definitions of women

Katelyn

2011-08-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Shiny Bella

2010-11-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

Race and Religious

2010-10-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Not color or religion but cross streets of an amazing location rich in heritage and eclectic style hidden in plain sight. The beautiful and lovely Candace Nirvana strolling the grounds.

Naked Girls reading

2010-08-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

I just love the cat in this image! Oh those eyes.

Tia on the Rocks

2010-07-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

In the Curve

2010-06-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

The amazing and talented Bella Blue.

Experimental

2010-06-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I have no concept, no thoughts, no plan, but I still shoot. Pushing myself to find beauty, art, soul in what I am trying to do.

I don't want to have my picture taken

2010-05-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

Me: But wait a minute you're model, right?
Model: Yes. but I hate to have my picture taken.
Me: I'm a little confused here, this is what you do for a living... do you not like it that much?
Model: No. I love modeling I just hate to have my picture taken. I prefer to create art, something with meaning not just have my picture taken.
Me: Ohhh. Well I certainly understand that. I don't want to take you're picture either. Capture your soul maybe . . . but not take your picture.
Model: Then we agree.
Me: Yes we are in complete agreement.

Candace Nirvana

2010-05-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a consistent debate that I am having about this image. Is there too much clutter in the photograph so that it distracts the viewer from the form and the woman. Or does the reflection in the mirror mimic a painting in the frame. Please comment..

Pipes

2010-04-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Tia Maria

Susie B 100 Poses

2010-04-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Part of a series of images, that I named 100 poses. Basically the model get this table and 100 frames to pose with it however they want. It's amazing how similar and how different each one is.

Vipond

2010-04-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

The Pet

2010-03-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

Kiera Grant at the Super 8.

Kiera

2010-03-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Oh That Susie B!

2010-03-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

Fantastic week/weekend with Susie B. A naturally beautiful model came to townto run in a race and I was lucky to have time with her to shoot twoamazing sets.

Nettie and her Hair

2010-01-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

Arching Up.

2010-01-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

The wonderful Jenna.

Beauty and Industry Series

2010-01-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

Is this the end?

2009-12-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

I push aside the stars,

Scattering them like diamonds across the landscape.

Blackness opens in the sky.

Tearing a hole.

The cold rock withering,

It burns within.

Passion fires inside.

Doused again by the cold world.

I have sooo neglected this ...

2009-12-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

The Vipond

Jewel

2009-10-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy overcast day, I locked my keys inside the studio as I was heading to the shoot. needless to say I was an hour late while waiting for a friend to show up with keys. I lost an hour of light which created good things and we missed out on good things. Jewel was sweet and a wonderful model to work with. Thanks to Elsa Brodmann and Jasmine for styling and makeup.

More images can be seen at the online magazine amelieg .

vivian

2009-09-29T13:51:00.001-07:00

The gymnast!

Kenny again

2009-08-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

Kenny s quickly becoming one of my more versatile models. He shows up in the oddest of places. . .

Tortured

2009-08-15T10:47:00.001-07:00

As artists we are tortured. Some more than others. Paula is indeed in that category.

Nettie

2009-06-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Nettie R. Harris. Have you seen her?

Screen Test.

DEXTER

2009-06-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

Model Nettie Harris

Themes

2009-06-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Themed shoots seem to be what's driving me these days. Last weeks theme was Frankenstein.This weeks theme was DEXTER.

Last night my scheduled model canceled.

I was lucky enough to call my friend Nettie Harris to come fill in. Damn we do some great work together. She trusts me completely. So much so that we established a safe word for tonight's shoot. If you don't know what a safeword is, it is primarily used in Bondage scenarios where the submissive may end the "scene' at any time. Dexter is the serial killer show on showtime and I recreated one of his kill scenes this evening. Plenty of plastic sheeting, Saran wrap and some stainless steel knives made everything look authentic. I still have to edit the images from today so here is a look at last weeks Frankenstein Shoot.

You can leave your hat on.

2009-05-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

Forbidden Fruit

2009-04-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

The Two Swimmers

2009-04-21T09:34:00.001-07:00

A rare treat this weekend with Bella Blue and Nettie Harris together. Yay! These two beautiful and incredibly talented models were so much fun to work with and they put up with my crazy ideas and concepts.

