Table manners

Today's group shoot was a lot of fun overall, with a few somewhat expected no-shows in the mix. It's almost necessary to overbook simply because car trouble, bad weather, finances, personal problems or whatever invariably result in what I would guess to be a 20% late cancel/no-show rate. It's understandable, since nobody's getting paid to take part, but still disappointing when someone you were looking forward to working with can't make it. NEVERTHELESS, I was able to work with six wonderful models, a couple new faces and several returning favorites including Miss Kittie (above) and Dreamscapes (below) -- these shots were from warmer days, but sort of two different perspectives on a favorite table in a favorite window. (Someone suggested to Dreamscapes that this shot would maka good billboard for a furniture company. Interested parties can contact me via the blog.) Look forward to seeing shots from today here soon.

After the shoot, about 25 or 30 models and photographers and such ascended on a local bar/restaurant where we were wisely sequestered from the rest of the clientele...

Tomorrow, I'm doing something of an impromptu shoot with a young lady I met at a wedding I helped Andi shoot a few months ago... trying to recall if I mentioned the wedding here before, but it was one of the nicest weddings I can recall attending, and the reception was a blast. But I digress... besides being tall and beautiful, she really struck me as someone with a strong presence, wit, and charm. She's not really modeled much before, but I'm confident that she'll do great in front of the camera, and I just hope I can manage to capture some of her spirit in our images. Been a while since I've looked forward to a non-nude shoot this much. Stay tuned for her, too.

Taking stock...

The things one finds on the web...

Now, I've heard of "fantasy football" leagues, and even "fantasy stock picking" where people buy and sell stocks using imaginary money... or is that the actual stock market? Could actually be good practice before deciding to invest real money in the Wall Street Casino. But the other day, I stumbled upon "Blogshares" where people pretend to invest in various blogs as if they were stocks and somehow they determine valuations and performance and such. The fact that this exists strikes me as doubly "fantastic" -- using imaginary money to buy and sell shares in things without actual prices. Maybe it's the speculation as to the value of the content in terms of potential ad appeal, and the number of links seems to have some bearing. Anyway, if you'd care to "invest" in this little blog o' mine, check out my Blogshares prospectus. Remember, buy low, sell high.

Almost forgot... my prospectus has this ominous warning: "Implications and Experience suffered a huge setback with several analysts urging their clients to ditch the stock as it suffered a public relations disaster." I have NO clue what that's referring too... fantasy PR disasters?

This is Dreamscapes, just because she rocks. ;)

Fire in the City

Halloween is in the air, or maybe it's smoke from the San Diego fires. Report on the radio a few minutes ago said 910,000 500,000 people have been evacuated from the area. That, and it appears that the California National Guard is vastly undermanned and underequipped to fight the fire. Gosh, I wonder where those soldiers and materiel went to?

Speaking of San Diego, Don Nelson just mentioned that he's quitting shooting for a while. Not sure if that means six weeks or six months. He says he does intend to keep blogging, so that's a good thing at least. The power of suggestion is getting stronger.

So, with Halloween pending, here's a somewhat ghostly image... ooh, spooky!

On the Road

Just a brief report during a few minutes of downtime... weekend has been pretty good so far. At sort of the last minute I ended up going to the opening of the "Menage a Trois" exhibit at the River's Edge Gallery near Detroit. Friend and supporter BT Charles had new work on display, along with fellow MWSEP members Cheryl Button and Patty Izzo. Turns out there was a lot of other work on display, too, from the likes of VATO, Frank Piccolo, DVS, and many others. Plenty of wonderful work, as one would expect from these talented folks. The show will be up through November 19th, so if you're in the area, be sure to check it out.

Saturday was the Collingwood group shoot, which was also a benefit for Lithium Picnic's legal defense fund in his contract battle with SG. The shoot itself seemed a bit "off" as a lot of people seemed to be running late or getting lost or otherwise distracted. Or maybe that was just me. Still managed to get in three good (if brief) sessions -- look for samples here eventually. Some folks have taken issue with the various efforts to support Lithium Picnic -- from the serious ("I have a lot of unexpected medical bills...anyone going to hold a benefit to help me?") to the spurious ("I'm having a benefit to raise funds to upgrade my camera...please help.") The LP thing is something of a universal cause though as the case presents a central question for working photographers... when you sign an agreement to shoot for someone, how much of the work do they own, and how much of YOU do they own, as far as their ability to prevent you from doing other work, and for how long? It'll be interesting to see how this shakes out in court.

Ended up leaving the Collingwood at 2:00 to help Andi shoot Steph and Justin's wedding. Normally not a big fan of weddings, but these kids knew how to do it... the ceremony was outdoors in a sort of ampitheatre in the middle of the woods of a boy scout camp. The weather couldn't have been nicer, and there was enough tree cover that the photos should look good. Nice ceremony, then we took some time for the "formals" which for a change was fun as the wedding party did a bit of clowning around. The reception was nice, too, simple but very tasteful, yet still plenty of fun and someone did a great job of picking music for the assembled crowd. So, get to sort through a big stack of those shots soon.

Today I'm shooting with Suzi, a model I've not worked with in quite a while... we have a few ideas that should be interesting, so again, stay tuned.

The shots above are from last month's Collingwood event...

Cure for the Blues?

Looking forward to a lively weekend on the road again... wish me luck!

Events on the horizon

FRIDAY, September 7 will be the "Dark Arts Expo v.2.0" at the Foundry Night Club in Dayton. I'll have a large selection of new prints there (including the shot of Aurora above), as well as a few favorites, so if you're looking for those back-to-school art nudes, look no further. Thanks to Kevin at Dark Mannequin Designs for putting the evening together.

On Saturday, September 15, Streetwise Art of Detroit will have gallery space exhibiting work from 25+ artists, including a number from the Summ(er)otica show. I'll have a couple pieces hanging in the gallery as well as a selection of matted pieces for sale. It's part of the People's Arts Festival in Detroit -- during the day, there will be over 140 individual artists and merchandise booths, along with 25 bands throughout the heart of the Russell Industrial Center, as well as an exclusive private gallery hosted by Streetwise Art within the Russell Industrial Center. Thanks to Adam and Lisolette for putting the Streetwise part of this event together. That's my shot of Crystallynn on the flyer, BTW.

On edit: it looks like I won't be displaying at the Detroit Erotica Ball after all... I was relying on a few other folks to have my work "tag along" with theirs, but for various reasons that won't be happening, and I'm not really in a position to handle the details remotely. The Ball will go on of course, and I may even stop by to take a look around, being the tourist that I am, but as of right now, it looks like the Streetwise space at the People's Art Festival will be the place to see my work in Detroit that weekend.

On edit encore: Looks like Boyd's "Fishnet Nation" event scheduled for October 6 has been cancelled... I'm sure he'll find a way to make another event happen before long.