Couch Angie
November 22nd, 2010
Something a little different. I have lots more photos of Kat to post from our West Virginia trip, but I thought I’d stick this one in here for a change of pace. This is Angie at a derelict building near my studio. From the looks of things there are some homeless folk using this location, but we didn’t see any of them when were there to quickly do this photo.
I’ve been running around today getting the fixings for our Thanksgiving dinners. We’ll have two this year, one with family in Canton on Thursday and another at our house with all my kids and my grandson on Saturday…the only day they could all get home. I hope you all have a great holiday and don’t overdose on tryptophan.
Another Favorite Waterfall
November 18th, 2010
OK…on to my third day of shooting in West Virginia with the lovely Kat. We were staying in a condo just outside of Davis, home of one of my favorite places in West Virginia, Blackwater Falls State Park. Blackwater Falls is beautiful but too large and too exposed to multiple viewing platforms for shooting nudes. It would be very hard to get down into the gorge below that waterfall to shoot anyway. Especially since at this point my sprained ankle was still very painful. But, there is another, better, waterfall in the park, Elakala Falls. My friend Ralph told me about it some years ago and I immediately organized a shoot there with two models and produced a photo that is prominent in my portfolio. That waterfall was only a few minutes drive from our condo, so, of course, I wanted to see what else I could do with it and Kat.
So we went there at dawn. There’s a trail that runs right along the side of the stream with a bridge that crosses just above the waterfall. That upper waterfall is only a stone’s throw from the park lodge, too…so it is very exposed to view by anyone who happened down that trail. We took a look at the upper falls and the water flow was down and it just wasn’t as pretty as it had been when I shot it before. So we decided not to shoot there. But, as you’ve probably gathered, there is more than just the main, upper waterfall in this location. A short hike on downstream brought us to a lower falls that was well shielded from the trail and much prettier than the upper falls, at least on this day. So that’s where this photo was taken.
There’s a new sale for my calendars. Go here to order them. When you check out enter the code FLURRY and you will get a 25 percent discount on your order. This new discount code is good until the day after Christmas. So why not order some calendars to give to your friends for Christmas this year? If you really want to give a bunch of calendars away you can get a 30 percent discount on orders of 10 or more calendars by using the code BLIZZARD. That discount is also good until the day after Christmas.
f-eleven volume 3 would also make a great Christmas gift. You can still use the discount code: PROMO to get 20 percent off your order until November 26.
Day Two
November 14th, 2010
I haven’t posted for a few days because the weather here in Ohio has just been too wonderful to spend much time inside working on photos. It’s been in the 70s which is almost unheard of for mid-November. Thanks to this great bit of weather the house is finally completely painted and most of the storm windows are re-installed. And, in a bit of a nod to the inevitable, the snow blower is repaired and ready to go when the weather gets back to normal.
All the West Virginia photos I’ve posted so far were taken on our first day of shooting there. This one of Kat is from the second day. We took a bit of a drive to get to some really beautiful waterfalls where I had photographed before. There are three waterfalls, one above the other, with a pretty steep trail. There was one other car in the parking lot when we arrived. We soon found those folks, a couple obviously not in great physical condition, at the first waterfall. That first waterfall is the least interesting of the three and we didn’t really try to take any photos there. The couple asked about the trail on down and I was honest with them that there was a lot of steep climbing involved. They immediately decided that they were not interested in doing that kind of hiking and headed back to their car. That was the only company we had while we were on the trail.
Kat and I continued hiking down the trail. When we reached the second waterfall, which is a good setting, but with wooden walk ways and high railings making good compositions including Kat impossible from the approved trail. But we found the trail barricaded and signs proclaiming that the trail was closed beyond that point. The best waterfall is the third one and we weren’t going to be able to go to it. We could have climbed the barricade and gone on, but the trail looked unsafe, and there was something about a $5000 fine, so we elected not to do that.
Instead we found a place to get over the railing and down to the second waterfall so we could work out a good composition. The climbing was a little tricky, but not all that awful. Not exactly a “walk in the park” though. More like a scramble over scree on the way to a rock climbing location. But we made it down and back without incident and this photo was the result. I think it was worth the effort. Of course, now I’m going to have to make another trip down there after they repair the trail so I can shoot again at the third waterfall. (Pay attention, Brooke. ;-))
It was right after we did this photo, on the hike back up that steep trail, that I stepped in a hole covered by leaves and twisted my ankle. After all that scrambling over wet boulders to get down to the spot to take this photo I managed to injure myself on a flat rock on the trail. So it goes. But the injury wasn’t bad enough to interfere with the rest of the trip. My ankle is still sore as I type this, though.
