Cheese World

For a model shoot today I had to buy four pounds of swiss cheese and two mice. This is one of the mice. This is the one who managed to make a quick nest in the models wig and climb up my shirt sleeve. I had to disrobe to get him out! Since he can't tell me himself, I'm thinking he wasn't a big fan of the flashing lights. I don't think his aspirations were to be a photo star!

Before the shoot with the model, I did a little warm up shoot with just the mice. I created a little cheese world for them to run around in. Cheese World was quite stinky. And I didn't know this, but swiss cheese does not like to stick to anything. I used all kinds of adhesive to try and get this cheese to stay up, but it didn't work. Luckily it lasted long enough to take a few shots of this little guy.

Merry Christmas!

I had little faith in Santa this year. Thanks to my family gift exchange, I always know exactly what I am getting for Christmas. But this year I got a super big surprise. My boss gave me a new camera (sorry for the lame picture, but oddly enough I couldn't find anything else to take pictures of with it!) I am crazy excited. I like to say I don't care about material things, but I really wanted this camera! And it's hard to get right now. Luckily somebody didn't pick this one up at the camera store. All we had to do was call in and pick it up. Man, I am crazy excited. I wish I had better lighting (and a better subject) in my house to take better pictures! But considering that shot was taken at 3200 ISO, it's a darn nice picture.

Prop Queen (Inspiration)

Some people call me the prop queen. I'm honored by that. It beats dumpster diver or junk collector or lady with lots of trash. I also love that people bring me props and say "Here, make this work." It's exactly what Michelle did with her big diamond ring that she got at a wedding. I was honored when she said, "If anybody can think of what to do with it, it's you." We had a shoot with Brittany lined up. I had three or four things to do with her already, but the ring intrigued me. It was a challenge indeed. 

It took me a while, but I thought of using it as a brass knuckles. The bride would be beat up with hand tattoos, bad jewelry, wild hair and tough attitude. Luckily, I had a wedding dress in the studio and some backboard tile to put in our studio bathroom. I wrote all over it with lipstick. Michelle did a great job on the black eye and hand tattoos (which say "love" and "hate"). And Brittany did a great job with the attitude. It's my favorite set of the day and the inspiration came from Michelle's ring. 

And for those interested in lighting. It's a three light set up which is amazing considering how small that bathroom is. There's a light with a softbox on her right (sitting on the counter). There's a bare bulb light on the floor about a foot in front of her. There's also a gridded light about two and half feet away aimed at her face. There's barely room for me and the heater (she was freezing) to be in the doorway. I like the harshness of the light and the shadows it created. It fits the mood.

I Do What I Can (Inspiration)

I love this photo. I'm really happy Tony was willing to give it a try for me. I found the lips on a lollipop around Halloween and I didn't have a dollar in my wallet, but I had to have them. I sat them on my desk and waited for something to come to me. I thought of a Mr. Potato Head type of photo, but eyes were going to be difficult. I had no idea what to use that would stick to the real eyes (without causing damage). I had nothing.

Weeks later, my bulbs burned out in my track lights, just two of them. I changed them and sat the burnt out bulbs on my desk. Don't ask why I didn't just throw them away. I don't know why. I don't throw anything out that I can use for a photo shoot. Or I give it a week or two of sitting around and if I can't think of anything, I let it go to the trash bin. It took at least a week before I looked at them and held them up to my eyes. I found the eyes to go with my lips, he would have to hold them up, but I was OK with that.

I wish I knew how or why these things pop into my head, but I don't. I wish more things would pop into my head as people are always asking me to come up with concepts for them. I do what I can with what I have.

Kids

I love photographing kids. Well, sometimes I do. Usually those under 3 can be really difficult and some shoots result in zero good pictures. The trick is to find the right thing to entertain them. I always try to get kids doing something or otherwise, they walk right off set looking for something to do. I lucked out today with this giant box. I had it wrapped as a gift which was OK, but as soon as I opened it up and let her play in it, she was as happy as could be. Apparently boxes are her favorite thing, that and Dora the Explorer.

Ponies on the Lonely Road

Mel wanted to do something really unique for the Lonely Road series. I think she got what she wanted, it's pretty unique. I love the romantic feel of the photo. The clouds were perfect that day and we were shooting around sunset so the low sun added to the romance. I love it when mother nature cooperates.

The pony was quite a ham, after a while he walked right up the suitcase and posed for several shots. I guess they are used to posing for all the tourists that stop to take their pictures. When he got bored, he went right back to that spot (I think he was protected from the wind behind those bushes and trees.)

What you can't see in that photo is the 30 degree weather and the whipping wind. If you turned the camera around on me, you'd see a well wrapped photographer — winter coat, hat, gloves. Mel knew what she wanted and she worked hard to get it. I'm always impressed by that. This is a fantastic addition to the series.

Jenn is Amazing

Jenn walked into my studio four months ago and I did a double take. Is this the girl I've been talking to for eight months about shooting? She looked so different in person. She's beautiful either way, but it's like two different people. I honestly went back to her portfolio and looked for the person who walked into my studio. I saw a resemblance I guess. She was an awesome model and such a neat girl. So when she came back four months later, I just had to shoot with her. Plus she pulled together wardrobe, makeup and hair. People don't want to say no to Jenn and there's a reason for that — she's amazing. 

And there she is. It's 40 degrees outside. The team is all dressed in coats and gloves and she's modeling in a tiny knit dress. You wouldn't know it was so cold. Michelle did makeup and Kymmy did hair, both are such great ladies who are magical with their talent. Rockin Bones (rockinbones.net) provided the wardrobe. We lucked out with the location, the hotel she was staying at was getting rid of their old mattresses. It was a perfect match for the outfit.

On the third set, I couldn't get the lighting right and she stood there in the cold without a single complaint, same for Michelle. I felt rotten! The location was new to me and I just couldn't feel the lighting. Sometimes my zen for lighting fails me - sucks when that happens and it's cold outside and everybody is just waiting for you to get something right.

Jenn really is amazing (as was the whole team) and I think it shows in the photograph.