Todays Shoot - Betty (NSFW)

Todays shoot is with a model from upstate NY named Betty

We were going to be shooting for the corpse paint project but also decided to shoot some supplementary stuff for comp books I'm featured in annually

We started off shooting for the goth/industrial/fashionfetish style stuff ive been shooting for near 3 years now - which i will eventually compile into a book, but its been featured in a few books already.

anyhoo - we started with split lighting - two soft boxes set right up to the background, which, lighting wise, i love it because it gives you the soft lighting, the mid level shadow so its not flat, and gives you an even flow from light to shadow. Whether it was a cowboy hat, or the fithnets she was tearing up, i wanted to use alot of shadow play by placing her wardrobe where it would cast partial shadow, I shot these with the 70-200 at ISO100 - F16























































































































Next we moved onto corpse paint, I purposefully shot all the corpse paint stuff one stop under to try and make the lighting even more selective, buuut ending up being a touch too dark. I should have done a half step under, but thats nothing that cant be fixed in post... these images are however, unedited. SO! - I started with the same lighting, but had her stand toward the front of the lights to cast a harsher shadow - these are shot at F18


































After shooting with split light, i boomed a dish up but instead of putting it straight down as i have been - i angled it a bit toward the side so the lighting would be a bit more directional - these were shot at F20


































All in all i like what we got - but I want to shoot more on location with this model, so hopefully in the near future we will be doing so!

Todays Shoot - Phil Labonte shooting stuff.

So being that im so far behind - im going to be posting my daily shoots - WHILE catching up with back shoots. soooo bare with me as i do that.

Anyhoo - my good friend Phil invited me to go with him to the shooting range to take some shots (both with guns and cameras). I've never shot a gun before, so I was pretty pumped.

The area was all shaded, so I was shooting at ISO100 but at a 125th (kinda slow for fast shots) at 2.8

I was trying to get muzzle fire during the shots - and really only got ONE shot of it because the timing has to be EXACT unless youre shooting burst - which i wasnt.

The hand gun had more of a muzzle flame while the AR-15 was just smoke really

Anyway - here at the shots i got!




























































I ended up shooting just a bit and it was pretty awesome. it took me a second to really "get it" but after i started i was able to hit the metal target. im no ted nugent or anything, but i think im going to try to shoot a few more times to see if its something im into. - seems like a really really expensive hobby though haha.

Todays Shoot - Christine

About once or twice a year I get a message asking for senior portraits - knowing well that they wont get "traditional" portraits - which is pretty much why they would contact me about it.

Anyhoo - so we went for some darker images

we started off with a beauty dish boomed up top shooting with the 70-200 at F18


































Then we rolled outside and shot some natural light photos in various spots - some more midtoned with alot of greys - some cold tone with alot of greens - and a really awesome darker creepy location with lots of vines - all of these were shot with the 24-70 at 2.8 - my shutter speed changes with the lighting anywhere from a risky 60th to a 2000th when in direct light - all in all i really like how the darker photos came out
































































































































We went back in studio for the final shot where she wanted to use her hair-model head...things... (i dont know what theyre called, but its what hair-school people use to practice) - anyway - she wanted to use them as like a severed head - then i had an idea to put her head on a table with them and look like it was cut off... her parents were actually way into it! - i used full lighting for this - two 3x4 soft boxes at 75% - one 1x4 soft box up front at 100%














































all in all these came out awesome - i think i was just as stoked on these shots as she was.

she also ended up going to my workshop which was just a few days later - as she is going into becoming a photographer/model/hair artist/everything

Todays Shoot - U-God of The Wu Tang Clan

My girl, has been friends with the Wu-Tang crew for a while - so she mentioned my work, what i do, etc. to the guys, and U-God - who is a close friend of hers - wanted to come up for a shoot.

SO! She rolled up to the studio with U-God for a quick shoot

I decided to try and do this entire shoot with just ONE LIGHT!

