THE GATEKEEPERS....

I am sure there are Gatekeepers for the things that happen in our subconscious.. they are there to keep us sane..

To keep the door closed to the dark side of our personality that all of us struggle with at one time or another.

MY Gatekeepers tend to be Hott and Naked..

I am sure there is some clinical diagnosis for this..

But they help me sleep well at night..

MODELS: JANNALIN ,

Fashion.... High or Not..

I decided to try my hand at Fashion... But as I was shooting, all I could think of were shots that I saw at an Art show.. Really stark, straight forward images.. Like Edward Weston..

SO I tried to shoot these in that vein..

Thank you to Mz Dezy and Traycee J for enduring Arctic temperatures to pacify my randomness.. and thank you to Traycee's hubby for the "assistance"..

MODELS: MZ DEZY , TRAYCEE J

CRIME SCENE: Eviscerated

I was finally lucky enough to get to shoot with Traycee J after missing multiple opportunities to shoot together.. Just talking to her inspires me because she is open to ideas and always brings options to the table..

She gets this twinkle in her eye and this devilish grin when an idea inspires her and you get a glimpse of what is behind her innocent looking girl next door exterior..

I was throwing around random thoughts about the effort it would take to butcher a person and drag their remains to some secluded area.

So she decided to make it real for me.. I shot it like a double exposure and layered the images on top of each other.. So she had to climb in and out of two garbage bags to get these done..

I am sure there is an easier way to do it digitally, but I suck at photoshop so I did it the way I used to do it with film..

THANK YOU TRAYCEE for all your help and input..

and your willingness to crawl over tree roots..

At the same shoot I met an AMAZING SFX Makeup Artist named KIMBERLY KAIN...

After watching her do some really quick fake scars on people I found myself inspired to try something more visual and allow her to do what she does and build around it.


This is the outcome of two people who shouldnt be allowed to play together without rational adult supervision..

Thank you Sophia for putting up with our nonsense and enduring the leaves..

MODELS: TRAYCEE J , SOPHIA
SFX MUA: KIMBERLY KAIN

Some Faces...

Some faces just pull you into them..

There is something so aesthetically pleasing about them that you find yourself staring at them.

I find myself more attracted to interesting faces than what some call traditionally beautiful ones.. Something quirky always holds my attention.. Where traditionally beautiful faces are often forgettable in a sea of faces..

MODEL: REV ARIELLE

CRIME SCENE: Bloodletting..

I had the opportunity to shoot more of my crime scene series today with some new faces who brought fresh ideas to the table..

I normally dont do gore, but something about this just felt right..

More to come..

MODELS: ANGEL EYES , HOTCHILD , NATASHA FATALE

Beauty Is..

Beauty TRULY is in the eye of the beholder..

Beauty truly is subjective.. I tend not to look for conventional beauty when I shoot but find beauty in the mundane.. I try to reach each subject where it is.. Find what is interesting about it and capture that..

That is because rarely are my subjects the people IN the pictures I take.. They are normally there to respresent the intent of the images.. not to be the subject of them..

There was a time when all I wanted to do was take pretty pictures of pretty women.. So I shot strictly to capture what I thought made each of them beautiful in a way that was the most flattering for them.

Then I took some Art classes and "drank the kool-aid" that my professor was serving.. Not quite Jim Jones, thankfully, but the things he made us find to shoot were things I would have never done on my own.. They were things that made me have to focus beyond the physical to find the essence of them..

I think that is why I dont have the same passion for shooting glamour.. I always hope there can be more to it than the obvious.. I was told by someone whose opinion I respect that whenever I do shoot glamour there is always something lacking.. and I think what is lacking is my passion for it..

Just as I tell the models I shoot with that they need to lose themselves in the process and buy into it enough to become whatever is necessary to play the role the image calls for convincingly because there are things few can fake well visually..

I guess this is the proverbial two way street..

So my goal for this summer is to find some passion for glamour.. and translate that visually..

This past week was my first attempt..

Thank you to JENNIE and HOTCHILD for coming out to play with me.. And to RICK J. for the Kool-Aid.

MODELS: JENNIE , HOTCHILD

CRIME SCENE: The Beginning

I wanted this whole series to be like a Vintage horror movie.. Not the new flashy kind, but that old school feel to them.. Before all the special effects and high tech computer graphics..

The goal is not to focus on the gore, but go back to when the SUSPENSE was what kept you on the edge of your seat..

Back when everything wasnt spoon fed to the audience because of short attention spans and people had to use their own imagination..

More coming..



Thank you to Nicki for not killing EVERY bug in the forest in order to get this shoot done.. and to DJ for all his input and multitasking..

MORE Video links to come.. http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=swCfenFWFt4


MODELS: NICKI DEE , DJ - DIGITAL DEV

Mother Nature

Something about Maternity and Motherhood that always fascinates me.. People are quick to tell you about how beautiful it is, but there is also a deeper side that many wont discuss in public..

There is often a feeling of abandonment and isolation that most new mothers feel that can be overwhelming. and the responsibility of caring for a new life is bigger than most can grasp, so they tend not to think about it and just function day to day..

But what happens in those quiet times is what people really need to know about.. The part that is felt and not verbalized for fear of being shunned or judged..

Thanks to Char and her new hubby for sharing their bundle of joy Garrett with me..

MODELS: CHAR ROSE and Garrett

CRIME SCENE : VOYEUR

I am often surprised at how dark my thoughts can be.. Not that I have the urge to perform any of these acts, but I am often fascinated at the visual and psychological aspects of them..

So I try to capture these thoughts the way they FEEL to me, not so much the way they would look if I witnessed it. So often the gruesome visual elements dont come into play for me, just the emotional ones.



I often wonder how far each of us are from becoming the worst of ourselves..?? How much of ourselves do we suppress in order to not be judged harshly by those whose judgement we care about ??

This is not just in reference the violent side of ourselves, but EVERY aspect of who we truly are..

I got the urge to add a difference element to my Crime Scene Series this time.. Not so much CSI, as Voyeur..

I say Voyeur because it is emotionally gratifying to be able to capture what was only random thoughts swimming around in my head hours earlier..



Thank you to Rick and Cassandra for coming halfway across the state to play with me on a wet and rainy day in the middle of nowhere..



MODELS: CASSANDRA LARAE , RICK MESSER

FORM STUDY: BARN Series

This is the start of my Form Study in various Rural Locations...

I have decided that this year I am going to get back to why I picked up a camera the first time.. and embrace the frustration that I felt..

TIA

was brave enough to come out and be my "Virgin Location Guinnea pig". She has been the catalyst for a few of my current projects.. She came out to play with me "eyebrow-less" on a wet and chilly day and fight thru the Horse Poop and random Cat Urine for some images that I didnt even know would work visually..


Because of that, I went back the very next day to shoot more..




I want to thank those who trusted the concept enough to be a part of it..

MODELS: TIA , ASHLEY S , CHICRACER

Sensuality

Where does the line between Sensuality and Sexuality reside..??

I tend to think MOST women are naturally sensual, even when I am not physically or sexually attracted to them.. There is a comfort that comes with that sensuality that cant be quantified..

So, at least for me, the two are not synonymous... Sexual attraction doesnt necessarily mean sensual and Sensual doesnt mean sexually attractive..

I think you can want to have sex with someone who is physically attractive but isnt sensual at all.. and someone who isnt necessarily physically attractive to you, but oozes sensuality and confidence..

I am sure for most that line is so blurry they have no idea where one ends and the other begins

MODELS: ITALIAN KITTEN, KATE Z