Edward James Olmos

This past weekend I had the opportunity to photograph one of my favorite actors, Edward James Olmos. I attended a celebrity autograph convention where Mr. Olmos was appearing and was able to get a few minutes with him to take the portrait below.
I grew up watching him on Miami Vice and Stand and Deliver, but it's his role as Admiral William Adama in the recently completed series Battlestar Galactica, that makes him an icon to me. Battlestar Galactica is perhaps my favorite program I've watched as an adult, and Edward James Olmos's portrayal of Adama was so commanding, so intense and emotional, that he seemed more than just a character on a television show.
In person, he was friendly, chatty and genuine. In front of my camera, I was thrilled that he gave me the intensity of his Battlestar Galactica character. When a subject has that, and a face as interesting as Mr. Olmos's, my natural response is to do a simple, in-your-face portrait, to allow the viewer, (and me) to study him and maybe get a sense of the person.