The Shoot That Changed Everything
5 years ago I had just started working as a fashion photographer.
I quickly booked 20+ paid shoots.
Big sets, crazy talented models, amazing teams. I got to flex some new creative muscles.
But something was off. I felt really distant from my heart. I longed for something more intimate.
And I remember one night I was photoshopping beauty marks from a model’s body and I thought to myself, “This can’t be why I am here.”
My frustration finally built up to the point where I found myself on Facebook asking, “Does anyone want to come in for an hour and let me experiment with some black and white portraits?”
Really important note here: fashion photography IS NOT THE SAME is black and white portraiture. Not even close!
In fact, I had NO IDEA how to light black and whites.
I didn’t even know what lens to use. Or how to set up the portrait backdrop.
But I put myself out there because there was a deep longing for something new.
A new creative expression I had no logical idea how I would execute. It was a total experiment.
During the first portrait session, I shot my friend Majid (aka “Mach”) for a couple hours.
(He’s the human in photo 1.)
Later that night, my obsession took over and I edited all the photos and posted them on Facebook.
The next morning I was bombarded with hundreds of likes and comments on the photos of Majid I posted.
Little did I know this random creative experiment would forever change my life. This was the beginning of my portrait photographer career.
Since that seemingly innocent shoot exactly 5 years ago today, I have been blessed to work with hundreds of epic humans from all over the world.
I have clocked over 500,000 photos in the past 5 years (insane, right?!) and learned so much about life on earth.
Thank you to each and every one of you incredible humans that have collaborated with me. This has been the most amazing journey so far and I know it’s just getting started.
PS: For anyone interested in working with me I have a brand new “5 year, 500K” photo promo that is THE BEST promo I have ever had. Ever ever ever! If you are interested DM me with the work “5 years!” and I will send you the deets.
