I think sometimes you have to celebrate your challenges and failures along side of your victories. This session was a challenging one across the board. Ruby and I may have locked in this shoot over a month ago, but a week ago she let me know that she just wasn’t feeling as energetic as usual and wanted to take things a bit more low-key than the costume shoot we had planned.
Cool. No problem. I’m here to do the work. I don’t care all that much what I’m doing, as long as I’m doing it. Also I prefer to test new equipment on more “low stakes” shoots anyway (not to brag, but most of the time I really do like being a photo industry secret agent and getting to play with pre-release toys…this will come back to bite me in just a few seconds).
I’m not sure what happened this time around, but I think I was fighting my equipment from the first frame. My first mistake was thinking I could use good quality lights with a poor quality modifier. I’m spoiled I guess with having access to better equipment, but I still can’t believe I can notice a difference with something I relied on not too many years ago. However, that was only the first battle. No matter what troubleshooting I did I kept having blank frames where my strobes just didn’t fire. I have some troubleshooting to do, and even though I’m happy with what we ended up getting, I’m still a little disappointed we had to cut things short (even if it did mean we did get more time mobbing around a new antique store and Target for the afternoon).
A7RIV
Gideon Hodge - 2020.
The Clown Prince of Cabaret, Gideon Hodge, has been terrorizing stages around the country for nearly 20 years. Known for his boisterous, zany characters and his dynamic movement and acrobatic style, Gideon brings his circus and theatrical background to the stage in his various personas and creative endeavors.
Gideon and I last worked together in June of last year when he commissioned me for some new headshots for what I thought would be a book jacket photo. I thought we got some very usable images, but unfortunately, they weren’t quite what was needed for the job.
I wanted the chance to make things right, and Gid wanted to capture something more closely resembling the work I’ve been doing in my home studio. So, of course, I invited him right over, and with the help of Courtney from Courtney Walters Makeup, it was off to the races.
Bonus outtake GIF!
Gideon also pursues his own writing with sitcom Pros and Cons, web series 20 Something, novel Lilith’s Redemption and other projects. For updates, please follow up on Instagram @gidjinn or at gideonhodge.com He can also be found at his podcast A Strange, Strange World on Spotify, Anchor and other platforms.
He profusely thanks all of you for putting up with him for all these years, and looks forward to many adventures to come. He is available for contact for bookings and appearances at gideonhodge@gmail.com
Magenta Marie - 2020.
I first met Magenta when she was DJing for the show in which she found her name, Rocky Horror, at the famous Plaza Theater here in Atlanta. Though we were introduced through a mutual friend, it quickly became clear that she is the Kevin Bacon of many scenes in Atlanta. It doesn’t matter what crowd you run in, someone knows Magenta, and soon you will too.
Although this is the first time she has appeared as herself in this blog (that I can remember anyway), you have seen her “beat face” many times throughout my time here. Including, but not limited to, her own partner Taylor.
These days you can find Magenta as one of the “Fem-cees” of The FanDOM Nerdlesque where she regularly appears as the hostess with the most-est. Be sure to catch her a show near you, and give her some love.
Nina La Voix - 2020.
So one thing about my new day job is I am traveling much more these days.
I found myself in New York earlier this week (which just so also happened to be my birthday) and was excited to hear that my first NY client, Nina La Voix, was open and wanted to spend some time shooting.
Nina and I first met a few years ago when I found myself traveling to NY. The last time we worked together we turned a small hotel room into some vintage goodness, and this time was no different.
Believe it or not, we shot these in her apartment, with some simple blackout curtains lending themselves as a background (It’s almost like I know what I’m doing sometimes).
If you ever find yourself in The Big Apple, make sure you track down Nina and show her all of the love she deserves. Her schedule can be found on her website (conveniently located at the bottom of this post).
See more of Nina live in New York City or at her website www.ninalavoix.com
Benjamin Unbutton and CharLee Cherie – 2019.
2019 is quickly coming to an end.
No shit. It really is. I started out this year shooting superheroes, and I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to end it with some good old fashioned portraits.
This year for me has been a slower one than in years past, and in some ways thats a good thing. Finding a good balance is hard, and honestly I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for far too long. I hope (and in some ways already know) that 2020 will bring some pretty extreme changes. I’m so excited to bring you all with me.
This was finally my first time using my new A7RIV after buying it back in September. I have been trying to nail down some camera time with it to really put it through its paces, and finally I’m happy to share the results.
I am blown away.
I really need to spend some more time with the body and work out a few kinks that came up, but overall I still can’t believe how good the camera feels in my hand, and how great these files look when put into Capture One.
Thank you to Benjamin and CharLee for dropping by and spending some time in my office-studio-bedroom. Hope all of you out there like these as much as I do, and if you do, please go show these two some love and adoration.