This shoot was all over the place. It was equal parts conversational (we hadn’t shot in a couple of years) and me just winging it (as usual). I started off by just using window light. Then I added in a background light and slowed down my shutter speed to get a blurry subject and sharp silhouette. I experimented with a prism for a bit and then added in a bit of multiple exposure with some coconut oil on my lens (why not try all the things at once?). I finished off the shoot with a minimalist tabletop setup and one light. A visual crescendo before the calm.
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Minimalism and Discovery
I’ve been taking a pretty minimalist approach in my personal shoots lately. Just using window light or one flash. I am trying to put all of my focus on my subject, rather than technique. Their pose, facial expression, and energy will tell the story. My goal is to capture a side of them that I don’t see in their other work. Maybe a side they don’t even know they have. The interesting thing is that as I am exploring how to understand and capture my subject, I am actually learning something new about myself.
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Mini-Session with Aleksa Palladino
Last month I was in Los Angeles for an editorial shoot with a high profile band. As is the case with high profile clients, delays are expected. The shoot ended up being pushed to the next day, which meant I had to figure out how to make use of my now-empty day. I decided to reach out to my friend Aleksa to see if she was available for a quick photo shoot…
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When You Move I Move
I love working with dancers, and Kristie in particular. There is so much power and calculation and precision in her movement (or even just her finger shape). We’ve shot together a dozen times by now, so there is almost no need for communication. She does her thing and I do my best to keep up. The hardest part for me is figuring out new ways to shoot her…
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He's Seen the Same Things I've Seen and It's Certainly Made an Impression on Me
Jim is one of my favorite people to collaborate with. Not only does he bring great poses and emotion to every shoot but his older age brings an element of wisdom and time to the shoot that it would otherwise lack. He becomes my surrogate self for a few minutes, during the session. Depending on how I direct or light or pose him I can explore my own feelings of terror, hope, fear, or acceptance…
Read MoreTidal Unplugged
Back in June I was tapped to shoot editorial portraits of the five finalists of Tidal’s Unplugged grant program. Tidal narrowed down thousands of participants to five talented musicians from Detroit and gave them the means and opportunity to expand their musical careers…
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Glam!
Jennifer is a drag makeup artist based in Seattle. When she showed up with her (epic) makeup already in place, I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to play with sparkles and color. I started off by having her slick back her hair. Next I gave her a yellow gel to hold over her eye, while I hung a red gel between the light and her face. Then I held a blue gel in front of the lens, thus completing an RYB triad. For the second look…
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The Ghost of Her
I recently scheduled a personal shoot with model Mallory Landis and hair/makeup artist Andi Summer. As usual I went in the shoot with little to no idea of how I would light/shoot it, and unsurprisingly I went with ghosty, hazy images as I’ve been frequently exploring these past few months. The hazy, semi-solarized duotone shots that I came away with made me quite happy. I haven’t made anything quite like it before and am excited to explore it further.
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Diamond Hill for Barron's
Last week I photographed Chris Bingaman, the CEO of Diamond Hill investment management firm, for Barron’s magazine. I shot a range of color scenarios but both Annie Chia (the DoP) and I agreed that the black and white conversions were the stronger images.
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Ghost Soul Trio
I recently worked with Ghost Soul Trio, an indie-pop band from Columbus. Since music is such a huge passion of mine and especially because I lack the skills to create songs of my own, I always embrace the chance to visually collaborate with musicians. Though we only had an hour to work with, we came away with a range of visuals that mirror the vibrant notes that are so present in their music.
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Golden Girl
I’m still on a kick of exploring hazy, golden light, with layers of texture. For this shoot with model Rachel Luree, I began by positioning her in front of a 37” octabox, in order to get an ethereal backlight. Next, in order to take advantage of Rachel’s long hair, I laid out a large sheet of glass, covered in a thin layer of coconut oil. I had her stand over the glass with her hair hanging down, and I lay underneath it shooting up. I wanted to give the appearance of her being submerged in water, with her hair swirling around.
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Black and Gold
I’ve been collaborating with model Chyna Tene for several years now and I always go into the shoots excited to see what we come up with. It’s always a true collaboration, with her in charge or wardrobe, hair, and makeup, and me in charge of the rest.
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Dreams Are Like Water
I’ve been experimenting with photographing reflections in mylar for four shoots now, and I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. In order to get a good range of movement in the mylar (which translates to warped reflections), I set up an oscillating fan nearby, and turned it on to the lowest setting. The effect ranges from minimal to so abstract that you can’t even tell what you’re looking at, so there’s a bit of luck involved. Every time the fan would pass over the mylar, it would ripple like pond water after a rock was tossed in, so I basically shot like hell and hoped for something good.
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Strata VI
With these latest Strata portraits, I have started to do partial oil applications, leaving larger portions of the subject visible. I have used a number of application techniques such as blotting with my fingers, blotting with a paper towel, or smearing with a paper towel. I can’t deny how heavily these are influenced by the work of painter Henrik Uldalen. I also started giving the images a cyanotype treatment in post, which I really like. I think it gives the images an older feeling. My aim is for these portraits to not feel like they are from a specific time or of a specific person, but rather capturing a mood or feeling.
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Strata IV
I’m beginning to figure ways to control and manipulate the honey in my Strata portraits. I’m now using a mirror for my honey images, while I still use a large sheet of glass for the oil shots. Rather than cleaning off the mirror between shoots, I leave it laying flat, allowing the honey to settle (and collect dust and grit). Once I am ready to shoot, I stand it up and and dab it with my fingers, which creates raised areas for a few minutes. The refraction from the honey can get really extreme, mimicking the distortion from a funhouse mirror. My favorite parts of the image are the areas where the face/skin begin to split away from the body, as if to disintegrate.
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Perfect Imperfections
I, for one, am someone with a limited imagination. What I mean by that is that I need to get my images looking how I want them in camera so all I have left to do is color grade them. So if I want a lens flare or glitch or haziness in my image, I need to introduce that element into my shoot. All that’s to say that recently I’ve spent quite a bit of time scavenging ebay for broken or flawed camera lenses.
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Strata III
I’ve been working with oil and honey for several shoots now. I’ve also tried shooting through plastic wrap, which has a really nice texture. Though I really like the texture of the oil shots, I want to figure out how to show a bit more of the subject without making it too literal. I also want to try out implementing color into these.
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Strata II
For the past couple of years I’ve begun drifting away from the literal and heading for the lyrical. I am finding myself easily bored with well-lit (and even colorful) images. I find myself longing for the qualities a painters brush stroke brings to a portrait. I have experimented a great deal with using multiple exposures or projectors to add layers of texture and distortion to my images. Though I made images I was happy with, they didn’t feel like they were close enough to where I was wanting them to go.
Read MoreThe Old Man and the Screen
I recently read the short story, “The Machine Stops”, written in 1909 by E.M. Forster. In the story he lays out a dystopian prophecy wherein humans live under the earth’s surface (the surface is no longer inhabitable) in pods barely larger than themselves. They get everything they need through the machine, including sustenance, entertainment, and communication with other people around the world. Remind you of anything?
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Strata I
This past month I have begun working on a new series, the working title being Strata. I am dealing with obscuring my subject by shooting through a range of different materials. Though I am still early on in the exploration and not sure how exactly it will evolve, my goal is to capture the nature of humans at a spirit level, rather than make portraits of a specific person.
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