Lassana Lestin (also known as Lass) is a French actor working between Paris and Los Angeles. I met him a few weeks ago randomly while I was in the middle of organizing my summer portraits.

Two men I was supposed to photograph disappeared and Lass was happy to fill in, so I started prepping him for the shoot. Normally I try to avoid shooting people I know, I don't like it ( a story for another blog post). But there was enough of a grey area where I felt it would be fine, this time.

I explained all that would be required of him to bring; a well fitted suit, tie, shirts, watch, belt etc.

Lass admitted that my clothing requirements where outside of his normal comfort zone. His normal clothing style is a t-shirt, jeans, accompanied by a sports cap, nevertheless he was willing to try something different. He'd seen my work, liked my style and was willing to trust my vision.

The day of the shoot he showed up with, most, not all, of what I asked him for. He had a nice suit, a few well pressed button down shirts, belt, and watch.

Great.

What he didn't bring was a tie or black dress socks. What seem to be small details that ended up changing the whole concept of the shoot.

Although I do edit my images, I really don't like having to spend hours in photoshop. So to compensate I would have to keep in mind that I would have to crop white socks or avoid shooting his feet altogether.

And, never one to back down from a challenge, I was able to take what he had and put it together in ways Lass had never realized his clothing could be arranged.

The gift of being a woman.

Hopefully after this shoot, I was able to convince him to upgrade his wardrobe a bit. 

I wanted to make some high contrast vintage black and white portraits (which I love!) but in the end found that the clothing he bought didn't have enough visual interest or tonal ranges for a very dynamic black and white image that pleased me. So this shoot ended up being all in color. 

Lass is very tall with large hands. When taking portraits of someone with these feature traits, one has to remember that whatever is closest to the camera will be the largest element. So I had be very careful of where I placed his hands in relation to his face to make sure that they would not become competing elements.

This shoot was all about being mindful and balancing his specific body features. Lass was a good sport throughout the whole session, which I have to admit was a bit of a work out for someone of  his stature. The poses I had him in, I know would felt more awkward than usual.

To add to it, I really had to factor in my height compared to his, I'm  about a third of his height which drastically changed my angle of attack. I did bring a small step stool that helped even me up to his height, but, if you've known me for very long, you'd know I have the grace and balance of an elephant and can quickly get so focused on shooting that I can easily forget about not falling off the tiny platform.

So the first time I almost fell off, I decided it was best to bring Lass down to a more manageable height and did a lot of sitting and crouching poses, which ended up working really well for balancing his features in the poses.

Working with Lass was great. He was a goof-ball on set, made a lot of jokes, mostly regarding the akward poses I was directing him into, but kept the shoot really light hearted.

Currently you can find Lass starring in the hit web series 90 Seconds on youtube and starring in the independent, crowdfunded, movie KOPP - Chapter 1, where he plays Kopp, a famous, self made french rapper and his story of rags to riches. He'll be filming part 2 this Fall in between Miami, Florida and Paris, France.

To find out more about Lass' globetrotting adventures, behind the scenes footage and everything in between check out his official Facebook Fan page and website.

One of the challenges I’m facing with scheduling and organizing photoshoots is  making sure the models come prepared. For woman that’s not a big deal, they show up with everything you asked for, plus everything they’ve ever owned since they were nine; a photographers dream!

Men on the other hand do not work that way and I have to admit that I am always worried when a man shows up on set for a shoot to see what they have brung. If you’ve ever had to share a space with a man, you’d know that their side of the closet is almost laughable. While the minimalist wardrobe works in the everyday world, in photography the accessories can really make the difference between a well balanced, intriguing, and polished final image to none of the above. 

So when I’m photographing with a male subject, I make sure I lay it all out; clear, specific and direct. Men shooting with me need to come with a belt, modern cut suit, polished shoes, suspenders, cuff links, tie, pocket scarf, a watch and manicured nails. Yes, manicured nails! 

Those are just a few of the things I tell men when I have to plan a shoot with them. 

Most of the time it requires them doing some shopping before hand and a follow up email asking where exactly they can go to get a manicure. 

But when I laid out the details for Fabrice, he immediately replied, that he had most of what was required. 

YES!

I truly believe that every man should own a well tailored suit, it is an absolute must. 

A man in a good suit is equvilent to a woman wearing lingerie (an adage you might see floating about in social media right now).

I was so happy; not only did he have what I needed but he was able to bring a TON of options with him and I was really able to play around with the style of his shoot, this made all the difference!

If someone shows up for a shoot with one option that doesn't work, you really need to be a creative genius in photoshop or let them know that you can’t shoot them. 

I learned that the hard way on a different shoot. After all, these are going to bare your name and turn into your potential marketing pieces and no one wants to show or have their name associated with sub-par work!

So Fabrice, showed to the shoot with everything we needed to create some visually appealing images. 

Not only that, being an actor he was really easy to work with and had great expressions and body movement, it was super easy for me to direct him. He had a great classic look that worked well with the vintage, moody, high contrast images I wanted to make. 

To find out more about Fabrice check out his latest webseries and other projects, connect with him on Facebook