Chicago Bill | Portrait Headshot Photographer
This Chicago shoot was fun. We started long before Bill arrived on set. In fact, we started back in Park City, before we even made it to the land of Wrigley Field, Mag Mile, gangsters, and ketchup-less hot dogs. V began his shotlist for this shoot weeks ago.
The second we knew we were going to photograph Bill, V was ready to play. He’s been eager to do a shadow-play portrait session for a very long time — a shoot where we could play with dramatic lighting and render the shots in black & white for added tonal effect. And, luckily, Bill was the ideal subject as far as trusting our judgement, even when I’m sure the set-up seemed absurd (sitting in the dark for a time-lapse shot while he was painted with a flashlight; me up in his face with a macro lens; V holding the alien bee 800 all over the room in an attempt to cast shadows).
So, we started with headshots. Sportcoat, collared button-down, causal polo, whatever. And then I blasted some tunes, Bill donned a white T (and sometimes sunglasses), and V put a strobe at the end of a boom… and we three worked it. My idol is Herb Ritts, and I felt as though this was a chance to [attempt to] emulate his style and play with his seemingly-simple photographic concepts. And Bill, with his warm eyes, sexy beard, banging body, and casually confident demeanor made a gorgeous model. After we did the smiley headshots, he transitioned effortlessly into a completely different shooting style, one that called for intimacy and revelation. There is depth in his expression that I find myself staring into — getting lost in… it’s pure magnetism.
And, of course, V wanted to sneak in for one at the end (see below).
