I had the fortune of photographing for San Antonio Magazine again. This time it was for a portrait of Michael Mehl, founder of Foto Septiembre. He's a very interesting man (maybe the most interesting man in the world). Foto Septiembre is an Annual Photography/Art event held each September here in San Antonio. It showcases some very talented artists who have displays/galleries all over the city. It's in it's 23rd year this year. Michael and I talked on the phone several times where I learned more about him. He loves comic books and Gotham City is his favorite TV show. He told me that he really liked the Tower Life Building here in San Antonio. He told me some spots that he thought would be great that included the building in the portrait, and we ran a bunch of ideas by eachother. I was out of town the week before the session, and when I was driving home I thought about trying to get a better view of the building into the portrait. Then I remembered that I stayed downtown a few years ago during New Year's Eve (thanks to Avoya Travel) and photographed the Tower Life Building during all the fireworks displays. I made a few phone calls, and what do you know, at 8 am a few mornings later, we were photographing Michael on the roof top of that hotel with the Tower Life Building right there in front of us. Michael was thrilled, and I was satisfied with the composition. Unfortunately, I can't show you the final image, but you can see it in the September issue of San Antonio Magazine. In the mean time you can view some of the behind the scenes images right here. Enjoy... And if you get the chance to attend a Foto Septiembre event during the photo festival in September, you might just run in to Michael and his beautiful wife, Ann (who took these behind the scenes images). Make sure to say hello.
Trying to compose the shot
Me trying to be a human tripod
One reason why I love Pelican cases so much, they serve more than one purpose: you can stand of them (Michael) or sit on them (Me).
This is the scene of the our favorite image from the session.
Trying to take in all the wisdom Michael had to share.
My trusty, last minute, 1st and 2nd assistants working hard...