It's Hot! Damn Hot!

"A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water."

- Eleanor Roosevelt 

*Sorry... I just like that quote. Its got nothing to do with any of my topics.

"Hey, can you tell me what's your name? 

"My name is Roosevelt E. Roosevelt." Roosevelt, what town are you stationed in? "I'm stationed in Poontang." Well, thank you, Roosevelt. What's the weather like out there? "It's hot! Damn hot! Real hot! Hottest thing is my shorts. I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking." Well, tell me what it feels like. "Fool, it's hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It's damn hot! It's so damn hot, I saw these little guys, their orange robes burst into flames. It's that hot! Do you know what I'm talking about?" What do you think it's going to be like tonight? "It's gonna be hot and wet! That's nice if you're with a lady, but ain't no good if you're in the jungle!" Thank you, Roosevelt." 

--- Robin Williams, from "Good Morning, Vietnam!"

Summer has arrived here in the Las Vegas Valley a little early...like by three weeks. Already, we are getting record temperatures. At 108 degrees, its pretty dog-gone hot and the hottest time of the year is still a ways off yet. I don't feel all that smart when I walk outside and my mind asks myself, "Why are we here, again?". But honestly, where can you go? Wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or blizzards...something's going to get ya. I still say we bring Al Gore back and force him to be Energy Czar whether he wants to or not. Something's gotta be done. Global warming really sucks.

Joanie, Dry lake bed, Nevada

On an entirely different note, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and I was asked about celebrity shoots. Megan Fox came up in our discussion and he asked if she'd be my celebrity of choice to do a nude shoot with. When I said no, he gave me a look of disbelief, but threw out a few more model/actress names. Rhianna, Brittany Spears, and several more popular names were all dismissed. Still disbelieving me, he asked me to identify who'd be my choice. At first, I said that if the choice were mine, I'd select two of the first models I worked with, but only once. I didn't mention the names, but in truth, I'd like another shot at my friends, Sara and Elizabeth. This was not acceptable to him. He wanted celebrities. I'm not the star-struck type, but I did give him two names that popped into my head. I'd have to say if there were two celebs I think I'd like to work with, it would have to be ESPN Analyst Sage Steele, and the Travel Channel's own, Samantha Brown. My friend didn't understand my choices. He recalled Sage Steele, but had no knowledge of Samantha Brown. I informed him that his not knowing her did not disqualify her. She's on TV often enough whether she's on channels he watches or not. Traveling all over the world with a model is a life-long dream of mine anyway. Samantha is definitely a qualifier in that arena. So at any rate, they are my choices.

Joanie was very patient and never complained about 

putting her tush on rough spots.

I need to get back to doing my art nudes. Its been a loooong while since I've done it regularly. Joanie, is the only person I've worked with since October, I believe. Its been tough to find the time while I've had other concerns. I wasn't even trying to shoot any nudes. In fact, I would not have even gotten to shoot Joanie had she not asked me first. The shots you now see were done a month or so ago on a second shoot I did with her. I now have a few models lined up for the near future, that I've been in talks with. I was supposed to work with a friend while in Tennessee, but it just didn't work out. Normally, I'd have found a back-up, but I was sort of sure of this girl, so I didn't hunt for anyone else when she originally said yes. That back-fired on me, but such is the business. Right now, there are at least three new models that I'm looking forward to. Actually, I've shot with one of them before, but its been more than a year. There's also Faerie whom I'm due to see this upcoming weekend, but I don't know if we'll shoot. Its more of a social thing, but I'm taking the camera anyway. I never want to visit Faerie without my camera. So hopefully, I'm looking at 5 potentials (another one popped in my head.)

Abstract image of Joanie

Dave Rudin and I talked extensively last night and one of our topics was the nude drought we've both been in.  The two of us tend to envy Dave Levingston who seems to shoot daily. (BTW, be sure to update your links to DaveL's new blog site.) There's no way DaveR could handle that work load with his film photography. In fact, he discusses the 30 rolls he's still needing to develop from February, in his latest blog posting. I don't know if I could handle that load either. I still spend a lot of time editing and can easily get back logged. I could probably handle 4 to 6 shoots a month, though. One thing DaveR pointed out that I didn't realize was that actor Dennis Hopper, who passed away recently, was also a photographer. I knew about the exploits of Leonard Nimoy, Spock from Star Trek, and his foray into some serious art nude work, but I hadn't the slightest clue about Mr. Hopper. I came across this Chasing Light blog post by NY Photographer Doug Kim, who displays some excellent shots taken by Dennis Hopper. My favorite is the first one of Paul Newman. I just finished a Paul Newman movie called Exodus just a few hours ago, in fact.