2009-04-14T04:19:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn

2009-04-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

Today I started out slow with a new model who had never posed nude before. She had actually only done two shoots in her life. She was extremely nervous as we started out. I did my best to calm her nerves, but it was evident in the first set that she was extremely tense and uncomfortable. She told me that she ran around her apartment naked to help her get used to being nude. We both chuckled at that. I finished the first set and I stopped and downloaded the card so that she could see the images. Most were awkward at best but we found one that she really liked. I told her that at this point everything else is lagniappe, and usually the first set is a throw away anyway because we are getting used to each other. I took a minute to show her poses from Victoria's Secret and from my previous shoots with great models. She started to understand.

Set number two and I could feel that she was finally beginning to trust me. "Point your toes, chin down, close your eyes and relax you face, stand on your tippy toes." All pointers that I gave her and she took direction extremely well. Once she learned a concept she didn't forget it. I showed her a couple of in camera images. Great work, I encouraged, nudging her self esteem. I wouldn't say that we had a breakthrough but she was now pretty relaxed in front of camera. Again back to the computer so she could see the work. "Wow I didn't realize that I could take that kind of picture" she beamed.

Set 3 I had 27 mins left before she had to leave. I pull all the props away and just shoot her plain on the wall. "Keep moving every frame." I am snapping away and she is really working her look. We agree to meet again to continue to work.

End of the day. I am going through the images and many of them are good, a couple of them are excellent images. A wonderful day with a sweet person and a really good new model with tons of potential.

Enjoy the images.

Published!

2009-03-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

I am officially published in Carrie Leigh Nude Magazine Spring Issue 2009. 8 Pages! I can't even believe it.

The link to the brief preview is here: I also have a cover mention!

http://www.carrieleigh.com/Nissues.html

Scott Paul Designs

2009-03-14T21:26:00.001-07:00

Custom blindfold by Scott Paul Designs

FQ shoot

2009-03-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Kenny and Rory.

Loss

2009-03-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

This image was shot at Lauren Warner's home in San Francisco. Her husband Kevin cooked everyone a wonderful breakfast/lunch for us consisting of eggs, bacon, lettuce, tomato for sandwiches and greens to go with them. I made myself a BLT sandwich and we chatted about the fact that someone had put a Pioneer electronics logo on their stove where Kenmore or other brand would normally reside. He was an avid collector of guitars, helpful, generous and a kind soul. He had a comfortable swagger about him. He invited us into his home and helped with "Craft Services" I felt entirely welcome when I first met him in the kitchen. We only met for a brief time but he made me feel like family in his home.

I found out he passed away a couple of weeks ago. My thoughts and prayers are with Lauren and her family. He will be missed.

Guerilla Foiled.

2009-03-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately my shoot this morning got called off. 4:30 am text. My model got sick and had to cancel. I was hoping to get some images for an editorial feature coming up. I did have a great fashion/cover shoot on Saturday.

Boxed In

2009-02-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

Recently, when I answered a casting by a young and perhaps naive model she wrote:

thanks for your interest! i was going through your port and love your work. what would you be interested in shooting? there's not much of a market for **** pinups and i don't have the wardrobe for it :/ and i'm tired of seeing my naked, saggy boobs lol

Perhaps I misunderstood her reply but I interpreted it as the model thought I was a photographer who is only able to shoot nudes and pinups. I have fashion and some beauty images in this particular portfolio too. I kind of let her go by the wayside and haven't responded to this.

I do not like stereotypes or boxes that people put me in. I shoot many different genres yet Galleries, Portfolio Reviews and Institutions want to see a consistent style and look. God forbid you step outside your look to experiment as an artist. If I decided to shoot Mardi Gras candid images this weekend that would be frowned upon. Good thing that Mardi Gras includes naked women in public, that way I can stay in my genre.

I am currently compling images for an upcoming book and it is quite a dauting task. Aside from culling through 300+ images that were already deemed worthy of retouching or converting to black and white. I keep finding more gems along the way. A nice distraction.

Here is Sarah again: Two sides of a very beautiful coin. I think she was kind of surprised to see the reflected images in the window in the finals. I was consciously framing for both poses as well as trying to keep myself out of the reflection too.

