Four-year collaboration with BetMGM

BetMGM first reached out to me in 2020—they were doing a campaign with Jamie Foxx and had seen my portraits of him online. It was Covid, so we had to keep the crew small, but the shoot went great and I’m fortunate to now be their go-to photographer. In the four years since that first project, I’ve shot 10 campaigns for BetMGM with celebrities and athletes like Vince Vaughn, Vanessa Hudgens, Wayne Gretzky, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, and, of course, Jamie.

All of these campaigns were hybrid shoots, with me capturing stills alongside the broadcast team in close collaboration with the assistant director. I executed them two ways: stepping into the broadcast set for 10 minutes at a time when there’s a break, and on a separate set on my own with the talent, usually for a designated block of time (45 minutes, typically). 

Each campaign so far has ranged from two shoot days (with a pre-light day) to 10 days (for “It’s On,” which featured multiple talent), and we’ve shot in Chicago, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas. 

There are so many parts of these projects that I love—the creative problem-solving, assembling a team tailored to each campaign and location, working nimbly. But my favorite part hands down is working with the talent. No matter who it is, I seem to have a knack for breaking through and connecting with them, and we wind up having long conversations about things that matter to us. I feel good, and they feel good, and I think it shows in the images we make together.