Magritte Sky
August 5th, 2007
My wife and I have long referred to clouds like these as a “Magritte Sky.” When I saw the Magritte sky while we were doing the shoot at the farm I thought I’d try to make a photo that was somewhat a reference to Magritte’s work. Unfortunately I didn’t have any bowler hats with me and had to limit the props to just the umbrella that I keep in my truck.
But since then I’ve bought a couple bowler hats. This may be the start of a series. I have one model on standby for future Magritte skies. We’ll see what happens.
Holga Daze Down On The Farm
August 1st, 2007
Still not making any organized progress on the huge editing task that I’m so behind on. So today I just felt like posting this photo for no good reason other than that.
This was taken on a farm in Ohio where I’ve had a lot of good fortune with photos. Two photos I took there have ended up in French PHOTO magazine. This time I was there with my friend, Dave Rudin http://figuresofgrace.blogspot.com/ and a couple wonderful models.
Now, fair warning, I’m about to begin an equipment rant. This photo was taken with a Holga lens. It was mounted on my Nikon D200. I found out about this possible perversion of modern technology from this blog: http://thefstops-here.blogspot.com/ and I ordered my Holga lens in Nikon mount from this site: http://holgamods.com/
Now I’m not a big fan of Holgas. I’ve never actually shot with one, although I did work with the similar Diana F back in my days at photo school. While I appreciate the effect that a shitty lens can produce, I don’t care for the random light leaks and other “features” of these cheapass cameras. I also don’t have much use for the lensbabies that are the current soft focus fad. They are way overpriced for a cheap shitty lens.
I’ve had a classic single-element soft focus lens in Nikon mount for many years. I use it from time to time and sometimes refer to the results as “digital Holga” photos…much to the consternation of some Holga fanatics. But that lens is a 100mm focal length which limits its usefulness on a digital camera with a smaller-than-35mm sensor. The Holga lens is 60mm…much better suited to my D200. And, of course, no one can argue now that I’m not actually using a digital Holga. And, no, I’m not going to punch any holes in my D200 to add light leaks.
Soft focus lenses are nothing new. For a long time they were all that was available to photographers. Then they were preferred by the pictoralists because they could simulate paintings. The F64 group brought sharp focus into style. Soft focus was discredited for a long time. But I think there is a place in the world of photography for the full range of tools and techniques that are available. So I like to stick a crappy lens on my fancy digital slr now and then to make something just a little different. But I’m not going to let the lensbaby folks rip me off for all that money when I could build the same thing with a $5 magnifying glass from Walgreens if I wanted to…in fact I have done that, but with the lens mounted on a lens board for my 4×5.
OK…end of equipment rant. Enjoy the photo and the lovely Sarah Ellis. There’s lots more from the farm shoot to come…it’s in the que to be edited.
Jackie at Ash Cave
July 30th, 2007
Still way behind on editing. Today I was getting ready to burn a CD for Jackie http://www.modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=192748 from our day at the Hocking Hills and this shot popped out at me, so I thought I’d go ahead and share it with you. Jackie did a wonderful job and the light was being very cooperative.
The opening of the Summ(ero)tica show in Detroit Saturday night was a huge success. We had a great time and met a bunch of wonderful folks there. The show will run through the month of August, so if you missed the opening you still have some time to check it out. Hours for the gallery are not all that frequent, but you can contact S3v3ranc3 Gallery http://myspace.com/s3v3ranc3 and arrange a time to look at the show. It is usually open on Saturdays when the Eastern Market is in full swing, so you could just drop by then too. You can also find information about the show and the organization that put it on here: http://dvsyndicate.com/mwsep/ I was very impressed with the quality of the work in this show. Every photographer represented is talented and creative and the prints on display show that clearly. It’s a show worth seeing.
More of Dave Rudin at work
July 27th, 2007
Dave Rudin has left Ohio and is now out in California doing fun things. Between Dave’s visit and a magazine job that I needed to prep for publication I’ve still been very busy and haven’t had time to do any editing. So I’m sharing a few more photos of Dave R in action. The model is Jackie Chantelle. The location is the Hocking Hills. Jackie was a major trooper for this shoot. We picked her up shortly after 5 a.m. so we could make the two-hour drive to the Hocking Hills and be there ahead of the crowds.
as some sort of summer camp group on an early morning hike/jog. They were just standing around when we got there, but soon we realized they were waiting for more of their group to show up. Before long the rest of them arrived and they moved on. After that we had the place to ourselves until after 10 a.m. Dave and I both got some shots in. The rest of the day was more of a struggle, with lots of other people around. Some places we hiked to were just too crowded to take any photos. Other places we had to work fast. Not as productive a day as I would have liked, but we did what we could. And Jackie was magnificient. I’ll be going back for more shooting there later in the year, after school has started and there is less activity.