Bella Blue Introduction

2009-02-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

I had a chance to shoot with Bella Blue again last weekend. Previously when we shot I complained about not having enough time with her. She gave me the day and what a day it was. We started with a public shoot idea that was thwarted by a security guard. Not wanting to miss the day I decided to call the public work off and we headed to breakfast and then to the studio.

Our first group of work was fantastic and it just got better from there.

Here is her video introduction. I started recording without telling her and she gave me some wonderful expressions of contemplation and thought before we started. I also edited this video and added stills from her pinup work that we did together.

Presenting the Lovely and Very Talented Bella Blue with an alternate soundtrack:

Fiying through the Air with the Greatest of Ease

2009-02-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

Yay! Bella and I already won the Model Mayhem's POTD 18+ with this image and we were featured on Chris St James' Blog

Cooking Models 101 by Sarah Ellis

2009-02-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

I was setting up the camera for an interview with the lovely Sarah Ellis. I started recording while I was setting up just in case something wonderful would happen and of course it did. For those of you who have never met or spoke with her this is the real deal. She is actually this sweet, candid, and is not in the least bit pretentious. I told her later that we had already started recording but it did not phase her in the least bit she just laughed.

I will post the full interview on this blog later. It is about 15 minutes so. I am considering posting a couple of parts so it has good pacing.

Enjoy this clip of someone I consider to be one of the significant art models of our time.

San Francisco

2009-01-24T17:24:00.000-08:00

Luckily it has been unseasonably warm here in San Francisco. Natalie and I shot first on Monday the 19th. We wandered down to Mission beach by the Golden Gate Bridge. This is an old war battery where the guns were mounted to keep ships/subs out of the San Francisco bay area. I also had a chance to shoot with the amazing Betcee May. She was amazingly sweet and willing to pose and do all of my crazy concepts. We shot in Jack Kerouac Alley, the Conservatory of Flowers, Pacific Heights, Murals in the Mission district, and the Financial District. An amazing shoot with a great team. Thank you Iona Lyn, www.bayareaboudoir.com assisting and Lauren Warner on makeup and of course Betcee.

An Amazing Day

2009-01-24T05:13:00.000-08:00

So I find myself in San Francisco, on an ordinary day or so it seems. It is 4:47 AM and I am loading up my sisters mini van, removing the children's car seats and setting them under the awning. The only light is a flood on the side of the building. The weather said clear and only a 10% chance of rain despite the downpour from yesterday. My shot list is tucked into the console along with a group of printed Google maps.

At 6:30 AM I arrive at Lauren Warner's home in San Francisco. It is still dark outside, sunrise is not until 7:20 AM. I decide to call rather than ring the doorbell because I was worried about ringing the wrong doorbell. Lauren answers and graciously invites me into her home. I walk through the old Victorian flat and into the kitchen where her husband offers me a coffee. Of course I take it and walk into the makeup studio. Old Jazz and Hollywood images and paraphernalia are prevalent throughout the room in an eclectic mix.

As I am waiting, through the kitchen Betcee May walks into the room. She is wearing a simple tan slip, she introduces herself and for the first time I see her eyes and wonderful smile, something that even the best images only attempt to represent. Behind her small gentle voice is a creative force to be reckoned with.

Today is going to be an amazing day and it is good to be me . . . really good.

Portfolio Review

2008-12-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Whew. It is always difficult to extend yourself and let someone else see your work in person. To show them your images one by one and listen to them comment on the body of work.

Good comments on some, a passing glance at others and no recognition on some of your favorites. Did they get it. Did they see the humor? The irony? The juxtaposition? Do they understand the links between the images? Before a juried exhibition with big time curators, editors, photographers and gallerists you have perhaps 5 seconds an image to impress them before they move on to another artists work. I fortunately only had one review and it told me how unprepared I was for an exhibition or review.

I had to glance back at DA to give me confidence to go back out there and continue my work.

One thing that I took from this weekend at PhotoNOLA.

Everything is connected.

So this is my new Mantra as I move forward to create a more cohesive body of work.

