PotD

Like A Loaded Gun

June 25, 2015

Bikini Boating (2005). Model: Jade Lynn

“A girl in a bikini is like having a loaded gun on your coffee table- There’s nothing wrong with them, but it’s hard to stop thinking about.” ― Garrison Keillor

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]My late parents were amazing. Considering where I grew up, rural Kansas and Oklahoma, and when I grew up, through the 60s and 70s, they did a remarkably wonderful job of making sure we were exposed to important issues such as civil rights, conservation, and the importance of getting a good education. On those issues, they were surprisingly liberal.

On other issues, however, they could be conservative to the point of leaving my brother and I extremely naive. Of course, baby brother had the advantage of coming after me and usually knowing where I kept my stash of adult magazines. Still, there were many areas, especially in regard to sexuality, that were never considered ripe for any level of conversation beyond, “If you think about it, don’t do it; better yet, just don’t think about it.”

Not everything they did was intentional. Mother was almost deathly afraid of water and didn’t learn to swim until she was in her 40s. So, there were no afternoon trips to the pool when we were little. When I took swimming lessons, the instructors were, of course, dressed in conservative one-piece suits and when one is six one isn’t necessarily concerned about the physical qualities of the person promising to catch you if you jump into the pool. On rare occasion, Poppa might take us to a public pool, but when he did he dominated our attention. He was our life raft, our pool toy, our swim instructor, and favorite playmate all rolled into one. We barely noticed anyone else at the pool.

Then, there was the summer I was 14. Being 14 may be the most painfully awkward age for a boy to be, especially in the summer. There was always someone in the group who was more mature looking and talking about “making it” with girls. The rest of us tried to match his banter, but a quick look in the swim trunks revealed we weren’t remotely ready for anything much more intimate than, “hi.” Even if a girl had kissed us, none of us would have had a clue what to do next. I’m pretty sure a couple of the guys might have fainted. Fortunately, no girl ever put us in the position of finding out.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Being 14 meant our parents weren’t afraid of just dropping us off at the city pool and picking us up later. As long as we stayed in the shallow end of the pool, everything stayed nice and appropriately within our parents’ values.

Everything changed the day some kid dared us to jump off the high dive. Two of the guys in our group immediately chickened out because they didn’t know how to swim that well. Randy and I could, though, and Randy wasn’t about to chicken out on a dare … and he made sure I didn’t chicken out either. My heart was pounding as we climbed that twelve-foot ladder that felt every bit like it reached half-way to God. Randy went first and made it look so easy. I stood at the end of the board, thought, “If the fall doesn’t kill me, Mother will,” and jumped.

I hit the water, hands folded just as I’d been taught, and was pleased to feel no pain. I came to the surface, checked to make sure nothing was bleeding and swam for the side. I grabbed hold of the ladder on the side of the pool, looked up, and there she was. Her tan legs were long with water beading deliciously on her skin. Her teenage bottom was covered by her swimsuit and then my brain screamed inside my head, “OH MY GOD I CAN SEE HER BELLY BUTTON!” I looked up a little further and my head screamed again, “OH MY GOD, ARE THOSE REALLY BOOBS?” I was afraid to keep looking. Had she looked back my head just might have exploded.

Feeling something stirring in my swim trunks, I opted to just swim back down to the shallow end. I had, for the first time in my life, just witnessed a girl in a bikini, and it was glorious. Since then, I’ve probably seen tens of thousands of girls in bikinis (or less) and nearly all of them have been absolutely wonderful young women. None, however, was able to induce that same feeling of euphoria mixed with astonishment and sheer fear the way that first girl did more than 40 summers ago. One thing is certain, though: since discovering girls in bikinis, my summers have never been the same.[/one_half_last]

PotD

Summer Rain

June 22, 2015

Reflection in the Rain (2012)

There is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don’t need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain. -Audrey Hepburn

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]This summer is getting off to a rather damp start, at least for the middle and Eastern parts of the continent. The West, well, not so much, but we’re not surprised by that. We were warned. But here, there is a river flood warning for some of the places around town that are a little too prone to the White River leaving its banks. And in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana, anywhere along the Red River is a very dangerous place to be as flooding there has been higher than anyone can remember. While we’ve not had enough rain to set any records, at least none that I’ve seen, it certainly is unusual for use to be entering the heart of summer with the ground soggy, the grass still green, and local authorities talking about a water ban.

What has been frustrating, though, is trying to work around the rain and the fact that weather forecasts have changed several times a day as to whether we’re going to get wet if we venture outside. Most days, I check the forecast when I first get up of the morning and let my aches and pains fill in the blanks. The past couple of weeks, I’ve been checking more along the lines of every hour and finding that rain chances are bouncing up and down like a yo-yo. At one point yesterday the barometric pressure dropped a bit and I was more than ready for a brief but heavy downpour to soak the little urchins setting off fireworks in the neighborhood. Didn’t happen. The one lone storm cell went to our South.

Of course, when we want to take pictures in the rain, it doesn’t happen. At least, not where we need it to happen. Today’s picture was scheduled on a “drop everything and get over here” plan, which was only possible because the model was working evenings and didn’t live too terribly far away. As soon as it was evident that rain was inevitable, we made the call and still had to wait. On another occasion, a male model and I drove all over town trying to get in front of a heavy downpour. We missed it every time. Trying to get the weather to work with your concept plan is rather difficult. The skies just don’t want to listen.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Standing in the rain can be sexy as hell. Wet clothes cling to the body, outlining its curves, and sometimes giving us a hint of what lies beneath. Being wet also makes one appear vulnerable and as humans we respond to that apparent need to be rescued, brought inside and comforted. The romantic rushes to the rescue, towel in hand, hoping that a little kindness shown might lead to thankfulness in the form of intimacy. Unfortunately for the romantic, most people are remarkably independent and self-sufficient, not at all desiring any form of assistance, so not only will they not be needing your towel, the chances of any unplanned intimacy are practically nill. Poor chivalrous romantics never can catch a break, can they?

