Interesting photo shoot last night.

A group of photographers were shooting Erin at Darryl Briggs’ studio. Erin is a wonderful model.

We shot on two different sets: an outdoor winter set and a Christmas set.

This is Erin

I got home really late last night and didn’t have time to “Photoshop” the images. This first picture was not edited. It was cropped.

More Erin

 This picture wasn’t edited either – only cropped.

The lighting setup

Darryl set up two softboxes to the left and right of the model for the key and fill light. If you look closely, you can see two catch lights in Erin’s eyes.

The winter set backdrop was lit by two gelled strobes to help create a winter effect. The Christmas set included a backlight: a strobe with a grid to focus the light.

Both sets were lit for shooting at ISO 100 and f8.0. The shutter speed had little effect on exposure on either set with one exception: the Christmas tree lights were only visible if the shutter speed was set to 1/15 or slower. If this doesn’t make much sense to you, I refer you to the Strobist’s Lighting 101 blog or Neil van Niekerk’s Tangents blog.

I set my camera to ISO 100 and f8.0 with a shutter speed of 1/200 for all of my shots. The camera was set on manual exposure and so were the flashes. I got good, consistent exposures as long as Erin didn’t move closer to or farther from the key and fill lights.

Auto focus adventures

I shot these picutres with an old Canon Digital Rebel XT. In the past, the auto exposure couldn’t decide exactly what to focus on. The camera has 7 focus points and the camera decided which focus point was appropriate for each shot. Whenever I would shoot a model, the camera might focus on her hips, hands, face, the background – I never knew until I reviewed the shots.

Last night, I tried something new. I reviewed the camera user manual and found out how to manually set the focus point. I chose the focus point just to the right of the center focus point. Since I shoot with a vertical (portrait) orientation most of the time, this focus point ends up close to the subject’s eyes when I shoot. I positioned the focus point on Erin’s eyes, locked the focus by pressing the shutter release half-way, composed and shot.

Virtually all of my shots were in perfect focus! This is a HUGE improvement. I no longer have to shoot a large number of “safety” exposures. This saves time and requires a lot less effort for me and the models.

Shooting with other photographers at Darryl’s studio

There were 20 photographers and one model. We took turns shooting Erin.

This may sound like a problem, but it really isn’t. I went first and shot Erin on the winter set. I then got to observe how 19 photographers shoot. I learned a great deal from watching them. Especially this:

The best poses are the result of a specific vision by the photographer who clearly directs the model through those poses.

I gave Erin posing guidelines and she gave me a lot of good poses. But, I noticed some of the other photographers gave more specific instructions to Erin and got even better poses and shots.

Lesson learned.

I’ll post more shots of Erin from this shoot soon. I’m backed up on my Photoshopping, but I’ll get to them ASAP. I promise.

Madeline’s got this new obsession when we go shopping. She is very fascinated by the mannequins in the stores and has started to ask me to take pictures of her posing with them. The other night she and I went on a little shopping trip together and this is when I noticed this new quirk of hers.

Here she is:

You can’t really tell from the picture, but she has her hand on her hip doing her little pose. She had originally wanted to sit in the mannequin’s lap, but I told her that I wasn’t going to reposition the mannequin so she had to settle for posing next to it.

I can’t recall why she only had half of her hair fixed. I’m sure it had something to do with her little rebellious streak that she has going on right now. I think I was just happy that her clothes weren’t completely mismatched so I ignored the hair.

While on our shopping spree we found some mini-Christmas trees that just happened to be in a bunch of different colors. It would have been difficult to pass up a pink Christmas tree for Madeline, and since I had been thinking it would be fun to put a little tree in her room I bought it for her. I also bought a blue one for Anthony’s room. He didn’t seem very excited about it, but I know someday if Madeline her very own pink Christmas tree and he didn’t have his own it would be a problem. We bought some mini-ornaments to go along with the trees, and Madeline had a good time decorating both of them.

She redecorated her tree repeatedly for the first few days, so that alone made it a great investment! Unfortunately Anthony has also taken a liking to the trees and I have to spend a great deal of time telling him to stop messing with the trees. Here’s Anthony starting to go after Madeline’s tree.

