My session with Mel Gorham and her Isabella was a pivotal one in my photography career.  It was during this session that I recognized my nascent skills, and realized that if I could visualize it, I could make it happen.

I had a very specific image in my mind which I wanted to capture with these two wonderful ladies.  I brought ALL my gear with me, even my two 9 ft backdrops.  It was also my first time working with a hair/make-up artist – the brilliant and highly accomplished Sugano, who has become my patron saint.  We planned on 5 different looks for Mel, which we did over the course of five hours – my longest session ever.  Isabella thought the strobes were evil and barked protectively every time they flashed.  It was a very loud session…

This was the second set-up of the day, and although Isabella was still pretty leery of the strobes, she had settled down into a quieter protective mode.  When she started leaning on Mel, my heart started racing because I could see that my vision was about to become reality. Having Isabella actually sit on the ottoman was a fortuitous, unexpected bonus. “Great Dames” was my first image to be published on 1x – a highly regarded photography website – and has become my most popular image to date.