Good models, Great models

2008-12-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Worship

Great models bring more than just beauty to the table.
Great models let it all hang out and bear their souls to camera, not afraid of looking ugly for the sake of beauty.
Great models have a presence that shines through the lens.
Great model have no limits when it comes to creating something that rises above the fraction of a second that it takes to capture an image.
Great models bring passion.
Great models are fearless.
Great models connect.
Great models show their emotions.
Great models don't want to be an art model, they just are.
Great models relax and are themselves in front of the camera.
Great models know their bodies and how to manipulate them for the best shot.
Great models need little direction.
Great models change poses and listen for guidance.
Great models can rewind 10 poses back and change their expression slightly for the shot that you didn't quite get, but now have it nailed.
Great models know where the light is.
Great models create wonderful shadows.
Great models can show strength and weakness at the same time.
Great models know themselves.
Great models have no category.
Great models blend into their environment and stand out of their environment.
Great models are the kindest people.
Great models are quite a bit smarter than you think.
Great models are humble.
Great models are undefined.

I am blessed that I have met these beautiful women.

Nettie's Interview

2008-11-29T08:06:00.000-08:00

Nettie is a model from Indianapolis that contacted me for a shoot here in New Orleans. She is fearless, sweet, funny and creates great art. She actually gets upset when she hasn't done a shoot in a while.

Univers D'Artistes

2008-11-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

A really nice feature on my work by Chris St. James the European editor of Carrie Leigh Nude magazine.

http://www.universdartistes.com/2008/11/michael-siu-nolaphoto-studios-first.html

This is the feature, the interview is still to come. This is a monumental honor.

Thank you Chris.

Anticipation and tattoos

2008-11-15T04:27:00.000-08:00

The lovely Bella again, someone emailed me about using this for a tattoo. I would have never even thought about that. Of course I said yes. Oh and those vintage Bakelite welding goggles are the first item I actually won in a bid off of ebay.

Being prepared is one of those things that I strive for. It makes the shoot more productive, creativity happens but around a structured style. Today and tomorrow I have two beautiful models coming into the studio and I don't feel fully prepared. I have my typical concepts that I want to shoot but I don't have a crystal clear shot list and schedule to work with. Then there is the dynamic of two models. If they do not interact the shoot fails. Having two models is two poses that have to be in sync, two looks that have to be good, two emotions that work together and two expressions perfect.

I have a new ginormous(thanks Brittney for the description) printer that I have been struggling with for the last couple of weeks. With a gallery show in a week and 1 print of 10 done I am really behind the eight ball.

Soul Searching

2008-11-09T04:38:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while the model and the photographer touch each others soul. This is a brief encounter and not a romantic one. The model with her beauty and grace. The photographer with his creativity and vision. Add in serendipity, fate and a cat named Jim for something that is way beyond the sum of it's parts. The inner beauty of the model and her personality shine through transcending the medium. The model entrusts the photographer with her sensuality, beauty, and for the brief time together the photographer holds that close and protects it.

Bella Blue

This is a quote that I heard from a photographer:

I don't photograph anything unless it's an important challenge to my own sense of being or my own sense of life or existence.

I am not that deep, sometimes I just like the pure beauty of the moment.

More Pictures

2008-10-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Great news for those following my work here. I am working on posting sets of images and adding more images to the blog to help generate some more interest. I also have some wonderful new video interviews with my models who offer amazing insight into their work and lives. Now, if I could just get YouTube to accept a clip longer than 10 minutes. Many of these beautiful and talented women have more to say than a quick 10 minute interview.

Here is Nettie an amazing young lady from Indiana who is here working in New Orleans.

Case Dismissed

2008-10-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

My model and myself remain citizens in good standing.

I love this town. It finally paid off in my favor. I took care of a necessary evil. Righted a wrong. Cured an injustice.

An inappropriate charge for a victimless crime. What we did was neither heinous nor lewd, it was simply an expression of freedom, an expression of beauty, a capture of a second in time.

I stand appreciative yet guarded as I wonder how this will effect my creative freedom. I expect that I will be shooting in the studio more often now tethered to the limits of black, gray and white backgrounds.

To those who helped, I thank you.

Lewd Conduct

2008-10-06T02:16:00.000-07:00

In the French Quarter, New Orleans. God forbid.

