My first model shoot was April 5th 2006 and I was shooting with a Nikon D70s with the kit lens, I had a backdrop set up in the dining room, and had a bunch of smith-victor hot lights up and one cheapo softbox I can’t remember the brand for, I think it was JTL. Anyways, the point is I was as ready and prepared for shooting as I ever would be. Talking to the model went great, I don’t think I was too awkward, and we really just walked through and shot what we thought would work. It was a great experience, I learned a lot that day about the limitations my shooting space set up on me, what I could and couldn’t do with the lights I had ( which by the way I decided I needed strobes of some sort or other ASAP! ), and started understanding my camera gear a little better.

We shot a lot that day, but looking at them now, there are only a handful I really think  I like, without me being to hard on myself its good to know that even looking at them four years later I can still come up with a few I can comfortably show without feeling too embarrassed about the results, though at the time I was so excited about them and I thought I was awesome ( it’s a good belief to have, thought a little humility handed to you helps even it out ). Again, we all start somewhere and you have to keep going somewhere.

Sometimes you meet these folks who you know do something really cool, but for some reason can’t bring yourself to ask. You think to yourself: “It would be too nerdy to just ask; Hey you do something cool, don’t you?” Thankfully for me my girlfriend worked with Rebecca and befriended her pretty quickly so I had it easy and soon found out that she was this crazy good violinist. Working Playing with The Tossers and currently playing with Scott Lucas & The Married Men. Play seems like the wrong word too, I mean, that it’s not only playing, touring and playing is a hard life! Hell probably a lot harder than just working a nine to five, and I can’t even fathom how it must be for a girl touring with a bunch of dudes, ha! now that I’ve written that down it totally hit me how really awful that could be – Sorry Rebecca!

Rebecca on touring:

I guess the most fun I have is when we’re on the road going from town to town.  The ones you’ve been to before are like an old friend, the new ones are a fresh breath of air.

Any inquiries regarding this project can be done through the contact form on my  website www.sfmoe.com

I really can count myself as a lucky man: I have a great family and awesome friends, and more than a few of each of those are extremely talented musicians. Aaron Fox ( I like to call him Foxy sometimes, but he might kill me for putting that on here) is a very talented guitarist, songwriter, performer and all around musician. If you listen to him talk about music, you know that he was born to be a performer.  Actually, one of the questions I asked him was when he knew that this is what he wanted to do, and his answer pretty much cements that impression completely:

I was five years old when I saw a Beatles documentary on [TV].  I told my Dad, "I want to be a Beatle."  The rest is history.

Figures that he would go on to perform his first gig at 16, and if you were at Grant Street Coffee shop in La Grange, IL on Valentine’s Day 1996, you would have seen him play. Later, he would go on to attend school for music, and the latest stage in this trip is with his current band Aaron Fox & the Reliables.  The way I see it, if you are doing what you love then you are a success.

Any inquiries regarding this project can be done through the contact form on my  website www.sfmoe.com

Bree is one of the most talented singers I know – no offense to the others, as they are all really great – but when listening to her sing anything, everyone pretty much stops and listens. Well, it seems that way to me. Actually, the same day I arrived in Chicago, my sister took me to meet everyone at a bar where this band, Boon, was playing a show that night. Everyone was awesome – then Bree took the stage and just really rocked some awesome tunes out. Seriously, I sound like a fanboy and I might be, but it might just be a deep respect for what she does.

I have seen her perform Rock & Roll and Jazz, and just about any other type of music while at work or just hanging out. A laugh as entertaining as anyone I know. Seriously, the laugh is entertaining on its own.

Bree’s first gig: Unofficially, I stood up and sang with my dad and his bar/church band at The Colorado Pizza Kitchen.  I was 4, and I sang Puff The Magic Dragon [...] I suppose the first time I really felt like I was gigging was at EJ’s Coffee Shop in Albuquerque.  Mr. Nielsen, our guitar teacher (who looked just like Ned Flanders, but shredded like Jimmy Page) arranged a night for his soloists to take over an open mic night at this hippie hangout.  It was awesome.  I think I played “Landslide”…

Any inquiries regarding this project can be done through the contact form on my  website www.sfmoe.com

Music Me is a portrait series of people whose work and sometimes life is in music (industry) in some way.

Johnny Mars is a local radio DJ and all around nice guy. He has a history in Chicago radio, currently on a part time gig with WXRT, and has a knowledge of popular music that is just damn impressive. In asking people to participate in the project i posed some questions that range from the basic name and birthday to relating an anecdotal story that they find amusing relating to their life in the music industry.

Johnny says: I once put all [T]he Ventures in my VW Rabbit and drove them to the Spa Motel on Lincoln. They thought my name was Ted the whole time…

Any inquiries regarding this project can be done through the contact form on my  website www.sfmoe.com