Initiate

A few from my first session with Lynz... her first "serious" modeling shoot as well, although I have to say we had a lot of laughs that day. I think she did great, and she's eager to go again soon.

This started out as something of a "private" shoot of her (some with her husband), but she's since decided that it's OK for me to post them. She's even recruited a friend or two to work with me, too. We met through an online discussion forum, actually, so if any of you other forum folks stumble onto this, please be cool. :)

"Timeless, like a fine watch..."

These shots of Mandy were part of an entry that never actually got posted for some reason. The original content is now highly irrelevant, but Mandy is always timeless, so here she is.

Really need to get together with her again... she keeps doing such remarkable work.

And evidently, someone from Japan is downloading the ENTIRE blog, presumably the full-size photos. Makes me wonder about removing the full-size images from entries over a month old... any thoughts?

Muses and Musings

On edit: Since this image has been recently featured here, I figured I'd save these visitors some time and move it back to the top of the stack for a while.

The trio of beauties at the top are Katherine Rose, Crystallynn, and Ayden... brought together briefly through fate and a gracious dispensation from Glenn. (We were kidding that the title could be "118 DDDD.") Below, we have Crystallynn and Ayden sharing a moment... I've been doing more work with pairs of models recently, so look for more.

Vassanta

A couple more Vassanta shots, just to keep things stirred up. We keep having "near misses" on shooting again, but I should make that happen sooner rather than later, I think. These are from a highly productive session earlier this year. Enjoy.

Oh, and please leave a comment or two. And please buy a copy of the book. Great for back-to-school...

Dreaming is free...

At the last group shoot, I was pretty fascinated by this window and the curtain blowing in the breeze. Not something I expected to find, and in the interest of travelling very light, I'd managed to leave the tripod 150 miles away at home. Would have really been a big help on the long exposures. So, I just tried using a chair as a camera support and shot a bunch of frames hoping for a seredipitious gust of wind to coincide with a sharp exposure and the correct metering -- the moving curtain changed the light on the lovely Aurora by a couple of stops, depending on how high the wind lifted it. Just briefly reviewing them, this one jumped out as what I was going for -- the right combination of her position, the lighting, the amount of blur in the curtain, the shape and position of the curtain, and still being fairly sharp. You'll probably see more of this breezy window soon, but thought I'd put this little sneak preview out sooner rather than later.

"...builds strong bodies 12 ways."

A couple of different moods with the wonderful Rose from the July group shoot... always a pleasure to shoot with her. You'll see more from this session along the way.

Was a good weekend... got in a studio session Friday afternoon, Saturday at the group shoot (Happy Birthday Andi), then another studio set Sunday afternoon. Looks like shoots tomorrow and Thursday, and that'll be it for a while as I regroup.

Was reminded today of a song from a few years ago that for some reason struck a chord with me today, no pun intended. The song is "Adios Lounge" by Thelonious Monster, featuring vocals by Tom Waits who sings the chorus:

Don't let nobody go there for you
Don't be satisfied with a second-hand life
Don't let nobody stifle or bore you
Handle your troubles or take on your strife
Don't let nobody live your life for you
Not your friends, not your kids, no not even your wife
If you want to know where the rainbow ends
It's you who've got to go there and find it my friend

Maybe it's profound, maybe it's obvious, but there it is. Part of a really great album that you can get for under a buck.

No reason

Here's a couple of the always splendid Danaid. Sadly, she wasn't able to join the little farm outing last weekend, but here's an outdoor shot we did previously. Should try to get her out again while there's still some green about... And another shot I particularly like, presented for no reason in particular. None at all. Nope. :)

Weekend has been quite busy, but so far quite enjoyable...going to get a little editing done this afternoon, then have a shoot a bit later with a very special out-of-town dignitary. :) More news as it develops.

All I ever wanted

Welcome fans of Katie West...

Katie posted this top photo on her blog as part of her "gone fishing" message. She's going on a little vacation, that thing people in other countries seem to be able to do on a regular basis. But I was honored that she posted another image from our shoot, and am surprised at the attention it's immediately getting in her Flickr stream where she has quite the devoted following, deservedly so. Katie will also be going to a place where there's water actually clean enough to set foot in, another thing I'm a bit envious of. I'm sure she'll return with an array of beautiful photos to share. Have a great trip Katie!