Anyone who has modeled with me, knows that I have a passion for location work. Shooting nudes in the studio is good work but location nudes always trumps studio anytime. The extra element of location adds multiple layers of interaction, risk, architecture, and environment.

WTF? I have seen so many naked women in the quarter I can't even count. There are armed robberies, violent crimes and yet last night I am accused of lewd conduct for trying to shoot some art nudes in the French Quarter. We are released with a ticket to appear in court.

Will my creative passion be limited to just studio work from here on out?

Another Heist

2008-10-04T02:18:00.000-07:00

I am planning another Heist shoot. Guerrilla style. Locations, Getaway cars and drivers, Security, and Wardrobe handlers. How can I capture my city of New Orleans properly and add the beauty of a nude woman to the mix? Shooting fast and being mobile is the key. Great scouting in advance is another important element to incredible images and making everything go smoothly. I can't sleep because I need to make sure everything goes as planned.

Iona Lynn

2008-08-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

My San Francisco Trip was good. I scheduled with two beautiful models for this trip. Iona Lynn and Sarah Ellis.

Iona was wonderful to work with. She was an incredible location scout, finding great places to shoot well in advance of the project so our day was wonderfully planned with a variety of great locations. She is a photographer too, a trait that helped her spot these great areas to shoot in.

One of our first shoots was on the Beach in Pacifica, CA. Our location is now closed to the public due to the danger of erosion on the cliffs. Homes and apartments have been condemned or taken back by the ocean. The roar of the ocean droned in the background and a cool mist came from the sea. We were constantly on the watch for rogue waves that might come crashing in and soak the gear. We got some great shots and move into the mountains with the fog following closely behind.

Ginger Hansel Sinner Interview

2008-08-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a video interview with one of my art models. After the work we did with Sarah Ellis I thought it would be interesting to interview the models and ask them a few basic questions. This is my first interview so please excuse my ums. I will do better next time.

Ginger Hansel Sinner

2008-08-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ginger,Elsa and I did a masquerade shoot in the Historic French Quarter. We still laugh when we refer to it as the Ginger Whoooo Shoot. When we were shooting I noticed she had a very serious expressions. I asked her to try and visualize a happy moment. She got a funny look on her face in recognition, smiled, and threw her hand in the air and proudly proclaimed, " Whoooo!"

We all busted out laughing and I kept the camera rolling. This amazing dress was a product of my incredible wardrobe stylist Elsa Broadmann.

Recipe:
One thrift store wedding dress: $50.00
Removing 100 pearls and rose applicates.
Hand sewing and Poofing of the dress.
Gloves, shoes and model.
Fine Metal mask. $175.00
One incredible wardrobe designer: Priceless.

Sarah Sums Up the Project

2008-08-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the tail end of the morning where Sarah sums up her experience:

It's good to be the highlight of the day, right up there with the dog.

Canal Street New Orleans

2008-08-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

World Famous Canal Street. I want an image dead in the center of Canal street. We coordinate at the next meeting spot by Odyssey records on Canal Street. We arrived and our videographer had gone to the CBD location. I shot a couple of shots by the Record store because one of my clients is the owner. We moved onto the middle of Canal Street, and setup Sarah in the middle of it.

Further down the street we spotted a police car so we decided not to go to the full monty here. It was funny to notice in the images It appears the row of cars did not seem to move for at least three or four lights. We did not see that until later when we were looking at the finals.

Madison and Charters

2008-07-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

So we left Pirate's Alley and walked over to Madison street. We were still in the French Quarter. As we walked down Charters we noticed a young black guy sweeping the street. He was just going about his business cleaning and sweeping the sidewalk as Sarah begins to get ready for her next shot.

Wardrobe moves in and I walk down the street getting perspective on the shot. I start shooting and here comes our little street sweeper just working that broom on the sidewalk. I wasn't watching but I don't even know if he looked up. Some guy walks out of a door at the end of the street on the right. He is wearing a pair of red running shorts and gets his newspaper. He looks down the street at our team shooting and then just goes about his business.

There isn't much traffic on this street so shooting goes well and we decide to move on to Canal Blvd.

