Stranger Cover/Approaching a Portrait

Very excited to receive this week's Stranger Cover with my film portrait of Stan Rumbaugh. I'm really happy with the results & wanted to reflect on the assignment a bit on my blog. I think most photographers agree you never want to attempt "the same" shot twice; nor can you. My portrait of now Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn during last years election time worked out really well. It was the right combination of photo/pose/personality. When asked to do something similar last week for Stan I immediately got a bit worried. Obviously he is different than Mike and I didn't want the shots to look exactly the same with editing, although the crop would also be a head shot. In the end I'm glad I tried something a bit different and I think it worked to show Stan as a positive approachable guy. Not just a cheesy Politician's head shot. Vote Rumbaugh!

Portland Mercury/Seattle Stranger/Keep It Light

Had the oppurtunity to travel down south to my home away from home Portland, OR. Shooting our Seattle Stranger's sister paper s (The Portland Mercury) Spring Fashion Issue: Open Season Article.



This was a fun shoot although it definitely turned into more of a challenge/adventure than we had planned. After getting to our original scouted location up in the sketchy winding logging roads to find a freak May 1st snowstorm we had to find an all new location (Stylist wasnt digging the Snow Filled Spring Vibe) and start shooting much later than planned. Even with the mishaps/NW weather, I'm happy with what we pulled off. No the guns were not my idea..nor my favorite idea but it was fun to watch Jay (The Owner) shoot them in the woods.

Also feels really cool to see my good friend/Keep It Light Collective member Lauren Max getting this week's Seattle Stranger cover. Featuring a photo of none other than our fellow KIL member Ryan Furbush . Good things are happenin! cheers to more and more!

Bad Luck & Shabazz

Sorry for the slight delay in blogging lately..Had a stroke of bad luck losing my house keys and having my Macbooks HD Randomly fail and crash...

Im finally back on my feet and working on the stack of photos I have to edit this week. Also planning a lot of fun shooting in the next few weeks.

Had the pleasure of working with one of my favorite groups of 2009 for this weeks Stranger Lead Music Feature. Featuring Ish from Digable Planets; Shabazz Palaces records were some of the illest hiphop to come out of anywhere in the US last year, let alone seattle. Im stoked for their first live show this friday. These were my favorite two from the shoot. They wished to keep their faces hidden which is why both dont show any face detail.

The Genius Awards

I was fortunate enough to be assigned shooting portraits of this years Stranger Genius Awards winners. These people are chosen as some of the best of the year in their field and are all creating inspiring, passionate work. The Stranger gives the winners financial assistance as well as exposing them to a larger audience for their achievements.

Jeffry Mitchell for Visual Arts. Jeffry was super fun to shoot and such a cool talented guy. Its fun shooting other artists who are excited about watching you work/set up lighting and hear about your ideas. Getting to meet people like him is what I enjoy most about editorial shooting

Cody Rivers Show for Theater His parter in the show was unavailable for the shoot so we improvised haha We got some strange looks from the surrounding people walking around Pioneer Square but it was fun to walk around trying crazy "theatrics" for the shoot

Pacific Northwest Ballet for Arts Organization. This shot was particularly challenging. Sometimes with editorial portraits, you go in with a clear idea of the shot you want to achieve and have to improvise when it just cannot happen that way.
They refused to let me light the dancers so i was forced to use a really long exposure in order to let the small hot lamp they were using to practice be noticed and show enough of Mckaw Hall as the background. Im pretty happy with how the revised shot came out

Stacey Levinefor Writing. Stacey was a little under the weather and nervous about shooting but we got coffee at her favorite cafe where she often writes and made use of the nice sunny fall afternoon. I loved this nearby bench in capital hill and she informed me it was constructed of pieces from an old demolished theater that used to be in Seattle.

Last nights Awards Celebration was a ton of fun. The Moore is one of the best classic Seattle Venus and the Cupcakes, Tom Douglas food were a perfect way to start the night. Go check out the paper this week and check out the excellent articles on each Genius.

Stranger Cover!

Feelin very proud to recieve my 2nd Stranger Cover this week. Featuring a shot from my Americana Road Trip. The abandoned dogtrack we explored in Arizona. If your'e in Seattle Go pickup a copy this week!