Playing in the rain is fun and the fact that we’ve seen a resurgence of rubber rainboots as fashion accessories emphasizes that point. There’s a freeing, cleansing, child-like quality to being out splashing in the mud puddles like we did when we were two, but without anyone yelling at us for getting out clothes muddy this time. Playing in the rain is carefree. If the hair style is ruined, so be it; we’re having fun, dammit! We can act grown up later if we must. For now, we just want this brief moment of splashing and frivolity while we can. We would much rather pretend, for a moment, that we haven’t any responsibilities and that there are milk and cookies waiting when we decide to go indoors.

Yes, yes, we must be careful of lightning. There’s nothing sexy at all about being zapped into a coma, or worse, while playing in the rain. Don’t take any chances. If you can hear the thunder you probably need to be inside. While being rain and wind swept can be sexy, especially if one looks like Ms. Hepburn, being dead in a pool of water isn’t quite so attractive and really can ruin one’s summer. Be safe. Have fun. Stay sexy. Enjoy the wetter part of this summer. [/one_half_last]

pop culture / PotD

Officially Summer

June 21, 2015

Cover Up (2012). Model: Danelle French

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Summer is officially here. Sure, it’s felt like summer across most of the Northern Hemisphere for several weeks, but with last night’s solstice we are officially into the season of relaxing and vacation and getting away from it all. At least, that’s the theory. In my mind, summer conjures up images of mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, painting the outside of various buildings, road work interrupting traffic flow, and other sweat-inducing things that also seem to only happen during the summer. Still, there’s baseball, hanging out at the ol’ swimming hole, and going for long walks in the cool of the evening (assuming the evening actually cools). Oh, and girls. Girls in summer are a joy unto themselves and that is exactly where our focus shall be this week.

Girls and summer have had this partnership for centuries. Summer provides the necessary heat and girls respond by shedding a few of the 37 layers under which they were living throughout the winter and most of the spring, reminding us that there really is a beautiful person under all those piles of cotton and wool. And boys? Boys respond by getting into trouble. Everytime. We fall in love with those beautiful girls of summer, and then proceed to do some of the most stupid things imaginable in order to make sure the object of our affection knows just how much we care.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting had it been set any other time of year. He needed that pool as the catalyst for both romance and trouble. He needed the heat and the long days. He needed the impulsiveness, anger, and jealousy that young men feel more strongly in summer. Not that the story would have ended any differently had it been set in, say, autumn. People still fall in love and make stupid mistakes in autumn; they’re just not as interesting then as when we do it in summer.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Most of my favorite childhood memories took place in summer. There were endlessly long days on my bicycle, riding for miles along dusty roads, arriving back home in the evening tired, sweaty, and usually covered in dirt. There were the summer vacations, the two weeks Poppa would hire someone to fill in for him and we would take off on something that probably wasn’t going to be too adventurous but at least got us out of Oklahoma for a few days. Visiting relatives was a big part of the summer, too, as we had a lot of cousins which meant there would be a lot of food and, since it was summer, watermelon. I loved watermelon. I could eat my weight in watermelon. Good thing I was small.

Today’s picture matches the feeling of summer well. Taken three years ago, Indiana was experiencing an unusual heat wave with several successive days reaching temperatures well above 100. Having grown up in Oklahoma, 100+ degree days weren’t uncommon, especially in July and August, but in Indiana folks begin to melt at 85 degrees. 90+ is a danger zone. At 100 degrees, things began to stop. Outdoor work schedules were altered. Special precautions were necessary for the very young and very old. None of that shows in the picture. Granted, we were up at the crack of dawn and even then temps were already into the 80s. But Danelle does a wonderful job of shrugging off the heat and giving us the beauty and emotion of an effortless summer.

Summer is officially here, kicked off by a celebration of fathers who are happy to have one day where, hopefully, no one is asking them to do hot, sweaty chores. The days of beauty, frivolity, and romance are inescapable. Let’s just try to avoid Jay Gatsby’s fate, shall we?Girls in summer are wonderful … and sometimes dangerous.[/one_half_last]

PotD

When Memory Fails

June 20, 2015

: Beads (2008). Model: Anneliese Craft

“Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its lesson!” ― James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]I don’t remember why we took these pictures. There’s a whole set of them with Anne giving me a variety of facial expressions. What baffles me most is why the finished images are cropped to a fairly tight square. The face is really all that is seen. Why would we do that? I have a feeling a now-defunct magazine in Cincinnati may have been involved, but I’m not totally sure even of that. It is entirely possible that the only reason we did the shoot was because someone (Anne? Nick?) had a truck-load of beads left over from Mardi Gras.

This is yet another one of those instances where investigating the further reaches of my archives really tests my memory and too often my memory fails. I have for years labeled digital archive disks the same way I once labeled negative boxes, with model name, concept name, and if necessary, series order. That works for about five years, though, and then I start getting confused. Cindy? Which Cindy? I’ve been eager to open a file more than once thinking I knew the contents only to be severely disappointed. It’s never that Cindy.

Compounding the memory issues are the models who’ve been prolific in front of my camera, such as Anneliese. I have over thirty concepts shot with Anne. Some were simply labeled with a location rather than a concept. Some are only labeled with a date (what on earth was I thinking?). Which ones include Jackson? Which ones were outside? What was the name of that other model in those shots? As I look through the long list of files I wonder how many of them anyone else remembers. Did any of them make a difference, or were we just shooting for our own amusement?[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Memory is a tricky thing, requiring the activity of a part of our brain that is already a bit fragile and frequently unreliable. So many things can diminish our capacity to remember, such as alcohol or some medications. Emotional trauma can erase our memory of entire events. One bad knock to the noggin and we can lose years of our own existence. And that’s not even figuring in the number of diseases that might affect memory.

Being able to remember is a big issue, and interestingly enough, pictures frequently help with that issue. For example, both my parents died while my boys were still quite young. While the older two remember visiting with them, the youngest was only four. They rely on picture and stories to keep those faint memories alive and valid. By contrast, I lost both my grandmothers when I was young as well, but there were few pictures of either of them. Keeping their memory alive in my mind is a struggle, especially as I get older. I also remember watching Granddaddy’s battle with Alzheimer’s and that scares the living crap out of me.

