Let's hear it for the Boyd

Friend and colleague Boyd Hambleton had his gallery show opening on August 25th, and it was a big hit with all who attended. He received some nice media attention, including a few newspaper mentions such as this interview. Here we see a rather poor snapshot of Boyd at the opening, flanked by two of his adoring subjects, Heather and Charity. The best news is that it looks like Boyd will be getting a few nice commissions out of it as well. Congrats, Boyd!

The one-armed paperhanger lives...

Here we see the fabulous Jackie, from what was her first "official" photo shoot. I was immensely impressed with her look, her poise, and her ideas. She's been a singer with bands for a while, so she didn't convey any stage fright when it came to posing. I predict many more shoots with her...

I know I promised further updates soon, but I've been wrecklessly busy with shoots, actual day job obligations, and lots of good stuff, so it'll just have to be a quick one today. I'm actually intending to keep shooting to a minimum in September so I can catch up on getting things done and making progress on some other fronts, such as selling prints, and maybe a little publishing.

This is Jael, who contacted me to do a shoot of her with her boyfriend in some sexy situations, along the lines of some of my other more popular images. I enjoy those types of shoots, and have been very pleased with the results most of the time, so maybe that's a direction I'll be expanding into further. It's amusing how much prodding it takes to get some of these boyfriends to touch their beautiful model girlfriends, and it's a challenge to make the interaction appear genuine. Of course, I've never been on the other side of the camera in that situation, so I guess I can't really appreciate the intimidation factor that might be involved, especially for a non-model (although some of the "real models" haven't fared much better). So, any of you models reading the blog, let me know if you'd like to give this type of shoot a try sometime. If you're not currently seeing anyone, I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding volunteers.

The Password is... Missing!

To the handful of regular readers of this blog, sorry for the lengthy absence. Wish I could attribute it to a junket to New Zealand or something equally exciting and exotic. However, it was just a mundane password snafu with my Blogger account that prevented me from logging in and posting anything new. Now that it's sorted out, I'll hope to make time a bit later to post more goodies and updates. Of course, I may also try to upgrade it to the "new" Blogger set-up, so who knows if that will put me out of commission for another week or so. Thanks for everyone's patience, and for the new comments that have trickled in.

Here we see Alicia from a recent shoot, looking finely sculpted as usual.

Mysterious Ways

A couple shots from the recent Collingwood group event... Katharine Rose and Charity as belly dancers. We tried shooting on the stage in the auditorium, but with no time and no access to the stage lighting proper, the results were on the disappointing side. Luckily, Andi spotted a couple lights and the textured back wall of the auditorium and was doing some shots with them back there, so I nicked the idea and shot some in this style. That seems to be par for the course at Collingwood for me... the more planned something is, the less likely it will be interesting, but sometimes the spontaneous stuff surprises me. Another event later this month that I may manage to attend if the astouding Abigail can grant me the indulgence of a slight rescheduling.

Charity has also started a photo blog of her own, which she credits this blog for inspiring, and Boyd is threatening to do one, too. Gotta say I was inspired by Don Nelson's "Hotel Room Nudes" and Candy's "Feminism Without Clothes" so props to them... links at right for both.

Negligees and Negligence

Had a comment from someone wondering why photos from a particular shoot haven't made it to the blog yet. Hate to admit it, but the blog isn't the only thing I've been neglecting lately. A lot of shoots have come together in the past week or so, plus a few other pressing matters (including actual day job stuff), combined with the virtual death of my home internet connection, so the blog hasn't received its usual attention. Hoping to get my head above water soon, but for now, I will distract you with this photo of the lovely and talented Sativa doing a little enthusiastic leaping on a Saturday night. :)

And when was the last time you heard someone use the term "negligee" anyway?

P.S. More visitor comments on the work and entries would certainly encourage me to continue to stoke this particular fire.

Invoking the Goddess

Here is Melissa again, by the way... was lucky enough to get her for a second shoot on Sunday before she left town.

Sorry for the blog-slackery this week. Been busy and the heat is just melting my brain, so I seem to be functioning at about 2/3 speed. Guess the photo news of the week besides Melissa was Boyd's group shoot at Collingwood in Toledo this past Saturday. For some reason, I just can't seem to do good work at these things, while others seem to use the opportunity to make some very cool images. I don't know... maybe it was the heat, or just the feeling of people looking over my shoulder, or some other mental block that makes it less than conducive for me to make great images. But I'll keep going back until I get it right.

The unexpected windfall of the day was a particular model I had booked for a two-hour block mid-day decided not to attend. Usually I would have been pretty ticked off, but in the heat, I figured I could use some downtime, maybe find another model who wasn't busy. Instead, fortune smiled upon me when the incredible Chris Maher happened by, and I took the opportunity to introduce myself. Chris does amazing art nude work, outdoor nudes, landscapes, wildlife, scenics, etc. and has studio space at Collingwood, but I'd not met him on my previous visits up there. I didn't have a portfolio with me, but showed him a few images I had on business cards, and he invited me up to see his studio space. He was extremely generous with his time, experience, philosophy, and enthusiasm (and a nice cold Dr. Pepper to boot). He even had an internet connection in his studio so was able to review my OMP portfolio and gave me his views on what I was doing right, and ideas where I could improve certain images. He was nice enough to show me some of his amazing prints and share some of his lighting techniques and photoshop tricks. But perhaps the most valuable thing was when he shared his ideas on working with models to bring out natural positions instead of "poses" and to just trust the body to find the right movements. He also shared some great information on more practical matters, such as selling prints and finding subjects to photograph. What's incredible to me is that many of his subjects are NOT models, and have never posed before, let alone done nudes. But his art inspires them to participate, and his skill and gentle demeanor bring out the "goddess" within each of them. Many thanks Chris for the insights, hospitality and a generous portion of your afternoon. :)

So, a pretty good two weeks for me... audiences with three of my favorite fine art photographers, as well as a workshop with four top commercial photographers. Now, let's just see if I can take the deluge of information and inspiration and channel it into my own work and take it to a new level. Wish me luck!