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Atlanta based editorial music photographer, Zack Arias. |
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Fri , June 13th, 2008
under Music Photography
This is one of my favorite images I have ever shot. Not necessarily because the image itself is something of absolute spectacular quality but this image is personally very important to me.
It's Big Boi chair surfing at the dentist's office! How can I not have a special place in my heart for this image? This image is special to me because it is a benchmark image in my career. I was hired to shoot portraits of him for this high end dental "spa" in Buckhead. He has endorsed them and the portraits I shot of him show up in places like Delta's sky-something-or-another magazine and other travel / airline mags. The other great thing about this image is that I shot one of Atlanta's top Hip Hop personalities in trade for teeth cleaning. ONLY in the south do we roll like that!
This image was a test of my ability to gain trust quickly. That trust granted me and my camera extended access. The portraits were done but I wanted an image like this and I was allowed to capture it. Now I just need to get Andre 3000 getting his blood pressure checked or something. :)
If you can't gain trust with your subjects you can't gain access. Not necessarily meaning you don't get access to them at the dentist office, but you don't get access to them personally. They'll be reserved in front of your camera. Those reservations they have about you or the process of being photographed will translate in the portrait. You can read it like a book.
Do you have benchmark photos in your career? Maybe they aren't the greatest photos in the whole world but there is something about the image that was a turning point in your career and your pursuit of the craft. I have some. I know each and every one of them. I'll have to continue to dig through my archive and collect them all. Hit the comment box below and link to yours and tell us a story.
Cheers,
Zack 12 Responses to “Big Boi Goes To The Dentist…”Leave a Reply |
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awesome. way to go!
Nice work!
Here’s mine taken for a golf mag.
http://www.charliepappas.com/bigboi
I love this post. It got me thinking about some of my benchmark photos. I’ve posted an entry about it on my blog http://ryanmerrillphotography.com/blog/?p=43
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewadamslife/26560572/
This photo was taken back in the winter of 2005. The band is called Isadora and this was my first promo shoot I have ever attempted. I remember being really nervous on my drive to the city to meet the band, I had done location scouting and knew the shots that I wanted grab, but still it was my first time shooting promos so I was a bit worried. Plus I was shooting film for this, so I remember thinking about the worst possible situations that could happened to me. What if the film doesn’t come out, what if the band hates the photos.
I regained my composure when I met up with the band in Pittsburgh. They were all nice dudes and everything was going smoothly. For this particular photo I knew I wanted to grab a jump photo (yeah I know they’ve been done a MILLION times before, but hey it was my first time.) I mentioned the shot to the lead singer Alex (the one in the middle doing the I’m number 1 sign) and he didn’t seem to keen on the idea. He thought it would make them seem goofy, but this definitely shows off their personalities, which were goofy. When the shoot was almost done I brought up the photo idea again to them except this time around they were all for it. Because our personalities matched a little bit I was able to fine common ground and make jokes with them, basically make the subject feel comfortable during the shoot. Alex changed his mind after working with me for the day and decided the jump shot was a great idea and that’s how I got the photo.
Definitely a benchmark photo as I was pretty nervous about working with some guys I had never really met. I shot them live once before this, but never spoke to them except for emails and one phone conversation. Humor is something that I found works for me on shoots when the subject seems a bit uncomfortable, a few laughs here or there really helps out and makes a very tense shoot seem like just a hang out with a friend.
Big Boi is the shit. OutKast is one of the best duo’s from the ATL. That makes you big time.
that’s awesome!
Awesome! I love Outkast and this shot is so fun. You deserve every bit of the success that is coming your way.
http://www.JDTyre.com
My daughter continues to be my favorite subject….
she is the little girl on my splash page..
Hey Zack, this is a great post. I thought it would be a great topic for a OneLight Forum thread so I started one:
http://onelightworkshop.com/forum/showthread.php?t=879
not a benchmark photo or a pro photo, but a lot of fun. my son with big boi.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indulf/391818081/in/set-72157594537208529/
While this matter can be very difficult for most people, my belief is that there has to be a middle or common ground that we all can find. I do value that you’ve added pertinent and sound commentary here though. Thank you!