digital manipulation

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2021 In Review: The Final Year
December 25, 2021

Our last year started slow but ended with pictures to carry into 2022

This was the year that broke the proverbial camel’s back. After 37 years, we decided that the costs were too high, the effort too great, and the frustrations too often to bother continuing as a photographer. Officially, we pull the plug on New Year’s Day, but barring some exceptional occurrence, we’ve already taken the last picture. The camera is safely stowed in case I decide to pull it out again, but it’s out of the way, out of sight, and hibernating. One of my chores today is to remove the lights from the back of the car and store them out in the shed along with my tripod and reflectors. We’re done.

Sort of. As slow as this year started, the last six months have been full of activity, much more than we’ve had time to process. Much of this was intentional. I wanted to have enough new material to still enter juried shows for the next couple of years (assuming they survive). As a result, I still have several hundred unprocessed images waiting for my attention. I won’t release them as regularly as I have before, and when I do it may be a single image rather than a full set.

From a public perspective, we’re taking this website into archive mode. There will be no information about booking or hiring. We’ll re-work the portfolios and they’ll take a dominant position on the front page in video format. New material will be toward the bottom of the front page and most easily accessible through social media posts.

Can I be coaxed into shooting again? Maybe. We’ll see how it goes. If I do, it will be on a shoot-by-shoot basis. The concepts need to be original and enticing, something I’ve never shot before, and the people involved need to be exciting. And it will cost more. Just getting everything checked and out the door is going to be more of an effort, so the price is going to be higher. No, I still won’t shoot your wedding. I’ll officiate if you ask (yes, I can do that), but I won’t take pictures.

So, here’s a brief glance back at what we did this year. There’s not a lot. Jan-April was pretty slim. We didn’t post anything the entire month of May because there wasn’t anything to post. That’s largely what prompted this decision. As always, click on a thumbnail to view to collection full screen on your device. Thank you for all the years you’ve watched, encouraged, and commented. We’ll miss you.

-charles

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Art  /  Original Style  /  studio nudes
Shadow Lovers Exposed To A Different Expression
July 11, 2021

Warning: the following content is for mature and responsible audiences. We are not responsible for anyone who might be offended by you viewing this content.

They came from different backgrounds, different cultures clashing in ways that might have led their ancestors to war. No one could know the relationship between them, the desire, the heat, the need to be close, touching, feeling, and expressing their passion. They were shadow lovers who came and went, unnamed, unknown, creating images captured on camera knowing that were their true selves exposed, their lives would become troubled, at risk from the exposure. So we gave them a different form of erotic expression, one that blurs the lines so heavily that, when viewed on too small a device, one isn’t sure whether they’re human at all. Maybe they’re not. They’re certainly not anyone you know. She’s not eating a burger, thinking of him as she wipes the juice off her chin. He’s not sitting at the bar, drinking bourbon, remembering how she tastes. They live in a strange light and love in the shadows.

Click on any of the thumbnails below to view the images full screen. Again, the images are best suited for larger devices.

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Art  /  Experimental  /  Personal  /  Photography
Experimental Series: The Progression of A Bottle
January 31, 2021
Experimental Series: Progression of a bottle

Having come to the conclusion that I enjoy this manner of editing even when it takes several hours longer and at times makes me angry

Does it matter what anyone else thinks about my work? Well, yes, if one is wanting to be employed or wants their work to sell to an admiring public. When either of those are influencing what we do, then yes, the opinion of others matters.

For the moment, though, I am past caring. With long days of sitting here without any interaction outside of family, focusing on writing, and wrestling with what seems to be a growing number of health issues, caring about what someone thinks about how I edit pictures kinda takes a back set. Anyone who hasn’t purchased a picture before isn’t likely to change their mind and do so now, so why bother catering to that market?

Not that I won’t submit quality work to art shows if they indeed happen again. That’s always an option and it sits outside the online galleries that have yet to be worth the trouble of participation.

But what that means is that instead of whipping out a new set every week, this one took three weeks. Instead of whipping out 40 images a day, most of these took the better part of two days each. Inherently, that makes them more valuable but since no one’s buying anyway that’s not my concern. I’m more focused on whether they meet my goal of what I want from both the image individually and its place in the series.

These were shot on a plain white background, which is evident in the first image. We were a couple of hours into the shoot and the bottle in the model’s hand is empty for presumably obvious reasons. The effect of the wine was just starting to hit with the first image and grew as we progressed. No one was inebriated, but the buzz generated smiles and giggles that were entertaining to capture.

I can’t say I’ll stay in this funk. Part of me is anxious to return to straightforward editorial shots but for that to happen the environment for shooting them has to be safer for everyone. But for now, this is where we’re at. I have more images to edit, but I’m not rushing them. Each will reflect how I want to interpret the scene and situation. If that bothers you, that’s your problem.

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Photography
Approaching Life From A Different Perspective
January 10, 2021

Sorry, but with all that’s happened this week, I’m not ready. I’m not ready to see people in front of my camera. I’m not ready to sit and edit for endless hours. I’m not ready to put weeks of creative thought into a project. Not yet. I’m not there.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t feel the need to shoot some this week. While I didn’t want to take the camera out in sub-freezing weather, the 105 megapixels on my phone were an adequate substitute. We played. We looked at things from odd and different angles. There are a couple of reflective double-exposures that are interesting. Pay attention to those. The cat in the sink is… one of those things that happens around here. We deal with it.

I don’t have anything else at the moment. Leave a message in the comments below or at the tone.

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”17592″ layout=”contain” columns=”3″]

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Art  /  Editorial  /  Experimental  /  Photography  /  Portrait  /  studio nudes
Oh my god, 2020
December 27, 2020
Signs of the Time

The best thing we can say is that at least it’s almost done

Okay, last post of the year. I traditionally give this spot to a look back and I’m not inclined to change that. Never mind that we snapped fewer frames than ever. We dropped back into the archives and still managed to come up with new material for 47 of the 52 weeks. Pretty good considering how rarely I’ve left the house.

