Once the photo was posted online, it lead to a discussion with Subverse about the possibility of using some of their clothing and accessories in a photo shoot.
The owners of the company, Trevor Tarin & Arianna Feldman, were incredibly helpful and sent me several items to work with. I was like a kid in a candy store. Their hats and belts were all exquisitely made and I knew they were going to photograph beautifully. (Seriously, if you’re into festival wear and alternative fashion like steampunk and the like then do yourself a favor and go check out Subverse’s gear – it’s truly amazing)
For this kind of a shoot I’ve got a specific kind of look in mind and I knew just the model for this. Bella Romeo is someone I’ve worked with before. I have a lot of confidence in her abilities and most importantly for this shoot, she has the ability to bring a darker attitude that I knew would fit in with this more alternative look I was going for.
I turned to my long-time collaborator, Kristopher Osuna, for MUAH skills. We gathered some inspiration photos, picked a date and got ready to roll. I decided to start off in the studio and then move to an abandoned warehouse for the second part of the shoot as the sun got lower in the sky.
On the day of the shoot we just had a good time working together and I think it shows in the photos. It was the best kind of shoot in that sense – just good people trying to do good work together.
In the studio, the lighting was a little more technical with the gels, smoke etc. Once we got out on location I moved over to using a reflector and a beauty dish depending on the situation. I couldn’t be happier with how the photos turned because we got several completely different looks all out of one shoot and it fit my personal goal of doing more on location work.