I should probably do a better job labeling my archives. I already have to rely on the image’s exif data to remind me when it was taken. There’s space in that data for more detailed notes and I would probably be well served to fill in that space. But then, that’s something else I would have to remember to do and considering I’m already not doing well in that category I fear the odds are well stacked against me. I’m just waiting for the day I click on a folder and think, “My, what beautiful photographs! I wonder who took them?” At least I’ll have the pleasure of being surprised.[/one_half_last]

Art / PotD / Social Commentary

Waste Not

June 16, 2015

Leave A Tender Moment (2010)

“I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being–forgive me–rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]I hate waste. I don’t hate trash, mind you. There are things which, once expired, definitely require disposal. Waste, though, the deliberate misuse or ruination of something still usable, angers me. I hate wasting time, because there’s no guarantee that there is any more of it coming. I hate wasting of resources, especially those purchased with someone else’s funds under the expectation they would be managed efficiently. I loathe large, opulent displays of wealth wasted in the face of massive poverty.

As much as anything, I hate wasted food. I had to throw away a package of bagels today because moisture had gotten into the package and caused them to mold. Five perfectly good bagels gone because care wasn’t taken in preserving them properly. Those emotions crop up a lot and I’ll blame my mother in part for the constant reminder that there are always starving children somewhere. But then, my own brushes with poverty and hunger are an even more recent reminder of just how valuable a single bagel is to someone who hasn’t eaten all day.

The words “waste not, want not” are etched into my brain so strongly that almost any level of waste I observe stirs a negative emotion. Seeing massive amounts of food in a restaurant dumpster makes me momentarily swear off dining out. Observing whole rivers of polluted water makes me curse industrialization. Seeing the Coke lot the day after a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway makes me detest racing fans everywhere. Even this past weekend I was severely dismayed to look at the street after the Pride Parade and see it not merely cluttered but severely trashed with smashed candy and other litter.

We sadly live in a world where waste of every kind is far too common, far too excessive, and leaves far too large a footprint. Getting anyone to care is almost impossible.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Waste in photography fares no better and is one of the reasons for focusing on missed imagery this week. There are some shoots where the amount of genuinely strong imagery we capture exceeds the limits of reasonable display. I prefer to keep presentations between seven and ten images, since that is pretty much the sweet spot for the average person’s attention span. If we have a really strong set, I might go up to twenty. Beyond that, though, people stop looking. Their eyes glaze over as though you’ve just brought them a fourth serving of parmesan chicken, to which their bodies groaned in despair. No matter how strong the images are, beyond a certain point they’re just waste.

Perhaps the worst, though, is seeing wasted talent. Now, I have to be very careful here. I know there are some people whose talents are multiple and for reasons of sanity they are forced to choose; focusing on one or two while letting others lie dormant. I have sympathy for those people. What bothers me is someone who can clearly do well, either in front or behind a camera, and yet lets someone who fails to understand the artistry of either talk them into doing something far less creative, far more temporary, and far less fulfilling. I come into contact with those people sometimes multiple times a day and when I see them not doing what they could clearly do so well I want to cry.

Today’s picture is one from a set of gems that could easily fill a very large wall. I won’t attempt to over-analyze why this particular combination worked; the models didn’t have an especially intimate relationship, in fact they giggled through the first several minutes of shooting. Everything just clicked and the number of frames worth saving far exceeds what should be displayed in a single exhibition. So, today’s #POTD is an example in preventing waste.

Still, I must ask you to consider: what are you wasting?[/one_half_last]

Art / Photography / PotD

When Bad Pictures Are Good

June 15, 2015

Living In Color (2012)

“Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]I like this picture. I like this picture a lot, so it is a little surprising that I’ve not found an excuse to publish it before now. I like the lighting. I like the styling. The makeup by Sasha Starz kicks ass. One would think that this might have been the first picture from the collection that we would use, and if this one was omitted from the original collection then the others must be absolutely amazing. While the original set of pictures achieves their purpose, though, none of them has the photographic strength found here.

So, why wasn’t this image used? It was not what we wanted. It was a mistake. The original set was intended to showcase Sasha’s makeup using a very dynamic set of colors in an extremely contemporary style. To achieve our purpose, faces needed to be clear of any obstruction. This face is beautifully obstructed by the model’s hair, so it would not work for the desired purpose. That’s just the way things go in our world. In non-digital days it would have gone into the trash bin.

Photographers take plenty of bad photographs. We always have. I am amused now when someone comes across what they think is a treasure trove of never-before-seen old negatives or plates from a long-dead photographer and they decide to publish them. Rarely does one stop to think that perhaps there is a damned good reason why the photos weren’t seen before. Some were full of errors. Some were intended as nothing more than practice. Others were perhaps embarrassing or revealed something the photographer had no intention of ever making public. Yet, now they’re out in the open, quite possibly in violation of the photographer’s wishes.

I remember meeting a young Playboy Playmate, fresh off her gatefold shoot in Chicago. While gushing about how wonderful the experience was, she expressed disappointment that, prior to taking the shots that would eventually appear in the magazine, photographer Arny Freytag had taken several Polaroid shots that littered the studio floor. After the shoot, she went to pick up one of the Polaroids as a memento and was immediately, and severely reprimanded. Those Polaroids, she was told, were the property of the Playboy Corporation and no, she could not have one. Playboy and every other successful magazine and ad agency have long understood what many have not: Losing control of the bad photographs makes the good ones worthless. [/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]When digital photography first began to rise as the medium that would eventually replace film for most applications, we saw the numbers of both amateur photographers and amateur models increase dramatically. All over the world, there were (mostly) young men anxious to take pictures of pretty girls and more than a few pretty young women anxious to call themselves a model. However, no one on either side of the camera in those situations understood the actual value of an image, copyright law, nor the concept of limited exposure.

What happened was that a young photographer would drop 500 or so frames on a shoot, which could take a couple of hours or more. The model, frustrated and only getting a handful of shots she didn’t like, would ask the photographer if she could have a disk with all the unedited shots. Foolishly, the photographer would comply, the model would put really horrible edits of really ridiculous photos on her MySpace page or blog, and war would ensue between model and photographer over who had the right to publish what.