And that’s all I’m going to say about it outside a huge THANK YOU to those who did manage to find their way in front of the camera. There were so many more I would have loved to have seen, but… Yeah, you know how that went. Next year? I’m not even going to guess. Maybe we’ll do 51 weeks of me nude. Maybe you’ll volunteer to take my place. Maybe $100 bills will fall from the sky. We’ll see.

[tg_gallery_slider gallery_id=”17558″]

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Art  /  Current Issues  /  Photography  /  Portrait  /  Social Commentary
Washing Away The Stain That Is 2020
December 13, 2020
charles i. letbetter

A disastrous year for creatives and creativity is one we should leave behind

This is the time of year when everyone inevitably starts looking back at what has happened the past twelve months, partly to remember the good pieces, to memorialize losses, and to try and make some sense of the rest. If this were a normal year, I would be working on getting art submissions ready, updating the website, and deciding what direction I wanted to take for the next twelve months. December has always been busy trying to wrap things up while still allowing sufficient time for family and festivities.

Not this year. I don’t need to tell you what a clusterfuck this year has been. You’ve been experiencing it right along with the rest of us. All our plans went to shit. Drastic measures, some now regrettable, had to be taken. People and opportunities were lost and neither is coming back. Back in March, we were talking about, “when things return to normal,” but we now realize that isn’t going to happen. Even as a vaccine begins to roll out across the United States in the morning, even as the Electoral College meets tomorrow and (presumably) ends our four-year political nightmare, there’s no returning to the lives we once knew. “Normal” has been blown to smithereens and it remains to be seen what replaces it.

Our model for this week’s photos was also the subject of some of our first posts this year. In fact, if there were an award for the most-frequently appearing model this year, she would get it. She occurs so often partly because she shot with us late last year before everything went haywire, and then was the first person to jump back in front of the camera in September when we thought everything was going to be safe. Silly me. I saved this set of pictures for now because even though there were still five months left to the year when we shot them I knew they would be an apt end-of-the-year metaphor.

There is so much of this year I would love to see scrubbed from my mind, and with my brain working the way it is, that quite likely will eventually happen involuntarily. I don’t think I know a creative who at least once this year hasn’t questioned whether they should continue. Many have contemplated ending their lives completely. Some have succeeded. Others had their lives taken from them by a virus that could have, should have, been controlled if only we had leadership that wasn’t more concerned with their own profit and benefit.

Art shows, and subsequently art sales, were shut down after February. Those that did try to come back were less than successful. Buyers and collectors weren’t in the mood to invest, or even go out and look. This leaves creatives struggling for public grants and for those of us who work along the margins of what is publicly acceptable, applying for those rapidly-depleted funds was futile.

What may hurt most is that for all the hardships and difficulties we’ve faced here, I don’t have to look far to find those who have it worse. Friends and colleagues who were just fine a year ago now struggle daily to keep a roof over their heads, food on their table, and medicine available. Not only has a nation turned their backs on them, but many of those they trusted have also abandoned them, some to address their own concerns, others because of political differences, and still others who just couldn’t be bothered.

These images are stark. There’s no noise reduction because that would require softening edges that need to be sharp. There’s no skin treatment because we need to see things for what they are. These images are dark because light has been rare this year. Some images have visible ripple shadows from the light fixture in the shower. Sure, I could have taken those out, but again, it’s a metaphor for how things external to us, well out of our control, distorted our year, our lives, our personal photographs.

I look at these pictures and don’t see anything erotic or sexually alluring. Instead, I see hot water pounding away at tender flesh, dissolving the accumulated stains of this year. Some of those stains were perhaps self-inflicted, but most of the mud and the dirt of the past twelve months was thrown, harshly, carelessly, without any regard for humanity.

I look at these pictures and remember how incredibly hot the water was, how red the model’s skin was from that water, and the fog that filled the room by the time we were done. Taking these pictures was challenging, both technically and artistically. There were plenty of obstacles to overcome. Yet, again, none match the reality of struggling to survive this year.

You have had your own struggles. As you examine these photos perhaps you find in them your own metaphors, your own interpretations of how your life is different now than it was in January.

For all of us, may this be a time of cleansing, the moment where we repudiate all the nonsense, the hyperbole, the hurt, and the pain, and prepare ourselves to start clean in the next year. Yes, we will still have to wear masks. We will still have to avoid crowds and remain socially distant. Best estimates are that it will be this time next year before the US reaches 70% immunity and even that is a best-case scenario. Still, this time we know what we’re facing. We know the challenges. We know what we have to do.

We start clean. We move forward. Naked. Unashamed to be who and what we are.

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”17525″ layout=”contain” columns=”3″]

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Current Issues  /  Photography  /  Portrait
Quietly Dancing The Night Away
November 29, 2020
quietly dancing the night away

Life frequently sucks but that should never stop us from dancing.

More than ever, I am inclined these days to keep the identity of our models anonymous. We did such two weeks ago, are doing so today, and will continue next week. Increasingly, it is rare for us to be able to use any portion of a model’s name with a sense of safety. The vitriol spewed, the doxing, and the outright harassments we’ve seen this year is a sad reflection of a society that has lost any sense of artistic appreciation. Where we once enjoyed a widely-accepting audience, I find myself now looking for ways to limit viewing to a handful of people I know approach the material in an appropriate manner.

