Please vote!

Edit 3/5: Thanks to everyone who voted! Hard to say if round one voting has finished, but round two has begun. Keep your fingers crossed!

Well, looks like voting has started on this year's Maxim Hometown Hotties contest, and three of my shots are on Destiny's Voting Page. Please take a couple minutes and visit the link and cast your vote for Destiny (above)... I've also worked with another contestant, Brittany, so please be sure to vote for her, even though she's not using my pictures. ;)

Thanks for your support!

"Gotta Carlotta Love..."

Carlotta, stretching in a hotel room in Dayton last summer. Need I say more?

Parallel Development x3

Another example of parallel development presented itself last week, when two bloggers I read regularly posted similar images within a couple days of one another. The top image here is by Richard of Fluffytek and the second image is by Mark of Newcastle Art Nudes. Richard is in England and shot his image in May of last year, Mark is in Australia and shot his in August of last year. (Both are reposted here with the photographers' permission.)

Mark says "The inspiration came to turn the shot upside down when I was looking for a good image from the shoot to process... Inspiration might not be the right word, I must be honest. I took a look at the original to spark my memory just now and I recall that my model's (Rosie) face looked completely different in this pose so I turned it up the other way in order to scrutinise her face easier and that is when I thought I would leave it at that because of the surreal look it gave. I'm glad I did as it is one of the most commented on images that I have taken to date."

Richard didn't provide me with details on his shot, but guessing from the fingertip pose and the hair flip, he envisioned flipping this image when he shot it. Whether it was something he planned well in advance or just struck him at the shoot, I'm not sure. (Richard, please leave a comment to clarify if you like.)

Which brings me to my image of Nia here... also shot in August of last year, I'm pretty sure before I'd even heard of Richard or Mark. Mine is similar to Mark's in that it's sort of the by-product of the editing process... I was interested in the image as it was done spontaneously during the shoot, but I liked the way she was sort of floating in nothingness, so I turned the image 90 degrees to make her appear to be free-falling. Since she's not appearing to hang from the ceiling, it's different than the other two, but seeing the shots on their blogs reminded me of the shot that I had filed away.

Now, Richard's was the first of these three chronologically, but I'm sure this is a concept (inverted shot of model appearing to be hanging from the ceiling) that's been done before. It's a very clever concept, don't get me wrong, but it's also somewhat self-evident once you have the subject in that position, or even accidentally look at an image in the "wrong" orientation. However, the execution and mood of the three images are very different, and I really like all three of them, both for their similarities and their unique presentations of the concept and pose. My point today is that when a situation like this presents itself, I think we need to concetrate on the differences, not the similarities, and realize that almost anything you can do with a model, a light, and a room has probably been done before in some way, shape or form. And will be done again. It's all a matter of style and execution that makes the difference.

Just a couple

Be away from the computer for the weekend, so a couple quick shots of Jen to charm you into submission.

Don't forget, if you're interested in my friends-only supplement to the blog, drop me a note or a comment with your e-mail address.

Blurring the lines...

Just thought I'd post a few shots, one from a couple months ago as part of a shoot geared for the Dirty Show, one from the heat of last summer, and one from last weekend. Photographers will often call up an ages-old technique and apply it in their own way. It's tradition, and there are just some things that are in the common "vocabulary" of photography. Been playing around with some in-camera blurring techniques lately, but I have only posted one of these before, so I just thought I'd "date stamp" them.

Coincidentally, earlier today, I purchased a book that my Amazon "Gold Box" suggested... I wasn't familiar with the work of Francesca Woodman, but she is a fascinating figure, kind of a combination Sylvia Plath/James Dean for photography. She started taking pictures when she was 13 and managed to create a substantial body of innovative and influential work, largely self-portraits, before taking her own life at age 22. I'm looking forward to reading this book and learning more about her work and her life. The coincidental part is that one of her frequent techniques was using motion blur to create very ethereal and surreal images. The image shown here is Space² from the late 1970s, but it certainly would look right at home in the portfolio of many of today's art photographers. It's a timeless image made using a fundamental technique and her personal vision, which is about the most any of us can aspire to.

Progress, not perfection...

This is Stephanie, who was basically my first proper studio shoot subject back in 2005. I believe I was one of the first few people she'd worked with at that point, too. This is arguably about the best shot I managed, but that's no reflection on Stephanie. Looking back at the images, it's pretty clear I didn't have much of a clue what I was doing and made a lot of the common 'rookie errors' that day, but I had to start somewhere, and what we got was an improvement over what each of us had in our portfolios up to that point. Stephanie has gone on to do a lot of beautiful work with a variety of photographers in the area, and maybe our paths will cross again.

Fast forward to now... or almost now. This is from a set I just finished editing yesterday. The model is Ehme (pronounced the way Timmy from South Park might) and I really love a lot of what we got out of the shoot. You'll be seeing more in the next few days, no doubt. Now, I still shoot some straight-up fashion like the one of Stephanie (with a bit more skill, I hope), but going through the shots of Ehme, I was pleased at the variety we managed to achieve, but also feel like there's more depth as well. Hopefully this is an indication of progress.

This entry started out being about an entirely different topic, but a bit of wisdom Rose prompted me to use this entry as a chance to reflect on my progress, bolstered by my satisfaction with the Ehme images. Ac-centuate the positive, e-lim-inate the negative and all that. Thanks ladies!

Teddie, bare...

Seems whenever I don't have anything in particular to say, I just post a couple of shots of Teddie, and it makes me feel better about not having much to say, because I know she's drawing all the attention away from whatever I write anyway.

