CHEF AMANDA BARENO

This is Amanda Bareno, the new Head Chef of Vivace restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Amman. It is a terrific place to eat fine Italian food if you have more money than you know what to do with. I shot this portrait for the fine folks at Nox Magazine. Chef Amanda was very gracious in agreeing to take this photo in the walk in freezer. The flame in the pan is from burning paper towels that burnt great for about 5 seconds, then spread ash all over the place. We went through quite a few until I got the look I was after. After setting up for about 30 minutes in the cooler, and another 20 minutes of shooting, my fingers were pretty numb; a small price to pay for a shot I really like.

BEAUTIFUL CARS

Pictured above is a 1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible (same model and year as the car JFK was assassinated in), and a 1973 Lamborghini Espada S3. I shot the Lamborghini just for fun while I was waiting for another car to arrive. This beautiful Lamborghini spends its days in the bottom floor of a parking garage inside the Royal Palace.

The Lincoln has been a very important car to the Royal Family. It was used on state visits by President Habib Burgiba of Tunis, President Hafez Al Asad of Syria, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Chancellor Kurt Waldheim of Austria, the Shah of Iran, and the King of Nepal. It also served to carry His Majesty King Abdullah II on his coronation day. The car remains "in commision" for significant occasions. I wonder if the release of my first car calendar counts as "significant".

WHO THE HELL IS THIS?

I shot the above cover last month for the wonderful folks over at U-Magazine. The funny thing is, when I went to go pick up my copy of the magazine, I didn't recognize the model. The art director really went to town on her with Photoshop. I've included the before and after shots to show her evolution. Final thought: think twice about any fantasies that involve sleeping with models!

ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS

Well, I got the job shooting the Royal cars for an upcoming calendar. I've been working everyday inside the Royal Palace. Before you get too excited, you should know that I'm shooting in the bottom floor of a parking garage, in a makeshift studio I created out of bed sheets. My assistant speaks very little English and gets frustrated when cars take longer than an hour to shoot (though to his credit he complains in Arabic). For lighting I have three Canon Speedlites and two halogen work lights. I've created giant soft-boxes out of white sheets, eliminated ceiling reflections using black fabric strung over the cars, and balanced my lights shooting in a modified tungsten white balance and gelling my flashes with CTO's. Every car is a new challenge. I've shot six, so six more to go. I'm not a huge car person, but I fell in love with the 1955 Mercedes Gullwing pictured above. It is truly a work of art. They simply don't make things with this attention to detail anymore. It is roughly a million dollar car, and I want one! I'm also told it was the late King Hussein's favorite.