I have often been asked who my favorite model is, a valid question but a hard one to answer. As time goes by, people come and go, I have to constantly find new faces to keep my work alive. So even though I may have an immediate favorite individual that sparks my interest, I know her own interest in modeling will only last a few sessions before she moves on. So what’s the point of having a favorite if you can’t keep it?

Perhaps I can better answer the question by revealing who have been my favorite models to date, and who I believe have made the greatest impact, impression, and pleasure to my work. I could easily describe my sessions shared with each of the following individuals as nothing but bliss, or a taste of heaven. Each girl offered a different look, a different experience, and a different personality, all contributing to the many factors in why each are my favorites. In actuality, my viewer responses also contributed in how successful I think a set turned out, and all three of these girls received nothing but the best. When there are females admitting they would turn gay for one of my female models, that’s another sign I picked a jewel.

If I could give my left pinkie toe to share the experience with these three lovely ladies again, I would. In fact, I have a session scheduled with one of them in a few days, so stay tuned! I am giddy.

Feel free to leave comments on who your favorite models have been!

Seira (San Diego), Nicole (Los Angeles), Liz (New York City)

You never know what you’re results will come from photo shoots even though you go to the same locations throughout the course of a year. Flowers will blossom and fade, the rain may visit, the colors of the scenery can dramatically change, and construction sites may even decide to find a new territory. Sometimes, just sometimes, you may even spot a celebrity.

My work has always been heavily based on referrals and word of mouth, usually through conversations, blogs, or wedding forums. So far, all of these referrals have been “personal” and nothing official or impressive… well at least not as impressive as being recommended by a personal concierge for a American Express Centurion card member. That was how my last intime client found me. She was looking for a boudoir photographer and called her Amex concierge service, and somehow my name came up. Needless to say, her apartment was an incredibly well designed and remodeled place, perfect for our photoshoot. Sorry, the photos stay private!

If Vietnam had idols, Tu-Anh would be one of them. Similar to the best of the Japanese idols, she has all the cute features you want with all the sexy features in the right areas - the only difference being Tu-Anh is 100% natural. The pool location was on the rooftop of an office building.

[tip] It is usually not wise to distort models unintentionally with wide angle lens. Portraits should be taken at telephoto lens, from 100mm-300mm. However, one neat trick to elongate the model is to stretch the end of the legs towards the edge of a wide angle lens - which gives the false perception of very long legs.

Who says you can’t feed the models? I find that happy models make happy pictures. After a relaxing lunch in Hoboken we decided to play photo shoot inside rather than walking outside in the hot humid weather. I can’t think of a better setting than a small white bedroom flooded with natural window light. The mood was perfect for my ideal photo session. As you know, I love girls and I love beds, and nothing is more heavenly than a girl in a bed. My only lens available was a Canon 24-70mm although at f/2.8, there was plenty of light, I wish I had my 35mm at 1.4 to create a more shallow depth of field.

These were taken at Central Park, with the girl wearing an lilac vintage dress. Though I usually frown upon soft filter effects, I felt the need to add some to this old fashioned styled shoot to complete the effect. The glow from the water sparkles are layers of white paintbrushing in Photoshop.

Rooftop setting, chilly summer evening, cool blue dusk, orange city lights, wind blown hair, a bottle of Magic Hat, and an adorable Korean girl. Almost the perfect formula for a Korean music video. If there were still frames from such a story, this is what it would look like.

All images taken with a Canon 50mm 1.4

Mellissa is from Model Mayhem and a pleasure to work with. Even on our first session together, I believe we created some strong images in the second wet set. It looks almost natural, besides the fact that I was running back and forth, pouring water on her, then running back to my position as quickly as possible to get the face shot. The first set is more glamour, Playboy lighting inspired, while the last photo is one of those experimental shots.

There is something either satisfying or hypnotizing about watching a LED blink while a battery recharges. In this case, my new AlienBees Vagabond II portable power system does not have a blinking LED, instead it will light up green once it’s 90% charged. I sit there with anticipation waiting for it to light up. This battery will now allow me to shoot in more remote locations with my AlienBees flash units for the first time… now I just need to find a secluded spot.