And since some of you may be wondering how Anthony’s doing with his croup I figured I’d updated on that too. Thankfully he hasn’t had any more really scary breathing episodes in the middle of the night, but he is still sick. The steroid that the doctor gave him in her office is wearing off, and we’re not really seeing a lot of improvement in how he’s doing. He’s still got the stridor going on as well. During the day he’s his usual active self, but at night it’s a different story!

For the past few nights he’s had a hard time settling down and staying comfortable at night. The vaporizer in his room doesn’t seem to be having much effect on him either. I’ve been spending a lot of time holding him and rocking him. He sleeps just fine in my arms, but the moment I try to put him in his crib and leave him he wakes up and starts to scream. The screaming causes his throat issues to get worse, and then we’re back to square one. Also, for some reason, Anthony has decided that he only wants me to rock him, so David can’t even offer me much help.

Finally last night I was so tired of sitting in his room and not being able to leave him I just broke down and brought him to bed with me. Madeline had a nightmare while I was dealing with Anthony, and David had gone into her room to lay in her bed while she settled down. Of course he ended up falling asleep, so I just left him and let Anthony take his spot in our bed.

It wasn’t quite the same sleep that I am used to, but I was getting desperate for some relief. Anthony was so sweet it was hard to be too upset about my lack of sleep. He wanted to be sure I was still with him in bed, so he finally reached out and put his hand on my arm so he could feel me. Melt my heart! I have to admit that I can see why parents end up keeping their kids in bed with them, because it is so sweet to have them passed out next to you looking all angelic instead of wreaking havoc like they normally do during the day!

When I woke up this morning I rolled over and saw Anthony sitting up in bed next to me smiling. Yeah, I’m not a morning person but that sight made me reconsider whether I could be a morning person.

Tonight is looking like it could be another rough night. We’re hoping that Anthony starts to see some relief soon because we miss our sleep!

DailyNews: A South Los Angeles man accused of posing as a magazine photographer and persuading young women to bare their breasts and genitals so he could grope them was behind bars early Friday, police said.
Keith Lloyd Nichols, 22, has been in custody since he surrendered to Los Angeles police about 1 p.m. Thursday.

Nichols allegedly told several young women he was a photographer for Vibe Magazine, and they agreed to disrobe and let him measure their breasts and groins for custom-fitted underwear, Capt. Blake Chow of the Los Angeles Police Department said earlier.

Nichols told the women that if their measurements were right, they could get modeling jobs with Vibe Magazine, Chow said.

The women realized they had been duped when Nichols never returned phone calls, Chow said.

The measuring sessions often took place in secluded, public places, where Nichols used a measuring tape as a prop, Chow said.

“While none of the woman recalled him taking photographs, Nichols did touch the women’s bare breasts and groins with his hands,” Chow said.

“The lure of Hollywood and a big career in modeling blinded these girls from reality,” Chow said. “That’s what con artists rely on.”

Nichols’ bail was set at $20,501, according to jail records. He remained behind bars but it was unclear where he was being held, a Los Angeles County jailer said in a telephone interview early Friday.

Jail records also showed Nichols was arrested in September on a felony charge by Hawthorne police, and
in August on a misdemeanor by Long Beach police.

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I am so blessed.

I have met amazing people in unexpected ways and places.

I bumped into Kelley at my church during the fall festival. She was  holding a tiny baby boy and I just had to see him. My love for teeny tiny baby noses, fingers, toes, long eyelashes, puckered sweet lips, and soft tiny breathes bought me a new friend. Even with the hubbub of busy toddlers running through the room, hollering, jumping, and screaming I managed to give Kelley my number.

Not only am I excited to have a friend who is a stay at home mom, but I also had the priviledge of meeting her family and was given an opportunity to take pictures of her sweet, tiny baby…Camden Elijah.

Jefferson and Kelley, I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed taking them. Thank you for sharing a little piece of your lives with me.

I look forward to seeing you all again!