Here's another of Katie from that same shoot as part of MY "gone fishing" message. Well, just a little road trip up to Toledo for another group shoot -- I swore I wouldn't subject myself to the August heat up there, but as Andi says, "I can resist anything except temptation." The forecast calls for a slight break in the stupifying heat wave on Saturday, and this time I'm traveling light: one digital camera, a couple serious lenses, a couple of "toy" lenses, and even taking my film camera just to see if I still know how to use it. Probably will even dress for the weather, even if it's not the most flattering look for me.

You have one last chance to see the "Summerotica" show this Saturday from 10am to 3pm at the S3V3RANC3 Gallery in Detroit. Was thinking I might need to pick up my pieces this weekend after the show closes, but I will probably just leave everything up there, as there are a couple Detroit events on September 15 where the work may get displayed, and a couple of friends have generously offered to wrangle things to get the pieces to the right places when needed. More on that once details are firmed up.

The drive to Toledo should be interesting, as I-75 goes right through Findlay, Ohio, where the recent flooding has been much in the news. Not sure if there will be anything to see from the highway or not. (On edit, this photo is from earlier this week showing 75 underwater. It was closed for a couple days, but has since reopened just for me.) All the recent midwest floods are making me consider adding flood insurance to my policy, even though I'm told I'm not in an "at risk" area for flooding. Guess that means coverage shouldn't be very expensive then, eh?

Statuesque

Things are a bit upside down at the moment, and this week and next are going to be jam-packed. I think I'll have some breathing room once September rolls around.

Have a couple of shoots that are up in the air which is kind of frustrating and adding to the stress... hoping to get those pinned down today.

A little preview from a shoot that awaits proper editing...

On edit, replaced initially uploaded image. It had been edited on #&%$! home machine and was a bit darker than I'd intended.

What can I tell you?

Updates may be sporadic for a while... may post some pictures, though.

This here is Crystallynn in her most beautiful outfit... :)

Pose Prose

Just finished editing my most recent shoot with Aurora (aka Dreamscapes) from last month, just in time for my next shoot with her this weekend. It was another quick session, but I liked a lot of what we got, and "finished" a pretty high percentage of them, even variations on a pose. I do tend to overshoot a pose if I like it, as I just make small adjustments to the pose or my position or camera settings to get it just so. Logically, the last one would be the best one, right? But that's not always the case. Often, it's the first one, which gives me pause -- what if each shot was a different pose? The first shot of a pose has the benefit of spontenaity and can be the most natural looking pose. Sometimes though, it is necessary to fine tune it because the model's position in the light could be better or any number of reasons. If I coach the model through fine tuning the pose, I'll take some frames of the tuned pose, then tell the model "OK, remember this pose, where your hand and hips are, and how you're standing and everything." Then, I'll tell them to just stand up relaxed, hands at their side, and take a deep breath, THEN go back to the pose as they remember it. Sometimes they'll hit it just perfectly with an added natural element that really makes it feel right.

In addition to this weekend, it looks like I'll also get some time with her next weekend as well.

Some (more) erotica

Don't forget, you folks in the Detroit/Toledo area, that there will be another evening reception for the "Summerotica" show at the S3V3RANC3 Gallery in Detroit's Eastern Market this Saturday from 8pm to midnight. I can't make it, but I'm sure several of the photographers (and perhaps a few of the models) will be in attendance. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for wine and refreshments. I believe there are about 95 pieces in the show, and hundreds more in the "museum store" area. The exhibit will also be open from 10am-3pm on the 18th and 25th, or by appointment, but the party is this Saturday. Tell a buddy and bring a friend...

And here we have the enticing Crystallynn modeling a favorite summer style.

Turning Japanese

I know this is nothing new, but I think it's kind of cool to see this blog translated into other languages. These sometimes show up in the page stats, so this recent time I did a screen capture of Aurora being translated into Japanese (who apparently have no character yet for 'blog'). Nice to see the images have international appeal.

