The Trunk Monkey Chronicles

" Find your niche and what you like, be professional, sometimes be patient and appreciate every memorable experience and great opportunity that comes at you." - Lorelei

I don't know if you realize it or not, but you already know you can read me here on this blog, but did you know I am ALSO a co-editor for Chris' Univers d' Artistes blog? Didn't know that did you? Okay, I may have already said it a couple of times here, but I'll be helping out over there from time to time. Chris St. James is posting EVERYDAY and I know its got to be wearing out Unbearable Lightness trying to keep up. Chris is a freak-n machine. So, by request, I just did a post on Lorelei.

It turned out great as I did a 10 question interviewed with her. I loved her answers and not cuz she hyped me, but because you could tell she was speaking from her heart and that she really took the time to give me some good feedback. I'm not doing any copy-pasting or reprints over here, but you can click on the jump link over there and check it out. Actually, I will copy over one request she made:

"...visit MAXIM.com and VOTE for your homegirl ! I'll be in week 6 of voting April 27 through May 4th until noon, much love if you can vote for me everyday til then, just takes a few clicks and no typing. Thanks!"

Life is good. I'm working. Dave's coming next month. My uncle is here for the weak. I'm happy. Yeah I still got a few issues to solve and things to work out, but that'll be the deal til I'm dead. What I want are NEW problems. "Gee, where am I going to invest all this money and what charities should I contribute to this week?". "Goodness, how am I going to find the time to shoot ALL these models I keep getting requests for?". "Should I go with the lace-up Berlutis or the buckle-down Lobbs as I accept my Ig Nobel Prize for Art tonight?". See what I mean...NEW PROBLEMS. Everybody should be working towards new problems rather than the elimination of problems in their lives all together.

I've been working on more of my non-nude images lately. I've taken several, but they sat on the proverbial shelf since I just couldn't bring myself to do the edits. I had too many nude works to edit. Its cool going back over old work and trying to get back into the mindset you had when you released the shutter. I worked on a series of compositions I did while on my way back from Phoenix last year during my road trip with Felix and Summer. Remember that? This couple is a shot (above) I took while visiting the Phoenix Art Museum. They seemed like an interesting couple that I knew I wanted to photograph, but I didn't want to harrass them. As it happened, they were leaving the same time we were and I got them in the parking lot. They were cool about it and flattered. Unfortunately, I was out of cards that day and can't find their contact info. Damn it.

The other shots were of a stop we made on the way back by way of Vidal, California. Some of it was just junk. Actually, all of it was junk or stuff on abandoned properties. I still got a few good shots, but even then, it would have been nice to have somebody naked there.

I don't know how long it has been out, but I just discovered Trunk Monkey. Oh, I LMAO!

If you can't see the video, -->click here<--

Something a Little Different

"Off into the Horizon"

Head Colds... awful stinking head colds. This isn't anything like I had back in January, but its one of the more annoying kinds of things that really funk up your day. All the hacking and coughing, the chest congested head and chest...oh, please let me be done with it. I think I may be on the far side of it now. I'm doing the liquid Theraflu for Chest and Cold Congestion that seems to subside my coughs. I went and got some around midnight last night and I think its helping. I hate going to work feeling so drained and the last thing I want to do if start infecting other people. I know I had being around someone else who is sick and I am a firm believer of sending someone home rather than letting them continue to work, get worse, and then spread the disease around.

"Another traveler through Nipton"

So I'm going to stay in today even though its bright and sunny here in Las Vegas. Nice day for a hike. It occurred to me last night that I was supposed to have been going out doing just that with my good friend JKompare to explore some sites he's recently visited. He's a regular member of my Las Vegas Art Models Group and I've been slacking there as well. The photo part has really been successful but I'm still looking to get the figure drawing part of it up and running again. I have done nothing with it since last summer. I lost the venue where I hosted them and now need a new place AND I've got to get the people interested in it again to at least do an every other week session. I want to have a venue for models to work more than just once a month. My goal is to have 4 different sessions going between photography and figure drawing. Right now, photography once a month is it and even that's been tough just recently. I'm trying to decide on whether or not to do a studio on May or another outdoor gig. I like outdoors. That's my specialty.

"Fixtures at Denny's"

Well, I thought I'd post some of my non-nude work this time. Lin says I don't do it enough and I do want to be more than just a shooter of nekkid ladeez. Portraiture is the next thing in line that I love to shoot, but there's still more that I do. So here is some of that.