Everywhere I look recently, the phrase “it’s been a rough year” is batted about as though everything is going to get better come January 1, or January 20. What I’m more aware of this morning, sitting here in the dark with Smashed-Face Wheezer Kitty blocking a substantial portion of my desk, is that for far too many people, this hasn’t been a “rough year,” it’s been a continuation of a rough life. There are still children separated from their parents being kept in cages, sleeping on concrete floors, in the name of national security. There are still young black men who know every time they step out the door of their homes, they may not come back; victims of trying to live in a racist America that refuses to acknowledge that their lives matter. There are still millions of people addicted to opioids who have had trouble finding help as hospitals don’t have room for them now. There are still families tormented by continued patterns of abuse.

What has happened this year isn’t as much an anomaly as it is a culmination of not caring for anyone other than ourselves. The global pandemic has not only made us vulnerable to a deadly disease, but it has ignited our long-standing selfish, ignorant, and hateful attitudes toward anything that looks like compassion. We are not merely afraid to care about other people, we openly despise those who do. There are too many people who still look at the simple task of wearing a mask in public as a political statement rather than the reality of caring for the people around them. Nurses report instances of people still claiming the virus is a hoax as they lie dying from that virus. Millions rushed through airports this week because they simply couldn’t stand the idea of spending a holiday at home, where everyone would be safe.

How we should respond, what action is most appropriate, is a matter with which I continue to struggle. Over the past couple of months, I’ve vacillated across the spectrum but at the moment I’m taking my cue from Smashed-Face Wheezer Kitty. This little guy developed a life-threatening problem when he was still too young to wean. It took a lot of care to keep him alive and we still have to watch to make sure his sinus passages don’t become clogged. We always know where he is because his breathing is noisy. So what does he choose to do? Act like every other cat in the house. He chases pieces of fluff. He plays with his brother. He sits in my lap and nips at my hand. The status of his life always is, and to some degree always will be a bit precarious, but he goes right on living his best life.

And that’s where I’m at this morning: with all the challenges we face, we can, and should, live good lives. We can still dance. Maybe not in public, and definitely not all up on someone else, and if you’re like me, not well, but we can still dance even if we have to turn the lights off and wait until no one is looking so we don’t embarrass ourselves.

Our pictures this week are of a young woman who had never taken professional pictures. She was nervous. She didn’t know what to do and even with direction, she was still tense. Life does that to us, makes it impossible to relax. Then, we turned on the music and gave her permission to dance. That’s all it took. Fear and tension slipped out the door and we were able to get some images that didn’t look like I was holding a gun to her head. All she had to do was dance.

Take the metaphor and run with it. The pandemic isn’t going to suddenly end when the calendar switches to 2021. Life doesn’t magically get better for everyone when the occupancy of the White House changes. People, by the millions, still hurt, still need, still struggle to stay alive. I’m not sure what happens next but I do know that when things are at their worst, it’s okay to dance. For yourself. In your own way. With no criticism or condemnation from anyone, anywhere, at any time. Dance the night away.

My thanks to Greg Fleckenstein and Matt Corsaro for their assistance with this shoot, as well as to the model for being brave enough to step way outside her comfort zone and try something new.

As always, click on any of the thumbnails below to view the images full screen.

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”17471″ layout=”contain” columns=”2″]

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Art  /  Current Issues  /  Photography  /  Social Commentary
The Abstract Surrealism of 2020
November 15, 2020
The Abstract Surrealism of 2020

There is nothing about this year remotely resembling what we once considered reality.

Abstract Surrealism isn’t really a thing, let me make that clear right upfront. Abstraction is ambiguous, intentional removal from any objective reference. It’s also extremely controversial as some argue that it is the sum of art while others complain that it’s nothing but a jumbled mess of color with no meaning whatsoever.

Surrealism is, for many people, defined by the works of Dada and Dali. Perhaps we think specifically of Dali’s melting universe creating a detailed but dreamlike view of a world that defines reality not by what we see with our eyes but with our subconscious.

They are two very different forms of art and confusing the two is a good way to make an art curator or serious patron quite angry. Merging the forms? One would have to be completely delusional to invoke that level of insanity.

Insanity. I’m sorry, have you met the year 2020? There are no words left that haven’t been reshaped, reclassified, and/or redefined. Nothing about this year is remotely normal nor has it stayed within the boundaries of what we formerly considered real. There have been too many events happen that logical people of reason never thought possible. Our minds have exploded as people we thought we knew, including some we’ve loved, stepped off the deep end into some kind of fantasy where nothing currently happening makes sense within the context of everything that happened before.

Which brings us to the Abstract Surrealism of 2020. This is the first set in what may turn out to be an entire series (if we live so long). We asked a young model, who understandably enough has chosen to remain anonymous so that her career does not suffer from the association, if we could paint her body in a loosely defined manner—not genuinely abstract, but not a recognizable form, either. We then took the images and carefully, painstakingly, with frequent bouts of frustrated cursing, rendered each to fit a month of this pandemic. As one sees below, this results in a dramatically unique set of images that hardly appear to be related. 

Let me see if I can explain the progression for you to a limited degree. A word of caution: trying to follow the meanderings of my mind can lead to internalized stress and possible combustion.

April: There’s a sense of a definite figure but nothing around it feels quite right. The lines aren’t all in place and, what is this splashing up from out of nowhere? We’re blue because we’re depressed by a lockdown that only some are observing while others completely deny that there’s anything wrong. We know this is going to get worse, but we’re still hopeful.

May: Color change as the pandemic grows more intense. School ends without any commencement. Unemployment sets records never before imagined. Arguments over whether to wear a mask rage both online and in-person, casting suspicion on people once thought to be at least marginally intelligent. That splash thing keeps getting bigger and there’s no explanation coming for why the curve isn’t flattening.

June: We’re tempted to breathe a sigh of relief and the colors calm a bit as the number of new cases each day starts to decline. People are telling us, “Hey, we’ve got this. It will all be over soon.” Yet, notice that our model’s face is no longer visible. She’s blinded by her hair just as we were blinded by unhinged optimism. We start to emerge from our cocoons only to have to retreat toward the end of the month.

