10. Brian Slagel (founder of Metal Blade Records)

"I was at the Webster Theater doing a shoot with Arch/Matheos, when Brian walked in. I had met him a few times at Metalfest, but I had never photographed him before. I thought it would be a good idea to get a quick shot of him for the hell of it (and because I actually really wanted to have a good portrait of him). What it comes down to is… how do you capture an image of a man who is responsible for at least half of my CD collection?  It was taken with offset bare parabolic key lights with flags and a beauty dish main up above to not cause eyeglass flare. Shot at F10 at a 250th. I also ended up, while I was in L.A., going to the Metal Blade offices and doing a big label shoot there and photographing everyone, including Brian in their offices. Despite two lights crashing that day (only time that’s ever happened in my career, ever), and being a bit off by that, the shoot went excellently, and I may even like those photos of Brian just as much as this one.  Its such a privilege to get to work with such a legend in the industry. This was absolutely a bucket list photo for me. Something I had wanted to shoot for some time, and finally had the opportunity to get it done."