Photo Shoot with Miami's DJ Nova

I first met Nova in college at MDC Kendall campus. We used to play live together, me on keyboards and Nova spinning house music on vinyl records. So, this was a shoot I was REALLY looking forward to doing for weeks after first discussing the idea with Nova. It was just perfect...a DJ that is capturing another DJ from behind the lens. We decided on doing the first half of the shoot inside our home studio using a simple black backdrop to help create the darker mood.

Once I was happy with our work there we reviewed our plans on where to shoot outdoors at different locations. We knew we wanted a dark urban scene, such as a parking lot or creepy/abandoned building wall. I also wanted to have him under a street lamp or something of the sort.

Well, my original idea definitely worked for us. We ended up at Bayside and we got one of his favorite shots there....and without any help from off-camera flash! I am known to never work without flash unless absolutely necessary.

We checked out the main parking garage at Bayside but it just wasn't providing the dark vibe we sought. However, there was one area under construction on the first floor that was able to help make an intense capture. The rest of the night we hunted around the Grove and spent, what felt like hours, running around exploring in the light rain. After going through several streets, garages and corridors we finally ended up at this dark parking garage just east of Cocowalk's Johnny Rockets. I was feeling it and I loved that there were tons of puddles from the rain that night. I told Nova to go crouch near this large puddle so I could get him and his reflection.

Overall, we're both pleased with the results and Nova has a lot of shots for his new campaigns. You can often hear him at places like Space in downtown Miami! He is a true admirer of authentic techno and deep house music.