Jinx

That will teach me for talking about a shoot before it happens. You see for the second time in the last few months I mentioned an upcoming shoot in this blog and named the model I would be working with the week before the shoot.

The first time it was Derek Russo, and the shoot fell through during the ensuing week due to coordination issues with another photographer with whom I was sharing expenses. This time it was Matthew Kojo, and sure enough the night before the shoot there was a message on my answering machine from the casting agent.

So rather than featuring new work, this week's blog dips into the archives and pulls two works from several years ago.

The first features a model named Chris. The second a model named Alain. The thing these two photographs have in common is that they were both photographed at a friend's house off Mulholland drive.

The shoots are separated by several years.

Variations on a Model

This week, still more variations on Alan Demond. The first is one of the small slice digital photos. It's a view I don't often photograph.

The second is another variation of the lith print theme.


Next week some new work of a new model named Matthew Kojo. The shoot is scheduled for Sunday, so with any luck I'll have something posted by late evening Sunday.

Canyons

The deep crevises of Alan Demond's back create a lyrical sense of movement.

Alan in Red Light

This photograph of Alan Demond is from the same session as the photos I posted last week. However this one was taken with infrared film. IR film picks up the warmth of the human body and makes subjects appear to glow.

Hip-Hop Dance

Still from the same shoot with Alan Demond...
Finding a way to give directions that take the model in a new direction for both of you is one of the most rewarding aspects of this type of photography.
Often you start by asking for one thing and you get something completely different, but it's even more interesting than what you had in mind AND it takes you in a different direction as well.
This shot is an example of that. I asked Alan to try a particular type of posing and noticed that what he was doing was kind of like hip-hop dancing. We worked through dozens of shots like that until I noticed that each pose could be photographed several different ways from several different angles. And if I got really creative I could move in close and slice up his body in many unusual ways. This photo is a perfect example. It's one of my favorites from the whole shoot so far.