PIrate's Alley, NOPD, and Ozzy

2008-06-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

With Sarah covered in a trenchcoat, which later she emailed me and said she left her bra in, our "entourage" moved into the alley next door to the cathedral and set up the next shot. Ozzy, an English bull dog, was going to be our star for this shot. Sarah lost the trench coat and I fired off a few frames. The shots were good but I had a vision in my head as to what we were going to shoot there.

Kenny was preparing Ozzy, because he really didn't like the new spiked collar that I bought him. I guess he was used to harnesses but those don't look good in photos. I had purchased Mardi Gras costume mask with a rose on one side, on that same side a large feather plume extending above her head, and three ribbons that hung down about two feet. Add Mardi gras beads and we were ready to go. Did I forget to mention that we were 20 feet from the Police station. Oh well it is the French Quarter. If they arrested everyone who was naked down there the jails would fill up every weekend.

Kenny's job was to keep Ozzy focused and moving forward. Sarah looked stunning as always and with Ozzy pulling ahead things were looking good. I got low, stopped down and tried to keep both of them in focus but there wasn't enough light available for that. I adjusted the iso on the D3 to 800 and continued to shoot. The composition, dog and model lined up for the perfect shot.

So far our day was going brilliantly, scouting ahead was the key and planning. Now onto Madison Street. I can't post the pirates alley image here because it's just too good and the agreement with blogger is that they can have your image once you post it here. That said if you randomly run across this blog and you want to post a comment or get me an email from the definitionsofwomen site. I will send you a password to take a look at the image.

Sarah Takes the Streets of New Orleans

2008-06-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

In a departure from studio work I hit the streets with a crew of six early last Sunday morning. Lots of emails and a fairly comprehensive list of what we were shooting and where. Planning it felt like it was a Heist. Getaway drivers, muscle, the computer guy, the director, the last minute guy all of the players were there.

5:00 am I am up grabbing my coffee so that I can make it to the studio to meet Karl, the videographer, Britney, my assistant and Kenny getaway driver, muscle and animal wrangler. I had another shoot the night before so I packed up the gear last night knowing that I am not a morning person. I look out the window to check the weather. Great news it looks like fog. I look again, damn, it's just humidity on the window.

6:00am I am at the studio getting ready and Britney is there just after me. She is sooo reliable. Karl and Kenny arrive shortly after. We load up softboxes and lights that we need for the shoot.

6:20am I get a call from wardrobe/models assistant who is supposed to pick up the lovely model Sarah from the hotel. The model is at the international hotel, right? Is this the right hotel he asks? No the intercontinental. Damn a snafu first thing in the morning, but wait I hear a female voice and laughter in the background. Jokes, my friend has jokes this morning. I hear Sarah say,"It wasn't my idea!"

6:45 am Jackson square parking lot. behind the canon. You know where the president said he would help out New Orleans. We decide to nix the wedding dress because it too hard to get off. Sorry Sarah for making you lug that all the way from S.F. Trenchcoat ready we get Sarah into Jackson Square in front of the Cathedral. The homeless guys are asking a lot of questions like who are you? What are you shooting? Then Sarah walks up and loses the trenchcoat. Silence. Then applause. One of the homeless guys insists he wants a picture to send to his buddy Howie. Stay away from the the model I say shaking my head, nervously clicking off frames. From behind me I hear a booming authoritative Voice. "Sit down Sir!" It's Kenny the muscle, getaway driver and animal wrangler. I hear it again "SIT DOWN SIR!" then I hear the homeless guy apologizing profusely. I am trying to compose the picture and do something but the cathedral is too big the angle wrong and I decide to move on.

Next post Pirates alley.

Model Sarah-- Vunerable

2008-05-31T03:17:00.000-07:00

I guess that I have fallen off of the blog wagon, I had no idea that it has been so long since I posted and image or thoughts or any thing here. This is Sarah Ellis, a wonderful free spirit model. She was professional and willing to do whatever it took to get an amazing image. I pretty much tortured her trying to get a certain bodyscape look that I hadn't been able to get before. After about 3 hours of shooting she asked me for a cushion or something because the wood floor was grinding into her hip. I was so focused on the image capture that I hadn't even thought about it.

