rmjblog.

photographer. stylist. overall artist: r a m a j c u l t u r e .
Capitol Decisions, a set on Flickr.…here are a few shots from my portraiture session with Omari & Prince for their new law firm venture in DC a few weeks back.

Capitol Decisions, a set on Flickr.

…here are a few shots from my portraiture session with Omari & Prince for their new law firm venture in DC a few weeks back.
Although we rushed through the shoot, Kea did a great job. She took direction very well and proved to be a strong contender in the editorial genre. Kea was a good sport as we dotted from location-to-location…changing her outfits in the car & braving the chilly & windy conditions.  Once we dropped Kea off at her job, Christian and I hung out for the rest of the day. He took me to three area BCBG stores…introduced me to new contacts…visited many major fashion centers in the city & blahblahblah… …I really appreciate Christian for sharing my vision and providing an apparatus for me to be inspired by. He’s been styling for about 7 years now & he took a leap of faith by relocating to the DC area to expand his craft. I admire is drive. While we were in Georgetown, the sun finally decided to come out. The temperature rose & with it, a new realization arose in me. Stay tuned…

Although we rushed through the shoot, Kea did a great job. She took direction very well and proved to be a strong contender in the editorial genre. Kea was a good sport as we dotted from location-to-location…changing her outfits in the car & braving the chilly & windy conditions. 

Once we dropped Kea off at her job, Christian and I hung out for the rest of the day. He took me to three area BCBG stores…introduced me to new contacts…visited many major fashion centers in the city & blahblahblah…

…I really appreciate Christian for sharing my vision and providing an apparatus for me to be inspired by. He’s been styling for about 7 years now & he took a leap of faith by relocating to the DC area to expand his craft. I admire is drive.

While we were in Georgetown, the sun finally decided to come out. The temperature rose & with it, a new realization arose in me.

Stay tuned…

Preparation for the shoot went along smoothly. All the personalities were melding seamlessly, which was a relief to me. By the time me & Christian got ALL five looks ready, Kea tells us that she has to be at work in exactly 45 MINUTES.

Welp.

We were out the door.

We quickly downsized to THREE looks & I decided to use locations nearby along Connecticut Avenue. Look #1 was shot at the above-ground entrance of the Van Ness Metro Station. Look #2 was shot as the 2nd floor mezzanine of the Van Ness Metro Station. Look #3 was shot on the Connecticut Ave bridge over Rock Creek Park.

Sunday was fun day with Christian & model, Kea.

As I mentioned earlier, we encountered a few bumps in the road during planning for the shoot. At the last minute, the make-up artist AND one of the models cancelled on us. So we had to revise our whole strategy.

It was early, Early, HOLY FUCKING EARLY Sunday morning. Christian & Kea came over to Omari’s apartment where I was staying to get started on shoot preparation. Christian had sent me photos of Kea months earlier & I was impressed with her beauty, but skeptical about her abilities to do fashion editorial work — all the work I’d seen from her had been vixen/eye candy shots. 

As soon as they walked into the apartment, we tackled wardrobe. How in thee HELL did TaQue fit ALL that shit into a small suitcase? Who knows, but we definitely created five looks from all the material she packed. While Kea did her own make-up, Omari came out & took some behind-the-scene photos of us on his iPhone.

I definitely have to shout THIS place out! After shooting with Omari & Prince, we all headed over to this place on H Street called ‘Horace & Dickie’s Seafood & Chicken.’ It’s a hole-in-the-world hood-chicken spot that’s been in the community for years. Although the place is the size of a walk-in closet that only allows patrons to order-out, there was a line trailing out the building onto the sidewalk. I LOVE food and I LOVE no-nonsense places like this that know how to properly FEED you. I had THEE best hot fish sammich smothered in hot sauce & ketchup that soaked my white bread…MY GOD’T! WOOOOO! But all jokes aside, I enjoyed standing in line & mingling with the other patrons. There was an older lady in line as we waited for our food. She was very friendly and was obviously a storied local. She was moreso talking to Omari & Prince about education [because they are law school students] & community and all the things going on in the DC area. I was really soaking in this experience. Not only just her, but other patrons standing in line…and even the cooks in the small carryout restaurant. Not only was I getting food to subside my hunger, but I was also getting spiritual food that nourished me with the ideals of a city that had been foreign to me. Yet another connection to the District of Columbia was made…

I definitely have to shout THIS place out!

