Heather is a model I’d had the opportunity to work with before. She was wonderful and I immediately knew we had to try working together again.
Here’s what came of our recent shoot:
Mar 072011
Dec 232010
Here’s a shoot I did recently. The second model (Marielle – first shot below), was very much a surprise for me, because I was only supposed to shoot with Stefania. Marielle was doing the makeup and wanted to be part of the shoot, so I went with it. The concept went from the simple “girl under the sheets” shot to a sort of slumber party turned weird. We moved in a lot of random directions with this one, so it’s not at all a cohesive whole, but it was a ton of fun anyway.
Dec 012010
A little while back, I posted about a personal crisis I was going through.
Basically, frustrated with my work and feeling like it was headed nowhere, I finally concluded that in order to make progress artistically, I was simply going to have to shoot a whole lot more.
Nothing groundbreaking or inspiring in and of itself. Very simple.
Just shoot more.
So I started doing just that with this gorgeous exchange student (just 17 years old), called Heide. All I knew going into this was that I had seen and was greatly inspired by ads for David Yurman jewelry and wanted to do something similar.
Here are the results. I’m very excited about these! Enjoy!
Many thanks to Heide for braving the cold wind and for working so hard with me!
Nov 142010
If there’s one constant about being a blogger, for me at least, it’s that you’re always behind.
Granted, it’s been less than a week since my last post, and to be fair, I often lose track of what day it is, but it does still feel like forever since I’ve posted any meaningful photography on the blog… And that bothers me.
A lot.
Hell, last night, my now (apparently) yearly crisis finally came to a head. I wonder where my work is going, why it’s not getting anywhere and what I should try to make some semblance of progress with it.
Deep depression usually follows. The praise I get no longer means anything, because I look at all of my work and I think, “Everything I have, sucks.”
Whatever standards I’m reaching for are just beyond my reach.
Always.
And just like an avalanche, all the rest comes crashing down as well. Should I try something new? And what’s that? What am I doing now that isn’t working? How in the world do I find time for this stuff anyway?
That last one has actually been a serious problem. I shoot a lot of weddings in the summer. I have to pay the bills, though fortunately for me, and unlike many other photographers wanting to break into the big game (advertising, fashion, editorial, etc), I unapologetically and genuinely enjoy shooting weddings. Yes, it’s routine and repetitive, but the people are different, and I love me some people. I’m not a recluse, I’m not anti-social, I’m not a loner; I love people. And weddings provide me with a lot of those. So like with anything else I do, I give 500% of myself to my work.
The problem is, that leaves very little room for anything NON-wedding related. Especially in the summer. Between that and a host of major troubles in my personal life which, of course, happened to take place during what little down time I had (ie. the non-wedding-season months), I feel like I’ve hit a dry spell that has lasted a year and a half…
The solution that I came to, very late last night, is far from groundbreaking or exciting or somehow inspiring in its own right. Plus, the solution always seems to be the same:
Just shoot more.
So now the goal becomes to hash out a plan where I can do just that. Hopefully you’ll notice the results over time.
While you wait, here’s a model shoot I did recently. The best is already on the website, but here’s a few outtakes:
Sep 022010
I’ll be honest. Death has been a great big part of my life. I’d say it’s hit close to home, but that would be a lie.
It hit home.
Twice.
So although I’m not one of those people who has some obscene fascination with death, it’s certainly something I’ve been intimately exposed to.
In fact, we’ve all had our brushes with death, whether by our own experiences (I fell through a roof once when I was about 15 – I remember not being able to breathe and thinking “I can’t breathe anymore. This is it. I’m gonna die.”) or because we knew people who died.
And I do want to point something out. I don’t like to filter the language in describing death. I don’t say “passed away” or “went to a better place”.
It’s death! It’s not supposed to be pleasant or easy to say. It’s tragic and it’s painful.
And so, with all of that comes the narrative of this series. The idea came to me in November of 2009 and I immediately knew I wanted to illustrate the quiet and lonely suffering we all endure when confronted with the death of a loved one.
Many thanks to Kari Hawker (model), Ashlen Saunders Duke (hair stylist), Shanda Palmer from FaseItMakeup (makeup artist) and AultoRest Memorial for allowing us to shoot there!!
I was sadly unable to shoot or even attend Alisha’s wedding when she got married to her handsome husband earlier this summer. I was already booked for another wedding on her big day.
When I first met Alisha, she was one of the more depressed people I knew. Soon after we met and worked together on a few projects (all film projects at the time), she got divorced and went through a horrible separation process while I watched helplessly from the sidelines.
She was a wreck.
And I didn’t realize how much of a wreck she was until I saw her transform into the happiest version of Alisha I’ve ever known.
So what defines a person? What makes them who they are? Well. Sometimes, it’s another person.
Here’s Jeremy, Alisha and their kids:
And here’s some random model shots of both of them. Can you tell who I’ve worked with most between the two? Oh and check out the contact section of my website. It has Alisha yelling into a megaphone 
Aug 072010
Enis (pronounced Eh-niss) and Whitney were a joy to work with. Total goofballs and really comfortable with themselves.
So much so that when I had to run back to my car to grab something and come back, they took a smoke break. I asked if I could shoot them smoking and they said sure. I know it’s a nasty habit, they know it’s a nasty habit, and I’m sorry, but I don’t care; I love shots of people smoking – wedding or not. There’s something I find really interesting about it and if you dig deep enough, you’ll find some of my work with models smoking.
LOVE that shot of this couple! Let’s show a little character!
My new project FINALLY gets unveiled tomorrow! It’s one that’s very near and dear to my heart, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I’m excited to share it with you all.
Aug 022010
Formal session just days before their wedding:
Jun 022010
Beyond our professional relationship, Dani and I are close friends. So it made perfect sense that late at night on May 19th, Dani called to see if I’d be available to shoot the very next day. She needed some shots of an outfit before she had to return it to its designer on May 20th, the night of our shoot.
I want to mention something in passing.
I love Dani (big surprise, huh?). It’s no coincidence I’ve worked with her seven times with no apparent end in sight. She’s impossibly fun to be around, easy to work with and endlessly talented.
And about that talent, I remember taking those first few shots thinking “Man, I don’t have to tell her anything. We’re in perfect sync. She just moves exactly the way I’d like a model to.”
This last one isn’t particularly good, it’s just a pre-cursor to something I’m shooting next week
May 122010
…never looked so sexy!
I’ve had this shoot in mind since late last year, so when I was finally in a position to do the concept a few weeks ago, I knew I had to have the best.
Enter two excellent women: Rachel Wixom (model) and Danielle Carlsen (makeup and hair).
Here are the results:
