Leo Creary, a gifted wedding photographer, called me very excited about his 30th birthday. In fact, every year, I shoot Leo for some occasion but turning 30 was a milestone for him, and he shared a few concepts with me. I’ve photographed Leo for years, and you may recognize our work together from shooting him and his wife Keva’s fantastic wedding in Bimini, The Bahamas. I enjoy working with Leo as he always gives me creative control for photographing him, and it didn’t take me long to come up with styling for the photographer.

I wanted a rugged background because Leo was going to be styled in some pretty dapper suits. A cream, pinstripe, and 3-piece suits, but there was one more piece missing. I thought a vintage Land Rover would have been perfect, and in my search, I could not find an owner willing to let me use their vehicle. So I moved onto plan b to source my dream SUV, a Jeep Wrangler JL. I called a buddy of mine who I knew would say yes right away…and he did!

Once we arrived at our location, I tested a few shots with artificial light, but I decided to shoot natural. I hadn’t shot natural for some time. I’ve become a strobe nut, and I’ve been shooting more studio work, but being outdoors in that fantastic location just sparked that in me. The area we shot at was primarily used for landfills, and the white limestone rocks bounced light all around me. It was heaven. I photographed Leo in and around the vehicle, trying to tell a story with the images.

Leo was natural, posing and moving his body to complement the lens. We did shots still, moving and took risks climbing the limestone to get great pictures from different perspectives. I loved how the images turned out. Please enjoy them below.

Grand Bahama native, Gustavus Cox, the creative director of Gustavus Augusta and I sat down in September of 2020 to plan and produce this shoot. One of the first challenges we had was finding the right male model to fit the looks. We had cast about 3 guys prior to. I didn't think about Neil Dames until later in the creative process so when I showed Gus Neil’s social media profiles, he exclaimed, “we need him, he’s perfect for this!”

I wasn't sure that Neil would even agree to do the shoot. He’d retired from modelling for some time now, but I thought he could pull this off. I reached out to him on Facebook and told him what I wanted to do, and Neil immediately said yes...reluctantly. Neil said jokingly, "Now, I'm not as young and fit as I use to be Scharad, so you will have A LOT of work to do!"

He was in love with the idea that we could collaborate together for a local brand and of course, he'd get to wear custom suits!

We did an initial tape up where Gus got to sit down and chat with Neil. After taping him up, Gus assured me that he would have samples ready in two weeks. However, he clarified for me that the first fitting session would probably call for adjustments. Surprisingly, when we met again for fitting, the suits fit Neil perfectly! Both jackets and pants from each look fit him as if they were sewn directly onto his body. Perfection!

On the day of the shoot, everyone was excited to work. Neil followed direction very well and moved very quickly and kept reminiscing on his former days as a model. We even laughed about his grey hair and tattooed covered body, which worked well with the shoot's overall aesthetic. Neil was still in good shape and his genes had kept his frame, lanky and slim.

I kept the lighting dramatic and the background simple and focused on getting great shots with Neil that showed these amazing handmade suits.

Have a look at the work below, leave a comment or two. I’d love to hear from you.