Chicago Photographer John Gress

Daniel T

John Gress — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:02:55 +0000

What a face…. Daniel’s bone structure is flawless. Make up artist Brandon Phillips immediately new he was be great for headshots…. but Daniel surprised us when he put on my red catchers kit and gave us a show.

Credits: Make-up by Brandon Phillips

Antonio W

John Gress — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:34:07 +0000

Model Antonio W was a fun edition to a shoot I recently did at a rec center. The 1.75m (5-9) 77kg (170lb) 19-year-old is new to modeling.

Credits: Make-up by Brandon Phillips

PJ

John Gress — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:42:46 +0000

After living in Chicago for almost 7 years, I have only seen the summer sun rise on Lake Michigan twice. I had always wanted to do a shoot at sunrise, but I was always fearful that the model would flake. A few weeks ago I tried to do a shoot, but I fell back a sleep and the model was messaging me on facebook, instead of calling me…… so we missed each other. However, this past weekend, I made sure I was out of bed on time by setting one alarm for 4:30am and the second alarm for 4:40am. I had lined up to models for the shoot, just in case one of them flaked… and they did. However, what you see below is that magic Make-up Artist Brandon Phillips and I made with model PJ at a time when most people were still snoozing.

Credits: Make-up by Brandon Phillips.

Calvin G & Eric W

John Gress — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:57:28 +0000

I scheduled Calvin G for a second sitting on a day when I lined up a number of models for a shoot in a rec center. As I looked at my roster, I realized that I had two models that were the same size and build. After a little research looking at real wrestling action photos, I began directing models Calvin G and Eric W. I had to approach the shoot from a low angle so I could make the duo look like real world competitors, despite the absence of a proper mat.

Credits: Make-up by Deirdra Carney.

Nick F

John Gress — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:44:16 +0000

You might remember Nick from my very first blog post. This time I decided to switch from football to volleyball and from black-and-white to color.

Credits: Make-up by Andrea Samuels.

Adem A 3

John Gress — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:53:53 +0000

Model Adem A may be the model I have worked with the most. He was probably my second subject when I started shooting male models back in 2008.

For this shoot I wanted to capture him with a scruffy and harder look compared to his normal clean cut flawless look.

Credits: Make-up by Brandon Phillips.

Peter K

John Gress — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:24:05 +0000

I decided to christen my new studio by doing a shoot with model Peter K and make-up artist Brandon Philips. I am sure you will like the results as much as I do.

Credits: Make-up by Brandon Phillips.

Teagen R

John Gress — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:53:22 +0000

When I was in Texas shooting Nathan H, I was also working with model Teagen R. The 1.82M (6-0), 86kg (190lb), 22-year-old was nice enough to brave the cool waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and pose in a variety of swimwear.

Credits: Make-up by Carlos Collins

Moving: before and after photos

John Gress — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:30:51 +0000

Thank you for all of your patience while my blog has gone dormant for the last three weeks. I spent 20 days with several friends out fitting my new home and studio in Chicago’s South Loop, using many frugal approaches. While I expected the project to take 10 days, numerous delays doubled the time of the project. I am sure you will soon see several aspects of the loft in the backgrounds of my regular blog photos as I transition from making the space work to working in the space. Please enjoy these before and after photos and let me know what you think of the changes.

The previous tenant was also a photographer.

My greeting cards and prints, on sale at https://store.johngress.com, can be seen on the left of this frame.

I used a series of place mats to build these stick boxes on the right. The whole installation cost $100.

I was able to upholster the walls for around $600 using fabric, foam rubber, plywood, upholstery nails and the use of two staple guns. One of my friends sewed the drapes thought the loft using approximately 190 yards of fabric.

Moving

John Gress — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:00:35 +0000

I moved to a new loft / studio space last week. Since then I have been working hard to finish the interior and I will probably get back to blogging next week! Thanks for your patience.

John