July: Staged reopening plans are announced and there’s an official statement of optimism in which we believe because we refuse to accept that this stupid virus can be upsetting our lives this severely. We’re determined to have our vacations one way or another. We whirl ourselves in circles clamoring that, “Look! The numbers are going down!” and illogically letting that one statistic fool us into letting down our guard.

August: We’re smiling. We’re going to send kids back to school even if it has to be in stages. Sure, the virus is still splashing all around us but just ignore that. We’ve got a plan and there’s a vaccine coming by the end of the year. No one’s going to trust it, but it will be here. The patterns might seem to be recognizable but that’s only because we’ve looked at this situation so many times we’re starting to hallucinate good news where none exists.

September: “This pandemic is nothing,” we say as we casually flip our hair. Never mind that the numbers are starting to go up in the places where they had previously been low. Pay no attention to that huge wave sweeping across the South and Midwest. Let’s open things up some more; it will be good for the economy, and the economy is what matters more than silly things like people’s lives.

October: Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Hell no, we’re not going to go back into lockdown! Open everything up! Stage 5, motherfucker! Sure, the number of cases is starting to spike again, but look at the low number of deaths. See? Hardly anyone’s dying except for the people who shouldn’t be dying. More young adults are being affected but they probably had underlying conditions. It’s not the virus’s fault they died.

November: The virus is not merely back, it’s pouring on us like rain and we’re going to drown. There’s still no vaccine and even if there was more than half the people in the US say they’re not going to take it, rendering it ineffective in stopping the spread of the disease. Ten million people have died despite the fact someone keeps telling us that it’s fine, it’s not a big deal. Keep smiling. Cancel the holidays. We’re all going to die.

By the time we get to the last piece, our entire sense of reality is warped. Our thinking, if not our vision, is completely disconnected from any sense of objectivity. We think we know what’s going on, kind of, but we’re uncomfortable, uncertain, and unsure of what to do next. If you’re looking at the final image on a large enough monitor, you’ll see that the model is beginning to fade into the background—not strongly, yet, as there’s still a definite sense of person even if place and time are nonexistent. This is bracing for disaster as our identity melts into the abstraction of calamity.

The rain is poison and like the Batman’s Joker with his forced smile, we’re laughing through the pain, unable to escape the horrors this year has foisted upon us. 

No, these pictures aren’t pretty. They shouldn’t be. This isn’t Pashur’s bodypaint. This year has not been okay and any portrayal of it in traditional tones or imagery is doubling down on a lie that everyone already knows is false. I need these images to be troubling to one’s aesthetic sensibilities. We should not hide that we’re bothered, or disturbed, or possibly even worried about the mental state of the artist (the gods know I am). 

There are more thoughts to compile, more images that need to sit alongside these. Give me a few weeks. Any other year, I’d be shutting production down, but not now. I need to explore more, deeper, into the pain. In the meantime, ponder over these and their implicit meaning. I’ll try to give you something more traditional next week, just to perpetuate the myth that we’re all fine, that this week is an aberration. In the meantime, ponder.

Our HUGE thanks to our anonymous model. She truly is a lovely person and I owe her a less fraught set of pictures for helping us express what we’re feeling in this moment.

For those who might be new, click on any of the thumbnails below to view the images full screen.

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Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.

Salvador Dali
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Art  /  Just For Fun  /  Photography  /  Portrait
Rough And Rumble
November 8, 2020
Rough and Rumble

When two of the nicest people you know act tough

Part of the fun of doing a photoshoot is the opportunity to wear things and behave in ways that one’s normal life doesn’t allow. Costumes, props, hair, makeup, all can make one look dramatically different from how they present themselves in their normal professions. Here, there are no limits. You set the rules for yourself. If you can put it together, we’ll take the picture. There’s no judgment coming from my side of the camera. You be whatever or whoever you wish to be.

So, in the midst of acting silly, Jane and Kat decided to flip to their tough personas. Sure, in real life they’re both sweet as molasses. Well, sort of. Never forget that Kat’s a Marine and can genuinely kick your ass if the need arises. Still, that’s not an identity she wears on the average day. Jane donned a leather jacket (with sparkly pink boots) and Kat stole my hat (because it matched her corset) and away they went.

One caveat to Jane’s pictures here. This is really a set that needs to be viewed on the largest screen possible to look good. I was pleased when I edited the images, but seeing them on my phone hurts my eyes. Please, do us both a favor and find a desktop.

With the external stresses of this past week, and the inevitable stress of the week to come, we need fun moments like this to alleviate some of the pressure. Sure, there are plenty of moments when art and photography need to be serious. This isn’t one of them.

Click on a thumbnail. View an image full screen. Enjoy.

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Just For Fun  /  Photography
Best Friends Being Naughty
October 4, 2020

Are you really BFFs if you’re not doing something inappropriate?

Upfront, one needs to know that looking at these images as anything other than silly expressions of friendship and fun is contrary to the spirit in which they were created. The whole purpose of this shoot was to get together with friends we’ve not seen in a while and have fun. That it resulted in some very silly photos is not unusual but neither should it be considered serious works deserving any judgment. This is strictly fun.

That being said, this is the kind of thing that happens whenever these two get together. There are costumes. There are toys. There are adult-oriented moments of fun and hilarity. Their enjoyment of each other and their time together is what makes these pictures worth sharing. There’s not a serious moment to be had across all fifteen images.

There are two sets here. The first is reminiscent of a set of very campy and hilariously bad films with names like “Toxic Alien Zombie Babes from Outer Space,” “Ninja Babes from Space,” “Spacebong Beach Babes,” and “Space Babes from Outer Space.” None of them can be considered serious cinema and they probably ruined more than a few acting careers. Still, when you’re in need of a laugh, this is the level of silliness that does the trick. Yes, that’s a 14″ pink double-ended dildo. No, it’s not mine.

