Old friend, new portrait pics
Old friend, new portrait pics.
It's the least I can do for my buddy, right?
It’s really interesting to talk to people who’ve known you for a long time and have witnessed you grow, learn, fail, and repeat that process for years on end.
Recently, I was contacted out of the blue by a friend and colleague, Rich. I’ve known this guy since I was a pain in the ass kid in grad school at Brooklyn College, so, that means we’re going back 15 years - damn, those numbers don’t get any smaller as the years go by!
While I was a Teacher’s Assistant for his Acting For The Camera theatre class, I cast him in my Master’s thesis production, LOL - a 30-minute sketch comedy program that probably would offend many, many people had I created it in 2018...but anywho...
Years later, his career movement led him into a production management role at Yahoo, now Oath, he ended up hiring me for some freelance editing and shooting work once I quit my ft job and was figuring out what to do in the aftermath.
So, he’s seen me at various stages of my life.
He recently reached out to book a session to capture some new portrait pics - his third or fourth round in front of my camera - I wanna say fourth, but, eh, you get the point that it’s been more than once, :)
Although very happy with his work, he wants to pursue some passion/side acting work because listen, you can take the boy out of acting, but, you can’t take the acting out the boy!
But, before we got into the particulars, he took a second to compliment me on my blog.
Hmmm, really - he reads my blog?
Apparently, he’s been following along and has read quite a few articles that I’ve put out over the past year.
It’s hilarious that when I hear people tell me that they read my blog, I’m totally surprised - don’t ask me why, but, it’s a pleasant surprise and it does mean a lot to me, :)
When I asked him what he liked about it, he said that, aside from all the interesting content, my writing illustrates how I am living in the present moment and it promotes a positive outlook on life.
#yeahabsolutely, :)
I deeply appreciated hearing that from him because he’s seen me during some dark times where hope and positivity weren’t exactly friends of mine. Creating goals and living with purpose wasn’t even on my radar.
But, they are now, and people in my life are noticing, :)
It was nice to bring that warm and fuzzy vibe into his session.
Since he was just looking for portrait pics to book some acting work, I spared him the full rigors of a branded lifestyle portrait session, and we focused solely on capturing the standard, looking-into-the-camera photos.
It was one of the smoother and effortless sessions I’ve had in a while. We walked around, found a couple good spots around my apartment, I set up the light, knocked out a couple shots, moved to the next location, rinse and repeat.
I think we spent more time bullshitting than we did working - more specifically, we were bullshitting and working at the same time. It makes for great fun…
...and great images that present authentic aspects of his personality through a wide variety of facial expressions. I actually was impressed at the variety that Rich flashed for the camera, but, then again, he was comfortable and confident, and that inspired him to play.
And he trusts and is comfortable with me, which is always an important ingredient.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience reconnecting with an old friend who needed some portrait pics - a wonderful and magical experience on many levels, :)
Now, I turn to you…
After looking at these headshots, are you thinking that it’s time you invest in updating yours?
Be honest - they’re a lil long in the tooth, aren’t they?
Mmmm hmmmm.
How bout we fix that? I know a guy, :)
Schedule a time to chat with me and let’s see if we’re a fit to work together, :)