Smartwolf's Flower Power

This post is a tad overdue, but earlier last month I had the pleasure of working with the esteemed photographer, Carlo Iyog of CMBI/New York on his flower book project.  The concept was to draw out the masculinity of the male figure while he models with a flower.  Soft, subtle, and tasteful but with the symbolism of a blossoming flower.



Making myself look masculine while holding a flower?  Well, I had known about this concept for a few weeks so I was able to channel Carlo's vision successfully.  Actually to be honest, I nailed it!  The image received a warm reception from the modeling community since posting it on my port a day ago and just two days ago won the Model Mayhem's Picture-of-the-Day (POTD) contest, my first ever win!  Some of you know how determined I've been at these contests, and now the victory is oh-so-sweet!

In return, Carlo agreed to do a New York City late-night fashion shoot in Times Square.  It was an interesting concept and one that would have been a welcoming addition to my portfolio.  We even spent most of the early evening shopping for the right wardrobe sets!  However, it was bitterly cold up in NY the weekend we shot, Grand Central Station closed at 2am (a lovely spot for taking pictures), and we were unable to achieve any shots worth keeping.  There were tons of people still walking the streets, traffic was abundant, and our shots looked more like tourist pictures instead of professionals at work.



So we headed back to Carlo's apartment around 3am and shot indoors instead. We wrapped around 4am, got a few hours of sleep, and I headed back to DC. I'm calling this fashion set, "Smartwolf."

I have to say that before heading up to New York for the shoot I was most excited about the fashion stuff moreso than doing the flower project.  However, now that I've received most of the images (a few more are on their way), the flower shot is growing on me (no pun intended) and is becoming a strong and prominent image on my portfolio.

Special thanks to Carlo for believing in me and having full confidence throughout the shoot.  I wish him luck and great success with his future projects.  He's an amazing talent! =)