Back in April I was given the opportunity to work with 3-time Olympic medalist Jordan Larson @gov1007 for @espn. In the pre-production call with the creative team, I suggested a couple of techniques I could use as a way of capturing her power and grace…
Read MoreMultiple Exposure Portraits with Roarie Yum
My studio is located within @thefort614, which is a 130 year old warehouse on the south side of Columbus. It used to be the home of the Seagrave Company, which used the space to manufacture fire engines and other rescue vehicles, for over 60 years. Every square inch of the building has a glorious patina that can’t be faked. The cracked plaster, distressed flooring, and sun-faded glass is something especially rare in this fast growing city, populated with new builds…
Read MoreImages From the May Creative Portrait Workshop
Here are some of my favorite images from my latest Creative Portrait workshop. As you can see, we covered a braod range of techniques over the two day class.
Read MoreMultiple Exposure Portraits with Rigid Textures
Last year I explored fluidity quite a bit in my work, and this year I’ve been gravitating towards rigidity. To create these images I wandered around taking photos of a range of textures, which I used as a base layer to make in-camera multiple exposures in two portrait sessions.
Read MoreProcessing Trauma: Photo Shoot with Covid Nurse
Meris is a nurse that witnessed profound trauma during Covid. She kept a journal as a way of processing all that she experienced, which included journal entries and collage art. When she asked me to take her portrait and mentioned the journals, I suggested that I could photograph some of the pages and use them to make in-camera multiple exposures (seen below)…
Read MoreLiquid Strength: Multiple Exposure Photo Shoot with Bodybuilder
I started the session by photographing a mix of oil, seltzer, and ink, in a variety of different glassware…
Read MoreMachine Shop Photo Shoot with In-Camera Multiple Exposures
My inspiration for this shoot was two-fold: the movie, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and the cover of The Industrial Culture Handbook…
Read MoreTechnicolor Rainbow
Here’s the set of images i made of @larryrobertson during my last Creative Portrait workshop. I have learned that my images benefit from me waiting to color grade the files until I have the time and energy to really explore the possibilities of what they could look like.
Shelby X Creative Portrait Workshop
I had a blast hosting a sold out workshop at my studio this past weekend. Thank you to my students for coming from places as far away as Boston, Seattle, and the Cayman Islands. Shout out to my incredible models (@yesandso seen here) for making it easy to turn these techniques into moving art.
Read MoreEyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose (Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes)
It’s been nearly five years since I’ve photographed @kate_sweeney and it was interesting to see the parallel in tone with our last shoot (third eye vibes)…
Read MoreWe Are More Than the Sum of Our Parts: A Photographic Pushback Against Artificial Intelligence
Many AI images look are impressive at first, in a too-good-to-be-true kind of way. Interiors brag gravity-defying architecture, or scenic terrains depict features that have never before been seen on this planet. However, there is inevitably an element that seems off when viewing these images. They are too perfect, and lack the tactility and weight that feels believable, a phenomenon referred to as the uncanny valley. This begs the question, are AI images a success or a failure? Are they successfully creating visions of an ideal human or world according to some programming and an amalgamation of stock imagery, or are they a failure in coding, with the author lacking the awareness to include nuance and imperfection in their vision? Its these details that, I’d argue, that inform us that a person or a place is real…
Read MoreImages From January's Creative Portrait Workshop
Here are a handful of my favorite images from January’s Creative Portrait workshop. I’ve been teaching workshops since 2011 and have been slightly modifying the format each time until I found the current iteration. I now cap the two-day class at five students, which allows for more hands-on time and exploration of each technique. Since there are endless variations that can be created from any one of the techniques that I teach, I start by showing the class three iterations, and then I guide them, one at a time, in helping them fold it into their own visual style. This allows students to really retain the knowledge, as well as work it into their personal style.
Read MoreFluid Portraits Commission by Unsplash+
These images were all created using in-camera effects. No Photoshop was used— only color grading in Lightroom.
I was recently commissioned by Unsplash+ to create a library of fluid portraits. Last year I began working on a new body of images where I explore fluids and in-camera multiple exposures. My Canon 5DIV allows me to select an image from my memory card and overlay it on my viewfinder, when in “live view”, which allows me to intentionally compose multiple exposures. Even though I know more or less how the fluid and the portrait will merge, there is always a moment of surprise when the final image pops up on my screen. As you can see in the gallery below, the same fluid shot will produce wildly different results depending on how the subject is light, the clothes they’re wearing, their hair, the complexion of their skin, etc. This makes each image a one-of-one.
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Zenith Pilot Big Date Flyback Editorial for Road & Track Magazine
I’m excited to share this editorial that I did for @roadandtrack magazine. I’ve been working with fluids such as food dye and ink a lot lately and decided to use them in this shoot to create an elemental feeling, fitting with the theme of the issue: air. I find a still life to be harder to photograph than portraits because there are no happy accidents. All you get out of a shoot is whatever you put in.
Huge thanks to @cassidyzobl for the trust and opportunity. Swipe for #BehindTheScenes
New Flower Portraits and a Fine Art Print Sale
Historically, whenever I create something that I’m really excited about, I immediately get overwhelmed (this latest shoot is case in point). I’ve thought about reasons why it may affect me in this way, and here are just a few…
Read MoreI Discovered a New In-Camera Glow Effect
This was my first shoot exploring a new technique, and I’m ecstatic at the potential. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’d love to shoot a music video in this style, so hit me up if you’re in the market for one.
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 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 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.
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