The second set is vector-based, something one might associate with the 90s. One of the girls said it looked like MySpace, except that she wasn’t old enough to have been on MySpace. There was a time when this type of imagery was everywhere. While we’re glad that it’s no longer a trend, it’s fun to revisit it every once in a while.

What probably made the sets the most challenging was that neither of them could stay still or keep a straight face. Under different conditions, that might have been frustrating but with these two it has to be expected and I’m pretty sure the same is true for most all BFFs when they get together. After all, if you can’t share inappropriate naughty moments with your BFF, why are they even there?

As always, click on the thumbnail below to see an image full screen. Enjoy!

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Photography  /  Portrait
Adventures in the Outdoors: Maddi Skates
September 20, 2020

Throwing a calculated amount of caution to a light breeze, we invited Maddi to our first new shoot since February

Even if I shot once a week every week for the remainder of the year, this would still be the fewest photographs I’ve taken in over 35 years. We all know this year is crazy, though, and there’s no point in looking at it as anything other than an anomaly.

I first met Maddi back in February. We talked then about doing a shoot, but before we could get anything scheduled, everything shut down. Since her shoot was outdoors, though, I figured it would be easy enough to sufficiently social distance ourselves and still get some good pictures. I would use a long lens, she wouldn’t do anything that required her flying over me to get the shot. There was no air to grab. No pipes to ride. Nothing dangerous. Just a cautious amount of fun.

The surprise for the day was that Maddi brought along her best friend, Mr. Crowley! No, he doesn’t pull the board. If anything, he’s a bit frightened of it. But he’s quite photogenic and posed nicely while watching Maddi skate.

That’s it. No shocking surprises. No one naked (this time). Just a fun but cautious trip to Major Taylor Velodrome. Hopefully, this is a start for getting back into the groove a bit. We’ll see.

In case you’ve forgotten, click on any of the thumbnails below to see the image full screen.

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”17257″ layout=”contain” columns=”4″]

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Art  /  Personal  /  Photography
Pressing Pause
August 2, 2020

Sometimes one needs to stop and evaluate where they’re at before continuing

This is going to be my last entry here for a while. I’ve tried to keep up and produce something interesting every week through the pandemic, but I’m at a point where I’m not feeling the least bit inspired. So, I’m leaving you with a set of images in which I literally hit the pause button in the middle of processing. None of these are genuinely finished images. Some still have rough edges, others lack detail, a couple are obscured. They represent how I’m feeling at the moment in many ways.

I’ll start reposting when I have new material or manage to come up with something I find at least marginally interesting. I’m not hanging up my camera, mind you, but for the moment it’s not safe to ask anyone to shoot and without new material I’m feeling uncreative.

Here’s to better days and new pictures.

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Art  /  Experimental  /  Photography
Butterflies, Bugs, And Blossoms
May 10, 2020
Butterflies, Bugs, and Blossoms

Taking a creative turn toward nature

Being quarantined over two months, not having the slightest clue when I will feel safe enough to invite someone back in front of my camera, is really pushing me to come up with creative ways of processing images. Part of the problem is that I’ve looked at the same pictures for so many years that I now find the originals a bit boring. Whether that might translate into something more interesting when I do start shooting again, I can’t yet say. I do know, though, that I’m likely to be more involved in directing models so that I have a greater variety of poses.

One of the things I’ve noticed in looking around various art sites is the popularity of butterflies and other elements from nature composited or layered onto images. The technique is so popular, in fact, that with some artists it becomes redundant after 20 or so images done in exactly the same style. To that end, the images below are likely to be the only ones you see done in this precise style. I’m not saying I won’t use some of the elements again, but if I do it will involve a very different processing style.

I also am not particularly moved at this point from the stark magazine cut-out style of compositing that is popular with a number of artists. Again, it feels redundant to the point that if I see another butterfly with an uneven white border placed over a person’s mouth I may have to puke just on principle. As a result, I deliberately worked to keep edges softer, often deteriorated, and in some cases completely obscure. In one piece, Floral Explosion, there are no edges at all, no lines, just vague shapes, and colors. Artistically, I like the softer touch and may eventually do a set of figure pieces that avoid lines completely, which would be abstract as hell but potentially interesting. Potentially. What exists as a concept in my head doesn’t always work out in reality. We’ll see.

Anyway, we’ve uploaded this set to Saatchi Art for purchase. No, they’re not cheap because they were incredibly time-intensive to produce. Everything we’re doing at the moment is time-intensive. Part of the purpose is to keep myself focused on creating so I don’t get lost thinking of how much I’m not creating. I hope you find something here you can enjoy.

Bugging Out
Bugging Out
Butterfly Daydreams
Butterfly Daydreams
Abiding In Nature
Abiding In Nature
Dances With Butterflies
Dances With Butterflies
Emergence
Emergence
The Feeling Of Nature
The Feeling Of Nature
Floral Explosion
Floral Explosion
Summer Follies
Summer Follies
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Art  /  Current Issues  /  Status
Imagining A Different Perspective of Life
March 22, 2020
charles i. letbetter

I am disappointed, I truly am. The number of views from this past week, the depressingly low number of people who even, for a moment, considered purchasing a print, has me both frightened and concerned. I am frightened because there are too many people who seem to think the whole coronavirus thing with its shutdowns and limitations will be over in another week or so. It won’t. We’re going to be living with this for the rest of the year and probably into the next. Yes, there will be breaks where we can work, but a month’s break is most likely to yield yet another 2-3 month period of quarantine. I’m concerned because at some point I will need to buy more food for the family and prices on that food aren’t going down. As I watch the numbers in my bank account decrease, I have to consider rationing what we have, reducing serving sizes, asking kids to back off the snacks, to make sure we have enough to at least keep the children healthy.

