Stick

I found this deserted part of Teddy Roosevelt Island. It took a lot of off-the-path walking through some pretty big spider webs to find the edge of the island that was empty. I have two very large spider bites to prove it.

It's neat to find beach in DC. You know, sand and little waves. And here was untouched beach. So peaceful (except for the spider bites). It's a natural light shot with my point and shoot.

Ink

I've shot models with tattoos before. Usually, they have one or two. But Shannon had many. She's also a tattoo artist so it's a large part of who she is. I wanted to get pictures that would represent that. I made a bra out of hair for her and used a sleeveless, short dress that would give prominence to all of her tattoos. I really enjoyed this shoot. I got to play with fake hair and work with good people: Shannon was super fun as was Tatum who did the makeup and helped me with the hair.

Oh So Shiny Ring Flash

I don't shoot with my ring flash often. Mostly because the sucker is heavy and I like to shoot in portrait mode. I can only put it on a stand in landscape mode. I should probably buy some adaptor that would allow me to use a stand with it but I don't. So I only drag it out when I'm feeling especially strong and frisky. I used the Paul Buff Zeus RingMaster with the 30" moon unit attached.

I like this shot. It's blue and shiny. I collect material to use as backgrounds and this blue one has been sitting in that bucket for years. I've used the gold lamé many times (not too many are memorable, but I did try!) and I bought the blue at the same time, but I haven't had a use for it UNTIL I found that magical blue sequin hat. Ah, I love it when props come together. It makes all the clutter worthwhile!

Thanks to Andy for wearing my funky clothes and allowing me to play with my ring flash. The lighting is perfect with his pale skin.

(It seems to be the month of the bare-chested dudes. I guess we all go through phases.)

Preppy

I had to edit five more shots from Sal's set because that's what I promised him. He picked this one. It's growing on me. It's rather clean and simple. It's funny, my studio mate hates that green wall. I quite like it, but I think it's time to paint it another color.

FYI: I learned to tie a bow-tie for this. My skills just keep growing.

Fur

I just love this image. It's not my style at all, but I can't stop looking at it. First, it's has very soft highlights. Second, it's sepia. Third, it has no punch upon first glance, but the punch is there, it's just subtle. And nobody has ever accused me of being soft or subtle.

Sal actually picked to shoot in that fur. I bought it 5 years ago and spent what I consider big money on it ($26 at a thrift store). I've shot it many times, but have never gotten a good picture out of it. Mainly because it has 1980s style shoulder pads that make everybody look like a huge Yeti in the thing. But not Sal, he really knew what to do with it.

It's shot with two lights, one high up to his right with a medium size softbox, and a fill light almost directly to his left - same medium size softbox. If I were to reshoot it, I would probably increase the light to his left a bit (that would reduce some of the noise, which I don't really mind in this particular image).

Sadly, we did four different sets, and I don't want to edit any of them because this picture says it all for me. None of the others will compare to this one. This one feels like art.

Through the Shower Doors

Tonight I took some portraits through old shower doors. I got them free off of Craig's List. The only horrible part is carrying them up a flight of stairs to the studio. (Next time I'm getting a studio on the ground floor.) Actually, I tried to give them back to the CL community, but nobody wanted them, which worked out since I got to use them again. I really like these portraits. I like the colors. Morgan picked the wig and dress which happened to match my painted wall. I picked the doors to shoot through.

This one looks like my style of portrait—good eye contact, simple and direct:

This one looks less like my style, a little off-center, a little more sexy, perhaps hectic:

I can't decide which one I like better.