As we go through this week of pictures that were missed, we’re going to see some photos such as this one where one might be tempted to think, “How could you have missed that one?” When we do, we need to remember that not every frame snapped deserves to be published. There are endless reasons for not including a picture, from its inability to meet product or client requirements to changes in desired color or the wrong hair being out of place.

Prior to digital media, second chances like this rarely existed for a photograph. What wasn’t immediately used was typically burned to prevent an unapproved image from making it to publication. Photographers do well to guard their unpublished work so as to protect their reputations.

Yet, every once in a while, we save one like this that is just too good to throw away. The issue that kept it from being considered the first time make it all the more attractive now. I certainly don’t regret saving this one. Enjoy it, there won’t be more.[/one_half_last]

Art / PotD

Aww, Shucks

June 14, 2015

Anything For Art (2011)

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]This is strange. We’re beginning a new week and I’m not even home to see it. Great Zeus, I do hope this turns out okay. We’ll take every precaution, of course, to ensure that this #POTD is delivered on time, or at least on the correct day. There are still limits to technology, though, and I’m not entirely sure that when it comes time for this thing to post that I’m going to be where I have a Wi-Fi signal with which to check it. I think I will, if memory serves me correctly, but I’m not 100% sure. We’re camping, you see, somewhere out in the almost-wild-unknown, except for the fact we’re not leaving Indiana.

This is a test, actually. This is only a test. We’ll get around to the real camping later this summer, but we needed to make a bit of a dry run in relatively safe conditions and not too terribly far from home in order to see how the children, to whom I fondly reference repeatedly as bear bait in hopes that the one wild bear seen in Indiana will migrate our direction, will behave given that a year has passed since the last time we dared take them into the woods. We’re not going off the beaten path. There are emergency services nearby should they be needed. This is only a test. But we may not have Wi-Fi.

Actually, as long as our phones work we should be safe, right? After all, this site is mobile friendly, in case you hadn’t noticed, and that friendliness extends to the backend as well. As long as our service provider doesn’t crap out on us and fail to cover an area their coverage map says they have covered, we shouldn’t have any problem making sure this entry posts on time. I’m not even concerned about oversleeping. Why? Bear bait, again. First crack of dawn and they’ll be up, which is why I’m better off writing this well in advance and saving it for Sunday morning. Who knows how little sleep I might get and if you think I’m crazy now you should see me when I’ve not gotten any sleep. I think we’re taking coffee, but who knows if we’ll be able to work the camp stove to heat the water to make the coffee without actually having some coffee first?[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]How does any of this relate to our topic this week of missed photos? Easy: I want to emphasize just how simple it is for us to make a mistake and misplace or lose or overlook a photograph, no matter how attractive the image might be. Depending on the day, we may take anywhere from hundreds to thousands of pictures but from those only select a handful for processing and chances are even fewer for public display. Often, we delete what we don’t use, especially if the photographs are of a sensitive nature from the client’s perspective. But sometimes, the extras just sit there in folders waiting to be recognized. Sometimes they sit there for years. Sometimes they die.

So, we decided to save a handful of those images this week and display them here. None of the pictures you’ll see this week have been processed and shown anywhere else. Each one of these is getting its world premiere right here and you are a witness to that event.

Oh, come on now, you can show a little more excitement than that. After all, the people involved in these pictures have largely forgotten they even exist. Allison here has moved off to Vegas. Hair and makeup artist Christopher Thompson is off chasing ghosts; not metaphorically, mind you, but the real thing that will scare the living daylights right out of you. The least you can do is show some enthusiasm for their hard work. I can promise you won’t come any closer to seeing Allison naked than right here. That’s one lucky corn husk.

I really hope this thing posts correctly. After all this hard work and all the effort that went into making it possible, it really would be a shame if we didn’t get this up in time. Of course, it always makes us feel bad when you miss something. Most the time that’s your fault, though, not ours. You do know you can subscribe and get a reminder in your email, don’t you? That way you wouldn’t miss anything. Assuming we actually get this posted.[/one_half_last]

Art / Photography / PotD

Splitting Exposure

June 13, 2015

From the Window to the Wall (2006)

“The trouble with rules, though, is that you’ll always be tempted to break one- for the right reasons, due to unavoidable circumstances, because it feels as if there’s no other choice. And once you break one, the rest seem like so much broken glass. The damage is already done.” ― Stacey Kade, The Rules

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Here we are at the very end of this rule breaking week and I can tell by the significant drop in the number of visitors we’ve had that you’re really not too terribly interested in the topic. Perhaps you are too busy breaking your own rules in your own way to find our discussion of them to be of any value. Perhaps you’ve observed the breaking of rules for so long that you doubt, probably correctly, that we are covering any new territory. Maybe you just found other things to do. I don’t know. I only care because I really don’t like that feeling that I’m screaming into the wind.

So, I’m breaking one of my own rules today with a full nude. I had told myself, in my annual introspective meeting of my mind, that I would not post any full nudes outside the Art section of the website. The reason for that being my desire to not overtly offend those who might arrive at the website without prior knowledge of who I am or what I shoot. If one is simply looking for a photographer for your child’s one-year-old portrait, one doesn’t necessarily want to be inundated with nudity. I don’t fault someone for not wanting to look at nude photography without warning. Most the nude imagery is kept to the art section where it attracts people who are interested in that material.

Oh, but you, dear voyeur, have shown your true colors. You enjoy the enticing and even implied naughtiness of some pictures. When we posted a picture of a couple simulating sex last week, our hit count went through the digital roof with us doing only minimal marketing. If anyone was offended, they certainly didn’t bother saying so. If anything, the inference is that, given the opportunity, those of more salacious appetites will beat a webbed path to our world-wide door if we simply guide them with the right picture. Such knowledge puts us in a bit of a quandary: do we go for the increased attention or do we try to be good neighbors in our digital neighborhood? [/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Our picture today is actually one of my favorites and I do so miss the model who has moved on to other endeavors. Long exposure shots are always interesting and this one is made more so by the fact that the window through which a street lamp provides illumination contains two different kinds of glass. As a result, the glass in the lower part of the window creates a distortion that dramatically alters the lines. By having the model stand half in light, half in shadow, we open the image to numerous metaphors and interpretations. There is a lot going on here for such a very simple looking photograph.