We started in studio - shooting with a boomed profoto compact 300 at 50% pointed straight down with a beauty dish

I was shooting with the 70-200 2.8 L lens - shot at F20 - ISO125 - at a 160th - we did some serious shots and some fun shots - he saw the guns in the studio and right away was like "we GOT to use them!" haha.





















































































After shooting in studio we went outside and shot against a concrete wall using a boomed dynalite uni400 with a beauty dish - again pointed down but with a slight angle toward the wall - this time shooting with the 24-70 2.8 L ISO100 - F20 - 160th














































I wanted to give him a different look - more stylized and darker than what ive seen in previous work, but I also wanted to give him some warm, brighter photos - So I did some with natural light shooting at a 2.8 at a 200th - he even gave a DIO/Metal tribute during the shoot



















































We did a set inside the building - which, as im sure youve seen, is a creepy industrial building, I wasnt feeling it as much as outside - but I got one shot I really liked - same settings as before 160th at F20












So being that I liked outside better - we went back outside - I wanted to get some shots against the stormy sky - these were shot at a 125th F20 - I really like the shot with his hands up.





























I get asked alot why I shoot at a high f-stop sometimes - and generally its because I want EVERYTHING in field, sharp. with very little fall out. - hope that makes sense? - in these images - you can really see everything as sharp as can be - in other situations ill shoot a lower Fstop - more like a 10th-14th... i think every shoot has its own necessary settings :)

After the quick shoot, They took off as she had a shoot to do, but even with a quick shoot, the outcome was so awesome. Hopefully I will be working with a few other of the Wu-Tang dudes, and if all goes well - im really hoping - and its looking like - i may do a shoot with the ENTIRE CREW! in the near future.

Todays Shoot - Slayer

SSSSSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

also know as Slayer, have been one of the most legendary and influential bands of all time, not to mention a band I have followed and listened to since I was about... 9.

I had an excellent opportunity to shoot both Slayer and Megadeth back to back in one night on the American Carnage tour. Now - a shoot like that is kind of surreal - getting to work with two of the most legendary metal bands of all time - both in one night?! AH! SOME!

For Slayer I wanted something darker, more evil/creepy than Megadeth - obviously as that is more their style, musically and lyrically, but I never see them shot that way... soooo I figured it was about time.

I wanted to shoot them against a smooth concrete wall, but the building lacked it aside from one spot just outside the loading docks, I had to clear out a bunch of random stuff like ladders, pallets, etc. but I found a spot with a little bit of ivy but a mostly smooth wall to work with.

I boomed a Dynalite Uni400 with a beauty dish - and shot at ISO100 at F20 - at a 160th using the Canon Mark 2 1ds and the 24-70. - it was about 830 so the light was BARELY there to get a focus point, but we made it work! - see images below






























































































































All in all it was a massive honor getting to work with Slayer again. Anytime I get to work with people I've followed or looked up to for years, and they end up being super nice, easy to work with, and you get the shots you want... cant really ask for more.. other than to wish I also got to see this same line up in like 1994 haha. So until next time - remember that the longest band name - and word ever created is SSSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR.

Todays Shoot - Megadeth

If you told me when i was 12, I was going to get to do an assignment - for work - and that job would be to do a photo session with MEGADETH - i would have asked for a time machine to that day to prove you wrong... buuuuut given a very fortunate turn of events - I did actually get the opportunity to do this shoot.

Originally I was supposed to do three sets of photos and solos, and have about 15-20 minutes with the band.

That turned into five minutes, and one set. - no biggie - i knew how to make it work, and have worked with WAY less before.

So there was an empty trucks trailer - and i figured i could light it to look awesome.

I used two bare parabolics one pointed behind them and away and up - to light everything behind them and above them - then one pointed at them and down toward to floor to give some leading lines - drop shadows on their legs - etc. - then used a beauty dish main as a hard light - figuring i wanted these images to be REALLY bright - and metal - lots of highlights and mids - not many shadows - if any at all.

All of these shots are at 160th - F14 - ISO100 - with the 24-70 lens - it was a tight shot so being able to go wide with out having a ridiculous amount of distortion was key!

I started with group shots - did some shots of the two daves - then some solos - check it out!













































































































All in all - it was the biggest honor and privilege getting to work with David Ellefson yet again - as he is one of the best dudes in the industry - also getting to work with a band that is not only legendary in their own right - but has inspired many, if not most - of the bands ive had the opportunity to work with over my career. - Look for these images in outburn and hails and horns soon!