"The Glory Days are Gone"

Fun with Lieara

I REALLy need to get better at my posting. I work a day shift now, like regular people but I'm putting in Omgosso hours. Two of the biggest differences I've noticed is that I can't go to the movies like when I worked night shift. I'd hit a good show early in the morning while all the kids and the knuckle-heads are either in school or in bed cuz 11a.m. is still too early in the morning to be up. Now its like I have to wait til the evening shows, where you pay extra and have to watch with everyone else. I can still catch a Saturday matinee, but that's what the bulk of everybody's doing. I've grown accustomed to having the whole theater to myself or shared with less than 5 other people or families.

The biggest thing that I miss is the ability to shoot during the day like I used to. So far, I've had to cancel on 2 shoots that I would normally do during the day. These are with models who have kids and either need to be home later in the evenings for the family or who simply otherwise can't do evenings. Jobs or other committments get in the way. So I don't have any idea yet how I'll adjust to all this. I do have a shoot this weekend sometime, so that's a start. I can't tell you how many times I've come home and just needed to shoot somebody.

I'm going to leave you with images of Liera. I got to work with her again last month and she's a girl of many colors...hair colors, that is. Check her out on Model Mayhem.

"Sun Kick" Model Lieara, Southern Nevada

"Spontaneous Stretch", Model Lieara, my place

"On a Rock in the Wilderness", Model Lieara, Southern Nevada

"A Cause for Concern", Model Lieara, Southern Nevada

Samantha's First Time with Me

You cannot believe in honor until you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright: you are the window through which you must see the world.

- George Bernard Shaw

I'm still wondering how to relate to the 2257 statute that went into effect this past month. I had a model ask me about it out of concern just this past week. She wasn't at all happy about surrendering her personal info to just anybody and I can understand her point. Its one thing to show your driver's licence to a photog so he can verify your age, but its something else to give him a copy of it for his records. She's got to get a new licence since her's has her social security number on it, which is strongly advisable. But such is the case if you wish to either continue in the artistic nude arena, be you model or photog.

My main issue, currently, is the place of record part of the business. If I want to comply, I need to have records on file with the scanned copies of model identification at some place which can be open to inspectors whenever they want to come check me out. Granted the rules states 20 hours out of the week, but the intent is to be available during regular business hours. Well, photogs don't want to list home addresses on their sites and you know there is a cost factor involved when you use an off-premise site that can maintain your records for you. What I'd like to see is the art community come together and, 1.) Get this law repealed as unconstitutional or at least take the heat off of us artists who should have nothing to do with this. However 2.) if we have to comply, lets ban together and have a few central places that can keep our records for us without costing us so dog gone much every time we drop the shutter. I looked at one company and they charged you $35 for every record you kept, plus a yearly fee that I can't immediately recall at the moment. Dang... can we not figure out something better for this?

I got to work with a new model a few weeks ago. Samantha is another one of those models who I'd like to see regularly posting on a blog. Its always been a thrill for me to read models who recant their adventures and experiences as model-slash-blogger. Having been a model myself, its always a welcomed opportunity to delve into the mind of the art nude model as she relates to us the goings-on of her day. Samantha is one of those who, while young, has opinions that warrant a closer look at her identification. You'd swear she was more experienced than her years suggest. In most cases, I identify with a model like on this level who is much more mature and can back up their opinions with actual time on the planet. I found myself in Samantha's apartment listening to and questioning her insights and left there wondering what's she's already experienced so soon in her life that has brought her to ask some of the questions she asks or thinks about some of the things she contemplates. It was a refreshing conversation. Much of our preliminary shoot was spent capturing her in conversation with me.

And speaking of models who blog, I had the experience of dialoging with Groovacious K the other week. Now, if you hadn't heard, you definitely better ask somebody. This lady's got curves that can prove dangerous if you aren't careful. I JUST missed her while she was in Vegas. I've seen her work in previous months, especially on deviantART, shot by photographer David Winge. I've been working on a series of dark curves lately so its so hard to ignore what she's got to offer. AND she blogs on a regular basis with feeling. I mean, she really puts it out there. You can learn much from this girl. I've already picked up a few pointers from her that I am passing on to a friend. So not only is she gorgeous with a killer bod, but she's articulate, smart, and willing to share with anybody who's interested. That's the kind of model who's on my radar and I can't wait til she back this way again.