Down on the farm
July 23rd, 2007
Gaea at Lake Cumberland
July 20th, 2007
I think I’ve managed to set a new record for not putting up a new post here. Sorry about that. I just got back last night from to photo trip to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky and Horseshoe Lake in Illinois. I haven’t had time to look through the photos yet, but took a quick glance at the Cumberland shots to make sure they had downloaded without problems and happened to see this one, so I thought I’d share it today.
Erotica?
July 14th, 2007
I don’t think my work fits into the category of “erotica” but I’m not a big fan of categories anyway. I often find myself included in group shows that emphasize the erotic. So I end up being the most “conservative” photographer in the show. I don’t have a problem with that. It’s a change from being the most “erotic” artist in a group show when I’m the only one showing figure photography.
Anyway, I keep getting asked to participate in these group shows like the one coming up in Detroit in a couple weeks. Sometimes I hesitate a bit. When I was invited to join this group the name of the organization gave me pause. But I saw that there are a lot of very fine photographers in the Midwest Society of Erotic Photographers, so I went ahead and let them add me to the membership. I do make my photos with the idea of having them be seen, and this provides just one more venue for that to happen. It’s just that the erotic is not something I’m particularly interested in as far as my photography is concerned. Sensual, yes. Beautiful, I hope so. But erotic, not so much. So I guess I’m just a change of pace when I’m in a show like this one.
So, that’s the flyer for the show that’s coming up in Detroit. I do like that photo, and it does seem to be erotic. The photos I’ll be showing there are not erotic, at least as far as I’m concerned. But they do have beautiful nude models in them. I guess that’s all it takes to be erotic for some folks. And that’s fine with me.
I’ll be there at the opening with my wife and I’d love to meet any of my blog readers who may be in the Detroit area. So I hope to see you there on July 28th.
The Waterfall
July 10th, 2007
Here’s a wider view of that wonderful waterfall in West Virginia.
Sorry posts aren’t coming more frequently, but it’s just a busy time right now. I’m still working on editing my last month and a half worth of shoots, but I’m also doing family things, getting prints matted and framed for a gallery show in Detroit at the end of the month, and, of course, I’m still doing shoots. Next week I’ll be off on another shoot for most of the week. After that my good friend from NYC, Dave Rudin, will be visiting and shooting here in Ohio for several days. So blog posts will happen as time allows.
There has been a discussion on a forum about how photographers decide what models they want to shoot. My take on that may be a bit different from some other photographers. I’ve never been much interested in what I call the “notch on the camera strap” practice of some who seem to want to shoot as many models as possible. I’m much more interested in finding a few models who really understand what I’m doing and want to be part of it. I like to work with the same model many times. It is a great help if we become friends during that process. Gaea is a great example of the kind of person I enjoy having model for me. That’s why you see her on here frequently and will be seeing her again many times, I hope.
Here’s my response in that forum thread:
“No offense to the wonderful models who make my work possible, but models are pretty much interchangeable in most of my work. I’m looking for a nude figure to add to the composition. Pretty much any reasonably attractive figure will do, within a wide range of body types/shapes.
“So, I’m looking first for someone who gets what I’m doing and wants to be part of it. Experience as a figure model helps. Other experience can be just as good. Dancers are wonderful. Often it is difficult for me to give detailed directions on posing (just try making yourself heard over a waterfall from 50 feet away), so it helps a lot if they can pose with just general direction and I don’t have to worry about what they are doing with their ankles and wrists, for example. They have to be willing to get cold and wet and dirty, get poked and stuck and bitten by various forms of nature and, of course, take the risks inherent in getting nude in somewhat public places.
“Once we get past that, I’m only willing to work with people who I enjoy being around. I’ve shot some models who were beautiful and/or very good at posing but a total pain in the ass to be around. I don’t work with them again. I often go on multi-day shoots in wilderness areas, so the model has to be someone I can get along with…preferably someone I’d call a friend.”
More from West Virginia
July 5th, 2007
Another from last month’s shoot in West Virginia. It was cold and wet and wonderful. I’m slowly starting to work my way through the last month’s shoots and will post them as I go. I made a little progress today, but tomorrow I’ll end up further behind because I’ll be doing another shoot instead of working on the old ones. Maybe next week I’ll make more headway. When I do you’ll see them here.
Happy Fourth of July
July 2nd, 2007
