Mike Bell, a sound engineer from the Bay Area, has been rockin’ dreadlocks for nearly 10 years.
So when it comes to creating a really unique and equally awesome portrait, he fits the bill perfectly.

I’ve actually known Mike for a long time – and we’ve talked about shooting something in the past. I’m glad I waited until now to actually shoot since I’m much more skilled at this point than years ago when I first talked to him about it.

I wanted to create a gritty, darker, almost rough appearance in the shots. Something that would emphasize both his dreads and beard. And judging by the comments that people have already began making on my facebook albums, it looks like we accomplished just that.

This was the original concept. Clean. Simple.

Next we tried this shot. It was something Mike had seen in the past and wanted to try. Came out pretty cool actually.

I really like this side profile shot with his hair up. I felt like the treatment and border gave it a lot of added character, too.

The last thing we tried was a shot with a hooded sweater. This was TJ Lauters’ idea. He was on the set doing some behind the scenes photos and taking some video.
Here’s one of the behind the scenes images that TJ snapped while filming.

This was how I created the image up top…

TJ is currently working on a short video clip of the shoot. I’ll either be posting that here, or to my Facebook page (or both) as soon as it’s done.

Come back soon! I’m discussing three different shoots with three different models right now for this week.