I wanted to share with you guys these photos I took back 2014 of Rick Ross. For those who don't know, Rick Ross is a rapper, turn label owner, turn entrepreneur, turn millionaire. Probably why he thought getting a tattoo that reads, "Rich Forever", under his mouth was a good idea. If you're into Hip Hop like I am you probably have heard of him for being a big intimidating guy who has gotten to the top of the game by any means.
I got the gig cause my boss at the time needed a photographer to help him out with a random freelance photoshoot he had just landed. I was super pumped when I learned that I was shooting a high profile celebrity and celebrated it for about a ten minutes until I learned I was shooting in 2 hours. As someone who had never had to shoot and/or direct anyone other than a family member or friend, I began to get a little scared. I suddenly run to all of my equipment and light up my set. I begin practicing with my test subject, another friend and start saying random commands as I shoot. Really I just wanted to practice what I would be saying to him so that he doesn't think I'm just this 20-year kid that doesn'tt know what he's doing. Looking back to it, that probably was an accurate statement.
Finally, Ross arrives behind a large group including managers, stylist, security, publicist, and a barber. Evidently, you could feel his presence as he walks around the room and greets everyone. He gets to me and shakes my hand as he learns from his manager that I will be taking the photographs. He didn't have much of a reaction but wanted to get started right away. From that moment I felt like I was of to a bad start.
I immediately start snapping my camera and pointing at the monitor I had put up so he can see my raw work. I try directing him a bit and telling him what I thought would be cool, but it seemed like he couldn't hear me. I think he could, he just didn't want to hear me out. I'm used to that being the younger guy on the team. He then wants to plug in his music and blast it as he smokes inside of our studio. There wasn't much budging from our team on that since we smoke a lot too haha, but ourr boss wasn't too happy about it at the time. So he lights it up!
I start to relax as I realized that he has done this before thousands of times with all kinds of photographers. I also realized that you need to create a vibe around your subject to make them feel comfy, somewhere they can try stuff and feel themselves out. From that moment on I decided to let him warm up to me as he enjoyed his music. So I snapped...
and snapped ...
In the end, the client loved the photos and so did Ross. In fact, he loved the photos so much that he later on wanted them for his personal references aka his Instagram. I sent them out to his manager and never heard from them again.
Looking back on the experience it got me my foot in the door as far as being able to take studio photos of a high profile artist and gained my 22-year-old self some much-needed confidence.
Fast forward to now, I've photographed and filmed a ton of notable artist for commercial projects. Truly I just want to continue to create and have found Steemit as a new form of art for me since I've never blogged or shared much of my work in this kind of way. Hope this was enjoyable to y'all and will continue post more on here as I get the time.