JONNEA AND THE FAM!

so i was working bar at my job about a month or so ago and i was helping out a 4 top of ladies sitting by the back wall. they were from San Diego and Detroit originally so we instantly clicked and the whole experience was fantastic overall for both them and myself. anyways, i ended up giving one of the ladies my business card because she said she needed portraits done as a gift to her mother…

i only recently started handing out business cards, trying to empty my holder for them any time i am out and about. i have to say, word of mouth here in Austin has proven to be the best method thus far of booking clients for my photo business. this was exactly how Jonnea booked me. she ended up checking out my website and liked what she saw and boom. the rest was history. we set a date, the location changed a few times because of weather and we made it happen….

her family was a freakin’ blast to shoot with. i am not the biggest fan of family photo shoots as kids can be hard to deal with sometimes in terms of patience and the longevity of the shoot but her whole family was a buncha kick ass rockstars! couldn’t have asked for the shoot to turn out any better than it did and hopefully this will allow me to do more family shoots in the near future…

FINALLY MADE IT TO AUSTIN TX...

so i did it. i finally pulled the trigger and made the move to Austin. the drive down here was long and exhausting. it took me two days, four mcdoubles, three bags of sunflower seeds, and one hotel room; and the entire time i was driving it was either raining heavily or i was stuck in some sort of snow storm where nobody knew how to drive their fucking cars. but alas, no one knows how to drive anywhere and that’s the Chicago in me…

anyways. i made it here and i could not be happier. i am still settling in and getting used to the small changes. after all this will be my 6th city or town i have lived in since summer of 2019…i feel like i am constantly on the move but that is no longer. Austin feels like my new home, or a place that i can turn into my new home for a few years at least. the people are very friendly, the food is absolutely fucking fantastic and the weather is great too. lots of job opportunities and their seems to be a great sense of community amongst everyone which is nice. i am currently still without a job but have been looking here and there for something that fits; something i can enjoy doing for a while that makes me good money. i am always worried about money. it something that never leaves my mind and i probably will be that way until i die. i want to live comfortably and have freedom. its not about the actual amount of money i want. its about the freedom of time to do what i want when i want. and i will get there within the next 3 years. or at least begin to move in the right direction…

shit…i already kinda have. i took advantage of a clear, warm night on Wednesday and went out and shot some neon which is found all over Austin city limits…the signs are everywhere and they provide for good photo opps. i’m not one to shoot at night usually but i felt like doing something different. enjoy.

WE'VE BEEN SHOOTING TOGETHER SINCE HIGHSCHOOL...

my good friend Doan and I have been collaborating on all sorts of projects since we were yougins. prolly since the age of 14 we’ve been making mixtapes, recording freestyles, shooting music videos and of course, taking some amazing pics along the way. we’ve been friends forever and we’ve always lived in the same neighborhood since we were kids…

Doan loves to get new shots for new years and his birthday which fall within a week of each other. of course, i am always down to help him out. we never have a plan. we just meet up and sort of figure it out. wing it so to speak. and 10 times out of 10 we always come back with some absolute bangers. we see eye to eye on the vision he wants and it makes the whole process 100x easier…

when you and your subject are on the same page for a shoot, no matter what kind of shoot it is, it will be that much easier to accomplish and that much more fun if that’s the case. it’s super important to understand who you are working with and the goals they have in mind for their shoot. it gives you perspective into their world and helps you better understand a solid location, types of shots and the tones the person is looking for in their vision…

IT WAS SO COLD WE ONLY SHOT FOR 10 MINUTES...

its always a blast when i get to hang out with my best friend. his name is Dylan Cooper. we have known each other for the better part of 15 years and its been an honor and a privilege to call this cat my best friend. we have been through a lot separately and together and it all helps bring us closer in both bond and friendship at the end of the day.

i kind of reached out to him last week, urging him to shoot with me and sort of jokingly throwing around the idea that maybe he toss me some bread for a few photos. honestly, i never ask him to pay me for photos but being an illustrator/animator and an artist himself he dished out a few bucks and we banged out a solid 11 minute session (i’m dead serious) in the middle of a deathly cold Chicago winter’s day. we agreed he wanted some indoor shots as well so we are meeting up next Monday to grab some more shots and see what we can come up with. sometimes the most common places are the best locations for shoots. we got him in this series by the railroad tracks 5 minutes from his house. next week when we shoot inside, we are going to utilize his desk space and get some more professional use photos for him.

anyways. we always see eye to eye on the look and image he wants which is a good thing. and he’s a breeze to work with. looking forward to next Monday’s session as we have to get especially creative but for now here’s the pics from our freezing cold short term shoot the other day. enjoy :)

DOWNTOWN CITY STREETS W/ TARIK GOLDSMITH

it’s coming up on two weeks before my departure to Austin to start a new adventure and bring on new challenges into my life. i have been trying to shoot as much as possible before i leave this city i love so much. i had the pleasure of linking up with an old grade school friend Tarik this past weekend. we hadn’t seen each other in years but he had followed me on my socials and saw that i had started shooting/editing again. he wanted in and i said absolutely.

he wanted some new headshots and lifestyles shots with my edit style over the top. my style is high contrast and popping colors for the most part with a few dark toned images here and there. my goal was to get Tarik some images that spoke volumes about him as an individual. something that he would want to represent him both on socials and professionally. i had a few ideas for downtown as there are lots of architectural things you can take advantage of, as well as superior natural light design on most city streets. we shot during a cloudy golden hour but it provided the most perfect natural light and brought out the best in his facial features. he was a breeze to work with and we were on the same page the entire shoot.

there’s something about capturing a human’s soul on camera in the dark and dim streets of the city you love. as dark and toned as they are, these images bring me to life. they provide substance and give a view into my world as an editor/photographer and the model’s world as a human being. enjoy :)

STREET STYLE SHOOT W/ LUKE JACOBS

the other day I went down to the Southwest Side of Chicago to one of my favorite little neighborhoods: Pilsen. we caught some last minute golden hour light and banged out a quick shoot in about 40 minutes. we used one location and were able to get quite a few good looks from different positions and angles in that same location…time management is key when you’re shooting for many reasons (here specifically because of the natural light that we were losing so quickly) and it’s important to be aware of that when shooting any time with any one.

Luke has never modeled but I was itching to shoot so I convinced him. my goal when shooting anyone who doesn’t have experience in front of a camera is to just make them as comfortable as possible. the more comfortable your subject is the more of “them” you’ll actually get. in a sense their true self and character will come out the more comfortable they are with you. Luke wanted to rock some fly kicks, some off whites and they worked well with the overall image and look we were going for. enjoy.