Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing local filmmaker Coquie Hughes for an upcoming article in my column with CU-Blogfidential on independent filmmaking in Chicago. Coquie is a truly inspirational filmmaker because she’s the ultimate independent, home-grown, grassroots artist. She’s an African American lesbian mother who had a confrontation with …

Of the countless number of people who have come to me for headshots, I can only think of one person who was really excited to have it done (and he was kind of strange). Most people hate having their photo taken… including me. “What?” you ask, “how can a photographer …

I was taking someone’s headshots a while back and while I was resetting a light she asked me, “is it true that you can smile with your eyes, or is that just baloney?” I thought about it for a few seconds and came to the quick conclusion that yes, “smiling …

Today I took Alexandra Yeung‘s headshot: a mountain biker who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games representing Hong Kong. She now lives with her husband, Mike, in Chicago and is working for the City of Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid. And she’s an evironmental engineer! A very busy woman. She came …

Here it is… the first photo to be printed in the new darkroom. Drumroll, please… ta da! When I moved into my new apartment nearly a year ago I asked the landlady if I could put together a darkroom in the basement somewhere and she agreed. But I haven’t gotten …

I’ve taken a lot of headshots for people who, at some point during the photo session, suddenly turn to me and ask, “should I wear my glasses in the photo?” And, as usual, my answer is, “it depends.” The first question to ask is, “do you always wear your glasses?” …

Today, I woke up to several phone calls, emails, and text messages from friends laughing at me. Yes, they were laughing. My photo was on the cover of the Redeye- the entertainment publication of the Chicago Tribune, which is free and known for being picked up by commuters to learn …

The general “rule” for photographers when lighting a headshot is to light it evenly, diffuse it nicely, and keep shadows to a minimum. The idea is to take a portrait of someone that shows every inch of their face- because that’s what a headshot is– a photograph of a person …

I just wanted to share this headshot I took the other day for Dixieland musician Felicia Carparelli. Yes, that’s a bright and shiny gold accordion on her lap. Accordions just make me smile. When she called me for headshots I asked her what the photos are for, and she said …