This was one of those special shoots where you can’t believe you landed it and then, get to spend time with an icon.  Albert was known as the Master of the Telecaster, and since I was a blues fan, this was extraordinary.  He came to the shoot and was so nice.  We talked about everything!  I asked my typical stupid questions about the blues, his style, his influences and more.  We just hung out and shot!

Then we plugged him into an amp so he could play while we shoot.  I wanted something real and NOT faked.  So I’m shooting away while he’s playing, and all of a sudden, his E guitar string breaks!  I said, “Let it go, no worries.”  But without missing a beat, he pulled out a replacement string from his wallet.  In just five minutes, he was back to playing and we were back to shooting.

It was a long day with eight great dancers busting out some crazy moves, which of course, made for some crazy pictures! My favorite dancer, Twitch, had skills that made us all look good, and his passion truly inspired everyone.  After three set-ups and support from the FOX team, we called it a rap and packed up our equipment.  Here are some samples for you to enjoy.  But first, I’d like to thank FOX television for another opportunity to have fun and create!

Fast forward months later to when Soundgarden is shooting their music video for the song in the middle of Palm Springs.  My good friends at A&M Records let me go out and shoot my friends for fun.  By this time, I had already shot Soundgarden a few times so they were use to having me around.

But unfortunately, there were some problems.  First, I hadn’t slept for 48 hours prior to driving to Palm Springs.  Second, it was fucking HOT!  Third, did I say it was HOT?  Once I got out there the shoot was going slow, but the guys were in great spirits considering the conditions.  We sat by the motorhome and listened to Nirvana’s Nevermind advance tape that I was lucky to score.  We all just shook our heads in wonder.

I shot the guys while they worked and as the day wore on, I got so tired I could not see straight.  By the time they called wrap I was done!  There was no way I was going to drive home.  Chris offered to drive me home so I could sleep in the back seat. I took full advantage of that offer.

Once I got home, I slept for another day and a half.  I finally got to the lab and processed the film only to see this special shot.  I shot Soundgarden a few more times and the guys were ALWAYS good to me.  Chris is a talented fuck and I will always be grateful for the ride home.

This shoot was and always will be very special to me as it was Fiona Apple’s second photo shoot ever for her 1st CD, Tidal, in 1996.  I was hired by my great friends at Epic Record to shoot her for some publicity pix, and needless to say, I was blown away.  Fiona was quiet, shy, dark, and moody in all the right ways.  I could tell fairly quickly that she was so much more than a musician.  I knew this was just the beginning for her and there were bigger things to come.

In addition to having an edge, she was so sweet.  By the end of the day we sat in the make-up room and just talked about her music and her journey.  We laughed, and of course, I bored her with some of my advice.  I told her, “Get a sense of humor, enjoy the journey and just keep perspective!”  This final portrait captures Fiona at a very important time in her life.  I’m so proud to have met her, shot her and spent quality time with her before she became the genius artist that she is.  Thanks Fiona!!!

I got this shoot with Fred for Ecko Clothing when they were new to the scene.  The concept was simple: get Fred to look good wearing the clothes.  Easy for me and easy for him.

Fred showed up relatively on time and the day went pretty smoothly.  He was nice, but we could all tell he had better things to do.  So I did my best to move everything along as quickly as possible.  He was amazing in front of the camera and super fun to work with.  Thankfully, nobody broke a sweat.  And believe it or not, Limp Bizkit hired me for a publicity shoot for their next CD!  The band was a typical rock band, but Fred was special and super nice to my crew and me.  In the end, all good.