Benjamin Unbutton and CharLee Cherie – 2019.

December 08, 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.

Abby Div - 2019.

March 30, 2019

I’m honestly not sure how Abby found me. But I do know we have been trying to work together for at least a year now by my count. After several instances of being in the same place at the same time I’m happy that we finally made plans to work together.

Abby and I captured so many great images in our short time together, far too many to share all of them in this post. Maybe a little down the line after these have time to marinate a little bit more I’ll share a few more.

Until then, give these a look:

If you can’t get enough of Abby, or want to book her yourself, make sure you visit her website. And of course because I’m not ashamed to share projects I am fond of, you can also see Abby (and so many others) in Nikola Tamindzic’s book Fucking New York.

Top Photos of 2018 - An UNEXPhotography year in review!

December 26, 2018

So here we are, it’s that time again. Another year has almost come and passed. 2017 was a HUGE year of firsts for me (I mean, you can see that here if you like, just make sure you come back), and even if 2018 wasn’t as huge, I still accomplished several new things.

Unlike last year, I only averaged a shoot every 1.85 weeks this year, but I still was able to create some quality work and capture some quality times from my friends and clients.

The year started almost immediately, I was at a company meeting for my day job and was challenged with a team of my peers to make a series of images. I’m not sure if I ever actually shared this with anyone since most of my work is portraits and not abstract works, but I still liked how this one turned out.

I was hired to shoot some photos for one of my cosplay clients, and after wrapping I just wasn’t done yet. I had built a very simple and basic lighting setup against a blank wall and asked Kat to step in for a few shots after she finished with a shoot of her own.

I still love how these turned out, and I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve ripped myself off with a similar lighting plan on several shoots after this one.

It also just occurred to me that I never posted any of the final images from the shoot I was hired for. Unless one or two made it to Instagram.

The final images that were delivered to the client were drastically different than this one, mostly because their vision was something very specific (even if it wasn’t really my cup of tea in the end). But I’m still very thankful that I was allowed to experiment on some final images after we shot what was needed.

A short time later I had the chance to shoot New York Burlesque Royalty Nina La Voix while on a business trip. I was happy that she took the time to respond, and actually took a chance to meet up with me in my hotel room for a shoot. We captured a couple of different set-ups that day, but I still love how this image came out.

Zachary reached out to me again to document some photos for what would become the second of his Talon’s Grasp series. We shot this book cover almost exactly one year to the day that we shot his last cover in 2017.

And of course it wouldn’t be a shoot that involves Zak without some out of context snaps that actually end up looking pretty good.

Where would I be without Dom inviting me to shoot concerts that he books when they come through town. I didn’t get to be at as many as I would have liked to this year, but I still love the photo of JD from Grendel as well as the below photos of Ghostfeeder’s guitar player (I never did catch his name) and Peter Turns Pirate frontman Neil.

I need to partner with Dom and make sure I can schedule my time around more of his shows. They are always a good time.

Around this same time I was given the chance to work with Tru Facade and take some of her first burlesque performer photos. She has grown so much over this last year, and I am so happy that I was able to be there at the literal beginning.

In a first in a LONG time I was invited to be a part of a few different art shows. Kate AKA Artetak did a great job at stoking my ego by actually wanting me to be a part of some of the great shows she has held this year.

But of course where would I be without my subjects. Big shout out to Roux for playing ghost in my entry to the “Occult” themed show, and Kali Fornication for being willing to be tied up by a bunch of random cables for my “Sci-Fi” entry.

Put on your best “monster truck voice” because, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. I met Sunday when she came along for a birthday brunch of mine this year, and knew that at some point we had to work together. Sunday has a great look, and I’m so happy of the work we made together. Can’t wait to shoot more.

I’d be completely lost if I didn’t mention my local Atlanta burlesque family, I didn’t do as much work for them this year as I would have liked to, but that doesn’t mean that 2019 won’t be different. I’m working on a few special things…so stay tuned.

I spent a week in Germany this year for Photokina. This is the second time I’ve been out of the country, but I am already seeing a trend. When in a place where I don’t speak the language I seem to let street art speak to me on behalf of the people who live there.

Sometime I’d love to spend a period of time in Europe just walking around taking photos of stickers and spray paint. Maybe the occasional bicycle as well.

I had one of my blog posts picked up by two international photography blogs (so you don’t have to). I’m still riding the waves of this since it hit me basically out of nowhere. I’m so entirely thankful that two publications thought so highly of me, and I hope that I can leverage some of the contacts I made during this process to get the opportunity to try and review more products next year.

Also (and I’m sure I’ll be posting about it later) keep your ears open to hear my goofy voice on a podcast in early January.

For Halloween I partnered with Courtney from Courtney Walters Makeup to turn her partner Taylor into a spooky skeleton. I loved this shoot, it was so simple yet so expressive. And of course I love how excited people get when I turn their living room into a makeshift studio.

Courtney and I will be collaborating on a few different projects in 2019, so please stay tuned for that.

Keep your eyes peeled for a stand-alone blog post of this gentleman right here. LA Comedian and Podcast host Rivers Langley.

We squeaked in this shoot on the friday before Christmas and I was able to finalize everything while I had some downtime at home. I should be getting that post up pretty soon, so I’ll save my comments for then.

And of course, where would I be without my friends who love the work I do so much that they ask me to be a key part of their special moments:

Jessica and Thomas

Erin and Preston

Jesse and Rachel

I want to make sure that I give a big Thank You to everyone I have worked with or have talked about working with this year. And also a huge thank you to all of you who follow this blog (or at the very least catch updates as they come through your social media feeds).

I don’t want to put the cart before the horse but I’d like to say that big things are coming in 2019 one way or another, and as always I’d love to see you all there for the ride.

From me to all of you and yours, Happy Holidays and a beautiful new year!

Ellie Collins - 2017.

May 03, 2017

Two writers in a very short succession!

ELLIE COLLINS is a writer, actor, and podcast host/creator based in Atlanta. Her works include the novel Empire Valley: The Arrival and the horror anthology podcast The Blood Crow Stories. She has appeared as a Daywalker in season 1 of The Originals and as Scarlet Witch in the Uncanny X-men fan series.

Her latest project "The Blood Crow Stories" can be found wherever your favorite podcasts are sold (of course, I know podcasts are free...find it on facebook here)

Estella – Tuxedo Mask – 2016.

September 21, 2016

Estella is another great individual I have been introduced to over the last year. Firstly while shooting makeup tests from earlier this summer, and then again during the Much Ado About Nerddom performance with Hysteria Machines a few weeks ago.

She is an accomplished performer, cosplayer, and photographer, and I was more than stoked when she answered my call to arms looking for someone to shoot. Expect to see us working together much more in the future to document various costuming themed sessions.

Model: Estella Zorn
Costuming: Pinky Shear
Mask: Estella Zorn

At the time of posting this entry, I also am in the process of working on some non-cosplay themed photos taken during the same session. I'll be posting those as a separate entry in the coming days.