Cody and the Stairwell of Wonder (4.13.13)

so, i spent a week up in Memphis this month and, while i was up there, arranged another photoshoot with my good friend (and fellow artist) Cody.

Cody and I have shot together before and we both really liked the results so working together again was just a matter of finding the time and figuring out what we want to shoot.

this time, it was pretty much the all Cody show. she knew the location she wanted to use and the outfit and the theme.

the location was a stairwell in a parking garage in downtown memphis.

the theme we were going for was an Alice In Wonderland type of feel, but without going too overboard with it.

and away we go.

[Model Shoot] Peach – NOLA (Oct. 2012)

well, this was a shoot that was a long time coming.

Peach and i have been friends for a couple of years now, and we kept meaning to find the time to shoot together but, y’know, life kept happening.

around a few months back, we decided to get serious about meeting up so we made plans to do it and then her car broke down so we had to push it back and then, after she got her car fixed,  my car breaks down so I had to push it back.

finally, after a month or two (and both cars being fixed), we settled on me coming to crash with her, at her place in New Orleans, for 5 days in the second week of October so we could just hang and shoot like crazy a week before she left for San Francisco to hang and shoot with our mutual friend Finch.

and shoot like crazy we did!  we shot many different styles in many different locations, both inside and outside.

i won’t be posting everything we shot (just my personal favs) since a lot of these are destined for other sites such as GodsGirls, Zivity, and Peach’s own personal site so they get first dibs.

but i also shot some polaroids of her so i’ll post all of those since those aren’t destined for any other site.

i also shot a lot of Instagram shots of some behind the scenes stuff that i’ll post up too, for the same reason.

alrighty, some stats before we get to it!

Model/MUA/Hair: Peach

Camera(s): Pentax K100D, Polaroid 420 Land Camera, iPhone 4S

Lights: AlienBee 1600 w/a Westcott Apollo 28″ softbox and a silver field reflector as modifiers.  also used a Nikon Speedlight SB-600 when we were “running and gunning” outside.

let’s do this!

(oh, all the titles for the different shoots came from me. i’m sure Peach will think up better ones whenever we send these off)

A Southern Peach, Wrapped In Scarlet 

A Peach In Afternoon Light

A Peach In Sin City

A Peach At The Levee

A Peach Among The Graffitied Pool

A Peach At The Beach

A Peach In Bed

[Model Shoot] Thuy Tran – 6 Different Styles (8.16.12)

geez, i can’t believe it’s been 3 months(!) since the last time i updated!  see, this is what happens when i fall into my vicious cycle of not shooting (if i don’t shoot often i start feeling down which leads to getting lazy which leads to not shooting which leads to, etc)

but then it occurred to me “wait, it’s been a year since the last time me and thuy have worked together! it’s time!” (since we seem to only get together to shoot once a year LoL)

so i hit her up on facebook and, since you’re reading this post it should come as no surprise, she was more than down for another shoot.  so we met up at the CUPS in Lakeland to plan out what we wanted to do this time.

since the last shoot was outside, we both wanted to shoot in an inside location this time (plus, y’know, it gets really hot during a mississippi summer and we both wanted to avoid melting)

we also wanted to try and shoot more than just one style this time.  we kinda played around with that during our first shoot but we really wanted to go for it this time.  so, after hashing some ideas out (and leaving some stuff vague so we could see where we wanted to go during the shoot) we just had to figure out a day and location.

enter my friend J.Diddy!

i’d had a photoshoot at a friend of her’s apartment a few months back, right in the heart of downtown Jackson, and just fell in love with it.  so i was really hoping i could use it again and, after a few back and forth emails with J.Diddy, discovered that he was cool with letting us shoot there!  with that locked down me and thuy set a date and got to it!

so, before we get started, some quick stats!

Model/MUA/Hair: Thuy Tran

Camera: Pentax K100D

Lights: AlienBee 1600 w/a Westcott Apollo 28″ softbox as a modifier (along with just a silver field reflector sometimes).

ok, let’s get to it!  we settled on six styles for the shoot!

Casual

Faces (inspired shoots like this kate moss one)

Red Hair

Classy Black and White

Classy Color

Business Woman 

Room 901 (7.6.11)

like i mentioned last post, Room 901 is the second theme that Cody and I did on the same day we shot the first theme, Dirt Track Date.

cody ended up naming the first theme. in fact, the first theme was really her baby all the way.  she knew what she wanted, the feel she wanted, and everything.

for this them, i took the lead.  i named it, knew the feel i wanted, etc.

in my head, she’s still the same character.  but this theme takes place when she first gets to the room and then shows what happens afterwards.

you’ll notice, as i get towards the end, that i shift from black and white to color.  i think it fit the scene and feel better.  it’s rare that i do that but i think it fit in this case

ok, let’s get to it

Dirt Track Date (7.6.11)

i figured i’d post some photos i’ve been wanting to post since july of last year, but between wanting to hold up and show them in an art show first and then my old Dell dying i never got a chance to actually post them here.

so, i’d been wanting to shoot my friend Cody for awhile but could just never seem to arrange a time. between us living in different cities/states and her going to school and working full time, well it wasn’t easy.

plus, both cody and i are artists,  so we both wanted a theme and/or backstory for whatever we were gonna shoot.

well, last july everything came together.  i was in town, it was the summer so she was on break from school and didn’t have to work till late, and we had worked out 2 backstories for what we wanted to shoot.

instead of combining two separate themes in one post (even though we shot them on the same day) i figured i would give each one its own entry.

so, let’s get started on the first one!