After shooting with Omari & Prince, we all headed over to this place on H Street called ‘Horace & Dickie’s Seafood & Chicken.’ It’s a hole-in-the-world hood-chicken spot that’s been in the community for years. Although the place is the size of a walk-in closet that only allows patrons to order-out, there was a line trailing out the building onto the sidewalk.

I LOVE food and I LOVE no-nonsense places like this that know how to properly FEED you. I had THEE best hot fish sammich smothered in hot sauce & ketchup that soaked my white bread…MY GOD’T! WOOOOO!

But all jokes aside, I enjoyed standing in line & mingling with the other patrons. There was an older lady in line as we waited for our food. She was very friendly and was obviously a storied local. She was moreso talking to Omari & Prince about education [because they are law school students] & community and all the things going on in the DC area. I was really soaking in this experience. Not only just her, but other patrons standing in line…and even the cooks in the small carryout restaurant.

Not only was I getting food to subside my hunger, but I was also getting spiritual food that nourished me with the ideals of a city that had been foreign to me.

Yet another connection to the District of Columbia was made…

Saturday was just a downright SHIDDY weather day in DC. However, that did not stop me from shooting Omari & Prince.

Beforehand, I caught the Metro w/ Omari up to Silver Spring, MD & hung out with him as he went to the barbershop. Afterwards, we grabbed some Chick-Fil-A @ City Place…which is this cool, indoor/outdoor shopping area in Downtown Silver Spring. There, Prince…Omari’s law school colleague…met up with us.

Omari & Prince [also a Morehouse alumnus] are starting their own law firm together & I was honored they chose me to photograph them for this new venture.

First, I shot at Howard Univ School of Law’s library. Then, we shot all around the monument area…which was also THEE main fucking tourist trap in the city on a Saturday. The area was extremely congested & I was trying to come up with creative ways to shoot Omari & Prince w/o having 6 billion ppl flying kites in their background.

All-in-all, my techniques proved to be a success. I got some STUNNING shots of these two gentlemen by the Washington Monument, the Capitol, & Supreme Court Buildings. They were extremely pleased with the finished results.

…before leaving Charlotte early last Friday afternoon, I met up with stylist/friend TaQue to pick up wardrobe. Me & TaQue grew up together for a time during our childhood; our parents were close friends for a number of years. She was basically the older bossy sister biology never granted me, lol. But yea, TaQue is an accomplished stylist now. Me & Christian ran into some last minute problems with wardrobe. Thankfully, TaQue stepped in & provided us with a few pieces/accessories/shoes from her collection. When I left Charlotte, it was 82 degrees. Pulling into DC Friday evening, I was met @ Union Station to a chilly 49 degrees…in shorts. Yea…I know. I’d packed accordingly, but I didn’t dress the part on that day. But, I took it all in stride. I felt like an urban explorer dragging all that luggage [my shit PLUS wardrobe from TaQue] down 4 floors of escalators to the Metro Station…riding the train to the Van Ness station…dragging all that luggage [my shit PLUS wardrobe from TaQue] up 3 floors of escalators to the surface…dragging all that luggage [my shit PLUS wardrobe from TaQue] 10 minutes up Connecticut Avenue to Omari’s apartment building…while wearing shorts in cold, windy weather. PHEW! It may sound like I didn’t enjoy this experience, but as I stated earlier…I took in all in stride. It gave me an opportunity to become truly acquainted with the city. I was able to take in the scene around me…and the scene excited me. DC is a dynamic city and I couldn’t help but to get amped for the events that proceeded me. [Photo above was taken with my HTC Evo inside the Van Ness Metro Station]

…before leaving Charlotte early last Friday afternoon, I met up with stylist/friend TaQue to pick up wardrobe. Me & TaQue grew up together for a time during our childhood; our parents were close friends for a number of years. She was basically the older bossy sister biology never granted me, lol. But yea, TaQue is an accomplished stylist now. Me & Christian ran into some last minute problems with wardrobe. Thankfully, TaQue stepped in & provided us with a few pieces/accessories/shoes from her collection.

