Carving

Just a strange choice for a Thanksgiving post... Miss May will do the carving.

Eventualities

Another busy weekend concluded, a mixed bag to be sure. The first shot is the crowd on the smoking porch at the "Skin Art" show at the Pearl in Dayton Thursday night. As mentioned before, decent turnout, but not a lot of buyers among them. I guess when you have four bands, eight artists, four models, plus significant others, that adds up to 50 or more people right there so that helps enhance the illusion of a crowd. But respectable for Dayton on a humid Thursday night, and as I said, it looks like I found several new potential models whom I'm looking forward to working with. Even met a couple readers of this blog. (Hi Sandy and James!)

Less encouraging were the "Dark Visions" closing reception and the "Shadows in the Night" event in Toledo Friday night. Turns out the closing reception really wasn't promoted at all, and most of the people who might have attended had been at the opening, so the turnout was somewhere between "sparse" and "grim." Not sure what the problem was with the "Shadows" event... didn't have much advance promotion, but that hardly accounts for a nightclub being nearly deserted on a Friday night. Apart from a small circle of activity buzzing around Miss May (at left), it was largely empty. We hung around until nearly midnight, then called it a night. Perhaps the beautiful people don't get the party started until later than that... still surprised that Dayton on a Thursday night pulled more than Toledo on a Friday. (On edit: did hear back from a young woman I spoke to at the "Shadows" event who's interested in modeling at the next group event, so that's one more bright spot.)

Saturday was another Collingwood group shoot, and thanks to the heat and the lack of air conditioning, nudity seemed to be the watchword of the day. Got to work with several returning champions and a couple of new friends, and I feel I got really strong stuff with everybody, so watch for images from the day to start showing up here fairly soon. Included was a nice long session with "Capricious Token" (shown here from a shoot last month), and even got a little bonus time with her on Sunday. Got to meet Far Rider (see link at right) but he introduced himself with his real name, so I didn't make the connection until later. (Sorry David.) As always, thanks to Boyd for hosting, and all the models for making it a really enjoyable day's photography.

"It's a gas gas gas..."

Well, the other night, I finally got my obligatory gas mask shot... seems de rigeur that if a photographer is going to do any fetish work or shoot with alt models that one must have a gas mask image. ("De rigeur" is French for "not quite a cliché.") Well, maybe it is a bit cliché, but how can one pass up a $10 gas mask? I've been saving it for the right model, who I should have known would be the ever-popular Sativa. Besides being a tremendous model, she is an absolute "gas" to shoot and hang out with. We have a few others from this part of the shoot that I feel are pretty interesting. More eventually.

Coincidentally, there's a gas mask image (or some sort of mask) on the promotion for another event this weekend (further evidence for my theory that every month has ONE weekend where everything has to happen at the same time), called "Shadows in the Night" which will begin almost immediately after the end of the "Dark Visions" exhibit closing reception this Friday in Toledo. Going to try to shuttle over there after the reception and put up a few pieces for what is likely to be an entirely different crowd. Featured will be fetish performances by the elusive Miss May so it looks like not much sleep before the group shoot Saturday. All in the name of art, I assure you.

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.

Altered Egos

This is what I wrote a few days ago before Roadrunner stranded my home computer. Rather than edit that one, I get to add a new one with another picture.

Here we have Miss May, definitely one of the more "alt" of the alt models I've worked with. Strikingly beautiful face, tall, dancer's figure, the effect is intensified by her personal style which includes a variety of exotic piercings, and her hair almost completely shorn except for a forehead lock and locks at either temple. She is a fixture in the punk/goth scene in Northwest Ohio who recently began modeling from time to time. I had the chance to work with her at a group shoot back in May and we did two sets -- one in her full punk regalia, and another that focused more on her glamourous side. Sort of a twisted Audrey Hepburn in a way. I'm hoping to work with her again soon.

I've worked with a number of "alt" models over the past year or so, and have really gained an appreciation for interesting tattoo work and a strategically placed piercing. For supposedly being the "alternative" scene, it seems to rival mainstream modeling at least in terms of numbers, visibiilty, and the beauty of the models. Of course, it's not always easy to tell where to draw the line. I would say that probably 75% of the models I work with have at least one tattoo or non-traditional piercing, and a lot of them look at "alt" modeling (including fetish and bondage work) as more of a wardrobe choice or role playing, while some "live the lifestyle" to a greater extent as part of their personality. As a photographer, having a wider range of what is "beautiful" presents many more new opportunities than limiting oneself to a more traditional range of "model good looks." I enjoy my forays to the alt side, and I hope those who look at my work appreciate the beauty I find in these models, too.

Roadrunner sucks...

Wrote an entry to go with this photo on my machine at home, but as could be expected, my Roadrunner crapped out before I could finish and post it. RR has been this way for a couple months and I've had numerous service calls, but it still works only about 10% of the time. I'm ready to just go back to DSL.

So, until I can post the full entry, here's the photo at least, of the uniquely lovely Miss May.