High praise...

Once in a while a comment like this comes along...

"Those were some of my favorite images ever. You didn't take pictures of a model, you took pictures of Me and who I am, and that's exactly what I wanted. Thank you, Gary!"

Figure

Love this one... that is all.

Penny turns up again

I know I always say "just because" when I post pictures of Penny for no reason, but I guess there is a reason, in that I just think she photographs so well, and I really like the work we do together. Plus, she has such a wonderful spirit and energy to her, that the shoots are always fun. So, why not? Really should shoot with her again before the weather turns... of course, it's supposed to get to 91 degrees today, so planning for the weather is more than guesswork these days.

Champagne Dreams

Just a quick "congratulations" to Carly on the launch of her new website, CarlottaChampagne.com.

She's been featured in a number of Playboy Special Editions and is one of their most popular website CyberGirls. As the name implies, she does lend an intoxicating sparkling quality to whatever she does, and it's been my pleasure to work with her a couple times. I still have more editing to do, but here are a couple goodies from our first shoot.

Ehme

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!

Hanging out

Again, another "too busy for a proper post, but don't want to leave you hanging" post... this time it's Raven in her very photogenic apartment.

Mischief

Here's one of my favorite shots from a session at last month's Collingwood group shoot with "Mischief Vixen." It was a little more of a rough look, but some really interesting results to my eye.

The Replacements

This shot is about 20 years old, the Replacements live onstage in Columbus, opening for X. I managed to get a camera in and grabbed two or three frames of the 'Mats before a bouncer came over and made me put it away. When X came out, I maneuvered a ways away from the bouncer (it was general admission with a crowd of people on the ballroom floor), and shot half a dozen frames before he started towards me. I quickly rewound the film and popped it out of the camera and into my pocket, and managed to load my second roll by the time he got to me. As he threatened before, he demanded that I take the film out of my camera and give it to him, which I did, then just enjoyed the rest of the show. When I got back the processed slides from the show, I was really pleased that this shot came out so well... you can see the faces of every member of the band, and they're all in pretty good rock and roll poses. A few of the shots of X came out well, but I'm not sure where I have those stashed... this is not a great scan either, but it popped up on my hard drive the other day, so I thought I'd see who's paying attention out there.

A busy weekend...

It was another busy weekend, worthy of further reporting when I have a bit more time... for now, here are London and Danaid getting a little busy themselves.

Reminder

Any of you Detroit area people, please be sure to stop out at the People's Art Festival on Saturday, and especially look for the Streetwise Art exhibit space inside the main building. Follow the cars, follow the signs... I'll be around the festival most of the day and probably in the exhibit space quite a bit. There will be over 60 framed pieces by 25+ artists and photographers, as well as "loose prints" for sale. I'll have a few copies of my book, Dark Light on hand, too.

I just found out that K Leo and Johnny Flamethrower will have work in the show, and one or both of them may even be in town from the big city, so all the more reason to stop by and take part in the arts festival!

This is Crystallynn, from a shoot in July, obviously the one featured on the flyer. One of my favorite PG-rated shots. :)

Almost Blue

I've added a new link to Blue Art Nudes to the list at right, a blog run by Gunther, who also runs International Glamour Pictures. I'd not visited the sites before today when he sent me a request for a link, but I see he's working with a theme of "blue" nudes. The blue shot at left here is one of mine, Katelyn, from sometime in 2006--a fairly crude example of the technique. The "blue" look can be achieved with simple digital "cross processing" when shooting RAW -- shifting the color temperature of a normal exposure, or the subject can be lit with blue gels, or both.

I point it out because it's another example of someone taking a fairly common technique (or a simple visual element) and deciding to build a theme or project around it, in this case to the extent of having a couple websites devoted to it. This is something I've been considering a bit; whether the idea of doing a thematic project is something I want to pursue further. I've explored a few themes, and actually have something along these lines 90% ready to unveil, but maybe it's time to conjure up a new one. I've had an odd idea in the back of my mind for a while. I think I'll have a few chances to road test it in the next couple weeks...

The other thing I feel like saying is that just because one person starts working with a "theme" of one sort or another, that doesn't make it off-limits for others. Generally, themes are of an elemental level, such as repeated use of a color, or a wardrobe item, or a setting, or a prop, or a trick of the light, or using paint or oil or water or grape jelly on the model, or some simple notion that can be repeated with variations. For some, the theme is a short-lived exercise, maybe a few sessions, or maybe long enough to fill a book, and for others, it endures for years or even an entire career. But just because Richard Avedon did many B&W portraits on a stark white background, that doesn't mean "white" belongs only to him. Granted, if someone does portraits in that style (especially if 4x5 negative frame edges are added after the fact), they bring the inevitable comparisons onto themselves. And some themes are so deliberately unique, such as the Andy Warhol "Factory Treatment," that to get anywhere near them is almost certainly a case of imitation. But there will always be those who look at art to compare and find similarities, and those who look at each piece (or project) on its own merits.

A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a photographer shot with a model who went by the name Fairy... And at long last, here she is. This one actually goes back a ways, as some communication problems and miscellaneous delays kept the editing from actually being completed until this week. Slowly catching up, slowly. I'll let you know how "happily ever after" works out.

Waifer thin...

Here are a few of Casey from the Collingwood group shoot in July... hesitated a bit posting these because she looks like she might not be of age, when in fact, she's 21. Used to be someone might describe her as "coltish" but maybe "waifish" is a more current term. She does look a bit like she stepped out of a Jock Sturges book though...

I really like these shots, and the cohesive feel they have, while each is pretty distinct unto itself. I guess one thing I might change is the crucifix necklace... it shows up in a LOT of the other images in her portfolio, but then again, it works well in my shots, so does it really matter? Thanks to Casey for a lovely "get acquainted" shoot...