Challenging assignment in Arizona this past December. Emily Adar, a photo editor at Cosmo wrote me and asked if I was interested in a portrait/aerial assignment for the magazine. Scott Lacey, the CD, and I had worked together before, and it was Scott’s recommendation that Emily contact me.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a42710907/women-prisoners-at-hickmans-farms/

The shoot was a bit unusual in that I had to shoot everything quietly and without drawing attention to myself. The drone aerials and video were shot over two days – in early morning and late afternoon light.

The portrait of “Jessica” was made in Phoenix against a bright backyard wall. I had shot several versions of her portrait, including through diffuse material. The portrait is almost straight out of the camera. This is my favorite and I am pleased that they chose to go with this image. I never knew my subjects full name or much about her.

The aerials and launch locations were planned out before hand and other than dodging a roving private security officer at one location, no one noticed me flying the drone.

Equipment used: Fujifilm GFX 100s with the stellar 100mm f/2 lens. My drone choice for this shoot was my Autel EVO II and a Mavic 2 Pro as the back-up ship. Files were processed in Capture One v 22 with the Fujifilm Acros simulation plus burning, dodging and a lume curve.