This year, I am focusing exclusively on my fashion and portrait work, working with commercial clients only. And I also hope to find an agency to represent me. It’s time!

I hope you guys all have a great year! I am really excited by all the possibilities!

Model: Kayla Strother

So here is an oldie, but goodie that I shot for the Indianapolis Fashion Collective back in the spring.

Models: Erica T and Brittany T
First Assistant: Ani Ziemniak
Second Assistant: Rebecca Shehorn

Seriously though, IFC came into existence with some lofty goals – primarily, to unite, empower, showcase and help grow the Indianapolis fashion industry. Yes, believe it or not, such a thing exists! And though it may be years before this city is recognized for fashion, there is no turning back. There are four fashion programs in Central Indiana, pumping out new graduates every year,  numerous boutiques, designers, photographers and lovers of fashion in this here town and they’re all here to stay! (Well, many of them anyway…hopefully more and more as the opportunities grow.)

The short answer is “it depends”. If you have a paying client, then definitely you have to put their vision and needs above your own, in just about every sense. Logistically, shooting for a client may not differ very much from doing a self-assigned shoot, you would still be responsible for pulling together the different aspects of the shoot, except that your choice of team would be directly affected by your client’s needs. You won’t hire your favorite MUA for the gig because his specialty is clean, simple makeup, whereas your client is looking for someone who can do something with a heavily theatrical, glamorous bent. And you have to take your client into consideration when selecting models and location. That said, each client/photographer relationship is different and it’s entirely possible to get to a point with a repeat client where they give you carte blanche to do whatever you think is right for the project. Every once in a while, you’ll also come across an especially laid back client, who has seen your work and believes in the way you see the world through the lens – those folks can also give you free reign with just the barest of outlines. The third option is that you become a world famous photographer and if clients want you for their project they pretty much have to play by your rules. How nice to be in that position!

If you are shooting a self-assigned project, then YOU are your own client and as such, you can definitely have a lot more control over every aspect of the shoot, from where you shoot, to who the models are to what the final images look like. The only exception to this is if you’re the “newbie” and you are trying to entice people who are “established” into working with you. If you want people to take a chance on you and be a part of the shoot, the “polite” thing to do is to share or even give up control over the concept and what hair, makeup and the model might look like. You’ll still get to pose, light, shoot and post-process the project the way you want, but the idea may belong to someone else. That’s okay though, learning how NOT to be a total control freak is good for the soul!

Personally, as far as control goes, I prefer something in between. Something I call creative collaboration, an occasion where I get to choose what I am responsible for and pass off the other responsibilities to willing parties of my choice. This can work really well assuming the following two conditions are met: 1. The other parties are as committed and competent as you are in their area of responsibility and 2. Aesthetically, you are able to embrace each other’s creative vision. I have been fortunate to be a part of handful of such creative collaborations and feel that I am quite blessed as they are not easy to come by and are essential to a fashion photographer’s success.

While it can be incredibly productive and inspiring, creative collaboration does have its own shortcomings. For starters, it is quite difficult to find a group of like-minded professionals who all get along and are all willing to put in the same amount of effort and energy into creating the final product. The dream team does not happen overnight. (The dream team may NEVER happen if you don’t have a personality that invites enthusiastic, and consistent collaboration.) It can take weeks or months of working with different individuals in all kinds of combinations to finally end up with one that feels “right”. But when it happens, it can be magical. That magic can be addictive and you’ll want to ride that groove forever. The problem with that? At some point you stop growing because you get into a routine. Routine can be great, but it can also make you lazy and complacent – two things you cannot afford to be in such a competitive industry. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the world’s chaos will exert it’s influence on your dream team and it will eventually disperse for any number of reasons. So don’t get too attached. Enjoy the great collaboration while it lasts and always be ready for new adventure!

And don’t waste your time pondering if you’ll ever find another magic combo. If you could do it once, you can do it again! And when you find it, you will appreciate all the ways in which you will grow creatively AND personally.

Thankfully, the team and I had access to big ol’ warehouse and so that’s where we set up…not quite what I had in mind, but I had to make the best of it.

A great team effort as always, models Amy and Stephen making for a very attractive couple, styled by Nikki Sutton, hair by Irina Green, make-up by Kiralee Hubbard and yours truly assisted by the hard-working and wonderful Vlad, Esther Wolf and Nick Allman.

Clothing was provided in part by Catou Couture and R.Lynda.

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Model: Engel Schrei; MUA: Kathy Moberly; Hair: Phil Salmon; Asst: Nick Allman

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I wasn’t sure about the weather…the reports were promising rain and thunderstorms, but I’ve learned by now that meteorologists are wrong about 50% of the time so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. And the weather was perfect! This was especially amazing given my track record.

It was such a wonderful, laid-back shoot! Liz, who is just about the sweetest person I’ve ever met was super down-to-earth and absolutely lovely to photograph. She was a teeny weeny bit nervous about being in front of the camera, but by the end of the day, I think we had her fully converted to a photoshoot lover…well, almost.

A big thank you as always to my amazing team, stylist Nikki Sutton, Makeup artist Kiralee Hubbard, assistants Vlad and Nick Allman – couldn’t have done it without you! And as always it was a pleasure to have John Moon capturing the shoot on video – can’t wait to see what he comes up with!

Anyway, great to see her featured on the cover of Nuvo! Please check out her music – it’s beautiful!

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Some nudity in the images, so NSFW.

A big thanks to the crew, Stephen Garstang, Kathy Moberly, Phil Salmon (French Pharmacie), T’ai Rising-Moore, Nick Alman, Cherilyn Kurtz and videographer Josh Fike. And of course our talented model Natalie. Also, a huge thank you to Midland – I know we made you miserable there for a few hours, but thanks for putting up with us!

The corsets and the wonderful skirts were provided by Catherine Fritsch of Mercurious Designs; the fabulous hat by E.Milliner.

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So last summer, I had the pleasure of doing some publicity images for a new local musical collaboration between KJ Testin and Jai Baker – they call it Brandywine.

If memory serves me right, we had discussed shooting at an antique gas station, but that location fell apart at the last minute so I found myself driving around the near west-side trying to find a suitably rundown gas station as well as some other spot. Talk about stress! People ask and I always tell them, finding and securing photogenic locations is a helluva lot of work…and even with all the prep, sometimes things just don’t work out. So I’m driving around what by all accounts is an area of less than stellar reputation and I’m very stressed out. The shoot is less than 3 hours away and I literally have no place to do it. Thank God I called Nikki because she has the life-saving idea for a location – White River Salvage. So I swing by WRS and sweet talk the owner into letting me shoot there 2 hours later. Phew! Then, my run of luck continues because a buddy of mine calls me back with a great gas station location that’s just 10 minutes from WRS and he’s already smoothed the way for me with the owner. Sweet!

So all in all, we did about four set ups at WRS and then a couple at the gas station. It was REALLY, REALLY hot. We were slathering ourselves with sunscreen like it was going out of style. Of course no one complained…too much…. and we got some fun shots. KJ and Jai were great to work with and if you haven’t had a chance to see them live, definitely go check them out! Hope you guys make it big!

brandywine brandywine brandywine brandywine obrandywine brandywine brandywine brandywine White River Salvage...tubs galore! Vlad and Joey working their mojo as stand-ins... Our lime green Swinger! The crew in their element...tweaking, pulling, tucking, dabbing... Nikki sprays KJ down for that "sweaty" look..