BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

Beauty is only skin deep.  What’s more important is a person’s attitude and determination to succeed in any career.  Obviously in the modeling career beauty is a little bit more important. 

I do my best to keep myself in tip top shape by working out and staying very healthy.  In the case of modeling I do think that beauty helps a person to succeed in this field.  However, I also think that I sell myself well with my attitude and personality.

ON SETTING THE THEME FOR PERFECT POSES

Well, one of my pet peeves in when it comes to working with photographers is when they have no plan of attack.  When they look at me and just say okay just do whatever you want.  That is fine to a certain extent if they just want you to strike poses quickly and they just keep snapping as you go with the flow and do your favorite poses.  And that’s fine if they want to look through over one thousand pictures later.  I like it best when the photographer sets a theme or a story for the shoot.  It makes it more fun for both me and the photographer.  I also like it when the photographer quickly learns your good side and angles and puts you in those perfect positions often so that you get a lot more great shots. 

That is something that Adam Bouska and Noel Daganta do great.  They are so precise with the angles that they want your face to be in and the curve they want your body to be in and you just know that your going to get incredible shots from them as a result. 

Adam Bouska always makes me laugh because he gets in such weird positions when he takes his shots as his legs will be all pretzeled up as he squats to get the perfect angle.  I also loved shooting with Ken Sergie as he knows the perfect poses and angles to make your build look big and lean.  You can clearly see years of experience and talent in these photographers that I have worked with and several of the others that have worked with and have failed to mention.

BACKSTAGE MOMENTS DURING PHOTO SHOOTS

Well, I would say that my sad and sick experiences would fit in the unusual moment’s category.  I’ll never forget about the Pacific Beach magazine shoot on the yacht, because I found out that my grandmother was going to the hospital right before the shoot and she wasn’t in good condition. 

There was nothing I could do as she was in Indiana and I was in California, so I had to tough it up and smile for the camera.

It was so hard to have fun and look natural on that shoot as I could only think about my grandmother and family.  Then there was my recent photo shoot with Rufskin while I was sick with a terrible cold.  That was a very tough shoot too, because it was outdoors in swimwear.  Again, I had to tough it out and smile even though I felt terribly sick.

Fortunately, the funny/fun experiences come way more often than the rough experiences.  I’ll never forget the picture that the make-up artist Carla Woolever caught of Ken Sergie ripping my wife beater with his teeth while I was wearing it.  It was a rather odd situation, however, very funny at the same time. 

I was doing a tough guy shoot where I was supposed to rip this wife beater off by tearing it from the center of my chest out.  So Ken decided to make it easier on me by using his teeth to start the tear.  The picture looked hilarious.  Later in the shoot I was doing a photo lying on the ground on these neat looking bricks.  Carla bends over me to put make-up on my face and Ken gets photo evidence of me looking down her shirt with an interesting grin on my face.  So, I was busted and a got a little red when he showed her the picture.

ON SPORTS

I am very much into sports.  I love playing sports and I also love watching sports.  As I mentioned before I was a cross-country runner and I loved it.  I also love playing football, basketball, baseball, and beach volleyball.  Football is a blast for me now as I am much bigger and can knock people around much easier than I could when I was a little cross country runner.  I also love basketball too as I have a great vertical from lifting legs heavy and can often be seen dunking a basketball even though I am only 5’11”. 

As I mentioned above, I also enjoy watching sports, but primarily football.  I love watching Notre Dame and Indianapolis Colt’s football.  Notre Dame had a rough year, but true fans stick with them through the rough years. 

SECRET TO STAYING IN SHAPE

My secret to staying in good shape is to constantly set goals, make working out a priority (its part of my day, just like eating), and watch what I eat. 

 I lift weight 5-6 days a week for about 2 or more hours each time.  I periodically do a few consecutive weeks of going to the gym twice a day too, just to shock my system and pack on a little bit more muscle. 

When I am in the gym I am very focused and intense.  I put on headphones and zone out to lose myself in my music and my workout.  I take very short breaks between sets to keep the intensity up and burn more calories.  I also find it important to keep a lifting partner around to encourage you to push more weight, plus they keep you from missing days in the gym.

My favorite body part is probably my abs as they are what get me the most work.  A close second would be my arms though.

GOING WITH THE FLOW AS FANS NOTICE JAMES

I have to be honest, I would be very flattered that the fan noticed me and thank him for his support.  Other than that, I would just go with the flow of the crowd and enjoy the night.   I’d ride the wave and hope that I meet a great looking girl out of the situation.  I have only had a few situations like that and it was rather flattering. 

I have had people approach me in the gym and ask if I was on a fitness cover.  I even had a person bring the September issue of Exercise for Men Only into the gym for me to sign.  I thought that was very neat and I can only hope that more of that type of thing happens in the future. 

It’s not necessarily the fame that I like, but the nice supportive fans that I get to meet.  Plus, the fact that I’m showing people from the Midwest that it’s okay to shoot for you dreams.  I’m showing kids that are growing up scrawny and pale like I did that anything is possible.

A LOT OF GROWING UP TO DO!

In general I believe we now live in a better world.  I believe there is lot of work yet to be done in many parts of the world and even in our own backyard.  I think the United States in particular still has a lot to learn in terms of tolerance, equality, and acceptance.  In many cases I believe that the United States has a lot of growing up to do.  We are still trying to work through things the most other countries hurdled long ago.

Click here for the earlier interview James did with Edward:

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