Posts Tagged ‘model mayhem’

the difference is

August 13, 2014

today a perfect rainy day for sitting here writing  and posting my latests adventure in model land. sometimes it’s not a pretty story i guess because nobody gets rich or famous working with me, not even me. as i’ve written i seem to do this for love, actually i’ve got a need to create or i start feeling antsy.

one heck of a way to live huh? yes there is a physicality to this ‘not working’ mary makes fun of me sometimes telling her friend that ‘i was sitting in the driveway relaxing patching holes in the pavement.’ that old new england work ethic which comes into play even in my creativity. now if only i could find people to work with with the same ethic.

so today i’ll post some new pictures of two different shoots done a week apart although it seems world of difference. we will do them in order but actually the second series we had been talking about for some time before actually finding time. both of the models come from model mayhem, tiemn: 3433931 and masha 1029 : 2273038.

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tiemn i found on craigslist and she looked interesting but i’ve been down that road before and should know better for me. i am not the best instructor for doing poses, working with dancers all i need is to give them a space and they perform. all i do is push the shutter button.

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i do give them some idea of what i am looking for not always does it translate and i am a big experimenter but i fell back on what i knew worked. these were done with some small hot lights i have, just to make things interesting.

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i told her at one point in the shoot she looked as if her ‘dog had died’ oh well. she put the image below in her portfolio.

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i liked this image along with the one below that i photoshoped some background stuff to make her stand out some and give a sense of direction for the lighting.

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the one thing i can say about her is she’s very comfortable nude. while waiting for a cd she sat on the couch nude playing with her phone. most girls get dressed right away and are ready to dash off. at first tiemn didn’t want her face shown only her body, well lets see what happens i said. i don’t think these pics will spoil her chances of getting married but might improve it. who knows?

now with masha  who’s much different, lovely portfolio, plain full body shots showing who she is along with artsy stuff. she is a painter which we talked about working in but this was our first get together and i am soooo tired of lighting.

i wanted to do a boudoir/lingerie type shoot under natural lighting using my 50mm 1.8 lens which was fine with her, so lets begin

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i was hoping for something commercial looking, thinking maybe someone might want an old man to shoot them for valentines days picture for their boyfriend. i have a friend jack cutler who shoots awesome boudoir/erotic images. no i don’t think i’ll ever match him but it does inspire me.


_MG_6208_MG_6194red is not her natural hair color but it looks pretty cool, women are lucky that way one day red next day blond.

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so now we started playing around using props.

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 we both had a few laughs since i lost the keys to the handcuffs but she showed me how to use them without the key she has her own set, i didn’t ask.

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this image i use now for my avatar on model mayhem which i hopes draws some clients but mostly the people who see it just want money from me, which i don’t mind if they have something of equal value to offer me. masha has a sense of humor and really didn’t have a problem doing anything i asked.

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this image will never make farcebook but that’s not a world i live in. i want to feel the blood pounding through my veins to my heart, to feel the heat of myself getting excited. to live, to love, to be in the moment, here and now.

jene

working with a new model, or what can we both learn from this experience?

June 2, 2013

working with new models is always interesting in you never know what you’re going to have walk through the door. i’ve written about this before that people might bring with them unusual attitudes and sometimes not. it’s always a pleasure to be pleasantly surprised by an open attitude , which i try and have about any shoot but i am only a part of the creative process.

so this posting is about this session with Mike. after many changes to times and dates prior to shoot mike walked into studio. 1/2 late. too many aspiring models etc think the world revolves around them, a problem of youth. i am just too old to be treated that way. he just caught me before i went about my days business thinking he was just another ‘no show’. seems when you’re doing someone a favor by shooting for their portfolio it’s not like a job to them. especially people new to the business of modeling, yes it is a business at least for some.

it’s about respect. seems a problem these days flooding this country, a complete lack of starting with our political leaders all the way down to our school children.

Mike

Mike

mike is a bodybuilder/weightlifter trying to learn how to be a model on model mayhem. i liked his beginning portfolio and contacted him, he was looking for headshots and full body. as we talked about the shoot he informed me he didn’t need the headshots as he had already did a session with someone else. ok with me but i did what i wanted because he was so interesting. he grew up in france and has a gentle demeanour about him. despite the modeling name of Black Chaos which is a bit off putting. i don’t need anymore chaos in my life it’s pretty full now.

