Benjamin in one of Spokane’s mural underpasses. His fashion look is combined with the existing art in an artistic manner.
Before I shot people, I shot landscapes. There are some landscapes that seem to yield many fine photographs. One such place is White Pocket, where I say “If you drop your camera, you’ll get a good picture”.
I have encountered one of those rare souls who much like White Pocket, seem to give a fine photograph with every exposure: Benjamin Amegbey. Benjamin explains his name is West African. He grew up in Tacoma where he went to middle school and high school, and he now attends Eastern Washington University. He’s studying to apply for dental school, though he is also taking business classes and may spend time at that pursuit as well.
Up in the air as he runs “chasing” the skinwalker image in the mural. Motion blur used on the arm and leg in back.
A casual look for reading the daily news.
Benjamin has only been modeling about a year. This shoot is a collaborative effort. He contacted me, explaining that he was going to contact 5 photographers and hoped to take photographs that capture different aspects of his personality. In this case, he wanted to highlight his sense of fashion and style. “Summer Casual” is the look of the shoot. I provided the locations and compositions, he and I together came up with poses (though I’ll mostly credit him on the poses). If you’re one of the other 4 people he calls, I would just say “yes”. You’re guaranteed some wonderful opportunities. Just drop your camera, and see what you get.
Atop the thunderbird image in the mural.
I would call this an art and fashion shoot. It definitely shows his fashion sense, and several outfits for the summer casual look. But his posing and the drama of some of the locations makes some of these shots more art oriented. They convey the person, not simply the clothing.
Under the wisteria, looking up.
A high contrast look on a ledge downtown.
A green screen shot let me add the Pearl District in Portland to our shoot. Most of the shots were on location either in my gardens that surround the studio or in downtown Spokane. We had partial clouds the day we shot, so we simply varied when we took certain pictures according to when the light felt right for that composition. The well spaced clouds provided intermittent sun and shade, so with each photo I simply could choose which light condition I preferred. You’ll note both were used.
So, thank you Benjamin. It was a pleasure working together.