Ispired by John Lennon, Uma Thurman, Patty Smith, Mr. T, Marion Cotillard, Marvin Gaye, Anjelica Huston, Peter Allen, Jane Birkin

Ispired by John Lennon, Uma Thurman, Patty Smith, Mr. T, Marion Cotillard, Marvin Gaye, Anjelica Huston, Peter Allen, Jane Birkin

inspired_by_opener
Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative. Adam, Susan, Aine, Fahrd, Coline, Jason, Karolina, Thomas and Kenza posed for this series and shared their thoughts after the break

Adam_Erick_Wallace
Inspired by: John Lennon
Name: Adam Erick Wallace
Occupation: Artist, Lover of Life
Lives in New York City
“Peace, Love, Freedom.”
Susan_Locht
Inspired by: Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction
Name: Susan Locht
Occupation: Art Director and Brand Consultant
Lives in New York City
“I love the strong, timeless style Uma Thurman embodied in Pulp Fiction as the enigmatic Mia Wallace. You can’t go wrong with a sharp haircut and red lips.”
Styling Toyo Tsuchiya, Makeup Jenny Kanavaros using Dermalogica, and Hair Cristina Filloramo for Ion Studio.
Aine_Rose
Inspired by:Patti Smith
Name: Aine Rose
Occupation: Model/Musician
Lives in New York City
“Patti Smith is only ever herself. She is brave and genuine. Her art expresses a strong yet vulnerable woman, and there is a daring eccentricity to her poetic intelligence.”
Fahrd_Foste
Inspired by: Mr. T
Name:Fahrd Foste
Occupation: Fashion Designer
I always loved Mr. T because he wasn’t afraid to go there. “I pity the fool!” My thoughts exactly.
Coline_Jourdana
Inspired by : Marion Cotillard
Name : Coline Jourdana
Occupation: Actress
Lives in New York City.
“Marion Cotillard inspires me by her genuineness and by the way she
approaches her roles with a perfect natural and class. Yet, every one
of her performance is strong and unique and her foreign accent is
never a problem for her to be believable in any roles. Because she is
from France I feel a great admiration towards her international
career, and her path is a great example of what I want to achieve.”
Jason_Roman
Inspired by : Marvin Gaye
Name : Jason Roman
Occupation: Actor/Bare Knuckle Boxer
Lives in : Brooklyn
Marvin Gaye played such a big part in my childhood. Mom’s would always play Marvin or Al Green
when she cleaned the house. Little did I know I’d grow up and still be listening to the
same thing 20 years later. He shaped what I thought music should sound like.
He was honest and sexual, and his music had a message. He was the ideal man.
So I guess he had a strong influence on the man that I am today… Also no song
makes me want to get up and dance like “Got to give it up.”
Karolina_Babczynska-Wallace
Inspired by: Anjelica Huston
Name : Karolina Babczynska-Wallace
Occupation: Model/Actress
Lives in New York City.
“I love Anjelica as she represents a very strong woman, Actress and icon, in her very own way she walks the balance between femininity and emancipation on screen and life.”
Thomas_Gibbons
Inspired by: Peter Allen
Name: Thomas Gibbons
Occupation: Actor, Model & Dancer
Lives in New York City
“Peter Allen was being himself at a time when no one else was. To me, he represents intense joy, individuality and courage. I don’t think we would have the Elton John’s or Lady Gaga’s of today without him.”
Kenza_Fourati
Inspired by:Jane Birkin
Name: Kenza Fourati
Occupation: Model/blogger
Lives in New York City
“Her life, her lovers, her daughters, her music, her films, her effortless sense of fashion, her sincere engagement in Amnesty International have always been an inspiration. She is a foreigner, yet one of the greatest pillar of the pop culture in France for decades now. She has always been a free spirit, jumping from an occupation to the next.
My favorite image of her is the disturbingly androgynous Jane with short hair and a white tee behind the counter in the film je t’aime moi non plus directed by Serge Gainsbourg.”

I hope you enjoyed this series. It was shot with the Sony Nex 7, the LA EA2 and the Minolta 35-70mm f4 and the Sigma 30mm 2.8, video with the Canon 5D3 (coming soon). I noticed the unintimidating effect the Nex7 had on my subjects. The photographer is just testing the light, this can’t be the session yet, the big camera is sitting over there on the tripod, those or similar thoughts where probably crossing their minds and it helped establish a relaxed atmosphere right from the beginning. Update: To watch the video shot during this session click here

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12 thoughts on “Ispired by John Lennon, Uma Thurman, Patty Smith, Mr. T, Marion Cotillard, Marvin Gaye, Anjelica Huston, Peter Allen, Jane Birkin

  1. Pingback: Inspired Portraits – Mused by EOS 5D Mark III | CanonWatch

  2. Pingback: Karolina B. channels Anjelica Huston! — IMG Models Blog

  3. jubilatu

    Sorry cause i forgot to mention, driven by frustration regarding lens choices – love your work. Thanks for sharing.

  4. mike.kobal Post author

    the 24mm CZ is awesome, wrong focal length for the portraits though, I really like the la ea2, adds versatility to the system, and you can find bargain vintage Minolta lenses on eBay, got the lens I used for this project for 25bucks-and I wouldn’t call this a test but a work sample

  5. jubilatu

    why all the tests with NEX cameras (dpreview, canonwatch, here, there…) are made with LA-EA adapter and a non-E mount lens?
    If not even the 24 mm Zeiss is not good enough for putting the NEX on a good light, do we all NEX owners have to buy A-mount lenses and LA-EA adapter ?

  6. Paul Villeneuve

    Very well done Mike love them all Iam so please to see a professional phtotographer using a small camera for a change and not trying to empres subjece with large dslr cameras fully equipt huge lenses and large flah unit Paul V

  7. mike.kobal Post author

    thank you, Michael. I am using the microsync system, it is a shame it has been discontinued, I hear the current version sux

  8. Michael

    Mike, the shot of “Anjelica Huston” is very nice. Love the styling and the pose, lighting… Do you trigger light with your Nex7?

  9. mike.kobal Post author

    Hi Kirby, thanks for swinging by! I first noticed it on a cover assignment a while ago, everybody always seems to freeze when one mentions cover, I had the GH2 and a large DSLR and realized how relaxed everyone acted while I was setting it up for video, I just switched to photo mode and started shooting, we ended up using a shot taken with the GH2 over the shots from the Nikon D3x

  10. Kirby Krieger

    _Very_ nicely done. (Came here from DPR’s Nex forum.) Thanks for sharing. Have wanted to hear how subjects’ behavior might be different with the photographer using a Nex-7. Somewhat surprised the adapter/lens combination was still perceived as “prep work”. Still woonder what the difference might be with non-professional (inexperienced) subjects. Having the “big camera” in the room, tri-podded, is a nice touch. –Kirby.

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