Jeremy Cowart- A Rare Connection: My Photo Shoot with John Schneider

[enigmatic]

I thought about posting this in GD but given the toxic gender wars of late I didn't want to take the chance of this to turning into another 200 post flame war.

"I recently got asked to shoot photos for a show called “The Haves and HaveNots” for the Oprah Winfrey Network. I’ve shot many shows in my career and I always enjoy these shoots because there are so many challenges involved. There’s tons of “talent” aka celebrities involved, all their teams, all the hair, makeup and wardrobe involved, there’s very limited time, there are tons of shots to create, there’s an immense pressure to “nail” the creative concept and obviously there is usually lots of money involved. These are high budget, high-pressure shoots. It’s diving into the deep end for sure, as far as photography is concerned. And I love that challenge. I love stepping up to the plate and going for the homerun.

But one of the things I DON’T love about these shoots is that I never really get to connect with the people I’m shooting. They’re in and out in minutes. Sometimes I literally am only able to take a few pictures before they’re wisked away.

One of the cast members was John Schneider. You might know him from his work on “Dukes of Hazard” or “Smallville”. John was one of my many subjects that day and like the rest of the cast, he was extremely professional, humble and a lot of fun to work with. He was killing his portraits… smiling, goofing off and he even threw in several impressions of famous actors and presidents. I was very impressed by his talent and good-natured humor.

Once we wrapped up his session, the female walked off set and John came to me and whispered in my ear “Hey can you sneak a few more portraits of me?” and I said “sure of course”. He said “there’s something going on and I just need a photo.”

[link:http://jeremycowart.com/2014/01/john-schneider/|

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. That was officially awesome. Thank you for posting it here. n/t

[enigmatic]

2. It really struck a chord with me

I was in tears looking at those photos, too.

[Historic NY]

3. Johns a good guy met him a few times sharing

the car hobby.

[mokawanis]

4. He looks the way I felt

when I lost my 81 y.o. father nine weeks ago. Thank you for posting.

[Major Nikon]

5. I lost my dad in '96

And I still remember that day vividly.

[mokawanis]

6. Vividly

I was with my father for 3 1/2 hours after they stopped the life-support, some of those moments felt almost unbearable. I always wondered what people meant when they describe grief as something that comes in waves, but I get it now. It ebbs and flows, and sometimes it hits me at moments I'd rather it didn't.

[Major Nikon]

7. It's still the same almost 18 years later

It just doesn't happen as often.