New Year, New Project
July 21st, 2018
As I started 2017 I also started a new project. I decided I’d like to try shooting some contortionist models in my favorite outdoor settings. The problem I encountered, and am still having a problem with, is simply finding contortionists to work with. I started with a casting call on Model Mayhem. The first response I received was from Underground Lynn.
It was January and, of course, much too cold to shoot outdoors. So I rented a studio to give us a chance to get acquainted and so Lynn could demonstrate her contortion abilities. These are a few of results from that shoot.
Lynn, as you can see, is a lovely woman, not to mention quite flexible. She’s also very pleasant to work with. When the weather warmed up we did an outdoor shoot that will eventually make its way to the blog.
I’m still working on this project. I’ve shot several more highly flexible models and I’m still looking for contortionists to work with…the more extreme their contortion abilities, the better…so if you are a contortionist or know a contortionist, I’d love to hear from you about working together.
With such a lovely lady I couldn’t resist doing a few soft portraits of her as well. Here’s one of those:
More Wandering Liv
July 17th, 2018
As promised, here are some more photos of Liv Sage taken while wandering around Mike Elsass’ studio space.
These next two seem pretty appropriate for a traveling model.
I’ve hit a milestone with this post. This is my last shoot to be edited from 2016. I’ll be working on editing last year’s shoots from here on. Maybe I can actually reduce the backlog to less than a year soon.
Wandering With Liv
July 12th, 2018
After moving out of my studio in Dayton my friend Mike Elsass was willing to let me still do some shooting in his space on the floor above my old studio. Liv Sage came to town and we spent some time up there exploring the space. Liv did her usual great job of working with the environment.
These are all shot with my then new Panasonic GX8 and the kit 12-60 lens.
As you can see, Mike’s space is an interesting place and there’s lots of good light there. I have more from this set and I’ll share those in my next post.
Changes
July 9th, 2018
I’ve been traveling way too much and that has kept me from adding new posts here. I had planned a post for the Independence Day holiday, but was traveling and couldn’t access the blog, so I missed that one. I’m hoping to get back to more frequent posting now, but we’ll see.
These photos of my lovely muse Ayn were made at a time of a lot of changes in my life. I was in the process of moving out of my studio in Dayton where I had been for close to 20 years. And I had a new camera to test, a Panasonic GX8. So I asked Ayn to come by the studio to pose for the last time in the old space for some photos made with the new camera.
I love the Panasonic GX8. It’s be best camera, film or digital, that I have ever owned or worked with. It’s so good that when I saw that the GX9 that has replaced it was a much worse camera with most of the things I love about the GX8 removed or made less useful I was very sad. And then I bought a second GX8 so I could keep working with this camera as long as possible. This from a guy who used mostly Nikons from when I got my first photo job in 1968 right up until I bought the GX8.
These were all shot with the 12-60mm kit lens that came with my first GX8. I love that lens almost as much as I love the GX8. It does a fine job in many difficult situations. And it covers about 95 percent of the focal lengths that I need for my work.
That’s all for now. I hope to be back soon with more posts. Thanks for coming back.
Flag Day
June 13th, 2018
Tomorrow is Flag Day in the U.S.
It’s All Happening At The Zoo
June 10th, 2018
Went to the Columbus Zoo yesterday with family and friends. Took a few snapshots. Thought I’d share them with you here. The one above was shot with my little Canon G7X Mark II.
The others were taken with a Panasonic GX8 with a 100-300mm Panasonic lens.
“A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh…”
Another Side of Ayn
May 29th, 2018
In addition to being a great model, my friend and muse Ayn is also a great singer. She performs regularly in local clubs usually singing jazz or blues.
I while back I did a few photos for her to use in connection with her singing career.
If you are in the Dayton, Ohio, area and get the chance to hear Ayn performing, you are in for a great treat.
Digital Ayn and Kelsey
May 25th, 2018
As I promised, here are some photos from this shoot with Ayn and Kelsey that I shot with my digital camera. I was still shooting with my Nikon D7000 back when these were taken.
Just a few snaps of the two of them in the window light in my old studio.
And I played with some abstractions using direct sunlight on Kelsey.
More of Kelsey in the sunlight will be coming in my next post.
2257 Lawsuit Update
May 22nd, 2018
Kelsey and Ayn with Instax
May 22nd, 2018
Since all the peel-apart film will soon be gone, never to be seen again, I’ve been working with the instant film that will be around, at least for a while. That’s Fuji’s Instax film. It’s nothing like the wonderful old peel-apart film, but it does have a unique quality that I’m trying to learn to take advantage of.
Again, I’m posting largely unedited files scanned from the Instax originals. Ayn and Kelsey did their usual wonderful job of working with the camera to make great images.
The main problem that I have with all the Instax films is that the medium itself is inherently soft focus. There’s really no way to make a truly sharp photo using this film, no matter what camera and lens you use. They are always going to be soft. That’s ok, once you realize it and accept it. Then you can just work with it, knowing what it’s going to do. But I sure do miss the wonderful sharp photos that were possible with the old peel-apart film coupled with a good camera and a sharp lens. So it goes.
Time marches on and materials come and go. It’s up to us to make the most of whatever materials are available at any given time.
I also shot on this day with a “real” camera, so some regular digital photos will be coming here soon. Stay tuned.
