I will be honest, shooting high school seniors makes me sweat.  I get nervous and start feeling really old and saying stupid things…more than normal.  But then I got the chance to photograph Jonathan.  Even though I have known him and his family for sometime, setting out for our shoot was a whole new ball game.  First of all, I haven’t done senior photos in quite some time (will I even remember what to do?!) and second…he is way cooler than me.  Letterman’s jacket, immaculately styled hair, perfectly cuffed jeans…you get the idea.

I quickly settled back into my groove of ridiculously unfunny jokes and random “OOO!  Let’s stop here!!  This light is KILLER!” as Jonathan and I wandered around.  The best part was, he made it SO easy for me!  Seriously?!  Look at this kid!  I didn’t even have to tell him where to look or how to stand!  He just found his spot and BOOM…blue steel for dayz.  With a z.  Because duh?!  Youth!

Seoul itself is just an amazing backdrop!  You can wander anywhere and find the best spots for a shot.  Color, texture, depth, design…Seoul has it all and it has it everywhere.  Yes, some of the places we stopped to shoot smelled like dookie, but that is just part of this crazy, amazing, odd city!

One of the best parts about this shoot (besides Jonathan reading my brain on what we should do next) was having his step-mother (and my dear friend) along with us.  She was a posing and lighting expert!  She had the most amazing ideas for how to set up the scene and I kinda wanna hire her to tag along on all my shoots, to help make the magic happen!

Another aspect of Seoul that makes it such an unreal place for photo shoots (or for just eye candy in general) is the amount of graffiti.  I don’t know if this stuff is commissioned or allowed but most of it looks like true art that nobody is upset about having there.  Most store fronts have these roll down shades and I would say the majority of them have some sort of spray painted words, images or mixed media design on them!  A photographers dream!!

Hey Jonathan!  Thanks for putting up with a giant dork like me!  Thanks for making it so effortless to take your senior photos!   You were so easy to work with, knew exactly what to do before I could even make the request and I am surprised my camera didn’t just explode in my hands from your steely gazes!  I love that you let me sit you down in dirty alleyways or lean against weird walls.  Thanks for being down for whatever and I am so stoked we got to work together!  Happy graduation and all the best to you in ND!