Despite her moniker, Grumpy Cat was friendly and cooperative, and even posed for pictures with much of the crew at the end of the session. A true star!

It's weird that you should ask, as I was just listening to Elliott Smith.

Elliott was living in Brooklyn at the time and known to be camera-shy the record company recommended that we do the shoot low-key and keep it local for him. But having an editorial background I thought of the images first and my sitter’s comfort second. I had a couple of friends who had just moved to rural New Jersey and together they provided perfect backdrops – one had an old unrenovated farm house and the other an empty in-ground swimming pool. If our subject wasn’t going to give much it wouldn’t matter – the locations were interesting looking.
Elliott was pleasant and cooperative but seemed eager to move on and get home (and he made early dinner plans – perhaps revenge for being made to travel to a location) so things were cut short.

Thanks for asking! It's a packed day as I'm flying tomorrow for an out of town shoot. But I can't tell you what it is. ;^)

As a portrait photographer I don't really think about a subject being photogenic. I'm less interested in the ideal and more in the quirkiness and vulnerabilities of the subject.

Beauty and grace do make a picture better, but that can be found in "unphotogenic" sitters pretty easily if you have an eye for it.

I currently shoot with a medium format digital camera. It's Hasselblad H4X body with a Phase P-65 back. I like medium format as it gives me the ability to make large prints without much quality loss, plus it's bulky format forces me to slow down and be thoughtful with my choices while shooting.