The Quiet Hour
Spring 2026, Night · Old Main / Durham Hall, Tempe, Arizona
A late-night experiment with light, streetwear, and the new Sony A7 IV.
I had been wanting to do a shoot with my suitemate for a while. I always thought he would make a really good model, and I knew he had already worked with photographers and modeled for them a few times. So one night, while he was heading out, I finally asked him, "Hey, do you wanna do a photoshoot with me?"
He was immediately down. We started talking about what he could wear right there, and he showed me a few different outfits. I ended up really liking two of them. The first was a blue hoodie with light blue jeans and a white T-shirt underneath, paired with his blue-and-white Jordans and a Club Mocchi-Mocchi Super Mario Bob-Omb Mega 15 inch Plush. The second was almost the complete opposite: a black sweatshirt with red flames, black pants with matching red flames, and black-and-red Jordans.
Fountain of Youth
Move into the blue outfit and nighttime environmental portraits. The cooler styling, fountain, warm background lights, and playful Bob-omb accessory establish the youthful and relaxed side of the project.
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 400 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 400 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 200 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Still Young
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 200 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 200 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Fountain of Youth
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 200 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Blue Hour
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 400 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Heat Wave
Transition into the black-and-red outfit at Durham Hall. The brick architecture, warm directional lighting, and darker styling create the most dramatic visual chapter.
Flame
1/40s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 4000 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Heatwave
1/40s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 4000 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Fountain Reflection
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 100 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Blue Mood
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 100 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Night Walker
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 100 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Denim & Lights
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 100 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
Playful
1/80s · f/1.8 · ISO ISO 100 · 50mm · FE 50mm F1.8 · Sony a7 IV
A few days later, I went through and edited the photographs. The editing itself was relatively straightforward. I wasn't trying to completely transform the photographs in post; I mainly wanted to preserve the different moods created during the shoot and let the lighting and environment do most of the work.
Looking back, this shoot ended up being a lot more than just a photoshoot with my suitemate. It was one of my first creative shoots with the Sony A7 IV, which made it particularly meaningful to me. Technically, the graduation shoot I did earlier was the first shoot I ever did with the camera, but that was client work, so in my head, The Quiet Hour was really my first proper creative experiment with it. It was also my first time really getting to experiment with my new Godox flash, one of my first attempts at building a proper multi-light setup myself, and another opportunity to explore the kind of creative street-style photography I had been wanting to try. So, yeah, maybe I should call this shoot New Beginnings. New camera. New flash. New lighting setups. New experiments.
- Type
- Creative Portrait / Nighttime Street Style / Editorial
- Camera
- Sony A7 IV
- Camera Note
- First creative/personal shoot with A7 IV (graduation shoot was client work)
- Lighting
- Godox iT32 (detachable) + Godox studio flash with octagonal softbox + Godox on-camera flash as hair/rim light
- Location
- Old Main / Durham Hall, Tempe, Arizona
- Season
- Spring 2026, Night
- Setup
- Key — Studio flash + octagonal softbox, ~45° from subject · Side/Fill — Photographer's detachable Godox flash, low on left side · Hair/Rim — Additional Godox flash behind subject on light stand
- Outfits
- blue: Blue hoodie, White T-shirt, Light blue jeans, Blue-and-white Jordans, Club Mocchi-Mocchi Super Mario Bob-Omb Mega 15 inch Plush · red: Black sweatshirt with red flames, Black pants with red flames, Black-and-red Jordans
