reached out to me to shoot press photos for their upcoming album cycle. They left much of the creative direction up to me, inviting me to “do what I do”, which I interpreted as “whatever I’ve been experimenting with lately”…
Read MoreFractals: Photographing Time and Space
Though I’ve been exploring long exposures and shutter drag in my portrait photography for years now, I’ve recently began to explore it in a new way. For some time now I’ve implemented intentional movement into my shoots but I was always doing the moving— not my subject. I’d shoot at exposures longer than 1/30th of a second and I’d move my camera around as my subject sat there. I’d mix in a strobe light with a continuous light source so that at least part of the subject was sharp while the rest of the frame fell away to blurred movement. Lately, however, I’ve decided to ditch the strobe and fully embrace the blur…
Read MoreLiquid Color
This was a fun little test shoot with Jona. For some of the frames I projected video footage onto her and made multiple exposures. Other frames I used a pulsing, multicolored LED and had Jona do the moving. There was an element of control and chaos in each scenario, and all of them led to discovery and delight.
Read MoreWilted Flowers, Crumpled Leaves, and Other Pretty Dead Things
We had a bouquet of flowers on our dining room table for the last two weeks, and it had been dead for easily half that time. When I finally got around to tossing the dead flowers I caught myself and decided instead to bring them to my studio to photograph. Though I’ve been photographing flowers and plants for years I’ve never thought to document them after their prime. I added in some dead leaves from one of our ailing house plants to round out my decay study. I enjoyed these studies so much that I may begin a new series around it.
Read MoreEphemera: A Collaboration with Hana Mendel and Celeste Malvar-Stewart
Last week I collaborated with Hana Mendel (an amazing photographer, illustrator, guitarist, etc) and clothing designer Celeste Malvar-Stewart. In an effort to maintain social distance guidelines, Celeste dropped off her garments, giving us permission to style and shoot them as we saw fit. Hana showed up ready to shoot and I kept my distance, wearing a mask the whole time. Save for the addition of wearing a mask, the shoot wasn’t any different from my other personal shoots— I always work with a minimal or non-existent crew…
Read MoreShe's on Fire
A couple weeks ago I shot with photographer/model/stylist Hayle Cordle and I leaned back into my passion for color. Since I wrapped writing for Chroma two years ago I have shifted my focus from color to experimenting more with abstraction and texture. This felt more like a simple study of mood, via color. I need to give myself permission to do more of these simple, fun explorations. It’s restorative.
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