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.