Here we see Rex relaxing with his trophy the rack from a 128 point
buck

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: dunno source via Loldog Builder

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This video is of a model that is having a make over and working towards a photo shoot for her portfolio. This is a Amercian video. And I must say what awful music!!!

Just a quick note, I just finished my bi-monthly trek around Station North putting up flyers for next Monday’s Dr. Sketchy’s and stopped by Artist & Craftsman Supply to pick up the prizes.  Sweet Jesus there was a big bag waiting.  To be honest, I almost didn’t make it over to the Windup Space with it (the car running a light and nearly splatting me didn’t help).  Figured I’d take a quick photo and let folks see what we’ll be giving away over the next two sessions during the contests.

If you’re not buying your art supplies from Artist & Craftsman Supply yet, you should be.  They’re at the corner of North & Howard, basically across the street (and they’re open to 8 too).

Oh, and don’t forget Atomic Books, take a look at this.

Bettie Page: Queen of Hearts by Jim Silke is a collection of paintings, drawings, dime store novels, and even advertisements influenced by Bettie Page.

And from Baby Tattoo Books,

I’m not sure which one we’re giving away yet (Alexis is in Phoenix at the moment and we usually decide at the last moment anyway), but it’s probably one of these two.

Also, Russell who owns Windup Space is going to do a contest as well….a free drink (I don’t know the specifics yet) for him to be able to keep a drawing and hang it behind the bar for the next two weeks.  Sounds like this will probably be a regular thing too.

That’s all I got at the moment, now I’m going to start working on the blog post for Lena Grove’s session last week.  Probably get it up late tonight or tomorrow.  So if you have a sketch you want to send in, you have mere MOMENTS LEFT.

Dr. Sketchy’s with Sugar Ann Spice is next Monday, November 23rd, 7:00 (doors at 6), at the Windup Space.  Earlier you are, better the seat.

之前回覆凱允媽媽說小公主現在會自己擺唔同嘅pose比我地同佢影相, 下面個短片就係小公主自己不停擺咗12個pose, 每個pose仲會定一定比你影咗, 佢先換另外一個pose架。

!!!

Here’s the new flyer for next Monday, the 23rd, where the lovely Sugar Ann Spice will be your muse for the evening.

Thanks to the wonderful Elise Dawson of Stereo Vision Photography for letting us use her fantastic photo of Sugar!

Join our Facebook group to RSVP and post your past drawings, and if you want quick updates on what’s going on, following us on Twitter.  Check back here in a few days and we should have the photos up from Lena Grove’s session too. 

Svettig efter morgonens powerwalk in till stan samt något hårig (sparar tills vaxningen) och med en lite småvirrig och seg diethjärna hittade jag vägen till NJoy träningscenter här i stan och iförde mig den lilla svarta bikinin för träningssalens skarpa ljus … och in kommer en jätteglad, vacker och galet välformad Carina Isaksson för att ge mig lite poseringsträning.

Striked a pose at NJoy!

Jag kan bara seja att det verkligne var en mycket välinvesterad tid - det blev posering tills svetten rann, massor av riktigt bra tips & tricks och förslag inför och under tävlingen som jag känner mig så ohört tacksam för …

Slutligen kom även några riktigt peppande åsikter om hur min form kan bli om jag bara lägger manken till nu .. ord som var riktigt peppande å höra ifrån en tjej som kan det här… hon är verkligen ett exemplarisk föredöme för fitness – så hjälpsam och god också!

Carina Isaksson:

Jag behövde nog det här extra knuffet nu på slutet för att verkligen vilja & orka ge gärnet de sista veckorna.. så nu gäller det å bita ihop liiite till! No mercy!..ho..ho.. !

Men inte utan min fiskolja..

….det var iallafall en bubblande glad Liss som gick iväg och shoppade ett lass med tjocka färggranna strumpor efteråt (strumpor är och blir en konstant bristvara här hemma) samt en burk Eskimo-3 fiskolja – för det går ju åt en del fiskolja för tiden (Här kan du även läsa lite om omega 3-föreläsningen jag varit på med professor Saldeen)…

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In Western culture, Egypt seems to be the best place to trace lithe, high glamour, iconic posing, and so it seems fitting that a certain style of freeze frame dancing would be dubbed as “tutting” (as in “King Tut” or Pharoah Tutankhamen). But here’s something interesting and new: finger tutting.

