Bamboo and Models

Last summer in California I’d planned a shoot on a coastal location. The model mentioned a grove of trees between the parking area and beach and we planned to work there a bit on the way.

We never actually got to the beach after I saw the trees.

Generally if you put me in a grove of trees, around rocks, or near water, I’m good for a while. Such is the case with this photo of Mikki Marvel from October near Charlotte. We came to a location she’d and this grove of bamboo. It ended up being the only place we worked that day while dodging the rain that marked my whole trip to Charlotte.

Mikki-Marvel-2015-10-1

Freya on Film

Continuing to show some film work with these scans of Freya Gallows on B&W film from back in April. We’d planned to work outdoors, but the threat of rain ended up with us moving into the studio instead for this work. Same day as the earlier posted work with her and Bree Addams together.

Freya-Gallows-FIlm-1

I like how these worked. The limitations in my scanner showed up here though as the roll was a bit unevenly exposed from I think a mix of expired film and me experimenting with lighting. Overall I find these Kodak TriX 400 works well for me. The grain is there, but doesn’t overwhelm. It also seems to work nicely outdoors and in the studio.

Freya-Gallows-FIlm-2

As I mentioned this roll of film had expired a few months before the shoot. They were also among the first batch of work I developed myself as opposed to sending away to a lab. As the other roll developed with this one (last week’s of Vex Voir) didn’t show the uneven exposure these did. I credit that to the film being expired, and really not well treated given I bought the roll (along with a few others) out of a bin in the sun at a flea market.

Freya-Gallows-FIlm-3

Things I’ve Learned the Last Few Weeks

A few random observations from the last few weeks.

  • Most people are wonderfully understanding and supportive when you’re dealing with life. It’s easy to focus on the jerks, but there are truly a lot of wonderful people in the world.
  • Finding a coffee shop when you just need a couple quiet hours away from things can work wonders for your mind.
  • It’s surprising how many places contain a Starbucks. Or serve Starbucks coffee. Or are within walking distance of a Starbucks. Or are a Starbucks.
  • On a related note I feel like I’ve run most of the last month on coffee.
  • You probably wouldn’t be surprised that many hospital/doctor type places block ModelMayhem where you can encounter the occasional nude. You might be a little surprised that those that did block it classified it as swimwear. You might be very surprised to fin that fewer block Tumblr where you can easily find explicit adult content. Please explain that one to me.

Baring the unexpected, and that’s really been a description of the last month and a half, more normal posting should resume later this week.

Catching up to the World

I’ve spent most of the last month dealing with a pretty serious and at times scary medical issue with a family member. Much of the last month, and just about all of July, have included way too much time in hospitals and at doctors, while also trying to keep up with my job and attempt something resembling a life. I’ve had mixed success on that last one in particular. Photography for the most part has just had to wait.

The good news is that things are looking good. While I’m still visiting a hospital on occasion, it’s in anticipation of that family member returning home healthy again soon. That leaves me slowly working back into the huge stack of messages, edits, and other things put aside during the crisis. If you’ve messaged or have been looking for photos from me, please understand that I’ve basically not edited anything since almost the middle of June. I’m starting to catch up on messages this evening, and I’m hoping to have everything out over the next week or two.

A short thanks to the people who were understanding as I had to put things off and push back deadlines I’d promised. I’ve a shoot next week getting back into work, and expect August will be as close as I ever come to normal.