Are we breaking a photographic rule? Yes, a couple of them actually. We’re not going to tell you what they are, though, since that’s almost assuredly not why you’re really here. If you’re just dying to know, though, you can always drop me a note and I’ll be happy to answer when I return from camping, which is how I am spending my weekend. While we will be taking some pictures this weekend, they are likely to be much more journalistic in nature and almost certainly won’t involve any nudity, or adult situations, or much of anything else that a reasonable person might find objectionable. Note that I said a reasonable person; those who are offended by everything we do are obviously not reasonable.

There’s a lot going on this weekend and I’m sure that no matter where you live there are better things to do than sitting around looking at nine-year-old pictures of naked people on the Internet. If you’ve not found any of those things, you are seriously in need of a life transplant and I cannot assist you with that. You’re on your own. For the rest of you who are stopping by either after or perhaps in between all the festivities, thank you. We take off in a significantly less structured direction starting tomorrow, so please add checking the #POTD to your to-do list. Better yet, just subscribe so that a gentle, loving reminder shows up in your email every morning. [/one_half_last]

PEACE

Advertising / Photography / PotD

Wide Open Spaces

June 12, 2015

Before Leaving (2012)

“The irony of rule followers is they often quote a lot of people that do not follow as many rules as they do.” ― Shannon L. Alder

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Creative people have never liked feeling they were limited in any way. Adventurous people are much the same. Chances are, if you’re a friend of mine, you’re not a fan of limitations, either. Breaking rules? Hell yeah!

There is a song sounding like it’s from the old west that says:

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don’t fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don’t fence me in

Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don’t fence me in

Cole Porter, who wrote the song based on a poem by Robert Fletcher, was nowhere near the “old west,” though. He wrote the song for a movie that was never produced. Go figure. Some ten years later, the song was given to Roy Rogers who made it a hit because, you know, horses and cowboys and those legendary wide open space were a big hit in post-war America. Interestingly enough, Porter never really liked the song all that much.

A lot of people feign amusement with the concept of wide open spaces, including space itself. Yet, when we find it, not too many of us are actually comfortable. Where space is truly plentiful, where there is an absence of things, there is also an absence of people, anyone with whom one might have a decent conversation, and from there matters quickly get boring. And lonely. And suddenly those wide open spaces aren’t looking quite as good as they did when one first arrived.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]When it comes to space, I live in a world of sometimes uncomfortable juxtaposition. A very basic rule of photography is to fill the frame; make the whole picture interesting, give the eye plenty to see, but make sure it’s all cohesive. At the same time, though, advertising needs space, white space, sometimes a great deal of space, for all the copy that goes into an ad. Some are simple, with little more than a product logo and copyright/trademark notices. Others, especially those having anything to do with medicine, can be quite extensive with a requirement for a full list of possible side effects. For those ads, there’s no such thing as too much space.

Today’s picture breaks the fill the frame rule. Maybe it’s still the ad person left in me, but I like the space. I like that there’s room for copy, a lot of copy, but no copy exists. In my mind, the space gives the mind room to create its own story, its own copy, to go along with the picture. We titled the image, “Before Leaving,” because the way in which her body is slightly turned gives one the impression that perhaps she is on her way out the door. Why? That’s for you to decide. Maybe she’s looking for pants. Maybe she’s about to take a shower. Maybe she’s changed her mind and doesn’t like you as much as you thought. Maybe she’s not a fan of the space.

Giving an image space, sometimes a lot of space, leaves a story open to almost endless possibilities. I like that mystery, myself. I’m not looking for a world all neatly bundled together and fitting nicely into a frame. I enjoy concepts that require thinking for myself. For me, space is a friend and I frequently break this rule, especially for portraits. Let this moment be endless, not boxed and framed and predictable.

Just don’t fence me in. Please. Whatever you do. [/one_half_last]

pop culture / PotD / Social Commentary

12 People Who Totally Suck

May 30, 2015

Indiana Tea Party Republican Governor Mike Pense (2015)

“All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.” -Richard Avedon

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Ha! I bet you thought we were going to give you a list of twelve individuals who totally suck! Okay, we did think about doing that, but then the number of Republican candidates for President grew to 16 and that just made the list too long.

Kidding. Sort of. Almost.

Sure, we preach being nice and inclusive and loving most the time. After all, that really is the only way the world is going to improve. However, there are certain groups of people whose actions as a group are so reprehensible that they need to be called out and shunned. Furthermore, we as a society should do everything we can to encourage the demise of these groups. Some I doubt will ever go away, but many can, and should. Here’s our list of the most despicable.

Pseudo-Celebrities

Real celebrities, those who have some significant talent that thrusts them into the public eye for good reason, can be challenging enough; there have been many in that group whose behavior is less than stellar. Pseudo-celebrities, though, have no significant talent. They have no significant reason for being popular. In most cases, we have reality television to thank for this phenomenon. When networks find amusement in airing the antics of talentless, classless, and too often clueless people, we all suffer. Greatly. Better they all go away. Forever.

Terrorists

These people are just straight up mean. They do not value life in any form, theirs nor anyone else’s. When people don’t value life, they do stupid things such as see how many people they can blow up. Ostensibly, they all have some cause they are trying to defend, but what cause would anyone support that doesn’t value life? Where on the scale of reason does that even remotely make sense? Here’s the thing: not all terrorist are in the middle east or carry guns. There are more in corporate boardrooms. They’re all just as dangerous and all need to be stopped.

People Who Knock On Doors

When I was little, I would get excited every time I heard a knock on the door because it almost always meant a friend had come to play or the UPS guy had dropped off a package. Now, the UPS and FedEx guys just ring the doorbell and disappear. So help me, I swear they’re using teleporters. I’ve not seen a truck in front of our house in years. Now, when there is a knock at the door, it’s someone wanting to change my religion or ask me for money. I’m not interested in doing either and, quite honestly, even if I was looking to do either I wouldn’t wait to see who showed up on my front porch. If I didn’t invite you or you’re not bringing me something fun, go away. Forever.

