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.