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That Time I Used the Force… and Shot for ELLE UK | Behind the Lens
In 2012, I was broken, brilliant, and about to fake my way into one of the most iconic shoots of my career. This is the story of burnout, blind luck, and how a Canon 1DX with no silent shutter forced me into post-production witchcraft that somehow landed me in the pages of ELLE UK. Warning: contains eagles, French cigarettes, and emotional whiplash.
A behind-the-scenes tale of burnout, brilliance, and blind luck—the day I hit creative rock bottom and landed a dream gig anyway.
Looking from the inside out—with the grim clarity of hindsight, after multiple rounds of introspective dissection and enough mirror-staring to qualify as psychological warfare—I still struggle to describe the man I’d become by 2012. Not honestly, at least. Not politely.
I’d played the role of card-carrying creative professional for 5,326 consecutive days. No breaks. No vacations. No reprieve from the madness. Just a marathon of deadlines, deliverables, and the slow erosion of soul that comes from turning your passion into your paycheck.
Has anyone here seen the movie Home for the Holidays?
Bogey. Par. Bogey. Bogey. Par. Par. Bogey. Par. Bogey. Bogey. Bogey. Bogey. Bogey. Bogey.
Bogey. Eagle.
Repeat.
This, friends, is what forging a career in the entertainment industry looks like. A cruel, looping scorecard where some of those bogeys hit like bricks to the ribs—and they don’t wait for you to recover. Oh no. They bring backup. Ugly, swing-happy cousins with bad timing and worse breath. Before you know it, you’re face-down on the mat, right next to the spot where you were last kicked. You’ll swear the floor is getting familiar.
And yeah, go ahead—say it: “I’ve had enough of this shit.”
Of course you have. We all have. Especially after whispering to ourselves, over and over, that self-medication counts as spiritual hygiene. (Spoiler: it doesn’t.) And just when the blackness starts creeping into your daylight, when the last glimmer of optimism is being smothered beneath the weight of the next unpaid invoice...
An eagle. Out of nowhere.
Your body goes weightless. The fog lifts. And suddenly, you’re standing under a creative waterfall—washed clean by pure, uncut joy. A day’s work that felt like flying. One of those rare, godlike moments when the camera obeys, the team syncs, and the light kisses everything just right.
You celebrate the only way that feels true:
French bistro. Late-night. Your crew beside you.
Buttery entrees. Bottles emptied. Illicit restroom rituals.
Post-prandial cigarettes, flicked with cinematic flair.
If the timing’s right, you might even catch the sunrise bleeding across the Manhattan skyline. It never gets old. It never loses power.
But later—hungover and spiritually gutted—you’ll face the truth.
You’ve got nothing booked. Your calendar is a desert.
And the next paid gig? A total mystery.
THE POINT.
It’s not enough to love what you do. You’ve got to be hopelessly, delusionally *in love* with it.
It’s a dysfunctional romance—your art is a seductress with lipstick smudged and excuses rehearsed. She shows up late, smelling of alcohol and regret, and you… you welcome her like a fool in love.
To survive, you must Jedi-mind-trick your ego into submission. You must romanticize rejection, fetishize failure, and mistake misery for meaning.
Wait—hold on.
Did you hear that?
Sorry. That was a producer friend calling. He’s in town for a shoot. Needs a camera op. Someone he trusts. His guy bailed.
And just like that… I’m booked.
No big deal, right? Just a throwaway gig.
Except—spoiler—it’s for one of the biggest fashion publishers on Earth.
A few weeks later, my BTS stills land across six global editions. The checks clear. In Euros.
And I walk away with some of the most iconic images of my entire career.
So… what was I saying?
Something about eagles.
Let me get back to you.
📸 TECHNICAL SPECS:
Location:
Milk Studios, NYC – 20,000 sq. ft. daylight studio (AKA the suntrap of the gods)
Camera Body:
Canon 1DX (DSLR, no silent shutter)
Novoflex EOS-Nikon F Adapter
Workaround:
Due to set restrictions, I couldn’t shoot stills. Instead, I shot 4K video at max resolution, pulled selects via After Effects, converted frames to DNG, de-noised, and up-res’d each final image in Photoshop.
“Was it ideal? No. Did it work? Better than anyone expected.”
Lenses (Vintage Nikon F-mount primes, mid-70s):
50mm f/1.9
105mm f/2
135mm f/2.8
Filtration & Accessories:
Tiffen Glimmer Glass 1
Chrosziel Matte Box
Gitzo Monopod
Dreamy black and white closeup of Nadine Ponce being brushed with makeup, photographed by Keith DeCristo during an ELLE UK shoot.
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Focused black and white portrait of Gucci Westman mid-application during a high-profile beauty shoot for ELLE UK at Milk Studios NYC
Behind-the-scenes profile photo of Nadine Ponce in the makeup chair, photographed during a fashion editorial with makeup by Gucci Westman
Nadine poses dramatically in front of a teal backdrop as the main photographer, David Slijper, captures the moment mid-shoot.
Dramatic black and white portrait of Nadine Ponce using curtain light effect, part of Keith DeCristo’s BTS beauty shoot for ELLE UK.
“I believe every man’s finest hour, his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is that moment after he has fought, with all of his heart, for a worthy cause, and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious.”
— Vince Lombardi
Ethereal beauty portrait of Nadine Ponce in a sheer dress set against a vibrant yellow background, captured by Keith DeCristo.
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