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.
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 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 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 MoreImages From My Latest Creative Portrait Workshop
Last week I taught a two-day photography workshop called The Creative Portrait. I taught my students a range of innovative camera and lighting techniques that allow them to capture subjects in creative ways. Here are a few of my favorite images from the weekend.
Read MoreTangerine Dreams: Soft, Hazy Nightmares with Cecily
In this shoot with Cecily I explored hazy, vibrant lighting, tapping into old sci-fi and 70’s horror film vibes…
Read MoreImages From the Creative Portrait Workshop: April 2022
This past weekend I taught a Creative Portrait workshop to five students, at my Columbus studio. I’ve been teaching workshops for over a decade now, and each time I teach one I tweak the format a bit, which keeps it interesting for me and my students. My work is constantly evolving and so I like to work a couple of my newer techniques into each workshop. I typically teach 8 core techniques, each of which can be executed in a number of different ways, each producing radically different results. Here’s what I taught, this time…
Read MorePhoto Shoot with Starset for Horizons
Here’s some recent work I did with the band Starset in promotion of their new album, Horizons. Creative direction by Brandon Rike of Tension Division.
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Glow On: Art Nouveau Photo Shoot with Sonia Constable
This shoot is the result of my most recent collaboration with Sonia Constable. Going into the session I knew that I wanted to create a wrapping, well-defined outline around her, in a nod to the Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha. Though I certainly took inspiration from Mucha’s bold outlines, I took these portraits of Sonia in a different direction by adding a soft, internal glow to accompany the well-defined silhouettes. The combination of hard-lined silhouette with a graduating internal glow creates the effect of a body heat map.
Read MoreSession with Maggie Arias pt. 2
When I was in LA last week I met up with model/actress Maggie Arias to do a quick studio session. We did such a broad range of setups over the 2-hour session that I decided to split it into two posts. This set had more of a sci-fi / psychedelic aesthetic.
Read MoreUsing a Fungus-Filled Lens with Long Exposure and Prisms to Create Psychedelic In-Camera Effects
Whenever I’m doing a personal shoot I try to make at least one small change to a tried-and-true technique in an effort to see how the resulting images differ from previous sessions. For example, let’s say I’m shooting long exposures in a darkened room while my subject is wrapped in strands of LED lights and moving around the room. Each image is different based on their movement, which creates unique light trails. In the following shoot I might have the subject and camera stationary as I swing the strand of LEDs around the room, thus framing the subject in light. Another session might involve me moving my camera while the subject and lights are unmoving. Each tweak of the formula creates dramatically different results and I frequently discover new techniques through these experiments…
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Shoot with Fashion Photographer Gail Shamon
This was a fun, quick little shoot with fellow photographer and friend @gabrielleshamon. Gail did her own hair, makeup, and styling. I did three lighting setups, sticking to a red/yellow/blue color triad. I simply rotated out gels on my main, background, and rim lights for each set. This allowed me to have a broad range of looks that still felt related to each other, all in a short amount of time (I think we shot for about 45 minutes).
Read MoreWhy We Choose to Suffer: Conceptual Portrait for Wall Street Journal
I was recently commissioned to create a conceptual portrait to accompany the @wsj article, “Why We Choose to Suffer.” The essay is an excerpt from Paul Bloom’s upcoming book, The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning, which touches on why we humans often choose things that create unpleasant moments for ourselves, and how these moments can ultimately lead to growth and even pleasure…
Bold Colors and Shapes with Ballet Dancer Kristie Latham
My latest shoot with dancing queen, Kristie Latham. We’ve been shooting together for over a decade now and it’s fun to look back at how our work together has evolved over the years. I started off with a simple color and shape study with the Lindsay Adler Optical Spot (Kristie styled her wardrobe). Then I finished the shoot with some long exposure work (I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this technique).
Read MoreAll the Things with Annika
This was my first shoot with Annika Peterson and we did all the things. I started off with some light lighting, using a black fiber optic brush and orange gel from Light Painting Brushes. After that I explored making long exposures while rotating a linear prism FX filter and multi-strobing my flash. Finally, I took some shots with my fungus-filled lens, using shutter drag and an LED with changing colors.
Read MoreInterplay: Exploring the Relationship Between Light and Movement with Dance Couple Carly and Gabe
Last October I began experimenting with wrapping dancers in LEDs and making long exposures in the dark. In essence this turned the black room into a blank canvas and the lights turned the dancers limbs into (light) paint brushes (check out the old post here). Since that point I had it in the back of my mind to use this technique when photographing a dance duo to see how their light trails interacted. That time has finally come…
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Images From My Creative Portrait Workshop
This past weekend I hosted a 2-day Creative Portrait workshop at my studio. In an effort to keep the atmosphere intimate and allow for a lot of hands-on time for students, I capped the workshop at 5 students. We covered a range of techniques such as using flags to shape light; color theory; making and using snoots; long exposure portraits; and lighting with projectors. We packed a lot in, as you can see below…
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