Racists

This is one of those groups that, no matter how much we rail against them or point out how totally ridiculous they are, they’re probably not going to go totally away. Why do I think this? Because racists have been here pretty much from the moment hominids developed and separated into different tribes. Just because they won’t go completely away doesn’t mean we should in any way, shape, or form tolerate their unacceptable behavior. To the degree we ignore them, they fester and grow like an untreated cancer. We have to stay on top of them, stopping them at every possible juncture, or else they will take over.

Homophobes

Here we have one group who can, should, and must go completely away. More than anything else, these people are quite simply ignorant. We can’t even complain that they’re believing in ancient myths. These fools are making up nonsense out of the clear blue. While we would like to think we can love them into accepting everyone regardless of their sexual orientation, history would seem to indicate otherwise. We must instead focus on educating younger generations correctly, dismantling the nonsense before it has a chance to grab hold, and hoping that those who refuse to learn die out quickly.

Sexual Predators

Rapists. Pedophiles. Anyone who sexually takes advantage of another person, or commits any sex act against them without their permission and compliance, is someone who needs to be immediately removed from society. There’s actual science to tell us that recidivism among sexual predators exceeds 80% no matter what type of treatment or intervention they receive, or who their parents are, or what reality show they’re on, or which presidential candidates have had their picture taken with them. If we want to keep them from committing further crimes, they have to be removed from society. We simply have no choice at this point.

People Who Don’t Hold Doors/Elevators

Compared to the previous group, this one may seem completely insignificant. However, I challenge that people who don’t hold doors and/or elevators, especially when they see the person approaching is in some form of distress, are more than just rude: they have no respect for other people. Those who have no respect for other people not only don’t hold doors/elevators, they are capable of doing any despicable and mean act of which one can think. Murder is not off the list of choices for these people, given the correct set of circumstances. Note, we’re not talking about someone who is just having a bad day and lets one instance slip. These are the people who, every day, despise everyone else on the planet and do their best to be mean. They can all go away.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]

Justin Bieber Fans

I’m relying on statistical analysis for this one. I’m not sure I’ve ever had the displeasure of actually running into a true Bieber Believer. I don’t go to the places where they are likely to congregate and run in the opposite direction at the first sound of anything that might possibly be the beginning of that noise Bieber calls music. Bieber fans elicit screams and other sounds that exceed the measurable quotient of the human ear. Rumor is they’ve actually had to re-route aircraft to avoid the shockwave of disruptive noise caused by Bieber Fans. Many cities are considering a ban on indoor Bieber concerts due to the screams of fans compromising the structural integrity of the buildings. Fortunately, most Bieber Fans grow up, discover real music, and move on.

Self-Righteous Assholes

You know at least one. They are convinced that they know better than everyone and no amount of evidence to the contrary is ever going to convince them otherwise. They believe they have the best religion, went to the best school, drive the best cars, live in the best houses, and could have just as easily invented Facebook themselves accept for the fact they’ve never been a loser geek. These people delight in putting everyone else down in an effort to make themselves look better. We have another word for them, too: Bullies. Like many others on this list, we have to stand up to them to keep their numbers from growing. Fortunately, there is evidence they can be converted when shown the error of their ways. We have no choice but to try.

Non-Tippers

If you’ve never worked for tips in the United States, you don’t understand the severity of this crime. All over the country, we hear people talking about the minimum wage being too low. What rarely gets any publicity is that groups of very necessary people work for even less, roughly 75% less, on the promise that if they do a good job people will tip them. Your server’s base wage is a mere $2.75 an hour. Who can live on that? No one! And while the concept of tips sounds good, the fact is that as meal prices have gone up, and the quality of food has in many cases declined, tips given to servers, who control neither prices nor food quality, get shafted. Not tipping should be a crime. The punishment: working three doubles in a row at a busy restaurant … with no tips.

Murderers

This one is a no-brainer as well. Murder is probably the worst crime of them all, and often the most difficult to catch. Police can’t look for a murderer until they have evidence that the crime has been committed and contemporary murderers have all kinds of methods preventing that from happening. Murderers can be divided into two groups: passionate murderers who were simply pushed to far and killed in the heat of the moment; and psycho murderers who think, plan, and prepare before carrying out their nefarious deed(s). The first group probably isn’t all that dangerous with a little psychiatric help. The fact that they killed once was totally related to a specific situation. The second group, though, can’t be trusted no matter what. That there are still a huge group of them running loose should make all of us afraid to go to bed at night.

Tea Party Republicans

The Republican party has a grand tradition and holds a valuable place in political conversation. At least, it did until this small group of jackasses calling themselves the Tea Party started taking over. Tea Party Republicans have done more damage to the country, especially at the state level, than ISIS or any other terrorist group ever could. Consider their list of crimes:

They’ve gutted civil rights laws and the 1964 Voting Rights Act,
they deny women the right to control their own body,
they deny much-needed services to the poor and incapacitated,
they deny assistance to military veterans,
they’ve turned education into nothing more than a test-taking machine,
they are systemically killing the environment,
they have attempted to usurp the First Amendment with laws explicitly promoting Christianity while oppressing everyone else,
they claim they do not have to obey decisions made by the United States Supreme Court,
they believe rape is the woman’s fault, and
they refuse to recognize the civil rights of the entire LGBTQ community.

Sadly, that list is just the most common grievances to be held against Tea Partiers. These folks are nothing short of insane. Running on a platform of fiscal responsibility and smaller government, once elected they decimate every necessary program that does not kick back funding to their cronies. They are the very definition of a real and present danger that, if not completely removed from the political system, could single-handedly destroy the country.

