Portrait shoot: Retired NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly for Columns Magazine

This week, I photographed NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, whose 340-day trip to the International Space Station was the longest space visit in American history. Kelly was promoting his new book, "Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery."

The photoshoot took place in the chapel of University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle, where Kelly was speaking that night. I designed two setups, one on a white background and one on a black background. The first (white) would show the astronaut floating, isolated, with no sense of spatial anchoring. The second (black) would show him emerging from darkness.

I was given five minutes for the shoot, but finished in two or three. Thanks to photographer Daniel Berman for the assist.

Setup #1

Setup #2

Read about Kelly's visit in Columns Magazine.

Portrait shoot: Actress and podcaster Anna Faris for Columns Magazine

If you're looking for a new podcast, Anna Faris has you covered. Her relationship advice show, "Unqualified," is super entertaining and at times pretty profound. 

You know Faris from a long string of IMDB credits, from "Scary Movie" to "The House Bunny" to "Keanu" (when she played herself in a hilarious cameo). I got to spend a few minutes photographing her on the Ave in U District, where she used to hang out as a college student at the University of Washington. 

Here's a look at my two setups. The first was a vintage radio host setup. I was returning something at Guitar Center in South Lake Union and saw this microphone in behind the glass.  I thought it would go great with her hair and a burgundy backdrop. So I asked about renting the mic — it only cost $25! — and then headed to Glazer's for the backdrop. As for the wood: It's a piece of plywood that I covered with a colonial maple stain from Home Depot. 

The second setup was a white backdrop with a throwback UW sweater, which Anna loved and wore to the event she was speaking at later in the night. Her new book, by the way, is called "Unqualified." Check it out!

Setup #1

Setup #2

Anna was also nice enough to pose with some very excited fans:

Here's a look at a picture in print, for Columns Magazine of the University of Washington:

In print

Columns Magazine, December 2017

U.S. Ambassador Allan P. Mustard for Columns Magazine

The University of Washington has some incredible alumni. The one I photographed this week was Allan P. Mustard, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan. Mustard is a career diplomatic who has been appointed by presidents like Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama and approved by the U.S. Senate many times.

I chatted with Mustard here. 

Portrait shoot: Actress and activist Laverne Cox for ACLU

The glamorous Laverne Cox ("Orange Is the New Black," "The Mindy Project") spoke at the 2017 ACLU of Washington Bill of Rights Dinner, and I was there to photograph her before. Laverne is a dynamo who commands the attention of a room with both her radiance and her intellect. If you haven't heard her speak, go on YouTube and listen. 

First, #TransIsBeautiful. That should go without saying, but we need to keep saying it until all trans people receive the respect and equal rights they deserve. 

Here is a solo shot of Laverne, plus a shot of Laverne and writer Ijeoma Oluo, who hosted the Q&A. Oh, and the orange background? Total coincidence. Sure, it's the namesake color of the famous show she's on, but it's actually just the first color that popped into my head when I started concepting the shoot. It's bold, radiant, spontaneous, energetic.

The setup

Orange backdrop, three lights

Laverne and Ijeoma Oluo

Here's a bonus video of Ijeoma showing her Facebook followers the photo. She called it one of the best photos anyone has ever taken of her! Pretty cool, and humbling.

Stage actor and playwright Brandon J. Simmons

I haven't been to very many theater productions, but what I've been to, I've loved. And every play I've been to in Seattle has had Brandon J. Simmons in it.

So one day, I emailed Brandon—an actor, writer, and director—out of the blue and asked if I could shoot him. He kindly said yes, and was a pleasure to work with. My favorite part of the shoot: Brandon kept doing interesting things with his posture. When I commented on it, he called it "bacting" — acting with the back.

Click on the picture to see more.