A Friend Indoors
October 1st, 2007
My friend posed in her house as well as in the river behind her house. She’s actually more “at home” in the indoor setting.
Friends
September 25th, 2007
It’s always nice to work with a model who is also a friend. That’s always my preference. It’s not necessary, it’s just nice.
This is an old friend. I first met her when she came to my old portrait studio many years ago to model wedding dresses for a local bridal shop. There were several models that day, but the two of us just hit it off. Later she would model a wedding gown in my booth at the annual bridal show. That was a huge success. My booth was the only one with a live model in a wedding dress. Of course, the next year every booth had a live model in a wedding dress…but that’s another story.
When I decided it was time for me to return to figure work after being away from it for more than ten years, my old friend was one of my first and most enthusiastic models. She brought her then boyfriend/now husband, a very artistic individual, along to the shoot and he helped with ideas. The shoot produced some photos that stayed in my portfolio for many years.
From time to time over the years we’ve done more figure shoots and I shoot photos for her whenever she needs something for her businesses. But she has a very busy life and we don’t get together nearly often enough.
So it was a real treat when she contacted me to say she needed some new headshots and thought it would be a good time for another figure shoot too. I only wish we got to do this more often.
Rock House
September 20th, 2007
Southeast Ohio has some beautiful locations for photos. I’ve been down there several times this summer to work. But the best locations are often very popular. Twice I went to this spot, an unusual cave with many openings that let in light. Each time there was a constant stream of people, making figure work impossible.
So, recently I got up at 3:30 in the morning, drove to Gaea’s apartment picking her and her boyfriend, Fen, up at 5 a.m. and off we went on the two-hour drive to this location.
We got there too early. There was no light when we arrived. A temperature in the upper 40s didn’t exactly thrill Gaea either.
But the sun wasn’t far behind us. And Gaea is a great model and a real trooper about the sort of things I keep getting her into. Her fuzzy blue bathrobe did help with the cold between shots too.
I haven’t really done an edit on the shoot yet, but thought I’d go ahead and share one of the shots here. I hope you think it was worth the effort.
Back to our irregularly scheduled nudity
September 14th, 2007
I’m back home from the visit to NYC. Still working on catching up on everything that got behind while I was away. Lots to edit and more to shoot in the coming weeks.
Coney Island
September 10th, 2007
Today you get a very different post from what I usually do. I’ll get back to naked women in my next post, but for now try to enjoy these snapshots.
Dave Rudin and I went to Coney Island on Saturday. That was the main reason for this trip to NYC. Coney Island may never again be what it has been. In the paper today it says that Astroland closed for the season yesterday and may never re-open. There are developers working to make Coney Island nice and Disneyfied. So sad. So I went to see it…I’d never been there and wanted to see it before it was gone for good, at least as it has been.
This wasn’t about making photos. I just took my little Canon G6 camera and did snaps as we walked around. That’s what’s here.
This guy clearly wanted a photo of me. He didn’t speak to me. So I took his photo too, and didn’t speak to him. Don’t know why he picked on me…maybe it was the straw cowboy hat and Hawaiian shirt I was wearing. I only saw one other straw cowboy hat and no Hawaiian shirts there…these New Yorkers just don’t know how to dress for a day in the 90s in the sun.
This is where we had lunch. It’s right beside Nathan’s. There was a huge line at Nathan’s, but here we just walked up and ordered. It was good food and they had Corona too. I’ve had Nathan’s hotdogs and honestly don’t know what the big deal is.
Dave Rudin keeps saying the guy at the bottom of this window reminds him of me…I don’t see the resemblance.
There’s lots of great carnival art at Coney Island. I’m afraid it will be gone soon.
This is a pretty obvious photo. I’m sure it’s been done by thousands of photographers. Now I’ve done it too.
The Wonder Wheel
The End…
News From New York
September 7th, 2007
Those of you who know Theda will know what a big deal this photo is. If I’m remembered for anything involving photography, I now expect it will be that I was the first photographer to get Theda to go out into the woods and lay on rocks and weeds for a photo shoot. She is pretty much the best model I’ve ever worked with, and even totally out of her element here, her beauty and talent shone through. She was quite the trooper about the whole thing to.
