Chicago Fire portrait with Yuri Sardarov

When Yuri Sardarov reached out to capture a short series of portraits we both thought, what better way to capture a portrait in Chicago than smack in the middle of the street?  He was about to hit the road for a number of weeks so time was short.  We had a yellow chair, red umbrella and a whimsical sense of humor to work with.  Initially the idea was to shoot in an iconic spot in Chicago, but instead we decided to keep the portrait simple and use a nondescript street.

Getting a chair down from the 4th floor and moving it around the streets will give you a workout.  But it was all worth it to have the vibrant pop and humorous play of color added to the images.  Yuri had no problem hopping right into character as I tossed out ideas for facial expressions.  It’s safe to say that this was the first and possibly last time I directed someone to “show that fire hydrant some love” or “give me Singin’ in the Rain but with no rain and in a back alley”.

As we walked the streets and people stopped to gaze at what two grown men were doing with a fire hydrant, Yuri smiled and said hello to everyone.  He would even thank every car that passed us as we moved out of the way for them.  Aside from getting in a small workout moving our gear around, it was a great sunset and a perfect day for a shoot.  If you haven’t had a chance to see the show, check out Chicago Fire on NBC.  If you want to keep up with Yuri, follow him on Instagram @yursar.