Twenty Seven and a Half

Twenty Seven and a Half Photography has been working in photography for more than twelve years.  Based in Chicago, Twenty Seven and a Half has a unique, documentary eye for its photo shoots.  Our sets are sparse and minimally lit; we prefer to shoot in natural light whenever is humanly possible. We favor an unusual style of shooting both hyper close ups and master shots of our models on set. 

We've shot several national magazine covers, worked with celebrities ranging from Billy Bob Thornton to Charlize Theron to Shia Labeouf and have shot several winners of America's Next Top Model and a handful of different NBA players. 

Our corporate rates are absolutely outlandish.  We are presently attempting to redefining 'exorbitant' with the amount of money we charge our corporate clients.  Our rates for individual models, actors and baristas are a much different story though.  We want to work with you and are more than willing to discuss amounts that you can, you know, afford.

What we do aspire to do is to capture a moment of life on film (in pixel).  If director Robert Altman was alive and shooting photographs, he'd be doing so in the same style that we use. The best shots from our shoots are often the outtakes; the shots that didn't seem like they should have been taken in the first place. 

Here is our ever expanding list of things we will never do:
• have a model lapping water (or milk) out of a dish on the floor
• shoot two models, one of whom is wearing white, the other black
• suggest a female model cover her crotch with a cat.  Terry Richardson might be fine with this, we're not
• hand bras
• figure out a way to get handguns, or really any weapons, into a photo
• outfit our models with wings
• Any pose that even vaguely resembles the Rosie the Riveter pose.
• shoot a male model with what appears to be a vacuum cleaner attached to his genitals
• feature a model licking a knife
• bust out an oversized lollipop...
• ... or really any sized lollipop.
• shoot something where a model is holding up an empty picture frame.
• outfit a model with a fruit helmet
• Photoshop lightning into a picture.  For some reason, this makes us think of Monster Trucks
• shoot on railroad tracks
• something where a scantily clad model is trying to seduce Santa Claus.  Just no.
• outfit a model in denim 'booty' shorts
• anything involving 'caution' tape
• shoot a naked model wearing a pig mask, not that there's anything wrong with that
• have a model pour champagne, milk or a glass of any liquid on him/herself
• use a guitar as a prop
• use a wrinkled sheet or drop cloth as our background.
• bondage
• suggest a model get in the 'chicken arm' pose.