See No Evil

Got my music geek on tonight with one of my very favorite albums of all-time, "Marquee Moon" by Television. I was updating my little "song of the day" thing over on MySpace when it struck me to see if there was any Television music I could add to the page. Sure enough, there was, including "See No Evil" the lead cut from the album. Listening to that took me back to when I was about 14 and first stumbled upon the record in my little neighborhood public library of all places. It looked really cool and kind of dangerous, so I took it home and it made a big impression on me. I'd never heard anything like it, with two precise lead guitars duking it out from song-to-song and Tom Verlaine's emotive yelps, and just a strange poetry to the songs -- nobody else had really heard anything like it either, and they remained largely a New York phenomenon, sort of the poor cousins to Talking Heads. They put out a second album called "Adventure" that was somehow missing the magic, except for the amazing song "Glory" -- as someone once said, you get 20 years or so to write your first album, but only a year or two to write the second one (which leads to the frequent "sophomore slump" problem so many bands experience with their second albums, not to mention second novels, etc). After "Adventure" they basically split up into various other projects until they got together in '92 for an album and a tour, so I did get the chance to see them live, and it was really magnificent. Someplace I have pix and signatures from that show. Guess they still get together for shows now and then, which is somehow reassuring. Coincidentally, it looks like Rhino is reissuing Marquee Moon next month... 30 years after its initial release. That's impossible, right? That would make me how old?

Anyway, tonight I played "See No Evil" about six times from the MySpace page, then just loaded up the full album on my iTunes and it really gave me a second wind while editing some shots tonight, although it is tough to run Photoshop while playing air guitar. ;) I did a slight edit on this photo of Eilispidh to make it MySpace safe to sort of tie in with the song... see if you can guess what I cropped out.

Charlize, Drew, Selma, Meg and I

Had three really enjoyable shoots this weekend... nothing to show you just yet, but I plan to soon. While shooting the last model, I couldn't decide if she reminded me more of a young Drew Barrymore, Selma Blair, Meg Ryan or even at moments like Charlize Theron. Loads of spark and personality and potential, and I think it will show in the finished images.

Final tally in from the Dirty Show... neither of the hanging pieces sold, but I hear not so much did sell off the walls for some reason. On the upside, did sell 16 prints from the museum store... which may be why neither hanging piece sold. Still, it's an honor just to take part.

Have heard rumblings of a show up in Toledo this spring I think I'll be invited to take part in... more on that as it develops.

The shot at the top of this post is Shelley, who's got some big doings on her agenda over the next few weeks. She's kickin' ass and taking names to be sure! Out of the blue, this shot was showcased on her OMP this week... but I won't argue.

Vamps Red

"We Are Latex" ascending a staircase.
Featured performer Vivian Ireene Pierce and MC Miss Emily Marilyn
A very cool tattooed girl whose name escapes me.
The Adorable Maddy and Mickey
Ryan among the Black Swamp Girls before the fashion show.
Small photos from top to bottom, Miss May, Mistress Kali and Emily Marilyn strike a pose. Boyd gets tickle tortured by Vivian and Maddy. Urn. Facing Perdition. Vivian in trouble again with Mistress Michele. The Fire Show with Miss May and Mistress Kali. Sam the Butcher with Emily Marilyn. Julie Simone's spanking booth. The lovely Kiki. Faith and friend swap licks.

The night before The Dirty Show, Andi and I were acting as semi-official photographer's at Vamps Red, an event featuring a variety of f3tish performers, bands, DJs and a fashion show. Pretty challenging lighting... people dressed in black, in rooms painted black, with virtually no light. Sort of snapshot event photography, but Boyd's happy with the results, and there's a chance an image might go to Skin Two magazine, but I'm not holding my breath. The night was enough of a success that they're talking about doing another one this summer... stay tuned.

Ouch!

Noticed a shot at The Dirty Show last weekend that reminded me of some shots I did with Jade back in April, so I thought I'd share them here... sort of a "nipple abuse" triptych. Mechanical, manual, and verbal, more or less.

Here's another shot of Jade having a little fun with a different form of "self-abuse" or at least acting like it. Something about seeing all the work at the Dirty Show is making me feel like posting some of the slightly more explicit shots I've done. Maybe that's the point of the whole Dirty Show... to make this kind of thing feel less dirty and more like a natural extension of our art and ourselves. Or perhaps the point is to just round-up a bunch of sexy pictures for fun and profit. Either way...

More Hawtness for the Internets...

(On edit: Rose has taken down her blog, but I like these shots, so I'm leaving the entry up.)

Well, good news! One of my frequent favorite models has decided to join the world of the blog with the launch of (her old blog). There's an old saying "if you want something done, give it to a busy person" and she's one of the busiest people I know, so I'm looking forward to a variety of fun stuff and, of course, beautiful photos. I'm honored to be one of three photographers featured in her first post! The bottom image here is her from a little over a year ago (!!!), and the top two are from just a few weeks ago. It's been fun watching her blossom as a model, even though she was awfully good when we first met in 2005 (Has it been that long?). So be sure to check out her blog and leave an encouraging comment.


In addition, another frequent fave of mine, Crystal, has her blog back on its feet, and is promising to post more regularly. She's got quite a body... of work that she's built up, I mean, and it sounds like she has plenty of things scheduled, so let's hope she finds time to update her blog in between shoots. Stop by and offer her an encouraging word or two so she'll stick with it. Something tells me she'll have a lot to say. Here's Crystal striking a stretch of a pose.