Whirling Kelsey
January 12th, 2011
When Kelsey came by the studio last month she brought along one of her hula hoops. She is a very accomplished hula hooper. One of her hoops is a fire hoop, but she didn’t have that one with her on this trip…but we plan to photograph it the next chance we get. This hoop has colored LEDs on it. So I turned off the lights, put the camera on a tripod and did some long exposures. I like how they came out. You’ll probably see some more here soon.
There are good reasons that I haven’t been posting much. Like three hours in the dentist’s chair on Monday, followed by an appointment with my insurance agent. There’s a day I’ll never get back, but would never want to repeat either. Then yesterday my best friend, Ken, came over for a visit. And, because of the blizzard of the century of the week, my wife got to come home early from work, so we spent the afternoon together. After that my daughter and grandson came over and we went out to dinner. I’m still in pain from the dentist, but it seems to be gradually subsiding. I’m hoping it will be gone by Friday when I’ll drive down to Lexington for the opening reception of the Lexington Art League Nude show. I hear it’s quite a party with lots of great food, so I hope to be able to enjoy it without wincing every time I take a bite of food.
On a happier note, I picked up a Nikon D7000 at the local camera shop yesterday and have started playing with it and getting it set up for my needs. I’m looking forward to shooting a dance concert in March with it and being able to shoot at 6400 ISO. It will change the way I approach shooting a concert and allow me much more flexibility. I’ll probably bring out the 35-70 f/2.8 zoom lens that I don’t use much anymore and see how it works with the new camera. My D200 never liked that lens and would often not autofocus well with it, so I’m hoping that won’t be a problem with the new camera.
I don’t buy every new model of a camera that comes on the market. I’ve decided to skip a generation as a general rule in the future. That’s what I did with this camera. I love my D200 and can still do fine work with it. The D300 is a nice camera and it was tempting, but now I’m glad I waited since the D7000 is even better at the things that matter to me. And the new camera is smaller and lighter too…a big plus when it goes in my backpack for a trek into the woods.
I hope to do some shooting with the new camera in the coming week, so I’ll let you know how it goes and show the results soon.
The Girl in the Window
January 6th, 2011
My studio is in a fun building. There are lots of other photographers and artists in the place and there’s always some interesting activity going on. And sometimes I’m the one making things interesting. This is Kelsey in my studio windows when she was here last month. I think I’m the only one who got to enjoy the view, but you never know around here.
I’m back from my trip to Vermont. I usually post something that I shoot while I’m up there, but it just wasn’t happening this year. I think I may be finished with my series of photos of a farmstead there…that means it may be time to figure out how I’m going to show that series. I’m thinking about mounting several of them in one frame and submitting it to some shows in galleries up there in Vermont. We’ll see.
I haven’t shot anything since I got back home, though I’ve been spending a fair amount of time at my studio working on stuff. My truck is in the body shop, so my transportation options are limited. I should get it back tomorrow, though, and be back in normal operation.
Lots of gallery shows coming up to get ready for. My print for the Lexington Art League is delivered and that opening is just a week away. The next week I’ve been invited to attend an opening at the Kinsey Institute. I’m not in that show, but I have some prints to drop off to them that they have requested for their permanent art collection, so I’m planning to go to the opening. There are a couple photographers I know in the show, so it will be fun to see their work and get to talk to at least one of them who I know will be there. The frame and matte are ordered for my print that will be in the Dirty Show. I ordered them from a new place on line that I’ve not dealt with before, so I’m waiting to see how they do with quality and speed of delivery. There’s time to recover if there are problems.
And I’ve been contacting models since I got back home to set up more shoots in the studio over the next couple months…so I’m staying busy. You should see some of the results here soon.
On A Roll
December 29th, 2010
Of course, Brooke is really on an upturned tree root system, not a roll, but the photo itself seems to be on something of a roll. I already told you that this photo was accepted into the highly respected and exclusive Lexington Art League Nude show, opening January 15. Now I’ve been informed that it was also accepted into the somewhat less respectable Dirty Show in Detroit in February. Two very different venues. I guess that says something about the photo and the range of appeal it possesses.
I plan to attend the Dirty Show on Saturday, February 12, so find me and say hello if you are going to be there that night.
