Behind the Scenes

Conceptual Shoot: InfoSecurity Professional

in , , , ,

Not long ago, I was contacted by InfoSecurity Professional Magazine about creating a photo to accompany an article about the proliferation of cybersecurity threats.  The idea was to play off the iconic Maxell ad from the 1980s.  You remember it, don't you?  The black and white photo of the guy in sunglasses slouching in his Le Corbusier chair, hands gripping the armrests as his martini spills and his hair and tie blow back from the massive sound from the speakers in front him?  He was known as the "Blown Away Guy".  Well, if you don't recall, here it is to remind you:

Of course you remember.  It's an ad referenced pretty frequently in popular culture, by everyone from P. Diddy to Family Guy.  So, the idea was to take the "blown away by music" idea to turn it into "blown away by online security threats".  Works for me!  I don't know about you, but data breaches always make my hair stand on end.

I built a minimalist office setup in the studio to echo the environment in the ad, and found a model with hair the right length to blow back.  The furniture was courtesy of IKEA.  As you can see in the photo below, I didn't have enough of one kind of flooring to build the set out as far as I needed, and buying more wasn't in the budget, so I had to use two different wood colors and do a little floor tweaking in post.  This wasn't terribly taxing, especially since the final file was to be in black and white.

The shoot was smooth.  We did an outfit change, and tried a few with glasses and some without.  When Rebecca (model) left, I shot a few papers in the air so I could composite them later.  I was super happy with the result, as was east coast art director Maureen.  Many thanks to her for bringing me along on the project!  I think the final page looks great:

Fun fact: the photo in the frame is of a coastal hillside in Ireland, which I shot on a recent trip.

Jewish in Seattle: Oscar Olivier

in , , , ,

It was a privilege to photograph Oscar Olivier for Jewish in Seattle late last year.  He is a refugee from the Congo and an inspiring figure, and if you have a moment, you should really do his story justice by reading the excellent article by Emily Alhadeff. We made this portrait in Des Moines, where he lives.  Neomi, the art director, wanted something that looked dramatic but we didn't have a location and the weather wasn't cooperating.  It was a mighty bright, happy day outside (albeit still chilly—note the very stylish cardigan).

So we hit the beach—can't go wrong with water and a good sky as your background—and utilizing a little day-for-night camera and lighting trickery, we made it look a bit more moody.  I was really pleased with the result.  Below is my favorite image, along with Neomi's select as it appeared in the magazine.

I Don't Have A Gym Membership

in ,

Last week I shot some ads with a couple bodybuilders, and man was it a blast. It was our third shoot together over the past year and a half or so, and every time we just...kinda get to play. You might not guess it, but you couldn't ask for better collaborators. They're always energetic, funny, and game for anything, and perhaps best of all, they just don't take themselves too seriously. It makes for a fun day of shooting. So big thanks to Ron and Gabe for being reliably great in front of the camera, Sam for the fun concepts and choosing me to shoot them, Patty for her crazy good food skills, Jenny for her makeup magic, and Josh for being an ever-reliable facilitator. I can't share the images from the shoot yet, but here's some silliness we found time for:

Family photo.  Clockwise from top left: Gabe, Josh, Ron, Sam, Jenny, Patty, and yours truly.

You might be wondering if they're that huge or if I'm that small.  Answer's yes.

There may be two of them holding me up in this photo, but it really would have only required one of those four arms.