"Paradigm Shift" by Mike McGrath

Making preparation for my wedding shoot in July. The day is fast approaching and there's still some stuff I need to get. I've opted to rent some equipment from LensRentals.com. I REALLY wanted to have that Mark II, for this shoot, but the things been on back-order for ever. I'm happy I was able to go through them and find what I needed. Garrett recommended them and so far, I've found them pretty easy to work with. They are a company out of Memphis and FedEX your rentals anywhere in the US. I found their prices reasonable as well. I made sure to insure everything, with the exception of the camera body, surprisingly. They'll insure the lenses, but not a camera body. I'm guessing the insurance is for repair costs for a lens, but they figure if you mess up a camera body, you've pretty much bought it anyway. Well, interesting enough, Digital Photo Pro has an article in the latest issue about taking care of your bottom line and this feature is on insurance for your photo business. I think its worth while for you to look into it. I've subscribed to this magazine for about 2 years now and its worth it.

Its been a while but I interviewed another model recently, but actually, she interviewed me, I think. The girl had a bunch of questions...good questions, and it took us about 4 hours of coke refills at a local pub to sort through it all. She's got a plethora of ideas of concepts she'd like to shoot and I'm only happy to oblige her. Hopefully within the next week or so, I'll be posting new work of her. Like I said, its been a while since I've shot a nude. So I guess I finally got my wish. I finally put off shooting nudes for a while. Granted, I didn't do so in lieu of shooting other things. I had to put photo on hold all together. I did get in some shots here and there, but I also reworked some of my older images and organized my files. Its time to ship another body of work off the the Library of Congress and I'm still doing all my meta-tagging. So I've posted a mish-mage of stuff I've been working on.

Another priority is getting my Las Vegas Art Models Group up and running better than before. I've got a few ideas but making them happen is something different. I haven't done a workshop in quite some time and I guess a few people began to get concerned about my welfare in that no one had heard from me in a while. There are some who knew what's been going on but a great many hadn't a clue. My issue has been to revamp the group and refocus on the reason I started the group in the first place, but I need to do so in a manner that makes the group at least pay for itself. I've been out of pocket in this thing for quite some time. I may as well make it a profit-oriented venture so that I can expand my resources and broaden my capabilities/options. Getting models hasn't been such a big thing, but many times, more than one is necessary and that is where affordability comes into place. Paying models for these gigs has been important since the main reason I started the group was to give models more venues to earn money at what they do, through my own workshops and sessions, but also through networking. For a while, any person or business needing a model knew that I could deliver and I passed on recommendations. The same held true for artists and photographers. Some of the artists in my drawing groups came away with commissions and I had photographers make connections as well. So any of you readers with suggestions, I'd be more than happy for your support.

A few changes coming up is a new name. PhotoAnthems.com will be the new name for my blog and website in the near future. I need a logo design and maybe a new blog layout. I still have work to do in that regard, but don't be surprised when it pops up and you think you've come to the wrong site. You can also now follow me on Twitter! Don't know if I want to keep up with it yet, but I'm gonna play with it for a while. So at any rate, come give me some love at www.twitter.com/ArtNudePhotog. And if you're gonna be traveling anywhere, visit My Rovia Travel Site before hand to see if you can save some money. So far it hasn't been beaten as far as I've seen and they also price match. So check out the deals.

And finally, there's "Paradigm Shift" I'd be interested in knowing what you might be inclined to feel towards, this life-sized bronze sculpture by artist Mike McGrath, of a female nude, squatting with knees spread, and exhibited in a privately controlled space, but viewable to the public. I can still visualize it as art, but I'd like to know what you think about the venue. Right now its exhibited at the Burien/Interim Arts Space, or B/IAS. Would you say its too explicit?

"Paradigm Shift" by Mike McGrath