Shooting the album cover for Chicago singer Marcus Matteo’s debut EP Break Free was fun to say the least. It must have been the first time I photographed someone cutting off their own clothes.
Chicago actor Isaias Perez is the second model I found on Instagram who I have worked with on a headshot photoshoot. I’m not going to lie, it was his hair that drew me in. I knew immediately he would be perfect for some catalog style suit photos as well as standard actor headshots on a white background.
We started off our headshot photoshoot with Chicago Fitness Model Isaac McKinley doing a 4 light look that was a mix of hard and soft light modifiers on Profoto D1 Air 500 Monolights. The main light was a hard source created by a CheetahStand 48″ RiceBowl RB-120 Deep Para with their Chopstick zooming rod.
When I received a Photek Softlighter II for Christmas in 2015, it quickly became one of my most treasured tools. I first became aware of this miraculous modifier when I discovered my favorite photographer, Art Streiber’s work on Instagram and I noticed him using a ten sided umbrella while shooting Placido Domingo for Vanity Fair. I loved the way it looked and rather than just asking him in a comment what he was using, I went on a day long journey to find it and once I did I never looked back.
I met Chicago Actor and Model Amir Y while doing a photoshoot for another client, which will be released soon. He was so wonderful to work with that I asked him if he would be willing to do a actor headshot test shoot and thankfully for me, he said yes. The shoot wouldn’t have been a success without the hard work of stylist Isaac King.
