Poseidon
Daniel, aka Midas iWrite, approached me wanting to do a cool octopus shot. He's got some great tattoos and a wonderful look that reminds me of Mediterranean and middle-eastern cultures. He's also got a wonderful scowl for such a cheery individual.
Cinderella's Sin
This was the first shot in a series of twisted fairy tales. I wanted to portray Cinderella not as the sweet innocent we are all familiar with from the modern interpretation, but rather as an angry and frustrated youth, venting her frustration on her cruel step-sisters and step-mother. Rachel was a prefect model for this shoot which we did in an industrial soup-kitchen in the U-district of Seattle.
The Witch
This was one of those shoots where nothing seems to go right, but when everything's said and done you come out of it deliriously happy because the images you got were better than even your original exciting idea. Originally, this shoot was going to incorporate a fog machine in a victorian baby stroller, but my main prop was pulled out from under me at the last moment, and I scrambled to make do with props I had on hand. Jayla Murray was the amazing model. Costuming was done by the incredibly talented Kristine Hawthorne, and makeup by the inspiring Pamela Greico.
Check out the blog post for a tutorial on my post-processing of this shot
Fight Club
I had seen a gritty photo of a female boxer that just sparked an inspiration in my brain. This was one of those situations where the idea springs to your head fully-formed and I immediately know who I wanted to use for the shoot. All I had to do was scout the location (a fantastic alleyway in the old Pioneer Square district of Seattle) and then reach out and grab the shot. Shawna even had a perfect opponent in her fight; her then-fiancee, now husband, Casey who is also a model.
Age of Shiva
Cheyanne wanted to some fierce portraits to add to her portfolio. Angie did a fantastic job doing hair and make-up, and Cheyanne got that fierce look she was after as a Hindu god.
Mors Certa (Death is Certain)
I had been wanting to work with anonymous model, Rachel Lovitt for a while to colaborate on a nude shoot together, so we came up with the idea of Death taking her cerberus for a walk. We used the wonderful cyclorama at Harper Studios in the Georgeton neighorhood of Seattle got some wonderful photos of Ronin as the Cerberus. Death hood thanks to Vintage Costumers in Seattle.
Jump!
This was another one of those scenarios where the idea popped fully-formed into my head before the shoot even started. McKenzie approached me about doing a shoot together and we were given the run of SPA Studios in Mukilteo, the best collaborative shooting studio in the Seattle area. McKenzien did a fantastic job of makeup with hair being done by Kendra.
Lorelei
Vivian wanted to do a companion-piece to my Dagon self-portrait (seen on the right) as part of my tribute to early pulp-horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. I had the idea for this version early-on, but the name came when I heard of a wonderful legend of the Lorelei, a german siren that lives on the banks of the Rhine and lures ships onto the rocks after throwing herself off the cliffs because of a jilted lover and felt that the story fit perfectly the sense of beauty and horror I was trying to portray.
Dagon
I'm a fan of classic horror writer, H. P. Lovecraft and wanted to do a self-portrait as a tribute to his work. He was agorophobic and had a special fear of the ocean, so sea monsters and elder gods rising from the deep is a constant theme of his which I wanted to portray in this self-portrait.
Elven Huntress
SPA Studios in Mukilteo was having a colaborative shoot where makeup artists, hair stylists, costume designers, models, and photographers got together to shoot a series of portraits of faries, mermaids, nymphs, and elves. Michelle was a huntress-elf, and I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by to get an elf snarling at me behind some twigs!
Snarl!
Maddie and I went to take some fashion photos. I loved the winter coat she brought with her and had her pose in it. The lip of the hood kept getting in her face and when I told her to snarl at me she grabbed it with her teeth and started to rip into it like a dog. Fantastic.