Lori Dawson – Mercer Island

The above image can be found in the current March issue of Smart Money Magazine.  Lori is an amazing woman and widowed mother of three teenagers.  She’s been fighting cancer for a few years now,  and has had the unfortunate situation of having to battle her insurance company as they tried to stop disability payments.

With the help of an attorney,  Lori was able to receive the disability she deserved.  The article touches on the growing costs of disability and the difficulties that lie in the system.

The two images below are outtakes from our session:

Glamour Magazine hired me to make a portrait for their real stories section in this month’s issue.This was truly a feel good story.  Destiny, the blond, is a homeless teenager who through the help of her mentor, Ila (who once was also homeless) is now a published poet and college artist. In the short few moments I got to spend with them,  I noticed that they had a powerful bond.  It’s just cool to get to meet people who have fought hard to pursue dreams and a better life.

The  highlight of the shoot was having the opportunity to give Destiny and Ila gifts sent by the good folks at Glamour. From designer purses, to nice cosmetics, beautiful jewelry, and even a great pair of boots (which Destiny loved!) – the look on their faces was amazing!  Thank you Brian and Suzanne for allowing me to capture this portrait of two amazing women!

A couple of polaroid out takes of Destiny that I like.

sitting options

light test

steaming away

me loading some 4×5

more steaming

the talented Jennifer Verador’s work station

shoe selection

final touches

Thank you to my fabulous team!  Alvin Stillwell and Jennifer Verador, along with all their assistants, were great as always!

If you have money laying around,  then these are the men and women who can tell you where to stuff it.

Last month I traveled to Miami, Chicago, Boston, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles to make these portraits for a Money Magazine feature which is on newstands now.  As a portrait photographer,  I love jobs like this.  The challenge is not only to make subjects who normally loathe getting their photos taken feel comfortable and look good,  but also in trying to match the setup in each different location.

One portrait was done in a home, some in offices, and others in hotel rooms.  Each location presents it’s unique challenges, and it’s race to get everything done when you only have a small window of time to set up and make your portrait. In the end, I definitely had to adapt my vision and lighting a bit.  8 ft ceilings are rarely a photographer’s friend.

That’s what I love about photography.  It’s just as much about problem solving as it is artistic vision as it is a humanitarian feat.  An example –  I was all set in an office space for one of the subjects. Seamless was up, lights were firing, and I felt it was a solid match to the other portraits I had already completed.  A minute before the subject shows up,  the ventilation system in the room turns on and my background starts oscillating causing a formidable kink in my seamless.  I asked if it could be turned off,  and got a quick ‘no’ b/c it would shut down ventilation in the entire building (a Manhattan highrise). So I had to think fast, and I clamped fabric which I packed in my kit to the ceiling to block the ventilation.  Luckily,  that did the trick.

I want to thank Ryan and Betsy for the great opportunity to collaborate on this project.  It was a pleasure.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted much,  but I swear it’s because I’ve been working.  I just returned from a 10 day job that encompassed over 15,000 miles of travel.  I look forward to sharing a bit more about the shoot once the story runs.

Buried in my big pile of mail was the current issue of Money that has a story I shot back in September.  It highlights the career switch of Lee Gelb who used to be a Starbucks exec and is now the owner of Zavida Gemstones.  She gave up her spendy lifestyle to pursue her passion.  The best part of her transition is that her new business model is about helping others.  She’s targeting artisanal jewelry made by designers of third world countries.  25% of all of her profits go back to the people and regions where she purchased the stones/jewelry. If you are into jewelry or are looking for a Christmas gift (skip Zales and all that other crap you see on TV) , definitely check out her site (linked above).

Lee was styled by the talented Alvin Stillwell.

I can kind of relate to switching careers.  While I never drove a porsche or had a beachside home,  I came oh so close to attending medical school and then opted for route B, which was law school.  I was already taking pictures fairly seriously, but felt compelled to have a “normal career”.  I was extremely unhappy with my undergrad choices – a pre-med Biology major.  While I was interested in what I was learning,  none if it felt like it sat well with me as far as having some sort of career. Nonetheless,  I plowed ahead and survived my years at Emory University.

After undergrad,  I studied all summer to take the MCAT (medical school admissions test).  I always thought I’d be an orthopedic.  I ended up taking the exam and doing ok.  I definitely didn’t ace it.  Actually,  I more or less bombed it,  but maybe had decent enough scores coupled with my undergrad grades to get into a state med school.   Something still didn’t feel right,  so I decided to take the year off and volunteer for Americorps.  During my year of volunteer service,  I decided why not law school.  So I took the LSAT and was accepted to enroll that fall. The long story short is that I only lasted a semester and 3 weeks, before jumping ship to pursue photography.  I moved across the country to attend the Art Center,  and the rest as they say…