In an industry where looks are everything, Tony's character and personality far outshine his image. Because not only is he a great professional model, he's also a model human being. I am fortunate to have met him during a commercial photo shoot project that took a team of us to Spain (he sat behind me on the plane); I was a freelance production assistant on the shoot and he was cast as one of the talent. During the return flight, we talked about working together on some pictures. He asked me, "Do you want 'high fashion?'" I laughed and said, "Maybe just semi-high fashion."

As with any other portrait work, my goal was to capture Tony as himself -- someone who is so friendly, warm, kind, fun, helpful, smart, humble, down-to-earth, genuine (the list goes on), and has such a great attitude and positive energy. Being around him, you forget that he's a fashion model and instead are truly drawn to the kind of person he is on the inside, and you know what -- he inspires you to be a better person. So for that, he's a ROLE MODEL. Our photo session was done in and around Marina Jack's in Sarasota, Florida, where there was plenty of water, sun, and fun. It was Tony being himself...sprinkled, of course, with just a little bit of Derek Zoolander's "Blue Steel" high fashion. :)