And now for your regularly scheduled reminders:
Tomorrow is the last day to use discount code EARLYBIRD to get 30 percent off of an order of my 2011 calendars. So if you are planning to buy one, now is the time. You can buy my calendars here. They make great gifts and the quality is high enough that you can keep them after the year is over and even frame the individual photos if you want. The price will never be better.
And don’t forget to go to Blurb and order your copy of f-eleven, volume 3. You can still use this discount code: PROMO to get 20 percent off your entire order. That discount is good until November 26. Another fine gift idea.
If a tree falls in the forest…
November 10th, 2010
…does a beautiful model pose nude on it? Well, sometimes, certainly. This is Kat in a spot we found off the road over in Virginia in the George Washington National Forest. The Fall colors were coming to an end when we were there, but there were spots of beautiful color left and I tried to seek some of them for backgrounds. It had gotten sunny by the time we did this photo, but there was lots of shade down in that dry stream bed and it was getting late in the day so there was good direction to the light. And the way the sun lit up those leaves in the background really made this composition work for me.
My copy of Stephen Haynes’ new book, The Box Beauty Constrained, arrived today and I can tell you that it is a beautiful book. Lots of great photos and excellent reproduction. And my favorite model, Brooke, has a starring role. She’s in many of the best photos in the book, showing her great skill and talent as a model. I highly recommend this book.
And, while you are at Blurb looking at Stephen’s book, go ahead and order your copy of f-eleven, volume 3. You can still use this discount code: PROMO to get 20 percent off your entire order. That discount is good until November 26.
And my calendars are still on sale for 30 percent off with the code EARLYBIRD. But hurry…that sale ends November 15. You can buy my calendars here.
Leaf Peeper
November 8th, 2010
Kat seemed to really enjoy the fall leaves when we were in West Virginia. I guess she doesn’t see much of anything like that down in Miami. Of course she doesn’t see much snow down there either, but she really didn’t seem to enjoy that experience all that much. But I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of snow either. And October is my favorite month of the year because I love the fall colors and the beautiful weather that we usually have that time of year. But it’s past now for this year…and I need to get the snow blower out and ready to go…sigh.
This photo is still from our first day of shooting. This one was taken on Spruce Knob, the highest mountain in West Virginia. It had been many years since I rode my motorcycle up the gravel road to the top of Spruce Knob. I swore I’d never do that again on a motorcycle. It’s a very narrow, very twisty road…not fun on a bike when you have to deal with gravel. And I remember at the top there was a great view over the short twisted pine trees at the top. Well, it has been a long time…and things have changed. First, the road is blacktopped all the way up to the top…would probably be quite a bit of fun on the bike now. But when we got to the top I found that all those scrubby 5-foot-tall pine trees are now more than 30 feet high and not scrubby at all. And because of that there is really no view to be seen from the top…the trees block the view except in a few rocky spots…and they are so tall they even block the view from the observation tower at the top.
So I didn’t get the photo of Kat on those twisted little pine trees that I had in mind when I started up the mountain. Guess I’ll have to find another spot for those photos. But we still found plenty of good places to shoot.
And here are your reminders about books and calendars.
Blurb has a discount sale running right now good for 20 percent off of your order total. Use these codes at checkout to get the discount:
USD $ coupon code: PROMO
GBP £ coupon code: PROMO1
EUR € coupon code: PROMO2
CAD $ coupon code: PROMO3
AUD $ coupon code: PROMO4
This offer is good until November 26.
F-eleven volume 3 is available here.
And you have until November 15 to save on my calendars at Lulu. Just enter the code: EARLYBIRD when you place your order and you’ll get 30 percent off of all the calendars you order. Go here to see and buy the calendars.
Mossy Kat
November 5th, 2010
Here’s another photo of the lovely and talented Kat showing just how full of grace she is. This is from our first day of shooting in West Virginia along that stream that used to flow through the best campground in the world before the Forest Service eliminated it.
I’m only beginning to edit the photos from this trip. I could probably just post from these and have plenty of photos to last until next year. But I suppose I’ll be mixing it up with other things I’ll be doing. It’s really a treat to go for a few days of shooting in a beautiful location with a beautiful and talented model.
Calendar Sale:
If you are thinking about getting one of my calendars, now is the time. There’s a sale that will save you some serious money if you buy before November 15. Just enter the code: EARLYBIRD when you place your order and you’ll get 30 percent off of all the calendars you order. Go here to see and buy the calendars. Or just click on one of the covers below to go directly to that calendar in my on-line store.