To that end, and perhaps my own physical detriment, I’m adding three images this week. “Don’t Forget To Dance” is brand new and was the most time-intensive endeavor. This digital composite is meant to be an encouragement to find time to dance or do other things that make one happy. To the extent one is able, this is the time to indulge in one’s self, dance, sing, consume large quantities of ice cream in a single sitting, or whatever else makes you happy. I worked on this image a bit at a time as I was able and was initially the only image I planned on offering this week. You can click here to purchase a copy of this print.

Don't Forget To Dance
Don’t Forget To Dance

The next two pieces were late additions after realizing late yesterday how miserable this week’s numbers were. From a health perspective, I shouldn’t have stayed up as late nor gotten up as early in order to finish these pieces. Fortunately, we started with previously completed works and only needed to add to them, which helped to reduce the processing time considerably.

“Together We Survive” draws attention to the fact that the vulnerable and at-risk are dependent on those who are strong. This applies not only to the current environment but throughout our society in general. The virus has us more aware of those who need assistance but the truth is that those in need were here long before the virus. You can click here to purchase a copy of this print.

Together We Survive
Together, We Survive

Finally, “Fracturing The Midwest” is based upon a previous contest piece from 2011. With the help of Christopher Thompson and Pam Warren, we covered the model with elements of grain, corn, and flowers representing the agricultural heart of the Midwest. What I’ve done in this version is trying to put in visual form the ripping apart of lives in the Midwest as jobs are lost and lives are fractured by the realities of necessary and ongoing quarantines. Here, even where assistance is offered, artists and those working in the gig economy often don’t meet the documentation requirements necessary for assistance. These people not only have no savings but are often already up to their eyeballs in debt. Their lives are being shattered with each day the pandemic continues. You can click here to purchase a copy of this print.

Fracturing The Midewest
Fracturing The Midwest

Now, I’m going to do something I probably shouldn’t do and offer you a discount. Enter the code BTAYPJ when you check out and get 20% off my markup on any image. Mind you, I can’t discount Fine Art America’s raw cost. Any discount comes out of my pocket. So, I’m only offering this sale for ONE WEEK. Prices, of necessity, go back to normal after that. My hope is that perhaps there will be enough sales to make up for the discount. We’ll see, won’t we?

Life is not great at the moment. I am not happy. Health concerns external to Covid-19 are mounting. I’ve had one photoshoot in the past three months. We’ve been lied to regarding the virus and its long-term effects. We are not going to shake off this crisis and return to life, as usual, any time soon, if at all. I will continue to attempt to create at least one new piece a week as long as doing so is feasible. Thank you for supporting us during this time.

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Art  /  studio nudes
A Moment Of Fantasy: Restrained Flight
March 15, 2020

As challenges continue from all sides, one new image per week remains the extent of our effort. Model: Kat Franson Rope Suspension: Dewey X. This image is available for sale. Click here to order.

Restrained Flight
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Art  /  Experimental  /  Photography
Experimental Series: Bad Frames
March 1, 2020

This has been a hell of a week. I’ve spent more time talking with doctors and having blood drawn than I have in the past 20 years combined. To say I’m not having fun with this would be an understatement. We’re still waiting on final results but the prognosis is looking something less than peachy. That pattern looks to continue over the next two weeks as well, so I’m not going to be overly aggressive about shooting new material.

Also coloring this week has been a sad fact of life for two of my boys: they’ve each lost a co-worker to suicide. This is never easy no matter how many times it happens. Whether we particularly like our co-workers or not, we spend too much time with them to not be emotionally affected when something of this magnitude happens. I’ve been fortunate in recent years to not have to endure this but for my youngest son this was the first time and it hit him particularly hard. As a parent, I wish I could protect them from this pain, but that is part of our reality.

So, when considering what to process this week, I dropped back, again, to 2012 and picked up a set of photos shots in low light. Looking through the originals, I noticed that there were a lot of bad frames, images that were not positioned within the camera’s range in a manner that would normally be considered attractive. On their own, these bad frames are not useable. Together, though, with the right processing, they become interesting works of art.

There are only nine this week because there simply wasn’t enough time. Life is crazy. Life is fleeting. Sometimes, we need to realize the value in our less-than-positive moments. They’re still part of our lives and are important pieces in what makes our lives beautiful.

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Art  /  Experimental  /  Photography
Experimental Series: Rewind And Reconsider
February 16, 2020
Experimental Series: Rewind and Reconsider

Not everything we attempt turns out exactly the way we planned.

What I thought would be a good idea at the beginning of this week, wasn’t. In fact, it was an absolute disaster and being the rather stubborn-minded person I am I didn’t give up on the concept until the end of business on Wednesday. By that time, it was too late to shoot anything new for this week. There is a lesson to be learned here, but I’d probably flunk the test. I really wanted that concept to work and am disappointed that it failed so miserably.

Fortunately, one of the advantages of having worked with digital images the past 15 years is that we have an archive to which we can turn in moments like this. For this week, I dropped back to another rather experimental art project from eight years ago. These images were originally shot in February of 2012, using only a single lightbulb as illumination in a basement with a red floor (which tinted everything) and white concrete block walls. The nature of the original project, though, was such that those factors didn’t matter a great deal. Here are a few samples from that project.

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The posing limits imposed on that project were rather severe, so to come back to them eight years later and try to do something different makes the original concept feel rather limited. Because of that, I’ve chosen to not crop the new work. Instead, I left everything at its original ratio so that there would be plenty of room to play. In a couple of cases, that resulted in the model looking a bit as though she’s hanging out in the middle of space. While that’s not the best look possible, in the experimental sense it is not the worst sin committed.

I also didn’t use exactly the same processes on all the images. This is because certain processes blended better than others and as I didn’t have an extra 50 hours to do a full set getting some differentiation between images felt important.

