I've recently donated to a wonderful new charity called Cameras For Kids Foundation. Cameras For Kids Foundation, Inc. has been created specifically to provide underprivileged teens living in foster care the opportunity to have a camera and learn basic concepts of art and photography while fostering self esteem, self confidence and offering a skill set. They have a couple locations so far and are working their way into more and more cities. Please check them out here.
A day after landing in Chicago from a few weeks in India (and battling some mean jet-lag) I was able to ease back into the cold climate with a cover shoot for Triathlete Magazine at the Garfield Park Conservatory Gardens' Fern Room. It was also a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with an old friend (and now client) from photo school back in California. Stay tuned for the final shots of our subject and her amazing story of survival and triumph.
Thanks to a great crew: Sage Reed for wardrobe, Beth Follert for Hair/Makeup, Harrison & Mark for assisting and a HUGE THANK YOU to Nils and Lisa for being fantastic clients
I had the recent pleasure of shooting a portrait of Anthony "Showtime" Pettis for UFC Magazine. Showtime is an incredible force to watch train and compete. Pick up a copy of this month's issue of UFC to read more about this fascinating athlete. Truly inspiring.
India is as diverse as you would expect . . . the scenery, the people, the traffic, the food, the smells, the weather. Every corner brings something interesting. Here are just a few images from my travels so far in Pune, Mumbai and Goa. I'm off to work on a project in Hyderabad for the next week . . . check back for more updates!
A big thank you to Sarah for helping build and style the set!!
Greetings from India! Hope you're having a lovely day/night, wherever you're viewing this from!
The Met, NYC
Leaving for India today for some exciting leisure travel as well as some work. I'm starting off in Pune, then on to Mumbai, then to Goa (for some true R&R) and then working on a project in Hyderabad until just before Thanksgiving! Have a fantastic November! See you in December!! More photos will be coming!
Instead of just snapping normal behind the scenes images of our shoot with Men's Fitness this weekend, we popped a radio slave onto our Canon G12 point-n-shoot camera. This allowed us to take shots of the whole scenario and have the scene lit with our strobes (instead of just using available light like the last image shown). The result is a very cool perspective of the photo shoot that definitely gives a good idea of the final image (hitting newsstands this winter)
Another great post by the inspirational Seth Godin...
Ideas spread when people choose to spread them. Here are some reasons why:
1. I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous.
2. ...because I feel smart alerting others to what I discovered.
3. ...because I care about the outcome and want you (the creator of the idea) to succeed.
4. ...because I have no choice. Every time I use your product, I spread the idea (Hotmail, iPad, a tattoo).
5. ...because there's a financial benefit directly to me (Amazon affiliates, mlm).
6. ...because it's funny and laughing alone is no fun.
7. ...because I'm lonely and sharing an idea solves that problem, at least for a while.
8. ...because I'm angry and I want to enlist others in my outrage (or in shutting you down).
9. ...because both my friend and I will benefit if I share the idea (Groupon).
10. ...because you asked me to, and it's hard to say no to you.
11. ...because I can use the idea to introduce people to one another, and making a match is both fun in the short run and community-building.
12. ...because your service works better if all my friends use it (email, Facebook).
13. ...because if everyone knew this idea, I'd be happier.
14. ...because your idea says something that I have trouble saying directly (AA, a blog post, a book).
15. ...because I care about someone and this idea will make them happier or healthier.
16. ...because it's fun to make another teen snicker about prurient stuff we're not supposed to see.
17. ...because the tribe needs to know about this if we're going to avoid an external threat.
18. ...because the tribe needs to know about this if we're going to maintain internal order.
19. ...because it's my job.
20. I spread your idea because I'm in awe of your art and the only way I can repay you is to share that art with others.
Thank you Seth Godin
It seems like just yesterday that I was changing it's tiny little diaper with every little shoot I did. I can't believe it's been over 10 years!! Here a little snapshot of each major iteration of the online portfolio. Starting with the year 2000, 2002, 2004 and the present website. So much has changed since the beginning! With the exception of the first website I built, all of the credit goes to the amazing Deb at dstripe.com for the design and build. She's amazing and if you're lucky enough, she'll design and build one for you too!
Here is a great little behind the scenes video we created for our shoot with UFC Magazine last month. I was part of shooting the first issue of UFC Magazine a couple years ago. It's great to see the magazine doing so well and how much MORE popular this sport has become. These fighters never cease to amaze me with their skills and are always the nicest and most enthusiastic subjects to work with.
A big thank you to Ian for the video footage (not bad for a cell-phone camera, eh?)
It's always fun to shoot in beautiful spaces. We recently shot a quick editorial for American Lawyer Mag on the top floor of an amazing building downtown Chicago. Impeccable views of the city including Millennium Park and the lake. The light was amazing and therefore allowed us to use available light and a simple reflector.
A big thank you to Sarah and Ace for assisting and behind the scenes photos!
My photography has been featured with Wonderful Machine for about a year now. They're a great resource for creatives to find many of the countries top photo professionals. With the launch of a new online magazine, F8, Wonderful Machine used an image from my portfolio to promote their website. They chose an appropriate tagline that not only speaks to the audience, but I also feel that I follow those two words to the fullest extent: Reach further.
Such a sad sad day for umbrellas in Chicago. I was walking back to the studio this afternoon when I notice all of the trash cans were occupied by broken umbrellas. The more I walked around, the more casualties of the strong windstorm I saw. Some trash cans were even filled with two or three umbrellas. These images are definitely moments of frustration frozen in time.
So sad . . . for the umbrellas.
This shoot was, hands down, one of the more memorable ones in the past year. How often do you get to purchase dozens and dozens of rolls of duct tape and build an ENTIRE set out of it? I mean, come on, duct tape fixes everything! It couldn't have been done without the following kick-ass people:
Grayson C - Art Director
Sage Reed - Styling and props
T. Harrison Hillman and Marc Altman for assisting and rolling out some serious tape
Aaron Kissman - intern extraordinaire and professional plant-ductaper
Cross Town Scenic - set build
Cannon Beach, Oregon - 2002
Kaua'i, Hawaii
I did end up buying a boatload of Turkish Delight while in Istanbul last week. I was also fortunate to stumble upon a book seller who had a stack of vintage movie posters from Turkey. Some are American flicks and most were foreign. Check out the four I bought, after I had to bargain with the owner's 7 year old son for a lower price . . .
Had another great shoot with Chicago Magazine for their Fall Theatre opener. We photographed a concept for Timeline Theatre's TO MASTER THE ART production opening in October. In addition to this shot, I also shoot all of Timeline's season promotional photography, check out some samples here
Styling: Sage Reed
Wardrobe: Rachel Healy
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