In my last post I described how I’ve begun to do remote photo shoots, via FaceTime. By hooking a projector up to my laptop while I’m on a call with my subjects— who are often not just in a different state but sometimes in a different country— I can project their face onto a backdrop in my studio. Then I shoot through a range of different materials and substances, throwing the subject slightly out of focus, which takes the focus off the poor video connection and puts it on the texture, helping sell the illusion that the subject was actually in my space. I’ve dubbed these portrait sessions “remotraits”…
Read MoreRemotrait Sessions
Because of the quarantines currently sweeping the country and world creatives have had to get especially creative to make collaborative art in spite of distance. I’ve seen photographers shooting portraits of people from the sidewalk and through windows. I’ve also seen photographers shooting via conferencing apps. I, too, recently conducted my own remote portrait sessions, which I’ve decided to call Remotraits. After exploring a range of different techniques I found a sweet spot when I began shooting through different substances and materials (a technique I’ve been exploring in my Strata series this past year). The resulting images look exactly how they would had the subject been standing in my studio.
Read MoreIf I Were to Die Today
I recently collaborated with Larry Robertson and we did a bit of everything in our session. The broad range of visual styles that we brought together was a perfect match for Larry who is a poet, clothing designer, musician, and a tour manager amongst other things. After the shoot was over and he had a chance to look over the images we made he said, “If I were to die today these are the pictures I’d want people to see to remember me.” Turns out the images represented the broad scope of who Larry is even better than I had imagined.
Read MoreWhat I Learned During My Year Off Social Media
Last month, I returned to social media exactly one year to the day after leaving behind 60,000 followers on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. I made my exit for a number of reasons, with anxiety playing the largest role. I didn’t know where the feeling originated, or much less why, but living with it wasn’t worth what social media was offering me in exchange. After I left, many people (myself included) wondered if my photography business could survive the departure. It turns out that not only did I survive, I also learned how to thrive both personally and professionally in the process…
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Beauty and Beast-ish
Even when I’m doing “pretty” shoots I like to have an element of darkness or mystery in my images. After all, things aren’t pretty all the time. This shoot with Rachel is a prime example. I used lace to light through (pretty) as well as shoot through (looks a bit eerie). I shot through different plastic panels, mixing beautiful makeup with jagged shapes and ghostly shadows. I used prismatic window film to light her in pretty pink light, while also using in combination with a slow shutter to create an ethereal haze…
Read MoreAll Things to All Men
This shoot with Dustin had a bit of something for everyone. I used a projector for most of the scenarios, using it in combination with a range of different camera techniques. I made in-camera multiple exposures, using different blending modes. I explored using slow shutter speeds, both by moving my hands as well as zooming my camera lens. Finally, I fired up a fog machine and projected different images through the smoke. There really are endless ways to use such a simple tool…
Read MoreStrata VIII
I’ve shot with rubber cement half a dozen times now, each time slightly changing not only how I apply the material to the plexiglass but also how I light it and process the images in post. Though I’m getting closer to what I’m going for in this series, there are still so many variables to explore with this material. Over the past year I’ve experimented with shooting through a range of substances and materials to get more painterly or sculptural results, titling the series Strata. You can view my other texture explorations here.
Read MoreNew Creative Portrait Video Tutorial
Hey friends. Just a heads up that I have a new, 5-part video series that delves deep into how I execute creative portraits in my studio. My entire creative process is broken down, from A to Z…
Read MoreOld Man Gloom
It’s always great when I get a chance to reconnect with Jim. We worked through a range of creative scenarios in this shoot. I shot his reflection with a broken mirror. I shot through a distressed air filter. I played with mylar. It was my first time splattering water onto the mylar, and found that the warped nature of the material in addition to the water added a nice graphic novel-look to the images. These techniques are all part of a new video series I’m currently working on, titled The Creative Portrait. Keep an eye out for the first episode, dropping soon!
Read MoreIt's Always Sunny with Sonny
Last week I shot with Sonny and we did all the things. I started with a single, un-gelled “hard” light and then began ratcheting up the complexity. By using a range of different cucoloris (cookies) I created organic-shaped shadows on her face. By adding a cyan-gelled background light I was able to give the feeling of her being outside on a sunny day. We went on to play a range of different shadow-makers and color which worked perfectly with her long braids and flowing outfits.
Read MoreStrata VII
It’s been a while since I’ve explored the Strata series. The reason why I started this experimental series almost a year ago was in an effort to take my portraits into a more painterly realm. Digital can be so hyperreal and “accurate” and I often find it quite boring. I want tactility. Grit. I experimented with shooting through different substances, such as honey or coconut oil. I shot through different types of plastics, using everytinhg from saran wrap and bubble wrap to light panels from the hardware store. I explored different ways of capturing reflections by using broken mirrors and mylar. My goal was discovery. I want an element of chaos and surprise in how I create photographs, and so I set up a series of controlled photo experiments to see what came out of it.
