Tara, Pandas, Great Vibes, Oh My! | @taraleightyler | May 29, 2014 (revisited)
I always revisit this shoot with Tara when I can’t navigate through the difficulty of reconciling my passions and the commerce of professional photography.
It’s May 2014, I’ve been photographing nightlife and people for about 6 months, to some level of success, and things are looking pretty damn fantastic. I’m still working 60+ hours a week at Ogilvy, AND doing all of this photography. I can’t remember exactly how it came up, but my friend W. Kamau Bell’s manager, Kerry, somehow had or had access to a panda costume. I don’t remember the exact inspiration for even asking, but somehow I wound up with this panda costume, sitting in my apartment.
”Anyone wanna shoot with a panda costume?!”
The response was almost immediate. Tara was in. While the details of how it all happened are a bit of a blur, the energy and vibe that day is one that I return to in my head over and over again.
I’ve been going through some kind of creative struggle lately…. What is my style? How can I reconcile my passion and my commerce. Without fail, my mind returns to this day. Tara and I made something together…. so much fun. Not for Instagram. Not for the likes. Not for anyone or anything other than us and for the sheer joy of making something. A pure energy of absurdity & fun. The rest was autopilot. We did a total of three shoots, and the others were similar in vibe (coming soon!) yet Tara always has & will always have a place in my heart and mind because of how fantastic this experience was.
THIS is the kind of work I want to do. There is so much beauty here…. but more importantly, there is a positivity. There’s fun. Nobody is taking anything too seriously, and you can feel it.
Hit me up if you can get together with me and just not give a shit what happens. Hit me up if you won’t worry that every shot has to be serious, or every angle perfect. Hit me up if you can smile, or act a fool, and still feel handsome or beautiful.
These 40 images are either re-edits (the original color palate I used was a bit more blue/gray) or edits of images I had overlooked the first time I went through them. Thank you, Tara. We’re way overdue for another care-free photoshoot!
Ann Atman | @ann_atman | February 26, 2021
A beautiful morning with Ann Atman. Photographed & edited by Stuart Tracte
A beautiful morning with Ann.
I Can Shoot Commercial Imagery Too! | Brenda Lowe, Sebastian Frings, & Jake | February 11, 2023
Thanks to Sebastian & Brenda, I got a chance to shoot some more commercial style imagery.
Motorcar Cavalcade | January 15, 2023
I had no idea that $1,000,000,000 of automotive artistry would show up across the street from my home.
Here are the wonderful images from the Motorcar Cavalcade. I wrote about this new and unique experience for me in a previous email newsletter, which you can check out here.
Ashley | January 5, 2023
A $exy shoot to start off the year, with Ashley.
A great, quick, and awesome shoot to kick off the year. Thanks, Ashley!
Ashley’s Linktree
Making Memories with Marie for Montce | Marie Vigr | July 14, 2016
A truly magnificent shoot with Marie Vigr.
Sometimes friendships are made on photoshoots. This was one of those times. Marie and I had a wonderful day creating, talking, and setting the stage for a long friendship. She’s since moved back to France, but we keep in touch and I’m quite happy about that. Here are the incredible fruits of our labor. It was and still is some of my best work.
The swimwear was graciously donated by Montce. Michelle Lelia did the hair and makeup.
Lavishness with Liv | Liv Jaeger | July 12, 2016
I got to style and photograph the absolutely incredible Liv Jaeger. Here’s what happened:
I didn’t know Liv, but my good friend Andrew Gifford had the idea and made the introduction so we could collaborate. I did all the styling on this one, with a combination of clothing from Adidas, Calvin Klein, and Marciano. Michelle Lelia did the makeup. Sometimes, when editing images, its so difficult to decide which color palate to go with. I couldn’t pick which blue I liked better. You’ll see here that I couldn’t choose on many of these wonderful images of Liv. Posting this reminds me that I need to reach out to Andrew. He’s always been a fan and supporter of my work. Since I moved here to Miami, I just don’t talk with him as much as I should. (Those are really Liv’s eyes. These images are absolutely retouched, but the eyes are all her.)
Shannen's Wheelchair Bag | June 1, 2015
What happens when a FIT student creates a utilitarian project, and then asks me to photograph it for her?
I knew Shannen from the NYC Meatpacking District nightclubs. She was attending the Fashion Institute of Technology at the time. I don’t remember the specific circumstances, but Shannen said she created a wheelchair bag as a project for a class, and asked if I could photograph it. I don’t know this guy, but if I’m not mistaken, this was a random man Shannen knew from the streets around FIT, that actually inspired her to create this project in the first place. I like that memory. She did something generous for someone who needed it, and asked me to help out to some degree. Oh… and that bag was awesome!
Candice | Candice Kilpatrick | February 8, 2015
A quick photoshoot with Candice Kilpatrick from February, 2025.
We didn’t shoot much, but these few images, edited three ways each, are pretty damn cool,