Blending the processes was more of a challenge this week than it has been with others. There was a lot of posterization as the colors interacted. While there are plenty of people who like that effect, I tend to not be one of them, and I re-worked a couple of images to avoid getting as severe an effect.

All this reminds me that this is very much an experimental series. We try different things from week to week and sometimes they don’t work. This was one of those weeks. We learn as we go and hopefully can apply what we learned to the next set of photos.

Here is the limited collection from this week’s experiments. Click on a thumbnail to view the image full screen.

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Art  /  Photography
Experimental Series: Exploring External Design
February 9, 2020
charles i. letbetter

Did you know we take pictures of things other than naked people? Now, imagine if we apply our experimental tactics to inanimate objects.

I started this week’s experiments with two goals in mind. First and foremost, I wanted to see what would happen if we applied the same multi-processed concept to inanimate objects, primarily landscape shots with dominant architecture as the focal point. Second, I wanted to see if these images might be marketable to a more mainstream audience. I know the experimental series we posted last week was a bit much for many people, especially given that a fair portion of the population went spastic because JLo did a pole routine at the Super Bowl. Perhaps we could create a more sanguine set of photos to appease those who think I’m totally one-sided.

One of the challenges to this week’s images was trying to keep a sense of depth and texture to the image. As a result, we ended up using a very different set of processes than was required last week. We also added a fifth process to prevent the images from looking too much like an architectural sketch. Not that there’s anything wrong with architectural sketches, but that’s not the look we’re wanting. Of course, this significantly increased the time necessary to create each image. We also had to do a great deal more intimate masking work with these images. The process certainly wasn’t as easy as the end results might appear.

I learned something very valuable this week. When using Photoshop’s “save to cloud” feature, one cannot simply save one version of an image to the cloud and then save a lower-resolution version of the same image locally. No. If one does that, Photoshop overwrites the high-resolution image on the cloud with the same low-resolution image saved locally. To avoid this, one has to create a duplicate image and save it separately. Of course, creating a duplicate image can mess with the Exif data of the image, so there are issues there that I’m not sure how to correct. I’m open to suggestions.

I had originally hoped to be able to offer many of these images for sale. Unfortunately, partly because of the resolution problem and because of external copyright issues, there are only three we could safely offer for sale. If you click the Prints option in the menu, you’ll be taken to my Fine Art America profile and can order prints from there.

You’ll want to view these at the highest resolution possible and may want to bump the brightness on your monitor or screen as they tend to view a little darker than they actually are. As always, click on any thumbnail to view the full collection at its optimal size for your device.

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Art  /  Experimental  /  Photography
Experimental Series: Anonymous Erotic
February 2, 2020
Experimental Series: Anonymous Erotic

Erotic art takes on a different tone as the absence of personality focuses one’s attention

Here we are already in February and I have yet to shoot a new frame with my camera. Yes, I’ve taken some snapshots with my phone, but I consider them more pedestrian, capturing a moment for memory or a concept for later development. In previous years, I’d be chomping at the bit to shoot but this year is different. First, I came into the new year with a four-week backlog of images. That hasn’t happened before and, to be honest, it was a relief as I didn’t have to try and create content at a time of the year when no one seems in the mood to shoot.

Just as important, though, without having new images to parse and process, I’ve had time to experiment, try new techniques and throw away what I didn’t like, keeping what I did, and then trying something different again. This week’s images are the result of that experimentation. When I was creating a header image for the front page of this website, I developed a composite process that I found interesting and immediately wanted to explore more. This is the kind of maybe-it-will-maybe-it-won’t experimentation that I’m reluctant to impose on a new set of images. Archived photos that were previously undeveloped are more appropriate.

However, working with archived images can present a problem as people who posed two or three years ago aren’t exactly expecting pictures of them to come popping up on the internet this morning. My resolution to that issue was to keep everything anonymous. Anonymous work doesn’t always play as well as we’d like but in this instance, it is perfect as the concept would be diminished by a full image with an individual personality.

What you see below are the ones that survived. I learned a lot about where this particular set of processes works and where it doesn’t. This needs to be a carefully selected group of photos where focus can be limited to a specific portion of the photograph, the not content of the entire image. Even with that focus, not everything worked. It’s also worth mentioning that this process takes about five times the effort of a normal photograph. A good day was finishing two images.

Be aware that I ramped up the eroticism on this set. That’s partly because it serves the concept well and partly because we’ve been a bit soft on that portion of the genre the past couple of years. My goal is to be less reticent in displaying what is real and genuinely beautiful in its own right. Still, this is NSFW and I would think twice before viewing them with children in the room.

As always, click on any of the thumbnails below to view the full set.

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Art  /  Photography  /  studio nudes
Taking Nude Pictures Is The Best Experience
January 26, 2020
charles i. letbetter

In a photo-op-oriented world, the best experience comes from taking those pictures without clothes.

To say that society sucks the life out of life is an obvious statement worthy of a dramatic eye-roll. Our puritanical tendencies have led us, collectively, to do some really stupid and mindless things such as Prohibition, banning possession and use of hemp, allowing health-care to be run by for-profit companies, and putting limitations on who, where, and how one loves. Such inappropriate rules have ruined millions of lives over the past 150 or so years (none of the rules I just listed existed before then). So, as much fun as it can be to poke at everything Millenials are doing differently, I can’t say I blame them for putting exhilarating experiences ahead of more traditional things such as buying homes, going in debt to attend grad school, getting married, having children, or committing to long-term employment for someone who doesn’t appreciate their effort. Don’t blame them one bit. I wish my generation had thought of that.