Hmm:

It is so awesome to shoot the pictures of Funk family at a park. I did not realize the sun goes down early than planned, due to end of October at turn one hour early. Got to hurry and took as many pictures I would till dark overcome me! Their girl is about same age as my older son, almost tall for her age! She is fun to work with, would be almost as good as model. Their two adorable girls bubbling around, some take serious, or else got curious and look other way. Managed to get some best shots.

I think maybe this is almost last shoot before next day another photoshoot for a farm family for autumn before all leaves on trees go bare. It was really fun shooting two families in same day! Good luck in their choice for their Christmas gifts. Always love to see what they would choose!

With all best luck!

I think I am going to have to put “nude” or “naked” in every blog title because I get so many more hits when I do. Funny. I bet my friend Maia’s blog, Yard Sale Porn, gets a lot of hits because its most awesome name contains that magical word that everyone associates with the interwebs.

I had two modeling gigs at the University yesterday. I wore clothes for the afternoon class and my birthday suit for the night shift. This is important to note.

There are a few things I’ve learned about modeling over the course of this semester, but the one that really rings true is how much music sets the mood. I cannot stress this enough.

Music makes a HUGE difference.

Forget the clothes, or lack thereof. Forget the mutton chops. Forget the swords and space heaters. If the music sucks, I am miserable. Yesterday, I was wearing a white shirt with ruffles, plaid skirt, textured tights and motorcycle boots, so I was happy. Was. Until the teacher turned on the radio and left the room. I think she put on V-89, the Voice of Florida State, which is normally a perfectly fine station. The Time Machine on Saturday mornings? Fantastic. The Saturday afternoon Reggae Jam? Totally money. (I, for one, am a big fan of public radio stations dedicating the 2-4:20 spot on Saturdays to reggae. Just saying.) But I think the 1-3 p.m. weekday slot is called Art Model Suicides. Maybe it was bad jazz, or experimental electronic music (don’t even get me started on Bonk), but whatever the hell it was, it made me want to kick kittens. The volume was at that annoyingly low level, too, where every song sounds like “Convoy,” and I could feel my blood boiling. The stool was beginning to feel like a missile up my ass. I began biting my lip. I could taste blood. And then I couldn’t take it anymore. “COULD SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE THIS HORRIBLE MUSIC STOP BEFORE THE MODEL REALLY FREAKS OUT??!?!” Wow. Those art students can really move!

It is strange, because some songs that you would never think of in a million years can create the most perfectly serene mood. And I know that you are going to laugh at me, but last night, while modeling nude in a too-comfortable pose (yes, I did the head-bob/jerk-awake move at one point), I heard Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and it was magical.

The Tropical Storm Ida rains were still falling, the lights were dim (of course, I was in the spotlight), and the students were totally into their drawings. The room, the situation, the moment suddenly felt like a film. I imagined the voice-overs of the students’ thoughts, the CCR softly playing of the scratches off charcoal on paper. And then the camera focuses on the one student listening to his own music, and you hear what’s really going on in his head. The anguish, the lust, the drama. I must go write this screenplay now. Thank you, CCR.

My daughter agreed to pose for me… I might have over stepped a line when it took me to two locations and about an hour of shooting..lol

But she is a great sport and I love her for this .. plus could you ask for a more special beautiful model EVER?

We went to a run down lumber yard and train track. Great light at the time of day we went out too.

So here she is my wonderful daughter … btw Mo is her nick name..lol

Peace and Respect

Julia

!!!

Lena Grove stole hearts left and right, and just like last time, I had a couple folks tell me later they’re either in love with her, or are still in love from the last time.  On a side but related note, because Windows can’t make an operating system that can’t run for 5 minutes without crashing, I’ve been working on this blog post for three days, and, well, there’s a lot worse things in the world I could have been looking at that than a photo blog of last session.  Alexis is in Phoenix at the moment doing whatever people do in Phoenix, grilling armadillos and whatnot, so it’s up to me write this post with little to no adult supervision.  This means, 1) there’ll be more typos than usual and 2) someone somewhere will probably be offended shortly.

