If you have been paying attention you would know that I recently took a trip out to Arizona last week to shoot with my friend and mentor Larry Alan.
I am big and I can't take a serious photo to save my life.
Larry and I have been friends for quite some time now. I found him in a photographer's group online and followed his work when I first started out on my journey with photography. He taught me a lot and I owe him a lot for all the knowledge he has passed on to me.
There was always talk about me coming to Arizona to meet up in person for the first time. However, there were always things that prevented me from going. Finally after leaving the Army, my schedule opened up and we decided for me to come out during September to Arizona.
Upon meeting him in person, I thought Larry was much taller, lol. However, as soon as we spoke it like we have known each other for a long time. I got to meet Tara Hutchinson who is his MUA & hairstylist and she was a lot of fun and a big sweetheart.
I only had three days to learn as much as I can and Larry made sure that we had a lot of opportunities to learn and apply his teachings. Larry had a photo shoot scheduled that was out in a fancy part of Scottsdale. It was in a restaurant on the second floor. There was a medium size pool in the center of the room surrounded by tables. The roof could open and you can go outside to eat as well on the roof. I have never seen anything like this before...
I can't remember the name of the clothing designer that Larry was shooting for. We had about six models. Larry shot all over this place and I shot video. Granted I was told I could do photographs, I didn't feel comfortable shooting on another photographer's set when I wasn't initially hired for the job. Also, I wanted to watch and see how Larry worked in this situation. I grabbed a few images that was just me messing around.
We actually shot all of this in two days. The first part of the shoot happened at night around 8:30pm and ended around midnight. Then started again at 10am and ended around 2:30pm.
I got to work with and photograph Victoria Paege, who is a sponsored cosplayer and she is an actress.
I also got to photograph Tara as well.
I came in like a whirlwind and disappeared just as fast....
I hated having to leave Arizona. It was definitely way different than anywhere else I have ever been in my life. Call me crazy, but I loved the heat. 100+ degrees has never really ever bothered me before. I know it hot, but I welcome it. I did see some coyotes and I tried not to see any scorpions. Got introduce to some high quality Mexican food and a Monsoon. I want to go back, but I told Larry its his turn to come out my way. If not Maryland, go to New York.
Again thank you to everyone who supported me going to Arizona and support my work. I can't express the amazing feeling I received from your comments and questions. Thank you for going with me on this journey.
Please watch the video! Comments are welcomed!! Thank you.