My work with entertainers....

This is some of my early work. Back in the day,

I won't say what year but you can probably figure it out!

Back in those days, singers/performers gave a media pass

to photographers and allowed then to shoot the entire show,

from the photographers pit! You could leave with

150-200 shots of someone! It was awesome.

Plus, you got to go backstage and hang out with

them after the show most times!

Then came Madonna.

She decided it was not necessary for photographers

to be allowed to shoot the whole show.

She really changed the industry. Her manager allowed

photographers 2 songs only from the pit, then gave them tickets

away from the stage, usually in the balcony, forcing photographers

to shoot with a tele-photo lens, if they wanted more photos.

Then came Prince! He decided to take it a step further!

He offered no passes for the pit.

He set a photographers area on the main floor,

it was slightly raised, near the tech booth,

which was about 50 rows back, forcing everyone to shoot

with a tele-photo lens. I said enough.

And I walked out of that show!

From there on out, all performers started the

1-2 song limit. It wasn't as fun anymore.

And they wouldn't let us backstage.

So I moved away from the genre and started to

focus on models! But there was some good times!

I was on tour with Heart (super nice ladies) for 2 weeks.

Followed Alice Cooper for a week.

Photographed Grace Jones (who was amazing!) , Bette Midler,

Tina Turner (who is a wonderful person!) , Village People,

David Bowie, Babys, Angel, KISS, George Clinton & Parliament,

Diana Ross, Bob Seger - ok, now I guess I am dating myself.

Really, was about 10 years old then! LOL.

It was good times! I consider myself very lucky to have

had that amazing opportunity and meet some awesome people!

Male Models From Chicago By Michael Snell - Blue Photography

Since all of my work involves natural light and

I like to work outside, in the winter monthsI usually

take off from November - February.

It also gives me time to re-charge, look at new ideas,

see what inspires me, etc. - I am looking foward to

Spring already! I have 2 guys waiting to be shot!

This image was used for an ad last year for the

IML (International Mr. Leather) festival.

Male Models in Black and White

"Photography is very powerful in the fact that I

can freeze a moment in time. If I live to be eighty I will be

able to pick up one of my photographs and go back to that

moment and remember every

detail of how that image came to be."

"I look at photography as a series of captured moments.

Location shoots give me the freedom for interesting

backgrounds and composition, which all help convey a

feeling from the model. Magic imagery happens when

there is chemistry, an energy, between the model

and the photographer. Capturing these moments,

makes an exceptional photograph."

"So Many Men - So Little Film.....

I need to switch to digital!"

Sensual Male Models

A lot of the male models I photograph have

never been before a camera before.

Which can be good - and can be bad!

I hand pick a lot of models just off street,

out in public. Sometimes, someone who appears very sexy

and attractive at first glance, does not photograph well.

And I have found the opposite to be true also.

Someone with average looks, really came to life in front

of the camera! So you just never know.

The model really has to be comfortable in their own skin.

I really enjoy photographing one person at a time.

Two can be tricky. It's usually harder to get that special magic shot.

When I was a teenager, I started out photographing

celebrities. Mostly concerts. People like Rod Stewart,

Bette Midler, Heart, Tina Turner, Grace Jones and the

Village People! I also did some work for Siegfried & Roy

for a while, in more recent years. -

All my life though, I have loved the male image.

The male body is so sexy and beautiful. When I was 12 I was

in love with David Cassidy and Donny Osmond!

David appeared once in Rolling Stone Magazine naked!

I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was a black & white image.

I think it was the early eighties, I started asking

guys to pose for me. Most of what I do is

"fitness" or "physique" oriented. Sometimes the model and

I can sell the photos to someone like MENS WORKOUT,

out of New York. So it's usually always about the body.

And sometimes the models wants to do nudes.

I enjoy photographing a man's body and

trying to light it different ways.

MALE MODEL Photography and MALE PHYSIQUE Photography By Michael Snell

I really do have a great job!

I love photographing Men and the Male Body.

It's sexy, sensual, sometimes romantic,

sometimes provocative.....

and it's so great when the model can connect with the

camera. It doesn't alwayshappen, unfortunately.

I have had some beautiful men in front of the camera who

were just BLAH!And I have had some average looking

guys in front of the camera who light up and come to life!

Almost everyone is nervous about being photographed,

even if they are not nude. I spend time working with

models so that they’ll feel more comfortable, and relax into their

own body language. Then I can shoot a portrait with some sense

of who they are. I try to capture a feeling from them.

A mood.
Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that they need to

be relaxed all the time. They only need to be relaxed

in the moments of being photographed.

If they’re tense through most of the shoot but I catch

a few relaxed moments, that’s enough. -

And a good number of the men

are photograph classify themselves as straight.

So sometimes it's harder

for them to comfortable - although not always.

It just depends on how

comfortablesomeone is in their own skin.