I grew up watching The Office and, like many, had a bit of a crush on Jan. So when I started working as a photographer for a small indie magazine and met Melora Hardin on a red carpet at the Pantages Theater, I had to take a shot—literally and figuratively.
To my surprise and delight, she said yes to doing a cover shoot.
We met at her home, where she welcomed us with warmth and gave us full creative freedom. She even brought out this enormous flower that became the centerpiece of the shoot—bold, a little whimsical, and totally her. It perfectly captured her sense of humor and her openness to making meaningful, fun art together.
This particular image was taken on the stone walkway in her backyard. I had a small team—just my makeup artist and wardrobe stylist (shoutout to indie budgets!)—help flutter her dress for movement while our assistant boomed a Profoto B10x overhead. The sun happened to create a soft glow around her head, forming a subtle halo—an intentional visual, tying into our magazine interview where she spoke about her angel collage artwork.
Post-Processing:
Basic color correction, a bit of facial smoothing, and flyaway cleanup—nothing too much. Her energy did most of the work.
Challenges:
The biggest challenge? Distance. The location was far from me, and we weren’t able to do a location scout in advance. We shot almost entirely in her backyard, which meant constantly adapting to changing light. While I wish I had more control over the environment and even wanting to shoot inside (which we didn't have time for), I’m proud of how we made it work—and how the images came out. She even uses this image as her instagram profile photo.
This image made the cover. it’s a full-circle moment I’ll never forget.
Gear Used:
Canon R5 | 24-70mm
Profoto B10x with softbox
To see more of my work:
Ecliptic Media Photo . net