I’m pleased that this photo is getting all this attention. First, simply because I love the photo. It’s exactly what I wanted it to be when I took it. But, beyond that, it is a great example of the collaborative relationship I have with my models, especially the truly great models like Brooke. Of course, it was sleeting and very windy when we took this photo. Brooke was suffering quite a bit doing this pose in those conditions. But we saw the setting and Brooke wanted to see what she could do posing on those roots. She worked at it for a while in those chilling conditions, trying to find the best way to pose and still be able to hang on. I made a few suggestions along the way to try to get the pose I envisioned. And, of course, Brooke pulled it off. And I was able to put together the composition I wanted. The awful weather conditions actually are a critical element of the photo. It wouldn’t have the power it has if it had been taken on a warm, sunny day.
It’s such a pleasure to work with fantastic models like Brooke (and make no mistake, Brooke is as good a model as there is anywhere) who understand how all these things work together and why it is important sometimes to work in bad weather. Add to that intelligence both Brooke’s great beauty and her amazing talent for posing and it should be no secret why she is my favorite model. Just look at that photo if you need any more evidence.
Thank you Brooke. You are the greatest.
Post Christmas Glow
December 27th, 2010
Christmas is over and it may well have been the best Christmas I’ve experienced for many years. The whole family was at my house for Christmas morning. Everybody had a great time and was very happy with their gifts, especially my grandson who was experiencing his third Christmas. What a blessing to have good health, a happy family and a good time spent together.
My truck goes to the body shop later this week and I’ll be off to visit other relatives in Vermont. Looks like we are going to miss the blizzard, so the drive up there should go ok. Knock on wood…
The photo for today is from earlier this month when Peyton Fontaine came up to the frozen north country from her home in sunny Florida for a couple days of shooting. We had some specific goals for most of what we were working on, and those photos will not appear here because they have more illustrious destinations in mind. But I took advantage of the lovely lady to do some photos at an old motel that I’ve had my eye on for some time. This is one of the photos that I wanted to do at this location. It was late at night. Peyton had just arrived after a long day of travel. It was cold. Really cold. Stupid cold if you had been in Florida earlier that day. But Peyton is not only breathtakingly beautiful, but also a real trooper and seriously tough. But you can see all that.
Thanks, Peyton.
Happy Christmas
December 24th, 2010
It’s Christmas Eve and I have a few quiet moments before I start getting ready for the day’s events, so I thought I’d post something. This will be it until after Christmas.
Yesterday I did the drive down to Lexington, KY, to drop off my print for the Lexington Art League nude show that opens January 15. I plan to attend the preview party on the evening of January 14, so, if you are in the Lexington area, please come to the party and say hello.
I made that drive in my damaged truck. On Monday night, after we had gone to bed, I heard a crash on the street in front of my house. I looked out the window in time to see a big old black Cadillac back away from my truck and drive off. Turns out the woman driving was so drunk that she crashed into a van up the street and ended up in the hospital, so the police got her and it wasn’t just a hit and run with no way to follow up. My insurance is paying for the $4,000 repair bill. I’ll get my deductible back if they manage to collect anything from the driver. At first I couldn’t open the driver’s door, but when I took it to a body shop for the estimate they were able to pry the door open and get it so I can at least get in and out on the driver’s side. Lots of wind noise, but I can drive it. It goes to the shop next week and will be there a week for the repairs. This is even more expensive than the damage from hitting a deer a couple years ago out in Montana.
But it is Christmas. All my kids will be here tomorrow. Two of the three will be spending the night here tonight. My older daughter and her husband and my grandson will come over in the morning. It’s a good Christmas in these parts.
And I got a nice early Christmas present this week when Kelsey came by for a shoot while she is home from Seattle for the holidays. That’s her above in the evening street-light lighting in my studio. It’s always a great pleasure to work with Kelsey…a lovely person inside and out and a very talented model. I’ll have lots more to share from this shoot in the coming weeks.
Until next time I wish you and yours all the best in this season and throughout the coming year. Thanks for coming by and looking at my work and reading my thoughts.
Serene Kat
December 20th, 2010
Sorry it’s been so long. You all know Christmas is a busy time, so I won’t go into a lot of explanation. I haven’t been doing much shooting recently, but hope to get a couple shoots in before the end of the year. And I’ve been working on a few special projects that won’t be seen here, at least for a while.
I have my print framed and ready to deliver to the Lexington Art League for their Nude show next month. I was planning to drive it down there next week, but the Art League just announced that they are closing for the time between Christmas and New Years, so I have to make that trip this week. I’m still waiting to hear from them on whether the day I want to do that will work or not.
And I’ll be doing some other travel over the next couple weeks for family visits. So I need to come up with a few things to post here over the holidays. I haven’t had a chance to do any Christmas-themed shoots this year, but that’s usually a good thing. I still have plenty of fine photos of Kat, so that’s what you may be seeing here for a few more posts. I’m sure you don’t mind.