In the Gallery Garden

By Gary M, originally uploaded by avolare.

Another fun one from the recent shoot with the famed Katie West. Check out the comments on her Flickr page. :)

Easy way out...

When I know I'm overdue for a blog post, but don't have much on my mind, it only seems logical to take the easy way out and post a bunch of nude photos of a beautiful young woman. I don't think anyone's going to miss hearing me gloat about Karl Rove's resignation or drone on and on about this or that, when you can enjoy Ayden in her birthday suit. She's thinking about heading down to the studio sometime before long, so we'll have lots more to share then.

Black & White

The other day I posted some shots of Lee St. Tragedy (at top) from the "House of Nightmares" shoot onto MySpace and used one of his shots as my "avatar" there, which prompted a female friend of mine to ask (a) "Hey, you photographed a GUY?" and (b) "is he your first black model?" The answers were "yes" (I've shot a number of guys, solo or with a female model) and "no" (I have worked with a few black models). Her question about black models led me to look through my files and round up these shots. From the top we have Lee, Sabrina, Shana, LaPrincess, Destiny, Simeon, and "Z" (who would probably like me to point out that hers is an IMPLIED topless shot). There is one more, but maybe I shouldn't post her here. (I might do a "male model" round-up entry sometime, if anyone's interested.)

As for black female models, I have found very few around here who do art nude work, but if I can find more who look as good as Sabrina or Shana, you'll see them here...

Postscript: I started this entry several days ago, and have been "pushing it around on my plate" before posting it a few minutes ago. I was catching up on reading some other blogs just now when, as seems to happen once in a while, there's a recent post on the same topic over on Don Nelson's Hotel Room Nudes. He said something that I was trying to figure out how to say, but couldn't so didn't: "Anyway, it feels funny categorizing women as Black or Not Black, but it shouldn't. The skin's color and texture makes a huge difference in how one photographs it and the photographic treatment will be different. The human factor is not affected in any way." He also said "I don't photograph nearly enough Black women and am looking forward to this" so it seems we agree on that as well. Synchronicity strikes again.

By popular demand...

I probably spend way too much time looking over my site traffic, but one thing I've noticed is that two names consistently turn up as search terms: Sarah Ellis and JJ Plush -- usually along with the word "nude" but that's understandable.

So in a shameless attempt to pander to the masses, I present Sarah Ellis (top, ready to pounce) and JJ Plush, who can even make tulle look retro. Both are absolute dreams to work with, and I should make more opportunities to do so soon.

Art works, too...

Just heard back from Craig P, the artist who previously did an excellent painting based on my photo of Kiki -- the one seen on the cover of the "Dark Light" book. Craig sent me another recent painting, based on a photo I did of the always artistic Danaid, to which Craig has added a colorful twist. I'd say he did an excellent job capturing the gesture of the pose, and the details of the hair and hand are quite good, too. Plus he says he's working on yet another painting base on a shot of mine... I'm flattered that Craig likes my images enough to use for his paintings, and I REALLY appreciate the fact that he asked me ahead of time if it was OK with me. Nice Job, Craig. (And thanks for the bigger photo of the painting.)

Bewitched by Sabrina

Oops... mentioned these on the MySpace blog, but got sidetracked before I could post 'em, so here's a double helping of Sabrina, also from the "House of Nightmares" group shoot. She and I were two of the "non-goth" misfits in the mix that day. Sabrina and I have been talking about working together forever, but just never seemed to make it happen before, so it was good to finally meet her and see what she can do. She was a lot of fun to work with, and really knows how to pose... I was quite impressed. Hope you are, too.

Someone asked if the term "House of Nightmares" is my characterization of a bad day's shooting. No, that was the official name of the event, held in a building with an actual operating "haunted house" set-up sprawling throughout the first floor. I kind of steered clear of those props, partly because they seemed like they could be easily damaged, and just not too much of it caught my eye, especially with very limited lighting options. But we also had the run of the rest of the building, which included two basements and three upstairs floors, all largely empty. It offered a lot of visual opportunities, but with those usually come the challenges. An interesting day's shooting, to be sure.