Anyway, let’s get this going.

Lots of sketches got sent in this time around.  This first one is from Michelle Murphy…

Our first contest was the opposite hand contest, where “if you’re right-handed, you draw with your left, and if you’re left-handed you draw with your right, and if you’re ambidextrous pretend you’re not so you don’t make anyone cry.”  Russell made up some mystery shots for the two winners; he actually messed up the first set and made us drink the horrible concoction . . . don’t ever say Team Sketchy isn’t willing to take one for the team.  If you thought we were a little more tipsy than normal by the end of things, you were probably right.

Near as I can tell, no one sent any opposite-hand drawings in from that contest, unless they were cheating, which I doubt, since the crowd looked to be a good, wholesome sort.

That last photo MIGHT be the judging of the opposite-hand drawing contest.  Hard to tell though.

This next sketch is from Steve Peters, he and Andrea Grigoropol (you’ll see her stuff in a minute) drove all the way down from Philly just to see Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore.  I can not tell you how much that tickles us.  Unless they’re spies from the Philly Dr. Sketchy’s.  Advance scouts for some sort of Dr. Sketchy’s gang turf war if you will.  If that’s the case, if they’re making a move on our corner, well, we ain’t scared of Nicola Black’s posse.  Just in case though, if some of you could pack your heat for the next couple sessions, we should be alright.

That’s a joke.

It just occurred to me this IS Baltimore, somebody might take me seriously.

Michelle Murphy next . . .

Brian Dugan

And here’s Andrea Grigoropol from Philly . . .

The first contest was a special request from Lena – she wanted the best interpretation of her as a zombie, the winner getting 1000 Pinup Girls by Harald Hellmann, Charles Martignete, Louis Meisel from Atomic Books.

A whole bunch of folks gave her their drawings at the end of the night, which we were lucky enough to get a chance to scan.  Unfortunately, that means we don’t have the names of the artists.  If you see your sketch, email us, and we’ll be happy to tack your name under it.  On the off chance two people claim a drawing, the two can come to the next Dr. Sketchy’s (this Monday with Sugar Ann Spice!) and settle it with a rousing bout of fisticuffs during a break.

ANYWAY, these first two are from that stack.

(I had some trouble with the scanner on this one. . . that’s only half of it.   The scanner just ain’t big enough.)

(edit: This following drawing is by Diego Molano.)

Another Steve Peters . . .

Brian Dugan

The next contest was the random noun contest where folks in the crowd shout out a random . . . well, noun.  Obviously some drinks had started to make themselves known since we somehow ended up with “Mexican wrestling badgers”.  No, I don’t know either.  I don’t even know what a badger looks like.  I can’t even imagine trying to draw one with a Mexican wrestling mask on.  The crowd definitely had my sympathies, though they did bring it on themselves I suppose.  The prize was Miss Mindy’s Sassy Paper Doll Bonanza by Miss Mindy from Baby Tattoo Books.

This first one is Andrea Grigoropol again, at least I think it is.  It has AG on it and was in Lena’s stack.

Brian Dugan

Another unnamed . . .

A couple more sketches to finish us out . . .

Michelle Murphy

Andrea Grigoropol (next three)

Steve Peters

EM Kuker

And one more unnamed . . .

Special super-duper thanks go to Lena Grove of Baltimore’s Gilded Lily Burlesque who without none of this would be possible, to Russell of the Windup Space for putting one more nail in everyone’s livers, Jeff for talking all these nice pictures, Bill for taking video for the Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore documentary while simultaneously watching the door, and our generous sponsors Atomic Books, Artist & Craftsman Supply, and Baby Tattoo Books.

The next Dr. Sketchy’s is tomorrow, November 23rd, at 7:00 (doors at 6) at the Windup Space with Sugar Ann Spice!

If you haven’t already, check out the previous post to get a peek at Monday’s prizes!

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