See, I made it all the way through the list without naming anyone specifically. Well, okay, there is the idiot in today’s picture, but that’s more implied, don’t you think? Besides, he’s already proven this year just how much he sucks. He doesn’t need my help.[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

Something To Talk About

May 8, 2015

We’ve been together seven years now. He’s great, but that’s all I can say. You know, [it’s like] the Sippie Wallace song that goes, “Don’t advertise your man.” [Bonnie Raitt interview with Roger Friedman for Parade Magazine, Bonnie Raitt on Taking Control, Staying Sober, and Being Kissed by an Angel April 8, 2012]

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]There’s nothing quite like social media to fuel the rumor mill. All it takes is one tweet or one meme from one person and, like wildfire, the statement takes off around the world on the assumption that it’s true, without anyone actually bothering to check that it is. As a result, we’re told celebrities are dead that aren’t, people said things they didn’t, and hook-ups and break-ups that never happened. We are so eager to find out every last detail, and to be the first to know it, that the truth just sits quietly on the sidelines waiting for someone to notice it.

This Bonnie Raitt song was written before Twitter or Facebook or even the Internet were ever on the scene, but it still captures that bad habit that has likely been around as long as humans started assembling into tribes. There’s even a commandment against gossiping: “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” My late father complained that was the most frequently violated commandment within the church, and even from behind the pulpit. The song’s attitude of defiance reflects how much we’ve come to accept the fact that people are going to talk no matter what we do. No matter how straight-laced and careful one is, there’s always someone else who’s jealous, or perhaps downright mean, or thinks they can somehow improve their own social standing by gossiping about others.

The song was playing in my mind the entire time we were shooting this set. The girls are not actually romantically connected at all, but what if they were? Would you be shocked? Supportive? Disgusted? Happy for them? A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 61 percent of Americans would support a gay person running for President and 58 percent are hoping the Supreme Court rules in favor of equal marriage rights. The very concept that one girl might love another isn’t nearly as provocative or surprising as it was even five years ago. Still when a couple kisses in public, or demonstrates any sign of affection, it gets our attention and the rumor mill starts doing its dirty work.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Written by Canadian singer-songwriter Shirley Eickhard, the song is actually as much as about shy love as it is gossip. Person A likes Person B, Person B likes Person A, but neither one quite knows how to tell the other. By the second verse, the singer realizes there’s no denying what the rumors have been alleging all this time.

I feel so foolish, I never noticed
You act so nervous, could you be fallin’ for me?
It took the rumor to make me wonder,
Now I’m convinced that I’m goin’ under.
Thinkin’ ’bout you every day,
dreamin’ ’bout you every night.
I’m hopin’ that you feel the same way,
Now that we know it, let’s really show it darlin’.

As we approach the weekend, perhaps this is a good time to let that carefree, rumors-be-damned attitude take over. Certainly, if you love someone, or even think you might have feelings for them, there’s no good reason to not say something. People are going to talk either way, so why not just go ahead and give them something to talk about?

And make it good and steamy while you’re at it.

[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

Blackbird

May 7, 2015

I was in Scotland playing on my guitar, and I remembered this whole idea of “you were only waiting for this moment to arise” was about, you know, the black people’s struggle in the southern states, and I was using the symbolism of a blackbird. It’s not really about a blackbird whose wings are broken, you know, it’s a bit more symbolic. [Paul McCartney, Interview with KCRW’s Chris Douridas, 25 May 2002 episode of New Ground]

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]I could probably have done the whole week on Beatles’ songs, and maybe somewhere down the line I will. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were especially good at using visual metaphors to get across a message, sometimes subtly, other times rather blatantly, and still leave one with a tune worth humming for the whole of the day. The Beatles’ catalog is a treasure trove of photographic possibilities, but one of the things I find interesting is how the meanings of the songs have morphed and changed over the years. Political situations that were obvious and well-known when a song was written are now more obscure, but in their place the songs pick up new issues that speak just as loudly to a current generation as they did fifty years ago.

Blackbird is one of those songs. Sir Paul, who actually did most the writing, meant for the song to recognize the burgeoning civil rights movement. For many black people across the United States, it seemed that their time had come. The symbolism of the broken wing was clear and evident to a people who had struggled and at the time it seemed they were about to break free of those shackles. Unfortunately, what we see happening now brings the actual progress of that movement into question. Was the wing actually mended or was the bird simply put into a different cage?

Contemporary interpretation of the song probably leans more strongly to the LGBTI movement and the social progress we’re seeing among those people. Certainly, they, too, have existed as an unwanted, unrecognized subculture forever, a bird whose wings were at times not merely wounded, but often removed completely. As society becomes more accepting of people of different sexualities, though, I wonder if there’s a lesson to be learned from the civil rights movement of the 60s, that a mended wing doesn’t always mean freedom from the cage.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Interestingly enough, it is not the Beatles version of the song that this photo brings to mind, but rather Sarah McLachlan’s. I like the light, simple, acoustic feel she gives the song, a gentle reminder, almost like a lullaby, that things are going to get better, that wings are going to heal. Women, too, are a group that has been breaking out from the traditionally submissive roles for some time, but still have a ways to go in earning as much as their male counterparts.

The words of the refrain are worth taking through the day:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

I think a lot of people relate to the experience of having their wings broken, their spirit crushed by a seemingly unending tidal wave of negative events. This song carries the assurance that things are going to get better. You were just waiting for the right moment.

Maybe that moment is today.

[/one_half_last]

Behind The Scenes / Photography / PotD

Hold Your Horses

April 20, 2015

Behind The Scenes: Sunday Morning Ride (2011). Model: Cynthia Schmidt. Horse wrangler: Jewel Emery. Horse: Duke.

Working with horses is a good reminder of why planning photoshoots well in advance is important and why no detail is too small to let go unattended. With sufficient time and care, though, they can take incredible photographs. The same can be said of people on occasion.

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 2px”]I like horses. I still remember my first pony ride as a tot. I still remember struggling to try and carry the saddle by myself. I still remember the thrill of jumping gates. Growing up in rural areas, horses were frequently part of our lives and the love and respect I have for them continues. Horses are bright, intelligent, and noble regardless of age or pedigree. Occasionally ornery, they are often great hams in front of a camera and even show jealousy if one gets more lens time than another. They also tend to be great judges of human character and won’t tolerate someone they don’t like.

