And now for something completely different…
June 1st, 2007
Apologies to Monty Python.
Sometimes I take photos of models wearing clothes. Usually someone has to be paying me to get me to do that. Recently I’ve shot some tests for some magazines that I shoot for.
I took this while shooting some test photos. It isn’t one I sent to the magazine. I just liked the colors and composition, though I knew it wasn’t appropriate for the task of showing the magazine what the lovely model, Madeline, looks like.
I like the lines and Madeline’s curves. I could probably make a figure study in this location that I’d like, but it is a very public place, so that isn’t likely to happen.
It also gives you a look at the barrel distortion that the Nikkor 18-200 VR lens produces at 18mm. Not really that noticeable in most photos, but all those straight lines show it up pretty clearly.
Tomorrow I take off for a week of shooting. I should be able to post while we are away and I’ll probably post more from Houston unless there are a few shots that jump out when I look them over after each day’s shooting.
Niecy in the woods
May 31st, 2007
Here’s Niecy Moss posing in a beautiful wooded area northeast of Houston back in March.
My tests with different rigs to carry my camera and lenses worked pretty well. Just putting them on a sturdy leather belt worked, and so did adding them to the hip belt on my hydration backpack. I may use both setups on the shoots next week, depending on how far we’ll be hiking.
I haven’t been able to do my 6-mile hike. Was going to do it today, but I was running out of time getting ready for the next shoot, so I did erands in the morning then spent the afternoon at the studio making prints and catching up on e-mails and other chores. Also sorted out the gear I’ll be taking on the shoot. The model arrives Saturday afternoon and we’ll be off to the woods for a week. Tomorrow I have to take my truck to the shop to get some work done before we leave, so that means I’ll be stuck at the studio all day waiting while the truck gets worked on. So there’ll be no more practice hikes before the trip. But, I don’t expect us to be making any long hikes on this trip anyway, so I think I’m up to the mile or two that we’ll walk from the roads to get to some good locations.
Back to Houston
May 29th, 2007
Not that I’m going back to Houston any time soon…but I’ve finally worked my way down to editing my shoots in the Houston area from March. This is Kimberly in a bayou northeast of the city. I’ll have a few more of Kimberly and Niecy in the woods and water.
Remember
May 26th, 2007
Since it is Memorial Day weekend I thought it appropriate to take a break from photos of beautiful nude women and mark the occasion. Especially since so many of our men and women in the military are in harm’s way right now.
Of course this is a weekend for cookouts and camping, boating and fishing…and I think that’s fine. It isn’t necessary to attend a ceremony and listen to a boring speech in order to remember those who died while defending our country. When I worked for the Air Force I would send out the speakers to those ceremonies and sometimes I wrote the boring speeches they gave. That’s fine for those who feel the need and find something meaningful in the ceremonies. But it was the cookouts and camping, boating and fishing that those brave men and women died to protect. That’s where most of them would be if they were still with us.
So just pause for a moment while you are enjoying the weekend and remember. They deserve that.
Roots
May 24th, 2007
I’ve been pretty much out of commission for the last few days because of some sort of cold/flu/crud that has been going around and found me. Still not over it, but doing better than I have for several days. So I’m back to posting.
This is Mo and some interesting tree roots from our hiking around in the Ozarks in March.
Today I’m at the studio making prints. I have a new printer, an Epson R260, and the quality is so much better than anything I’ve seen before, including chemical prints, that I’m reprinting my entire portfolio. It has been a bit of a challenge to adapt to this printer, however. Always before with Epson printers I’ve been able to make fine prints with the default settings right out of the box. Not this time. The inks are very different. I have printed on matte surface paper for years. I don’t like glossy prints. I like the surface of the print to be invisible, not a factor when the print is viewed. But prints on matte paper with this printer just looked awful. The blacks were muddy and mottled. I couldn’t do anything to make them look right. Finally I decided to try a different paper. Wow! On luster surface paper the prints look fantastic. So much better that I can’t put the new prints beside my old ones…so I’m going through a lot of ink and paper.
I’m a convert to this new printer and ink set. It is still a dye ink, but Wilhelm rates the permanence under normal viewing conditions as 98 years. That’s much better than chemical color prints and almost as good as the pigment ink printers. Epson has a winner here again.
Goodbye Big Bend
May 21st, 2007
This is the last Big Bend photo I’m going to post, for a while at least. For a place that I didn’t really like, Big Bend did actually produce quite a few photos that I think will be in my portfolio for a long time to come. I don’t think I’ll ever go back there, but I’m glad I did make the trip.
This is Niecy stretching outside the fake ruin at Three Dike Hill, the most productive location we found in the Big Bend area. You can see the fantastic distorted rock formations behind the shack. On in the background is the large hill that is actually Three Dike Hill. In the upper right you can clearly see two of the three volcanic “dikes” that give the hill its name. Niecy’s geologist husband, who visited this site as a college student many years ago on a geology field trip, explained to me how those dikes were formed, but it went right over my head…or maybe I was just too concentrated on seeing what I could do photographically with those rock formations and my two beautiful, talented models.
I’ll now start editing the shoots I did on the way to Big Bend, in the Ozarks and near Houston. So I’ll start posting those photos next. In a couple weeks I’ll be off to West Virginia to photograph in some of my favorite places. West Virginia has been a favorite destination for motorcycle trips for the past 25 years or so…I know a lot of great locations there and many times I’ve found myself wishing I had a figure model available to take full advantage of the locations. Soon I’ll be able to do that and you’ll see the results here, of course.
Hole In The Rock
May 19th, 2007
Shot in another of the many holes in the rock formations at Three Dike Hill. Sort of makes me think of a gem stone being chipped out of the surrounding rock.
The art walk was a lot of fun last night. A bunch of friends came by to enjoy the food and beer and a lot of new people wandered in to see my work. Also got to see more of what my neighbors in the building are doing. Lots of fine artists in the Front Street Buildings.
Holy Rocks
May 17th, 2007
Shot on our last day at Big Bend, on those wonderful rocks at Three Dike Hill. If you are getting tired of Big Bend (something I really couldn’t understand) take heart, I’m just about through the Big Bend shoot. Soon I’ll be posting photos from the earlier shoots in the Ozarks and the Houston area.
The new laptop is working very well. I don’t have any real complaints about Vista. Got new DVD-burning software and installed it yesterday. It’s the same program I was using before, just with “Vista-compatible” on the label. Now why Roxio couldn’t just provide a patch to make the same program I already had work with Vista, I don’t know…oh, wait…that would have meant I didn’t have to buy a new version…ahhhh…
Anyway the new laptop will make things easier on my next shooting expedition in June. Very different location this time.
For anyone in the Dayton, Ohio area, don’t miss the art walk this Friday. I’ll be in my studio in the Front Street Buildings from 5 to 10 pm if you want to stop by. Food and drinks will be available. Say hi if you are in the neighborhood.
Between a rock and a hard place
May 15th, 2007
In a hole
May 13th, 2007
