'Both the Cardinal and Blue Jay tattoo represent home to me, being from Richmond Virginia born and raised I saw many of these birds in my yard as a child.'
When I first profiled photographer Rae Ellaine's (Stahfysh Photography) work earlier this month, (Crepuscular) I commented that it was his rich blend of color, light and darkness that drew me to her work. It was Rae's Model Mayhem shot of Robert Bane, and shots from an earlier shoot, (above) that had me reaching out to Rae about sharing her work. I was struck at the beauty of Cardinal and the Blue Jay on Robert's collarbone and deep red and blue that Rae so beautifully captured.
When I asked Rae about featuring her work with Robert, Rae wanted to do more than just say yes to my featuring shots from her previous shoot with Robert. Rae planned another shoot, this time at Robert's childhood home, a place he now rents and the place that inspired his love for the Cardinal and Blue Jay. The 23 year old Martial Arts Instructor looks so at home and free in the place he grew up in, a place he has lived his entire life. I love that this shoot takes place in the spot that inspired the colorful tattoo's that sparked my interest in Rae's work. Robert graciously shared more about the two birds that adorn his skin and accompany him always.
'Both the cardinal and the Blue Jay are passionate in song, graceful and though strong willed they balance each other and live well together, as I saw growing up. To me cardinals are beautiful but strong and extremely intelligent, hence why he wears a kings crown to show he has favor over the other birds because his desirable traits. Blue jays, though still pretty, are my favorite of all birds and represent the grungier side of the duo as they've always seemed to be the more fierce and territorial of the two, but I might be a little biased after being chased by a few, therefore I gave the blue jay a knights helmet to represent their tenacity and fearlessness.'
'With this shoot I really wanted to capture the the vibe of a hot summers day in Virginia. We met around early afternoon and drove down to the country where we had lots of great scenery to work with. We were accompanied by Robert's beautiful girlfriend Emily and his adorable brown and white pit bull Peanut. Before we started the shoot He took me on a little tour of his families land. I saw so many great opportunities for this shoot and possibly future shoots. There was a lovely pond full of lily pads and further into the woods was a really interesting creek that resembled a waterfall. We decided to wait until sunset to get the shots by the pond I knew the lighting would be perfect around that time. We began the shoot by an old shed where the light and shadows were absolutely stunning and I took complete advantage of it.'
'We made our way through his huge backyard towards some gravel roads near the woods edge and snapped plenty of great shots. From there we headed back to the pond where the sun was just beginning to set. By this time we sat down by the pond and took some very relaxed casual shots. His Dog Peanut even made it into a few shots and did a excellent job holding her poses I might add. This shoot was absolutely fantastic! When Robert and I work together I always know that he'll capture the essence of the mood and theme I'm going for flawlessly. I like to think of him as my 90's heartthrob male model which I believe translate pretty well in photos. I would say that Robert is one of my most popular models on my social media accounts people really seem to respond to how well he connects with the camera and his overall look.'
