And now for something completely different...

So last week I photographed Gunnar, who's appearing in three scenes of the new Underbelly 3.
He appreciated the more creative approach I took to the shoot, but was also interested in upgrading his portfolio to include slightly safer images - ones that didn't illustrate him 'in role'.
So - an hour later, we had knocked out a stack of images. Sitting down in front of the processing computer, we made our selection, and another hour later he had his extra images. Fast image processing was mainly due to a. the fact he needed to leave and pick up Mrs Gunner, and b. all the years of working to deadline on the Picture Desk of the newspaper has my processing skills dialed in.
Nice.

So - here are a few more images from the shoot, set up in a graphics layout program so they can be quickly printed and distributed to talent extra agencies. And yes, that is some shameless self promotion across the bottom of the card...

Underbelly, thugs, murderers and chefs.

Being given complete creative control is definitely a wonderful thing. Especially when it comes from a prospective subject who acknowledges that their current photographic portfolio is getting dated, and requires refreshing.
OK, they can provide you with suggestions, ideas and guidelines, but other than that, last week it was all up to me. Noice.
The story goes - over a few ales one evening, an acquaintance mentioned that not only is he an apprentice chef, but he's also an actor. And has just landed a part, albeit a minor one, in the upcoming Underbelly 3 series. As part of his acting, he needed portfolio images to supply to agents and talent scouts when he was looking for work. An apprentice chef makes even less than, well, almost anyone I know, so I decided to throw him a line and offer to do some shots for free.
WIIFM? I get to try some new ideas out, without the pressure of adhering to a client's commercial brief. Win-win.
As you can see from the images below, he's playing a thug who gets arrested for murder. Admittedly Gunner does have a rather brutish look, but it goes to show you should judge a book by its cover etc etc, because he is a top bloke. Mind you, at the time of writing, I haven't actually p*ssed him off. Yet.

To satisfy some of the photo-geeks out there (you know who you are...), here is some info about the shoot.

Location: Two locations - one inside in a make-shift studio space, one outside in a funky wee alleyway with an awesome textured brick wall as background.

Light sources: Top pic: Softbox. Below: 'Naked' flash as fill, with rim provided by the big burning ball in the sky. Then honeycomb, skimmed across the face and bounced off silver reflector. Under that - 'naked' flash, and sun as rim light. Finally, honeycomb as main.