When I left Charlotte, it was 82 degrees. Pulling into DC Friday evening, I was met @ Union Station to a chilly 49 degrees…in shorts. Yea…I know. I’d packed accordingly, but I didn’t dress the part on that day.

But, I took it all in stride. I felt like an urban explorer dragging all that luggage [my shit PLUS wardrobe from TaQue] down 4 floors of escalators to the Metro Station…riding the train to the Van Ness station…dragging all that luggage [my shit PLUS wardrobe from TaQue] up 3 floors of escalators to the surface…dragging all that luggage [my shit PLUS wardrobe from TaQue] 10 minutes up Connecticut Avenue to Omari’s apartment building…while wearing shorts in cold, windy weather.

PHEW!

It may sound like I didn’t enjoy this experience, but as I stated earlier…I took in all in stride. It gave me an opportunity to become truly acquainted with the city. I was able to take in the scene around me…and the scene excited me. DC is a dynamic city and I couldn’t help but to get amped for the events that proceeded me.

[Photo above was taken with my HTC Evo inside the Van Ness Metro Station]

The initial idea for shooting in DC was birthed waaaaaayyy back in October. I’m always looking for ways to expand my brand. So I consulted my good friend/stylist Christian about helping me enter the DC market. Christian is a manager at BCBGMaxazria who I met through another stylist [TaQue] two years ago. He used to work at the BCBG location here in Charlotte, but transferred to a store in DC about a year & a half ago. I gotta say that Christian is definitely about his shit. From the time I first mentioned the idea to him in October…to the time I left DC a few days ago, he was 100% dedicated to this project. We constantly checked up with each other about the progress of the shoot over the months: securing models, scouting make-up artists, managing wardrobe, etc. Of course, there were a few bumps in the roads…but the end result was everything I desired. [Photo above is me & Christian styling wardrobe for the shoot]

The initial idea for shooting in DC was birthed waaaaaayyy back in October. I’m always looking for ways to expand my brand. So I consulted my good friend/stylist Christian about helping me enter the DC market. Christian is a manager at BCBGMaxazria who I met through another stylist [TaQue] two years ago. He used to work at the BCBG location here in Charlotte, but transferred to a store in DC about a year & a half ago.

I gotta say that Christian is definitely about his shit.

From the time I first mentioned the idea to him in October…to the time I left DC a few days ago, he was 100% dedicated to this project. We constantly checked up with each other about the progress of the shoot over the months: securing models, scouting make-up artists, managing wardrobe, etc. Of course, there were a few bumps in the roads…but the end result was everything I desired.

[Photo above is me & Christian styling wardrobe for the shoot]

DC is an amazing city. This was my first time experiencing Washington as an adult & non-tourist. I fell in love with the environment; the architecture & true sense of urbanity appealed to all my senses.  I stayed with my homeboi, Omari. He lived next door to me during our freshmen year @ Morehouse. Now, he’s in his last semester @ Howard Univ School of Law. We’ve kinda always managed to stay-in-touch & he mentioned awhiiiiiiiiilllllleeee back that he wanted me to photograph him…whenever I made it to the DC area. After months of planning, I finally made it to DC. [Photo above taken with my HTC Evo]

DC is an amazing city.

This was my first time experiencing Washington as an adult & non-tourist. I fell in love with the environment; the architecture & true sense of urbanity appealed to all my senses. 

I stayed with my homeboi, Omari. He lived next door to me during our freshmen year @ Morehouse. Now, he’s in his last semester @ Howard Univ School of Law. We’ve kinda always managed to stay-in-touch & he mentioned awhiiiiiiiiilllllleeee back that he wanted me to photograph him…whenever I made it to the DC area.

After months of planning, I finally made it to DC.

[Photo above taken with my HTC Evo]