In August 2021 I found myself on Ocean Drive waiting for a model that was never going to show up. I was in Miami for the first time trying to fulfill a shoot for a client. While waiting for my model I started to get a bad feeling when bang, I felt a notification in my pocket. Excited to see where my model was I immediately pulled out my phone only to find that they were not going to make it. My model wasn't going to come to my shoot? What could I possibly do? I was in a full out panic!
I started frantically considering different possible solutions including, ask random people off the street, message random instagram models in hope for the best, try a spontaneous self portrait! I ended up deciding the best plan of action was to take a breath and let myself calm down before pursuing a new plan. In a last ditch effort I downloaded the app Yik Yak, an anonymous social media account based within 5 miles of you. I posted desperately looking for a model and to my shock I got a reply within minutes. It ended up being another photographer that was willing to help.
A few hours later I met up with the wonderful photographer Danni Matter. We met up on Ocean Drive outside of the historical Penguin Hotel and got to work. For this shoot I had a pretty limited equipment since I wasn't back home with all of my gear. I used a LED color.changing light bar from Amazon as well as my mounted flash. As for my camera, I was using my Canon 5D MK IV equipped with a 100 mm lens and a cross screen filter. Each shot I would wave the light bar and take a slow exposure, capturing a fast image with the mounted flash. It was quite interesting shooting such a vibrant shoot on Ocean Drive, plenty of tourists were watching from the background and taking interest, only adding to the bubbly energetic vibe of the street.
Looking at the final product, a landscape of kaleidoscoping colors and shapes immerse the model into the world of Truman Visuals. The goal of these shots was to capture the nature of the model but also use color, light, and unconventional photography techniques to exude the soul/personality of the model. Looking back at this moment frozen in time I can't help but still feel the electrifying lights and the salty stickiness of the warm Miami air.
This Image was featured in the RMCAD 58th Annual Gallery and won the Excellence in Creativity Award.
Miami Nights. Phinney, Truman, 2021. Denver, Colorado.
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