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Zoom Drag
This was a fun, quick session. A simple setup— just one light and a projector— with a dramatic result. I was experimenting with zooming my lens from 35mm to 16mm as I simultaneously panned the camera during the long exposure. The strobe on the background kept her silhouette intact while the projector and camera movement created the wavy, fluid lines.
Read MoreRJD2: The Fun Ones Photo Shoot
In late 2018 my buddy RJ (aka RJD2) approached me about shooting the cover art for an upcoming album he was working on. He didn’t have a concrete idea about what he wanted to do but suggested possibly involving his Delorean. He was specific about the images not being about the car itself but rather capturing elements of the cars shape and incorporating them into creative portraits. I was intrigued but really couldn’t visualize what the hell he was talking about. Eight months later he hit me up and told me he was ready to shoot. He said that he had a garage that he’d just painted white that had a 14-foot ceiling with trusses. His plan was to suspend himself upside down above the open doors of his Delorean, and seemed confident that he could rig himself adequately with a climbing harness and some ropes. When I suggested that it may be easier to just shoot him and the car separately and composite them he was aghast. Ok, we’ll do it the hard way.
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Living an Un-curated Life
Today marks the one-year mark of me leaving social media. To say that this past year has been transformative for me would be putting it mildly. I’ve grown more mentally, emotionally, physically, and creatively in the past year than any other time of my life. I’ve come to learn that there was a significant amount of trauma in my past that needed to be addressed and worked through and through the process learned to separate my sense of worth from what I can create or do for others. I’ve learned to appreciate those who have loved me and supported me unconditionally through the years. I began the process of tearing down walls within myself, letting past pains and fears intermingle with current hopes and aspirations. This process, which I refer to as the un-curation of my life, has brought me to a level of peace and self-acceptance that I hadn’t before known and I feel ready to engage the world in a new way.
Read MoreWildfire
I am starting to work more with motion. While part of this decision is strategic (I see a massive shift to video in the commercial and editorial industry), a big part of it is passion. I’ve been obsessed with films since I was a kid. Back in my college days I worked third shift at a video store for just over a year and watched 3-4 movies a shift, catching up on decades of classics. Film is just so immersive for me. It takes storytelling to a whole new level. I love being able to pair image with sound and create a deeper experience for the viewer.
This is a quick piece I put together a couple of weeks ago with Rachel Luree. I concepted, shot, and edited it in less than an hour and am super excited to push more into this new chapter of my craft.
Read MoreCreative Portraiture Workshop: New York City
It was great to be back in New York, teaching my two-day Creative Portraiture workshop. Photo god Lindsay Adler graciously lent me her Manhattan studio while she was off killing it in Milan. We had a blast experimenting with light, color, and technique.
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Creative Portraiture Workshop: Columbus
My sold out, two-day Creative Portraiture photography workshop took place a week ago and we had students travel from three other states to make art at my Columbus studio. We began by covering different qualities of light (soft vs. hard) and how to intentionally create different types of shadows. Next we covered a bit of color theory and how to use cookies (cucoloris) with gelled lights to create colorful shadows. For the rest of the weekend we covered a vsat range of techniques, such as making multiple exposures; creating prismatic effects with a broken mirror; shooting through different materials; photographing warped and colorful reflections with mylar and prismatic window film; using shutter drag; making custom shapes and images by way of projector. It was a jam-packed whirlwind of a weekend but we all came away feeling inspired and ready to go back into the world and create.
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Seasonal Affective Disorder and Hunting For Light
Lately I’ve been hyper-focused on light and texture. I can get seasonal affective disorder (SAD) pretty bad in the winter when the days are shorter and days or even weeks can go by without the appearance of the sun. When the sun does decide to make an appearance it feels like I’m awaking from a coma. I notice qualities of the light that I would likely otherwise ignore the rest of the year when sunlight is plentiful: how the light looks like water through an old window; the shapes that it creates when it hits a living room armchair; how it moves across nearby buildings until it hits a window and bounces into an otherwise dark corner of my room. It’s magical. I’ve recently taken to carrying a mirrorless camera around with me to make sure I’m ready when the sun hits.
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Vibrant Vivian
This was my first time working with Vivian. I kept the session relatively simple, focusing on capturing the vibrance of her personality. I started off by using the prism film with just window light. Then I added red and blue-gelled LEDs that I used in combination with window light. I finished by giving the images a grainy, saturated film look to make them feel older.
Gilding Lilies
I’ve never been especially fond of flowers. Don’t get me wrong— they’re pretty and everything, but I don’t stop to smell them, much less know their names. That said, flowers make wonderful subjects. They sit nice and still and always put on a great performance as I take my time fiddling around with lights, gels, and camera settings. Though I suppose any inanimate object would suffice for testing, I find flowers to have a human-like qualities to them. They have a face, a neck, and elegance for days. That’s not to say they’re an easy subject. They don’t bring anything to the table, save for their looks. They don’t have a range of dramatic poses or expressions or wardrobe changes. When working with flowers as a subject you only get out of a shoot what you put into it…
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