Headshot by Special Request

Sometimes a spur of a moment available light can be incredibly inspirational.

I was working on a 4 days commercial work with iWin. One of the models who is also working in the project by the name of Chris was recommended by me. You see, he worked with me a year ago in a photoshoot to showcase a new bluetooth headset. Here's Chris, in the 2006 photoshoot, on the right.

On the first day of the shoot, Chris approached me and requested that I take a good headshot for him. And since he has a tight budget and hence, he was hoping I would do it for, you guessed it, free.

The project we were both in has an incredibly tight deadline & budget. iWin expected me to shoot 46 perfect shots of their game imagery all across San Francisco (Pier39, beach, Palace of Fine Arts, Arboretum, Daly City Golf Club House, karate dojo in San Mateo), amongst other locations in within 3-4 days. In a perfect world, this type of shoots takes at least a week to accomplish due to several things such as herding 10 models around the city, finding the perfect spots, loading/unloading heavy lighting units/stands, working under harsh and difficult lighting conditions due to the constraints in time.

I was running around the sets, city, driving, loading, you name it, non-stop for 12 straight hours at a time. I like the guy but that's just not the right time for this type of request. On top of that, I charge top dollars for a good headshot as it really does takes a good eye to bring out the personality of the person into the headshot.

The stars, however, seemed to shine on Chris' path during Day 2 when I was hurrying along the corridor of the Daly City Golf Club house for the next set. I saw Chris, sitting on a red sofa with window light filling the room. I also had the right lens at the time. Taking one quick aim, and posing him the way I wanted it, I shot ONE frame and ran off to my next set. That single frame proved to be the most amazing time-stopping image I took for his career.

Chris has since started using that headshot for his modeling and acting career. He just sent me an email stating that his acting career took off like a rocket after that headshot went into circulation. He just accepted a 2 months film project in the east coast and is subletting his apartment in Los Angeles.

...and no, I didn't charge him a dime for it. The satisfaction of a perfect moment captured sufficed. ;-)