When we think of great experiences, we most often think of things that involve travel, seeing great sights around the world, experiencing different cultures, different atmospheres, and different philosophies in action. I can’t discourage anyone from doing any of those things. However, I fear one enthralling experience doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it should: Taking nude pictures. No, I’m not talking bathroom selfies. Taking pictures of any kind in a bathroom, your own or someone else’s, can only come under the heading of “future regrets.” I’m talking thought-out, well-conceived, planned photoshoots that capture a spirit, an idea, an expression, a statement, or an emotion that cannot be relayed any other way.

For those who take the plunge, the experience is exhilarating. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that shooting nudes demonstrates a level of personal strength and independence that wasn’t present in previous generations. I have been amazed at the poise of models such as Karlie Kloss, Emily Ratajkowski, Arizona Muse, and dozens of others filling fashion’s pages over the past decade. What’s even more impressive, though, are people completely unrelated to modeling, sports figures, dropping their clothes to appear in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue the past 11 years. Sports stars from Indy Car driver James Hinchcliffe to golfer Greg Norman to the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team, Odell Beckham, Jr., Venus Williams, and the Indianapolis Colts Offensive Line, among dozens of others, have dropped everything and shot nude for the magazine. Why? Not because it’s sexy, but because it shows the incredible physical and emotional strength of these athletes (and often a great sense of humor as well). Posing nude makes a statement that goes beyond what any of them can say in their respective sport.

One also gains a sense of freedom in posing nude. Not just freedom from breaking antiquated social norms about what’s acceptable behavior, but freedom from inappropriately imposed authorities and everyone standing on the sidelines saying, “You can’t… ” Posing nude allows one to make their own statement on their own terms. Sure, we provide a number of the concepts we shoot but come to me with a strong idea that makes a statement you want to make and be sure we’ll do our best to shoot it.

The two sets of images in this week’s collection are the last of several photos that were shot back in October. It was one of those incredible experiences of friends doing something together (you’ll remember Cassandra’s set with Mercedes which is viewable here) that was fun, totally unrestrained, and filled with excitement. While most of the pictures can’t be shared on social media, they still are fun to share with friends and one was accepted to a major art festival later this year. As experiences go, ones like this are invaluable.

Our thanks to Cassandra for being patient as we waited to post these separate from the others. More than usual, we strongly recommend viewing the images full-screen on something other than a phone in order to see the detail in the image. Click on any of the thumbnails to enter full-screen mode.

There is no experience that can match shooting nude photographs, especially with a professional photographer. Please, don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re interested.

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Art  /  Photography  /  studio nudes
A Comparative Study Between Windows and Walls
January 19, 2020
windows and walls - charles i. letbetter

In case you hadn’t noticed already, my processing style is changing and becoming more involved. At least, some of the time. The dichotomy between my love of traditional black and white and fascination with where we’ve taken the Experimental Series is substantial. They are two very different styles of photography serving two very different purposes.

So, what happens when we mix the two? How do we determine which photos get processed in black-and-white or the Experimental format? There are a lot of questions I’m still working out. Part of it has to do with the concept and vision at the time of shooting. When we look at the photos along the wall, it’s difficult, at least for me, to imagine them being processed in black-and-white. The concept didn’t fit. In fact, it didn’t really fit any traditional form of processing. The photos shot in the window, however, would have been diminished had we not left them at their prime form.

When planning a complex concept, though, one has to shoot with some understanding of what is involved in the end process. There, I was lacking information. The first three images from the wall set are pretty much what I had imagined. What disappointed me, though, was the length of time necessary to create that effect (nearly ten hours per image) and the degree to which it didn’t work with every pose I’d planned. I was disappointed and stumped. So, I stopped and walked away from the set for a little over a month.

The intervening time gave me the opportunity to explore and fidget more, finding some combinations that I like for the two remaining poses. Yes, it is ultimately a different style, building upon the first, but there’s enough similarity to hold them together.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate Ashley being patient with me as I’ve worked on these photos. We shot these all the way back in September! It certainly is not my intention to ever hold a set of pictures this long, but in this instance, I think it was necessary.

Enjoy the photos. We’re going to be flying back and forth between traditional and experimental styles with almost every shoot we do this year. I do hope you’ll join us!

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Art  /  Experimental  /  Photography  /  studio nudes
Experimental Series: Bound In Chains
January 12, 2020
Bound In Chains - charles i. letbetter

Bondage concepts are popular but when we trade rope for chain it takes on a new dimension

Even though it’s only been two weeks since we posted a new set of pictures, it feels as though it’s been a month. I’ve been sitting on these for what feels like forever and am excited to finally be able to share them with you.

These were shot back in late October, but the origin story goes all the way back to August when one of our neighbors who had lived here for over 40 years decided to move to North Carolina. Among the many things she discarded was a box of rusted chains. I’ve been in this profession too long to let a prop like that escape so I snagged the box assuming that it was medium-weight tow chain. I put it in storage and waited for the right concept.

One of the issues with rusty chain, however, is that they can cause problems if one has any kind of cut or skin abrasion. The appropriate precaution is to make sure that whoever is going to handle the chains has their tetanus shot up to date. Not too surprisingly, not many models have needed to think about that one, so it took a moment before we found Cassandra who, to my delight, was up to date on her tetanus.

Then came the surprise of actually unpacking the chains and getting them ready. Did I have one length or two? What size were the hooks? What were my options? Low and behold, they were tire chains!

For those too young to understand, tire chains are designed to wrap around a set of tires to provide traction in snow and ice. They usually come in sets of two or four. In our box? One. Granted, it was a very large chain for a good-sized truck tire, but there was only one.

Suspending the chain and wrapping it around Cassandra proved to be fun and entertaining. As you can see in the pictures, she swung on it, hugged it, became completely immeshed in it before we unfastened it and let the weight take her down.

The end result is dramatic and erotic and enticing all at the same time. We still have another set from Cassandra waiting, but these were too exciting to hold back any longer. Click on a thumbnail to view them full screen.

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