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.

Into the groove...

Just trying to get back into the groove of posting something once a day if possible... here are a couple of Angie recently finished. Lots more of her in the pipeline. :)

Prowl

Just a couple of Vassanta from a little while back... haven't posted much from her lately. Hope to work with her again soon though.

Mandy Doll

A few from the "House of Nightmares" Group Shoot a couple weeks ago. Not sure how I missed this room the rest of the day, but Mandy and I discovered it very late in the afternoon, so we got some cool light from the high windows. Just a huge open room with a freight elevator in the middle and a bunch of junk piled to one side. I love finding this kind of open expanse without a lot of other clutter, but they're pretty rare. Along one edge, there was a spot where someone tried sweeping the floor for the shoot, but they quickly gave up when they determined the dust/dirt to be about 1/8-inch thick. Think Agean Stables.

Mandy was great to work with -- even though it was just an abbreviated session at the end of a long, hot day, she had a creative attitude and isn't nearly so stern as these shots make her appear. ;) Her look and outfit were just perfect for the high contrast of the setting, and I'm really pleased with what we got. Probably post more from the day's shooting during the week as the spirit moves me.

Another opening, another show

Was invited by Kevin of Dark Mannequin Designs to take part in another exhibition, this time in Dayton at the Foundry Nightclub on Friday September 7th. Click the poster to see a larger version and check out everyone who's planning to take part. Hope to see you there!

S3V3RANC3 PA(rt)Y

Update: There will be another evening reception for the "Summerotica" show Saturday, August 18 from 8pm to midnight. So if you missed the opening, here's your second chance!"


Had a few minutes to go through the snapshots from the opening reception for the Midwest Society of Erotic Photography show last Saturday at the S3V3RANC3 Gallery in Detroit. Thanks to Josefine and Matt for all their efforts to pull off the show, and thanks to Adam, Iris, BT and all the MWSEP photographers who participated and promoted the show. It was great meeting a few more of the photographers from the group, a new model or three, and seeing familiar faces again. Not the greatest night for sales, but it was a good time, and I may have three or four new shoots lined up, and that's what's important, right?

Sadly, my little P&S didn't do such a great job, and a few shots I had hopes for didn't pan out at all, but still have a few here to serve as presentable documentation. At the top is the smoking lounge of the gallery with its cryptic "Okeh Dokey" logo, and at left, the lovely Heather checks out my pieces in the show. Below, we have: the crowd on the second floor; the Glitterati; Iris and Lela compare notes with AJ Kahn; Heather with hubby John; Iris and Lela posing with "The Luckiest Man in Canada™" Stephen Thorne; Lisolette Gilcrest pitching her portfolio; Stephen Thorne's corner of the show; the bustling museum store with the ever-present Adam at right; the crowded first floor space; spontaneous dancing; MWSEP ringmaster BT with Lela; the upstairs exhibit space pre-show, the downstairs space pre-show, and another corner of the upstairs space. You get the idea.




The show runs three more Saturdays in August, from 10am to 3pm, or by appointment, so check it out!

For the weekenders

Very beautiful day here, sort of a shame to be inside editing, but it needs to be done. Have been making some progress, so I thought I'd share a few here. The top one is Raven N. and the other two are of Penny. Now, it's such a nice day, go outside and play!

Weekend Edition (Weakened Condition?)

After the rather hectic pace and heightened emotions of last weekend, this weekend looks to be clear to do some long-promised editing. Where to start is always the problem. I think I have a general plan, and things have been going a bit quicker with some of the "bulk editing" software and practices I've been adopting. Sadly, each software is lacking one or two critical features that can be found in the others, so it's been hard settling on just one. Maybe this weekend I'll edumacate myself a bit further on the topic.

Still haven't done a report on the "big opening" (as Elvira might say)... maybe once I get some of those snapshots worked up. A bit disappointed in the picture quality my little Elph delivered, but maybe it was just operator error. Or there are magnetic currents in the Eastern Market that foul up small cameras.

Here are a couple from a while back of Penny. Really enjoy working with her... still need to finish editing our most recent shoot. Doh! Better get bizzay then, eh?

Doorway

Just thought this one of Raelyn was kind of cool... she's changed her modeling name from "Eilispidh" so I'm going to change her tags here. The link at right is still good though.

Happy Birthday Meagan!

My very first nude subject, Meagan, just had her birthday, so I want to wish her all the best for the year ahead. She's a wonderful young woman and always a delight to shoot and just hang around with. We need to work together some more before long...

Katie West

Katie West by Gary Mitchell, originally uploaded by avolare.

Katie did a nice entry on her blog and her Flickr page featuring one of the shots we did this past Sunday... will elaborate more soon, but wanted to try the "blog this" feature of Flickr. Here goes...

Last call...

End of the month already, and just a "last call" on a couple things. First, for any readers who are Silver or higher members of OneModelPlace.com, please stop by my OMP page and give me a nice vote in the "art nude photography" contest by tomorrow night. I'm guessing the winner will be someone who frequents the OMP forums and is a lot more aggressive about stumping for votes. Who knows? The winner might even actually be the best art nude photographer on OMP.

Second, as promised/threatened, I'm going to be ending the introductory pricing on my book, Dark Light, so if you've been thinking about buying it, now's the time. If you would like me to sign your copy, please drop me a message at garymphoto(at)gmail(dot)com and we'll make arrangements.

This shot is the amazing Carlotta to tide you over until I can do a more elaborate entry regarding this past weekend's adventures in the skin trade...

Saturday Night's All Right...

One last (?) word to remind you folks in the Detroit-ish area that the "Summerotica" opening reception will start at 9pm this Saturday at the Severance Gallery (aka S3V3RANC3). It'll feature work by me plus 19 other members of the Midwest Society of Erotic Photography. Should be a great show, free admission, free wine, what more do you need to liven up your Saturday night? See you there!

And on an unrelated note, I've discovered a great internet radio station, Radio Hidebound, whose motto is "151 proof college radio aged 20 years" so it probably will hold special appeal to those of us who were in college in the mid-80s... tends toward the slightly obscure bands, or album tracks from more popular artists. Not limited to the 80s stuff, which keeps it interesting. You can even make requests online. Check them out!

Or if that's not your musical temperment, find what you like at tun3r.com where you can search the playlists of hundreds of internet radio stations and see who's playing the obscure Estonian folk music you've been seeking.

The shot is Alexis... is it in the show? One way to find out...

My honor...

One person I always feel honored to work with is Aurora, also known as Dreamscapes. Beyond being gorgeous with just the right mix of exotic and goth-next-door, she just has a certain strength of presence and a calm self-assurance that I admire, and I do my best to capture it in the images we do together.

We don't always agree, but I think that little bit of friction adds something to the shoots. I've lost track of how many times we've shot together, but I'd guess it's about a dozen. Here are two from our most recent shoot, and I'll enjoy the privilege of working with her again on Saturday...the first of what I hope to be at least a dozen more times. D, if I haven't said it before, thanks for being such a sweet friend as well as an outstanding model.