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but as we began talking things loosened up. he’s from france which gives him a totally different outlook on life.  he’s very gentle i guess a gentle giant. so i began turning on lights my normal 3 light setup. nothing special no time for that now. two grid side lights, one on each side and an overhead/back shoveled unit. i don’t have much studio height nor more room than allows a 9′ roll of noseam.

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there i s a gridded strip softbox overhead on camera axises for soft front fill with a modeling light on.

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i used a chair as a prop to give him something to work with, it  sometimes helps, in a way distracts and gives them something to do with their hands. good place to sit down and rest for either the model or a tired tog._MG_7023a

‘oh what have i gotten myself into.’

but not really. this session didn’t last too long maybe just over an hour because i had to go to a ‘go see’ explaining to mike what ‘go sees’ are and how common it is in the business to be asked to attend one. i asked another female model is she would come over yesterday. never heard from her, must have gone shopping or something more important.

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mike has very deep set eyes, also very tired when he showed up. so what i tried to do here on these portraits was to add my 580 flash with a 40 degree grid holding it over the camera under or to the side. it didn’t seem to work here but i had both hands full had i the time i would have set the 580 on a stand but i was in a hurry thinking i could do it. oh well

i do like the way the session turned out. i am not a beauty photographer nor do i claim to be one and i usually get something i like out of the session that i like. seeing the images mike was all excited and wanted them all unedited. i deleted the really bad ones while i was setting the lighting & f stops.

here is the lighting setup

lighting diagram

he wants to come back for more so we will see if that happens. i’ve learned to get what i want on the first session as people don’t always do what they say they will.

i did get a chance after the shoot to test my LG4X remote from White Lightning to save me having to set the intensity with a ladder. moving along with life.

so it is for this sunday morning hope you enjoy

jene

days of the dead and living……… halloween is just around the corner

October 25, 2012

life is moving around me like an alaskan spring river melt and i am dancing as fast as i can to keep up. this is one of my favorite times of the year with the changing of season, trees of many colors, wonderful leaves underfoot, i love the patterns and colors. even cars parked on new york city streets importing  country leaves on their hoods reminding me of the beauty of death, which without we may not be here. imagine a world which nothing died. would we have a place to stand?

i am just a photographer who found a few spare dollars in order to pay a couple advertizing on craigslist looking for work. i’ve not done a shoot in a while, sometimes months even then i never catch up to my life. seems there is always something to do. is this going to be another season i never get out of the city to sit among the colorful countryside? looks that way. but i’ve got some sort of style here about non communication which these picture are about.

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I’ve been a member of One Model Place for a year and now a member of Model Mayhem where i try and find people to work with. i am more successful on craigslist. i find a lot of the people on these sites to be ‘want to bes’ aren’t serious to say the least, even though they write they are artist. i had another flake text me saturday she couldn’t make a shoot we had set up ten days in advance. instead she did a bloody skull shoot in albany ny.

a tog friend had four for four no shows this week from model mayhem. so i’ve come to think that most of them are full of sh…t. but i still need models.

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so where do i go? these people are just starting out modeling but they are an intimate couple and pretty open whether or not they understood where i was coming from. i sent these images and haven’t heard from them yet. they did cash the check and sign a model release.

just for fun i submitted the above image to Calumet photo ‘Photo of the Month‘ contest. fat chance of it being selected as october is over, i just like to stimulate the judges.

the embrace

we all had a few laughs along the way of the session, i got a few images out of the two hours but not really the pic i have a envisioned of but it all wasn’t a waste of time and no children or animals were hurt which is always a good thing.

taking her into my arms

below is one of my favorite images. i was going for something sensual between this couple which i think happens here.

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but then we changed roles

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while they are not actors being an intimate couple helps in projecting the emotion that interests me. but you the viewer are the final judge here.

scream

trying to do the shooting, lighting, props and styling is a pretty challenging job. yes i played in photoshop for a long day putting together the shoot playing with this slider then that one so what you see here is what i came up with. tomorrow i may change my mind.

come to me softly

so here is the naked truth of what i had to work with, not bad but also not optional for what i was looking for, but all in all a nice couple of kids.

nude couple

 i do like the way sam looks at kat.

it’s late in the evening and i am off to photo expo tomorrow to meet mary and another friend who is an important mentor for us whom we met on another photo sharing site who’s company attends the expo every year.

jene