Having a horse in a photograph almost always makes for a great image, but those pictures don’t just happen by showing up at a ranch one morning and asking to borrow a horse. Most city-raised people don’t know how to ride, or even how to behave around a horse, which can be a bit dangerous. So, when planning to work with horses we have to take plenty of time, choose our models carefully, and take extra precautions such as giving the horse and the model a little time to get to know each other before taking the pictures that count.

Today’s picture is one such bonding moment between Duke and Cynthia. Duke’s owner can just barely be seen on his right side, adjusting the stirrup for Cynthia’s long legs. It was fairly early on a Sunday morning, Cynthia hadn’t ridden in a while, and I’m not sure Duke was all that crazy about having someone on his back at this particular hour. Everything went quite well except for this one tentative moment when Duke moved a little unexpectedly, catching Cynthia by surprise. Very shortly thereafter, they were riding around, getting to know each other, and having a good time.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 2px 0 8px”]We arrived even earlier the next week and fog hugged the pasture as Cynthia mounted Duke and took off. He pranced and trotted beautifully, responding well to her instructions. One of my favorite shots from the day is where Duke appears to be sticking his tongue out at me as he trots my direction. After playing in the field for a while, Cynthia changed clothes and Duke proceeded to stand beautifully still as she laid across his bare back for a number of images. Something tells me that Duke thought he was the focus on the pictures and the girl was just decoration.

I should probably take a moment to insert a cautionary note here. Not every horse is as cooperative as Duke. In fact, when it comes to editorial style photographs, one is almost always better off with an older horse who is accustomed to being ridden by a number of people. Younger, more high-spirited horses are likely to be a bit temperamental about who is on their back; they need strong, experienced riders who know how to take charge and aren’t intimidated by a horse’s dominant personality. Listen carefully to the advice of a horse’s owner and/or wrangler. I’ve never had anyone hurt while taking pictures around horses, but the danger is definitely there.

Pictures circulating in Las Vegas this week show an intimidating Cynthia in her football uniform, promoting that city’s LFL team; she looks as tough and dominating as she is beautiful. So, this seemed like the perfect time to pull out a picture of the one moment, that split second, where she might have been a wee bit anxious. Obviously, her confidence was back by the time we took the pictures below, but we’ll always remember that one moment and the horse that made it possible.[/one_half_last]

PotD / Social Commentary

Celebrating The Anti-Barbie

March 9, 2015

The Anti-Barbie (2010). Model: Dani Norberg. Styling: charles i. letbetter

I find it sadly interesting that today, the day after International Women’s Day where we celebrate women and all their wonderful contributions to the world, is Barbie Day. Barbie, that representation of all that is superficial, misogynistic, plastic, and objectifying in the historical view of women and the severe lack of reality in how society defines women. I am in favor of this particular celebration not existing.

We actually did a project a few summers ago where we took Barbie dolls and treated them like models. Ultimately, we turned them into zombies and at least one little girl was disappointed to discover she couldn’t actually get the zombie Barbie in a store.

I decided to go a different direction today though and celebrate the anti-Barbie; women who are independent and fierce, perhaps embracing an alternative lifestyle, not afraid to do things differently, to step outside the norm. These are women who wear their ink and body modifications proudly, not caring what anyone else thinks about the matter; women who define life by their own standards, set their own rules, and hold to their own sense of morality.

For too long we have limited women’s role models to those who are the elite, those who go on to college, run Fortune 500 companies, break through barriers at the top to give women more opportunity, and I’m not knocking those women in any way, shape or form; what they have done is nothing short of miraculous. But I also find strong role models in women who hold down two or three jobs to make sure their children are fed, clothed, and sheltered. I find strong role models in women who operate backhoes, drive trucks, and design stage lights. I find strong role models in women who join the military and fight to be allowed on the front lines. I find strong role models in women who struggle in the face of unending adversity and still somehow manage to hold their families together.

I don’t personally know any women who are anything at all like Barbie, and I don’t think I want to though I know they exist. Being superficial and plastic, hanging on to an ideal that was never anywhere close to reality, has no place in this or any other progressive society.

So here’s to all the anti-Barbies, the real women who aren’t afraid to be different. We love you. We thank you. We embrace you.

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Page 12 of 12

Like A Loaded Gun

“A girl in a bikini is like having a loaded gun on your coffee table- There’s nothing wrong with them, but it’s hard to stop thinking about.” ― Garrison Keillor

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Summer Rain

There is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don’t need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain. -Audrey Hepburn

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Officially Summer

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

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When Memory Fails

“Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its lesson!” ― James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans

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When Bad Pictures Are Good

“Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

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Aww, Shucks

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

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Splitting Exposure

PEACE

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Wide Open Spaces

“The irony of rule followers is they often quote a lot of people that do not follow as many rules as they do.” ― Shannon L. Alder

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Something To Talk About

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Blackbird

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Hold Your Horses

Working with horses is a good reminder of why planning photoshoots well in advance is important and why no detail is too small to let go unattended. With sufficient time and care, though, they can take incredible photographs. The same can be said of people on occasion.

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women

“A girl in a bikini is like having a loaded gun on your coffee table- There’s nothing wrong with them, but it’s hard to stop thinking about.” ― Garrison Keillor

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There is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don’t need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain. -Audrey Hepburn

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“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

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“Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its lesson!” ― James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans

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“I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being–forgive me–rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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“Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

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“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

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PEACE

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“The irony of rule followers is they often quote a lot of people that do not follow as many rules as they do.” ― Shannon L. Alder

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“All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.” -Richard Avedon

Pseudo-Celebrities

Terrorists

People Who Knock On Doors

Racists

Homophobes

Sexual Predators

People Who Don’t Hold Doors/Elevators

Justin Bieber Fans

Self-Righteous Assholes

Non-Tippers

Murderers

Tea Party Republicans

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Working with horses is a good reminder of why planning photoshoots well in advance is important and why no detail is too small to let go unattended. With sufficient time and care, though, they can take incredible photographs. The same can be said of people on occasion.

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