Delayed gratification!

It’s a cold night here in Minnesota! I’m at @caffetto and the coffee shop is desolate. Unusual for a Friday. I’ve got my favorite booth and I’ve been editing for a few hours. I’ve got some Mirrorpool logo design to work on and that is becoming an increasingly obvious hole in my art game. I can do it, but it’s a process of simplifying down again and again. For a comic book and illustration fan that has always loved Mucha, Todd McFarlane, Mark Silvestri and Jim Lee, the most detail centric artists of all time, that is a tough state of mind for me to get in to gear.

I spent the first half of my day in my wheelhouse of photographer, which I do know inside and out. Tonight I went back to a shoot from earlier this year. My friend Brittany flew in from San Diego after a year of talking about collaborating while subsequently quarantining. After all this time, we finally made it happen when she booked a flight to Minneapolis. We got a room at the historic 300 Clifton bed and breakfast in uptown; one of my favorite locations in all of Minnesota. Brittany came ready to shoot with several outfit changes. We were about put the pandemic distance behind us.

We eased in to the shoot, catching up while finding ourselves in the creative flow of a stunning location. I’d shot Brittany over a FaceTime call in the midst of COVID for a virtual shoot, and that, along with staying in touch during the rest of the year made for an easy chemistry in person. She took great direction but occasionally found a pose that caused me yell, “Stop!”. My style of shooting, I tend to know it when I see it, and when I do, I need the model to freeze for a series of low light captures. These images in particular are some of my favorites from the whole shoot.

This was a real pleasure to shoot. Coming back around to these edits was even more satisfying. I’m thrilled to be back to this routine with creativity leading the way for how I spend my days. I love having the freedom to decide once I get to @caffetto what I want to work on and for how long. The essence of this will be a lasting part of how Mirrorpool is structured as a company, because ultimately, all of us are freelancers at heart. Tomorrow will be another day of art and I’m looking forward to it. Have a great night and thanks for reading!