[Model Shoot] Girls of Rock 2011 Calendar (2010)

Back in November of 2010, i was put in contact with the Rock 93.9 radio station down here in Jackson, MS.

they were working on putting together a “Girls of Rock” 2011 calendar and they wanted to go with a more professional photographer this time.

the models, the “Girls of Rock”, would be chosen in a series of contest sponsored by Rock 93 and held at different bars/clubs around the city.  after 12 girls were picked, that’s when i would take over and start shooting.

so, for the last week of november and first week of december i, along with my friend Rion who was also my assistant, shot my first calendar at different locations around Jackson.

and since 2011 will be ending in a few weeks (wow, this year went by fast) i figure i’d go ahead and post a few of the photos.

Can’t Stop The Signal

After a bit of technical difficulties…

Scenes Around Jackson…

is…

back!

this return would not have been possible without the love and aid of some iFriends *looks at Katie West and Vanessa Yaremchuk* and family *looks at his Aunt Linda* <3

expect full posts and all new photos to come soon!  i have a lot to catch up on and lots more to shoot

have a good one everybody!

Can’t Stop The Signal!

[Model Shoot] Thuy Tran – Downtown Jackson (5.22.11)

i can’t believe it’s already been a year since the last time Thuy and i have shot together.  way past time to make it happen again.

the last time we got together we did a vintage style shoot over at The Commons.  i knew i wanted to do something completely different this time around and i knew i wanted it to be fashion.

i’ve been getting really into fashion lately, but haven’t had much of a chance to shoot it. (not since that PORTICO Jackson shoot last December) so figured this was the moment

so, a week before the shoot, i emailed Thuy some photo touchstones of the feel i was going for and then we met up a few days later to continue talking over ideas (what kind of make-up, hair style, clothes, etc.) and to nail down a time.

after that, i went to go scout out some locations i had in mind.  i knew i wanted it to have an “urban/summertime in the city” type of feel so that’s what i kept an eye out for as i drove around.  i found three spots that i liked (well, four actually, but even after i found the 4th spot, i knew i wouldn’t be shooting there, but it would go on my list of “future places to shoot”) so i made a note of them in my ipod touch and then went home to start making a list of the equipment i would need.

i wanted to play around with different light modifiers, so i decided to take 3 different ones.  a 20″ gridspot, a beauty dish, and my Westcott Apollo 28″ softbox.  and i needed a battery pack to provide power for my light source; an Alien Bee 1600.  (many thanks to my friend Tom for letting me borrow his gridspot, beauty dish, and battery pack)

Thuy, in addition to being a great model, can also do make-up and hair.  so, since she knew the feel we were going for, she took care of both wonderfully.  she also has a large collection of clothes, so she took care of that part too.  trust me, i could go on and on about how much she rocks, so just trust me, Thuy rocks.

the day of the shoot, one of the three locations was blocked off for some reason, so we just shot in two.  which actually worked out better i think.  it meant less running around.  and it also let me focus on making each one unique.  so the first location became the “urban” theme and the second “summertime in the city”.

heh, i think this is the longest opening i’ve done so let’s get to the photos.  i’ll fill in the rest of the details as we go!

[Behind The Scenes] Jamie Ainsworth Shoot (11.9.10)

yeah, i know, it’s been awhile.  i’ve actually been pretty busy shooting for BOOM Jackson and assisting Tom Beck on some of his photos shoots.  both things are very good things, but the trade off is that this isn’t really a weekly photoblog anymore.  but you gotta take the good with the bad!  those are just the facts of life!

speaking of assisting tom, whenever i assist him on a shoot, i tend to take lots of behind the scenes photos.  i’ve always loved looking at photos like that and since i also love documentary style photography i really enjoy doing it.

so, figured i would finally start to post some of them.

these are all from the Jamie Ainsworth shoot.

the team!

photographer: Tom Beck

model: Jamie Ainsworth

mua/hair: Leah Vincent

photo assists: Meredith Norwood & William Patrick Butler

location: The Commons

[Model Shoot] Jenifer Day @ The Levee (1.7.11)

it’s 2011 and welcome to the first Scenes Around Jackson post of the new year!

after i made it back home from New Years, i immediately got to work shooting some assignments i had scheduled for BOOM Jackson (not a bad way to start a new year.  when the issue hits the stands in a few months, i’ll post some of the shots that weren’t used) but, after a week of shooting commercial work i was itching to start shooting some personal work.

enter ms. Jenifer Day!

ever since our last shoot, we’ve been trying to figure out a time where we could get together again, but just never could.  but when she announced she was moving last week, we both got into gear and made it happen.

and so it came to pass, that Jenifer and I found ourselves back on the levee i shot Jessica on, with nothing but my softbox and the light of the setting sun.