I met Allan Armstrong when we both worked for Creative Loafing newspaper; he was in the office, and I was a freelance photographer. The dude is witty, kind, and fun to be around.

Soon after we met, he began his career in the culinary arts. When I asked around about shooting creative portraits, he came up with this idea. He envisioned himself standing in the surf, wearing full chef gear, cooking fish on an open flame. The sign (in Korean) says Fresh Catch. Allan is from Korea. I thought it was brilliant. We shifted a few things, including shooting him in more serene waters at sunset. I needed to put lights in the water (the “sun” in the photo is a gelled flash), and a rough gulf shot wouldn’t work. The attitude in the shot was all him and not planned. He set the dish on fire using tequila; We had already done the smiley static shots, then he broke out with this “Look at me, bitch!” pose.

Technical Info:

Gear: Canon EOS5D MK IV, Canon EF 11-27 f/4L USM @ 13mm

Exposure: 1/80s @ f/7.1 ISO 100