So, for today here is Kat in my studio after our West Virginia trip. I think she is looking all serene and peaceful here…as well as beautiful, as usual.
Famous Kat
December 13th, 2010
Beautiful model, Kat, who spent some time working with me in West Virginia in October, has been busy since she got back home to Miami. Check out her blog for her latest triumph which was covered by such notable places as Vogue and Elle, among others. Kat really is a lovely person, both inside and out, so I’m really pleased to see her involved in such a fine art project. She is truely deserving of success and fame as both a model and a photographer.
I did this photo while we were in West Virginia on the day when it was too cold for us to go out and shoot. It’s done with just window light in the condo.
Meanwhile, as you surely know, I’m suffering through a serious bout of winter weather. It’s about 14F degrees here now and going down, with single digits predicted for tonight. And there is no prospect of it getting above freezing any time soon. My snow blower isn’t working right despite efforts to fix it before the snow came, so I guess I’m going to be resorting to a snow shovel when the next snowfall happens. We could end up with a white Christmas out of this, but with the way our luck usually goes it will probably get up into the 50s or 60s a few days before Christmas and eliminate all the white stuff. But that’s ok with me…the warm-up can start today as far as I’m concerned.
I need to move south.
Brrrrr
December 7th, 2010
It’s freaking cold. The highs have been in the teens for the past few days and it sounds like this is going to continue for a while. There is snow on the ground. I suppose this should be putting me in the “Christmas Spirit” but it’s just making me want to move south. I keep telling my wife that I want to live somewhere that they don’t have weather that I have to shovel…but I think our grandson is going to keep us up here in the frozen northland for at least a few more years.
But Christmas is coming whether I’m feeling it or not. ‘Tis the season for buying stuff. And Angie wants you to buy one of her calendars. A calendar could be a great Christmas present or just get one for yourself so you can keep track of the coming year and enjoy photos of the beautiful GoddessAngie all year long. You can buy Angie’s calendar here. If you’d like the smaller version of her calendar it is here. And you can see all my calendars at this link.
But you probably need more Christmas presents than just a calendar. How about getting someone a copy of the f-eleven, volume 3 book. Lots of great photos in there, including a couple of Angie. You know you want to be able to sit around like Angie is doing here and just enjoy all that fine photography. Need even more presents? Volumes one and two of the f-eleven books are still available.
Ok…guess I better get back to figuring out all the entries I need to get together for shows that have deadlines coming up…and I need to get this year’s Christmas card figured out and printed and mailed. Maybe I’ll stumble across the Christmas Spirit somewhere along the way.
Lexington Art League
December 1st, 2010
I’m pretty happy today. There’s an annual show of nude art put on by the Lexington Art League in Lexington, Kentucky. It’s a very highly regarded show and one I’ve wanted to enter for several years. For some reason I always would miss the call for entries and end up missing the deadline to enter. But not this year. I put it on my calendar and kept watching for the call for entries to go out and when it did I got my stuff together and sent in an entry. Today I got notice that they accepted the photo of Brooke up above there for the show.
I don’t make any secret of the fact that Brooke is my favorite model of all the wonderful models I’ve ever worked with. So it’s especially nice to have one of my photos of her be the one selected for this prestigious show. And maybe it will help make up for the suffering she endured to make this photo possible. It was very windy and sleeting when we shot this. Brooke is a total trooper and a tremendously nice person on top of being a beautiful and talented model.
The show will run in Lexington from January 15 to March 13. There’s an opening preview party on January 14. I don’t have details on the opening yet, but I’ll do my best to be there. When I know the details about that party I’ll post it here in case any of you want to attend.
Kat on a cold rock ledge
November 28th, 2010
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I did…and that’s why I haven’t been here posting new photos for a few days. We went to relatives out of town on Thanksgiving Day and then all my kids came home for a second Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. So I’m just recovering from all that today. In fact, there is still a pile of pots and pans to wash sitting in the kitchen. Maybe I’ll tie into those when I get this post finished…or not.
Here’s another photo of Kat taken during our week of shooting in West Virginia. This was taken the same day as the last photo of Kat and is just a little back in the woods away from Elakala Falls in Blackwater Falls State Park. I loved the slope of the ledge she is posing on, plus the colors in the rocks and moss combined with the colors of the fallen leaves. Add Kat’s delightfully beautiful figure to that scene and I couldn’t miss.
