My Girlfriend Calls Me "Prom King"

I was having a discussion with a few friends about my photography and what I do. It seems that the one common thing aside from the high quality of my work is that, you guessed it, I'm a Prom King. Not in the literal sense of the word. My girlfriend coined that phrase a while ago when she noticed that  I just seem to attract all sorts of people and am able to make them all feel at ease. I like to have a good time and love to see others enjoying themselves. I can throw together an event at the blink of an eye and everyone is eating great food, drinking good wine and just having a great time. I do have one secret, I am a trained chef so maybe that helps a bit.
Yes, Rico, that's all fine and good but this is a photography blog, how does your "prom kinging" relate to your photography? Well it's more of an attitude, a lifestyle that allows me to create photographs that bring out that certain "je ne sais quoi" of my subjects, my clients and the overall mood on the set. I mean when I'm working with other prom kings then the work is just easier, it flows, the creativity is sparked and everyone's having a great time.


The overall point is why make the work difficult and arduous when you can create great work and have a good time doing it. It's the reaction I get whether I'm shooting for Hilton or The Saddle Peak Lodge, this guy comes in, makes us feel good, gives us more than we expected and then has a great time eating and drinking with us afterward, what's not to like. So that's what it's like to work with a prom king which just makes it all feel good.

Photos top row - Saddle Peak Lodge from my series "Behind the Door - Chefs their Food and their Kitchens"

Photos second row - Hilton and Loews Hotels

www.ricomandel.com