If you’re interested in learning how to create these in-camera effects, I have three video tutorials that detail my entire process. Each episode covers a wide range of techniques and includes everything from coming up with a concept and subject direction to camera settings and how I color grade the files in Lightroom. More info here
Read MoreLess Is More: Slowing Down with Sondos
Lately I’ve been intentionally slowing down the pace in which I engage life. Though I’ve never been good at being still or meditating, I have found lately that stillness is what I’ve been craving the most. My favorite pastime these days is to sit in what others might call silence and listen to the sounds of the world around me. Crickets chirping; the wind moving through the trees; jets passing overhead; neighbors listening to a ball game on their porch radio. If I can manage to stop thinking about each individual sound, I can start to hear them all as one, and accept my place within it.
Read MoreMicrocosms: Photographer Nick Fancher Returns with an Exhibition of 100 New Works
Nick Fancher, award-winning photographer and creative visionary, is back with his first photography exhibition in 8 years. The new show, which features 100 brand-new works, will be unveiled at The Fort in Columbus, Ohio…
Read MoreImages from Photo Workshop Intensives
Last month, for the first time ever, I offered several different workshop intensives. One focused on using just one strobe; one focused on color theory; and one focused on techniques that warped the subject’s appearance. These classes focused on a specific technique, rather than my Creative Portrait workshops, which focus on a broader range of creative techniques. I found the format helped both me and my students pay more attention to just how vast any one technique can be.
Read MoreIn-Camera Multiple Exposures with Liquid and a Model
Here’s my latest exploration with combining images of fluids with in-camera multiple exposure portraits…
Read MoreImages from the August Creative Portrait Workshop
This past weekend I held my latest Creative Portrait workshop at my Columbus studio. We kicked off the weekend exploring color theory and shadow sculpting…
Read MoreThe Negative Side of Social Media : Commissioned by Unsplash
As some of my longtime followers know, I’ve had a complicated relationship with social media. In 2019 I was experiencing so much anxiety that I permanently deleted all of my accounts (60,000 followers over 3 platforms) with no plans to return. I spent the next year off the grid. Though I’d already been in therapy for years I also began going to a support group for adult survivors of childhood abuse (ASCA). I started climbing and began regularly cycling again. The combination of processing trauma, moving my body, and removing myself from situations and relationships that exacerbated my anxieties, I began to heal…
Read MoreFlea of Red Hot Chili Peppers for Los Angeles Times
Flea has a new podcast called “This Little Light”, on which he interviews a broad range of people from the music industry such as Patti Smith, Earl Sweatshirt, and Rick Rubin, thus mirroring his own diverse taste in music. When Calvin Alagot asked me to make portraits of Flea for the Los Angeles Times, I began thinking of different techniques that I could employ in an effort to reference the breadth and length of Flea’s career as well as his influence in the music world.
Read MoreJason Segel for the Los Angeles Times' Envelope
The @latimes_entertainment was doing a story on Jason Segel and his new show, Shrinking, and @himguydude asked me to shoot the portraits (thanks again for the trust and freedom, Brandon)…
Read MoreCyberpunk Photo Shoot for Unsplash+
I was recently commissioned by Unsplash to create a series of cyberpunk-inspired images. Though the cyberpunk aesthetic is especially trendy as of late, it has held a spot near to my heart ever since I was a teen in the nineties…
Read MoreA Study of Form: High Contrast Black and White Dance Shoot
A study of shape and tone. Thanks to @kristielatham for bringing power and grace to every shoot, and thanks to the @ohioartscouncil for the grant which allows me to make art.
Read MorePhoto Shoot with Ballet Dancer Caitlin Valentine
I had a lot of fun exploring my new @nanlite_global Pavotubes. I set them to rapidly change through the prismatic spectrum while @bemycaitlinvalentine danced. I explored a range of techniques from long exposure to using prisms to shooting through reeded plastic. I’m super excited to explore the lights in greater depth.
Read MoreProjector Photo Shoot : A Collaboration with Digital Artist Christopher Royal King
I recently collaborated with musician and digital artist @christopherroyalking. He created a bunch of images that I used to project onto @_soniaconstable. These images were created strictly with in-camera effects (no photoshop was used)— a fact that I especially pride myself in, in a time of AI-generated imagery.
Read MoreMy Colorful Portrait Shoot for Tech Industry's Sidebar
Back in January I had the privilege of working with Sidebar to create a library of images for their new website launch. I’m so grateful for such a wonderful opportunity and true collaboration with the team at Sidebar as well as the designers and creatives at Mackey Saturday that developed the campaign. Big thanks to @elizabethcareysmith for art directing, @kyleameeks for assisting, @xixstudios for hosting, and all the subjects for bringing power and joy to the shoot.
Read MoreImages From the Previous Icon Session and New Event Announcement
Back in October I opened up my studio to host a day of portraits, which I call Icon Sessions. The idea behind it was to have a reduced session fee, making it more accessible for people to have creative images of themselves. Sessions are limited to 15 minutes, which allows for two outfits and lighting scenarios. Below you can get an idea of the range of portraits that were created that day…
Read MoreImages From Latest Creative Portrait Workshop
This past weekend I taught a 2-day Creative Portrait workshop at my Columbus, Ohio studio. Students came in from Utah, Arizona, Texas, and New York. It was an intimate time of learning, experimentation, and creativity…
Read MoreFuzzy Rainbows: Psychedelic Photo Shoot with Prisms
For this shoot I worked with prisms and boldly-colored gelled lights. I love the results, which simultaneously feel vintage and futuristic— psychedelic and cyberpunk. As always, these effects were created in-camera, only using Lightroom to enhance color and contrast.
Read MorePhotographic Interpretations of the Book of Revelation: A Commission by Rock City Church
I was recently commissioned by @rockcitychurch to create a library of images based on the book of Revelation (themes such as confusion, suffering, dying, and persevering). To create these images I employed a range of camera and lighting techniques to capture @repotrash, @priscilladwomoh, @ninjalascriss, and @johnathondarcelle, as well as create some abstract images to represent these themes. Creative direction by @mitchellaadams.
Read MoreElastic Plastic: Exploring a New Material with Alayna
Here's some recent work with @a.bean.sprout. It's been a couple years since our last collaboration and was a great time of conversation and art-making. I especially had fun exploring shooting through a piece of plastic that my friend @davidtsigler salvaged from an old Mac monitor. The red in that first image is actually a warped reflection of the red shirt I happened to be wearing at the shoot. My mind is still pouring over the possibilities that this material affords me.
Read MoreIn Rainbows: Portrait Session with Jason Walker
Here’s some recent work with @thisaintjason. This was a session focused on color and movement (like many of my sessions lol)…
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