This is just the first of many from this day of shooting at a location just outside NYC. Wait until you see Theda in the lily pond. It was quite a day of firsts for her.
I’ve done one other shoot while I’ve been in the city. Today I also went to the International Center for Photography and to the Museum of Modern Art in the company of our old friend, my wife’s college roommate, Swapna. Tomorrow Dave Rudin and I plan to spend the day at Coney Island. Next week there’s another shoot, a brunch with my friend and model, Kat, and a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On the road again
September 4th, 2007
I’m leaving in a few minutes for a trip to New York City. I have shoots planned with four wonderful NYC models, three of them to be outside the city in natural locations. I also plan to get together with some photographer and model friends as well as at least one “civilian” friend who isn’t involved in the world of photography.
One of the original reasons for this trip was to visit Coney Island before it is too late. The famous amusement park is in danger of “development” intended to make a lot of money for a few people, most likely at the expense of the historic character of the place. I just want to have a look and take a few photos before that happens.
The schedule for this trip is pretty full, so I don’t know if I’ll be doing any posting while I’m there or not…but if I find the time I’ll try to put something new up here now and then.
This photo is again the lovely Angeliqua Oryx http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=441345 wandering naked around my favorite farm. Every forest path should have such a charming wood nymph.
Nudes Italian Style
September 1st, 2007
The Italian blog/web magazine LiberaEva http://www.liberaeva.com/vernissage.htm has just published a very nice feature on my figure work.
Thanks Adam. I’m very pleased.
Hell Freezes Over
August 31st, 2007
That’s one possible explanation. Others say it’s a sure sign of the apocalypse. I shot a roll of film yesterday. That’s the first time this century.
As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, I’ve been playing around with a Holga lens mounted on my Nikon D200. I started wondering what it would do with a full size 35mm frame. It’s nice and soft in the corners, so the larger frame should be softer. Since the D3 isn’t available yet, the only way to find out was with a film camera.
So I got one of my old FE2s out of the cabinet and went to the camera store and got a new battery for it and a few rolls of film. Then I called up trusty friend and model Nemesis who came on in to my studio on the spur of the moment along with her husband.
It was a different shoot for me. I tend to shoot a lot with my digital cameras and sort it out later. This time I only shot one roll of 36 exposures. It took some adjusting. I shot 35mm for many, many years…starting as a newspaper photographer in 1968…but it really has been a long time since I shot film. When I took the first frame I pulled the camera away from my face and looked at the back for the histogram…hmmmm…hope the meter is working right…and then I tried to take the second frame, but the camera wouldn’t fire…oh…you have to wind this little lever…how quaint. How did I ever manage to work this way?
But at least the Holga lens is a bit easier to focus with a real focusing screen with aides in it instead of the clear screens on autofocus cameras. And the FE is a sweet camera…I fell back into the groove with it very quickly. Not surprising since they were my primary cameras for 20 years or so before digital came along.
I don’t see a lot of difference in these photos, although that may be because of the lighting I chose for this test…and maybe the fact that I was able to focus more accurately with the FE. It does seem pretty soft at the bottom edge of the photo. Nice highlights blending into the shadows. I have several more rolls of film to shoot, so I’ll try some different things with them and let you see the results.
But, so far I find the Holga lens to be a fine soft focus lens. A real bargain at the price compared to the ridiculously overpriced Lensbaby. Too bad it comes attached to a Holga camera. In my opinion the best thing to ever happen to a Holga was to have the lens hacked off and put on a real camera. But I do tend to have an attitude about the random disasters that Holga users seem to be fond of dealing with.
Thanks Nemi for being so readily available for my testing. I have a few more ideas I’ll be calling you about in the coming weeks.
Back to the digital Holga
August 27th, 2007
I guess back is the right word since this lens throws photography back by a century or so. But for some subjects it has a nice effect, so I expect I’ll keep using it now and then. This is another of Angeliqua Oryx http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=441345 out at the farm a week or so back. More from that shoot will be coming. And I’ll be doing some more work with Angeliqua later this week. She’s great to work with.
