GQ Magazine Shoot

GQ Magazine Shoot

Getting to work alongside a top fashion photographer is the dream of most up and coming photographers.

The photo below is Sebastian Kim, one of the top fashion photographers in the world. He flew in from New York in the fall to shoot the December 2013 cover shot for GQ Magazine in Memphis. I got a call from the magazine to be an assistant photographer for Sebastian and his team on a shoot with Justin Timberlake and Kendrick Lamar. I considered it quite an honor to get to assist Sebastian and his team, it was a fast paced 2 day shoot with a crew of about 15 people, from the editors of GQ, to all the PR staff, hairstylists, wardrobe team and set designers. The photography team help set the lighting for each scene, as well as help aid Sebastian in his creative process, keeping the computers tethered to his Nikon camera, and getting each scene ready and tested for each part of the photo shoot.

Just about every photographer in the world would give just about anything to assist Sebastian on a high profile shoot like this. I love lighting and assisting Sebastian to get exactly what he wanted was what I love doing. Helping others and working with a group of professionals takes willingness to help at any level, from cutting foam board for bounce light, to rigging a 20 x 20 scrim to diffuse the light from the sun. For the cover shot of  Justin Timberlake, I was the point man for bouncing light up close on his face. We had a full crew and just about everyone play some part in this shot. I’ve worked on a lot of professional sets over the years, and this team was simply amazing to work with! Working with both Justin Timberlake and Kendrick Lamar was also about as good as it gets, they were both fun and very professional.