I kept it simple in this shoot with Angela. No fancy camera or lighting techniques. Just focusing on mood and form…
Read MorePrint Sale
Print sale! I have a bunch of 8x10” prints that need a new home. $50 shipped (US only)…
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Self-Portrait at 40
It’s taken me 40 years to find myself. Here’s to 40 more.
Read MoreThe Fort, From Above
Here’s a short video I made just for fun. This is The Fort— a sprawling warehouse on the south side of Columbus, where my studio resides…
Read MoreTraumatic Portraits: Integrating the Past and Present
I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember, and I’ve tried everything from medication to dietary changes to shake the issues. In 2017 my therapist suggested that I had survived an abusive childhood but I laughed it off, listing a number of pleasant memories as a counter argument. However, in the years that followed, the more I read about trauma and how the body writes that terror to our DNA, I began to accept the truth and reframe my history…
Read MoreBold Black and White Fashion Story with Molly
Ransom Supply Salt Yard Lifestyle Shoot
Ryan and I have collaborated on shoots for nearly a decade now, so I was super stoked when he reached out to me to work with him on his new clothing line, @ransomsupply. Though we were shooting in Columbus, Ohio, he wanted the shoot to feel like it was shot out west. When it comes to desert landscapes in the midwest, your options are rather limited. Fortunately Columbus has a wonderful saltyard that I regularly shoot at when the client wants something different…
Read MoreShutter Drag with Window Light / Creating Dappled Light with DIY Reflector
I wanted to create a dappled light effect, similar to sunlight reflected off of windows. I actually came across this effect by accident. I bought some mirror stickers used for crafting, which I adhered to a piece of cardboard. I had scored the cardboard on the back which made it an easy-to-carry tri-fold reflector. The happy accident came about in that the corrugated cardboard texture created the dappled light effect when lit with a bright light source, in this case a flash…
Read MoreHo99o9 Shot Via FaceTime for Flood Magazine
Back in April I reached out to my friends in Ho99o9 to do a shoot over FaceTime. I hooked the call up to my projector, aiming it at a trash bag, which gave the images a fantastic texture, while also warping their features. I also shot through rubber cement and honey to get a range of results…
Read MorePlastic Galaxies
It’s been a while since I’d shot images for my series One Man’s Trash, where I repurpose single-use plastic, so it was fun to make these images with Katy. She’s draped in a mattress bag and her pointy fingers came from vials saved from the chemlab at her school. I love the eerie sci-fi aesthetic in the images.
Read MoreMichael Malul London Fragrance Campaign Photo Shoot
A few weeks ago I shot product and advertising photos for Michael Malul London fragrances. Not only did I shoot and edit the photos but this was my first time solo-styling a shoot. I shopped for fruits, herbs, and plants, as well as collected a range of organic materials and textured surfaces to help convey the unique notes in each fragrance. The experience of styling felt like equal parts scavenger hunt and art making. I’ve found that creating a compelling still life is exponentially harder than making a portrait since there is no collaborative dynamic with a living subject. Everything that happens in the frame is my doing. It took me back to my days in art school, learning how to create visual movement and balance in a composition. So hard but so fun.
Read MoreDried Up and Dead to the World
I take regular walks with my children through the alleys of my neighborhood, and the other day I noticed the abundance of dead sunflowers lining the backyards. I was struck by the beauty in the gnarled stems and dried leaves— their beautiful decay. Autumn has long been a time that I shift my focus toward more somber themes, likely due to the colder days and longer nights…
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Ryan Bingham X Easyriders Magazine
Back in February I had the opportunity to shoot this video of Ryan Bingham for Easyriders magazine. I’m super proud of this piece, which I also co-wrote, directed, and edited. Big thank you to everyone who made it happen:
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 MoreMake or Die
I recently collaborated with illustrator/designer/friend Dylan Menges. I wanted to explore shooting a subject through plexiglass while they painted and he was the first person that came to mind. Collaboration with another artist really takes a lot of the pressure of me as the photographer. I can give him some basic direction and then just capture the beauty that unfolds before me. An element that I really love but didn’t plan for are all the scuff marks on the plexiglass. It adds such a gorgeous tactility to the images…
Read MoreTim Hortons US Fall Social Campaign
Last month I worked with the fine folks at 5 Hundred Degrees to shoot the Tim Hortons US fall social campaign. It was a beautiful day spent outdoors sculpting light and arranging pumpkins. Thanks always to Seth Miller, my assistant.
Read MoreLong Exposures with Dancers Wrapped in LEDs
In my last post I mentioned how I’ve struggled for years to capture the essence of a dancer in a single frame. These are more attempts in this ongoing quest…
Read MoreA Window to the Soul: Long Exposures of Ballet Dancers
Sometimes all you need is time. I photographed Caitlin and Karen last week, two dancers from Ballet Met. The sessions were deceptively simple. A dancer, a window, and a tripod. For some of the shots I froze their movement, highlighting their pose and their poise. I also explored making long exposures in an effort to capture the grace and fluidity of their movements (for years I’ve struggled to adequately capture a dancer in a single frame). I also used my fungus-filled lens on a few of the long exposures, resulting in especially ghostly images. Here are some of my favorites:
Read MoreNew Photo Tutorial (Creative Portrait #3)
I’m excited to announce that I just dropped the third episode in my ongoing tutorial series, The Creative Portrait. It covers ten scenarios with each scenario showing real-time raw file capture, camera settings, and color grading in Lightroom.
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