This look that she gave me just exuded vulnerability. I remember it because I told her that I felt bad clicking the shutter, I felt like such a voyeur capturing this look.

We are working together again in June. Full guerrilla. Our entourage is going to be shooting nudes in the french quarter and downtown New Orleans. I usually don't travel with that many people but we have lookouts, a videographer/photographer friend of mine, my assistant Brittany, a getaway driver, and an english bulldog named Ozzie, I wanted a Makeup artist but I think it's too eary in the morning to make that happen.

Check back for this one as I know it is going to be great.

Dancer

2007-09-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

So my next model arrives From England:

Katy T came dancing into the studio and I had only dynamic images in my vision. She was 100% professional and really wanted to make great images. Her knowledge of her body, hair, hands and where everything was relative to the shot was really great to see.

I had her leaping and jumping through out the studio and despite a lens problem we were able to create some of the most memorable images to date for the definewomen.com website. What a treasure to work with and in the end, we both felt that we had great images for our portfolio.

I can't emphasize how nice it is to work with a professional model again. If these are the outtakes , I can't wait to incorporate the other image for the book.

Manipulation Rev. II

2007-08-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Back on the topic of manipulating photos, in the darkroom days I would burn and dodge the images to emphasize and guide the viewer to the best part of the image or at least my focus of the image.

This image has some Photoshop work but not in the key part of the image(the Flower) where typically two images would be combined to create the final effect. This image was captured with the flower as part of the original picture.

I leave it to the viewer to speculate on how the flower became part of the image. I imagine a contest would be fun but since the current scope of this blog is probably less than 20 viewers that randomly arrive here we will just leave open the comments section to see if speculation will prevail.

Manipulation

2007-07-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Digital manipulation of images is a new problem for a new age. How much can you touch up an image and still be true to the original? At what point do you alter the image so much that it no longer is true to the "capture". This is an image that I posted on Fred Miranda.com a website dedicated to more advanced photographers. A brilliant graphic artist from Argentina named Natalia offered to enhance the image. I sent her a full resolution copy of the image and this is what she did to it. In her subtle way she added what I wanted in the original capture.

I also want to give her full credit for the Main Page on the Dow website. She and I had different ideas on the fonts and how the words follow the lines in the images. This is her Flickr website:

nataliataffarel

She really is gifted.

Stereotypes

2007-07-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

In creating the book and website defintionsofwomen I am forced to consider stereotypes. The questions that I am pondering about is should I fall into these stereotypes.

Should stereotypes define women or do women define the stereotypes?

Here is another image of Makeda that could fall into that definition of a stereotypical black woman. On one hand it is a clearly beautiful rendition of her shape and form but is it too stereotypical to use as a fine art piece in the book/website?

Is this a direction that I want to go in with my art or is it too easy to fall into that trap? This is indeed a slippery slope that will need consideration. As much as I like this image I feel forced into excluding it from the group just on these grounds. As this blog is new has not had too much consideration I as for those to post their response as to whether or not this image should be included. Please post your comments, I would like to hear them.

Nude Images are permitted

2007-07-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

Good news, I finally got around to reading the terms of service agreement that I clicked through at lightning speed. The Blog hosts do not mind nude images and also, to their credit, do not wish to censor blogs. That is pretty cool although I am not sure I agree with their little notice about how Google can freely use my images.

Nonetheless this is an image of Makeda a dancer from New York. She was a wonderful model with a strong and striking sense of presence . She also ran track in college so this pose wasn't a stretch at all for her. She was visiting New Orleans and we set a shoot although it started at 5:00 PM on a Sunday because of her classes.

Motherhood

2007-07-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I have this blog and I decided what a good way to update our website; www.definitionsofwomen.com

I did a shoot today with a young mother and after a long contemplation decided to title the image motherhood.

Motherhood: noun. the kinship relation between an offspring and the mother.

Not knowing the mom, as we just met Saturday the 8th, I wanted a title that was suitable and yet added another definition that added to the sum that is women. One day when I have an afternoon I will delve into the reasons for D.O.W. For now suffice it to day that each of these definitions make up one small aspect of women.

I must admit I am new to this so please bear with me while I get my bearings straight and check with the powers that be to see if I can include the nude images. so check out our link for now and I will be updating this regularly.