A Perfect Pair
November 4th, 2010
A couple things to tell you about today. First, that’s Kat up above reminding you that the first two volumes of the f-eleven books are still available for purchase on Blurb. All the profits from all the f-eleven books go to charity, so you can feel good about buying them and enjoy a great collection of fine photography at the same time. Why not own the whole set?
Volume 1 benefits Friends Without a Border and can be purchased at this link.
Volume 2 profits go to support Autism research. You can get volume 2 here.
And, while you are at Blurb, please check out the new book from my friend Stephen Haynes. It’s a great collection of nudes he did in a project working with the models in and around a box. You can read more about it at his blog and go to Blurb to preview it and buy a copy here.
Buy them all at the same time and use this discount code to get 20 percent off the entire order: PROMO
Of course you can use that code to buy a copy of the new book, f-eleven volume 3, too. Just know that you can only use the code once, so it’s best to get all your books in one order and save big bucks.
Volume 3 Preview
November 3rd, 2010
Hey, I just figured out how to imbed the preview for f-eleven, volume 3 here in my blog. So you can look through it right here. And then order a copy. All profits go to the Kinsey Institute. Go here to order your own copy.
f-eleven volume 3 published today
November 1st, 2010
The third volume of the f-eleven series of photo books was published today. I have work in this volume, as I have had in the previous two. This time my photos include some of my most recent work as well as some old favorites, like the photo of Lani above. Water is the unifying theme of all of my photos in this book. Volume 3 is an excellent publication with some great photography. Please take a look at the preview and order a copy if you like what you see.
If you are planning to buy a copy you might want to do it right away and use the code BOOKIFY when you check out. That will give you a 25 percent discount. But the discount expires tomorrow, November 2. So buy it now and save some money.
You can order a copy from this link: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1682381#
And the direct link to the preview is here: http://www.blurb.com/books/1682381
As with the other two books, all the profits go to charity. This time 100% of the profits of this book go to The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.
http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/
Over 190 images (including fine art nude images )
15 photographers
160 pages (premium lustre paper)
8″ x 10″ (landscape style)
Designed & Edited by WOLF189
http://wolf189.com/
featuring:
Brooks Ayola (nude portraits)
Ralph Barker ( fine art landscape + still life )
Matthew Cherry ( fine art )
Sita Mae Edwards ( fine art nude )
April-lea Hutchinson ( nude portraits )
Leo Lam ( editorial fashion )
Dave Levingston ( fine art nude )
Clay Lipsky ( portraits )
Frank Love ( street / documentary work )
Brooke Lynne ( fine art nude )
Ken Mierzwa ( fine art nude)
Trish Noble ( portraits )
Dave Rudin ( fine art nude )
Ward Shortridge ( portraits )
Wolf189 ( editorial fashion + erotic portraits )
f-11 or f-eleven is a private photography group. Visit us at:
f – eleven books: http://f-elevenbooks.com/
f – eleven books blog: http://blog.f-elevenbooks.com/
f-eleven face book: http://www.facebook.com/f11books
Snow Day
October 29th, 2010
I’m still in West Virginia, but I head back home tomorrow. We’ve had pretty good luck with weather down here, although yesterday was too sunny for good photos and yet windy and cold too. But this morning we woke up and saw it had snowed overnight, as it’s quite capable of doing in these mountains in October. I can remember several Columbus Day weekend motorcycle trips down here that included the unmatched thrill of riding in snow. The snow continued to fall, with wind making it pretty much seem like it was falling horizontally, throughout the morning. And it’s seriously cold out there too. And for some reason my Miami-based model seems to have some sort of issue with posing nude in conditions like this.
But we had actually planned for today to be a “down day” anyway. We wanted to do some shooting in the condo and this was the day we had set aside to take it easy and just do some shooting indoors. So that’s what I did. You can see one of the results up above. I did a variety of things, from my regular gear to my little instant Fuji camera, pulling out my old single-element soft focus lens that mounts on my Nikon for some nice soft photos. That’s the lens I sometimes call my “Digital Holga” and what I used for the photo of the lovely and talented Kat that I’ve posted here.
My ankle has not been much of a problem…sore but healing up well and not stopping me from doing any of the hiking I wanted to do. Should be good as “old” (given that there is nothing new about me these days) in a week or two.
Tomorrow is the long drive back to Ohio. Weather should be better. If the opportunity arises we might stop for a photo or two along the way…weather permitting.
