Jade Vixen Nurse series

Jade Vixen Nurse 1


Jade Vixen Nurse 2


Jade Vixen Nurse 3

This is a 3 part series that I had shot with Jade Vixen. Jade is not only beautiful, but she is great at portraying characters. She can be very emotive as seen here but also is very skilled at doing her own hair and make-up which she applied differently for each of the various characters we shot of her during our shoot.

During the shoot of the nurse Vixen character we had run through a bunch of various takes with different looks and expressions, getting a feel and building up on it as we went along.

Towards the end of this set I started to have a strong idea of what I wanted from her character. To try to bring that out front, I asked Jade to act out as though the Doctor she was working with had just cut off his patients head! She took a few seconds to think about it and then just broke out with these expressions. . .she was amazing. I had to keep from laughing actually because seeing her through the lens with that look was outrageous!
It was perfect and she nailed it within minutes.

The studio light set up was White Lightning X1600 through 24x32" photoflex softbox as key. Speedlites through smaller boxes overhead and as fill, as well as some bg light.

Post processing through LightRoom and Photoshop CS4.

The Big Hair Shoot

Vanessa Freedman


Liz Freedman


Liz Freedman


Liz and Vanessa

Liz and Vanessa are sisters. We hooked up by way of a mutual friend who thought they would be great subjects for me and that they could benefit from my style of photography.
Liz and Vanessa were amazing. They were so delightful to work with and be around. They are an awesome presence to behold in person. Both are over 6ft tall and with natural hair that can fill up another foot or so. Stunning beauty as well.


We started our session late due to transportation difficulties and wound up with about an hour to work with. In that time, we were able to get much done and here are some of my favorite photos from the shoot. More to work with and I'll be getting to a few more, but this is what I have started with.


The set up is pretty much my norm consisting of a white Lightniong X1600 head into 24x32" softbox and about 4 speedlites shooting into smaller diffusing boxes.


Post processing done in LightRoom 3.0 (love the latest version) and Photoshop CS4. I'll be looking to get CS5 since it has been given so many major improvements, but most of what I do is in LightRoom and so that upgrade took priority.


The hair was backlit with one of the strobes to really bring out the volume and magnificance as well as side lights for rim and more "hair care". Definetely want to work with them again.

Motion Portrait

Reeja, originally uploaded by garyhellerphotography.

In this portrait, I was experimenting with a concept involving a long exposure while the subject is in motion. During the exposure I fire off the strobes manually. Each strobe burst will capture the subject in motion giving the effect of a layering of images in a way that depicts movement and action.
The technicals in this paticular take involves setting the camera on a tripod and fixing the shutter duration to 1 second. During the time the shutter is open, Ree Ja is moving in a somewhat predetermined and orchestrated series of movements with the key emphasis being that she look straight to the camera at the final moment. Easier said than done. . . While she is moving about during the exposure, I am firing off the strobes remotely trying to time them so the last burst is just at the final moment and when Ree Ja is looking straight at me.
Many of the takes were quite interesting and I like them all for various reasons, but this particular result really made the impact that I was after. Face is sharp, hair is flying, arms are shown in various stages of movement and of course there is a strangeness about it. I find it looks as though she is removing or replacing her head.
Ree Ja had contacted me upon seeing the result to commend me for such a successful execution and as I was answering her to thank her as well for pulling it off it struck me that her role in this will most likely go unsung and the skill and experience on her part, unnoticed.
What most viewers will not realize is the composure and awareness of concept on her part. Having experimented with this idea a few times in the past I can tell you that its very difficult to move around as much and as fast in a short period of time as was done here and maintain composure in facial expression and body position.
A lesser model would have wound up with a contorted and odd facial expression and/or had eyes half shut, etc.
Simply by looking at her hair flying in this image and the various positions of the arms during the course of 1 second we can determine that Ree Ja was moving quite a bit and very quickly as well. To maintain composure in body positon as well as facial expression is incredibly difficult. I could not have asked her for better results.


Shot against a dark gray paper background with colors adjusted a bit to bring a hue of green behind her.