Martin Trailer Productions

Red Baron, the man with the most "helmet tickets" in the country with his new bike, wearing pink SDPD and yellow CHP no helmet tickets. ©Martin Trailer

This authentic portrait is of “The Red Baron”.  I was to make a portrait of a “biker” and private investigator working for a national law firm that defended motorcyclists who refuse to wear a helmet, for Blvd Magazine as a feature story.  Red has the record for the most “no helmet” tickets in the country and rode a custom Harley Davidson chopper, with his red hair in the wind.  Unfortunately, it had been recently stolen and replaced with a new stock bike.  The only customization was the skull face on the headlight, so far.

Prep included creating a suit of tickets he collected, pink on the top issued by San Diego Police Department and the yellow on the bottom issued by the California Highway Patrol.

When preparing for any portrait, the interview of the subject or review of the story line is important, so all the elements come together and to insure their “buy-in” to the visual solution.  This will begin the process of creating a safe space for them which is one of the keys to getting an authentic portrait.

Your pre-visualization needs to happen well in advance of the shoot time, not when your subject is there in front of the camera. Shoot time is when the photographer makes them comfortable to insure an authentic look and feel.

Authentic, cool and confident.

Comments welcome.

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