There and Back Again. A Photobbits Tale

Art Model, Emma Copyright 2013 Terrell Neasley

Ha! I like that title. Thought of it myself. Yep. Just came to me.

So I'm back. The name of the game now is CATCH-UP! I clocked about 3 months on the road this time, yet I'm still amazed at the perpetual travelers who are gone for a year or more. I read about travel bloggers who have been at this for a decade and can only marvel at how they organize their lives. I feel slightly overwhelmed at being back, catching up on mail and home responsibilities. My situation was slightly exasperated in the fact that I relocated only a week prior to hitting the road, so upon returning, I came back to my new home with all my things still boxed up. Things were made a bit easier....well, I should say a whole lot easier in the fact that my new landlords are friends of mine. It would have taken me weeks to get settled in, yet Susan had completely unpacked and put away my things in a few hours, while I helped Jerry install some new appliances and do a few adjustments to the place which now feels like a home. Thanks Susan.

I had been back for two weeks and then headed out to Mexico for a week. I just got back from there two days ago and now I can better concentrate on getting pics edited. I still need to get my high speed internet installed next week and set up my computer network again. I'm sure there are some updates to Adobe that I need to install to handle all the RAW shots I did using the new Fujifilm XE-2 camera that I bought just prior to leaving and the updates were not available then. Right now, I can see the images, but cannot get metadata appended to the new Fuji RAW format. Hopefully that issue will be resolved when I get internet and get my home network set up again.

Art Model, Emma Copyright 2013 Terrell Neasley

So yeah. I'm finally back and the priorities are getting back to work, finding new and interesting photography gigs, lining up more one on one teaching projects (for my 2-week training course), and pushing myself to the next level in my art nudes. My goal in that regard is conceptual work that is new and original. When I say push myself, that's entirely what I mean. I want my art nudes to develop and evolve into something different and I think my approach will be more provocative and bold and less conservative. I want to be less concerned with societal norms and just play "what if". So I'll be looking to work with models and women who are less inhibited and are willing to give me creative liberties the freedom to explore, experiment, and push myself. This will also push the model as well, but I still want collaborative relationship. There will be times when I have something specific in mind, of course, but most models who work with me understand I like to shoot what is given to me and value model input. And when I say models, I'm also welcoming first-timers and women who have never done anything like this before. I don't want someone reading this who might have ideas, but then keep it to themselves because they don't consider themselves to be a "model". A large percentage of the women I work with every year are have never been naked in front of a photographer before. I've been criticized about promoting first-times/non-pro models before, but those people can go kick rocks. I like working with who I like working with.

So I'll still be shooting nudes that have been consistent with what I've always been doing, but I will definitely be on the lookout for 5 or 6 models this year that have some of the same goals in mind as I do. I can't even articulate as to the specifics just yet. I'm still searching this thing out. Now that I'm back, I can start thinking about how I want this new conceptual style to develop and am open to any ideas you guys might be willing to throw at me, especially potential models who have had something cooking in the back of their minds but just have been too...I don't wanna use the word "afraid", but it does seem to fit.... to do. Or maybe not "afraid", but rather simply have't had the right circumstances or photographer to pull it off. I'll be looking for different body types or body features in models. I like "different". I embrace it. I've been called different all my life. I never enjoyed that term growing up, but I hug it like a lover now.

Art Model, Emma Copyright 2013 Terrell Neasley

My next travel plans/goals aren't til the summer. I'd like to head to South America this time and catch up with a model I shot in Nicaragua. She's still traveling right now and should be in Peru and Bolivia by July. It might be cool to catch up with her there and finish what we started a few months ago. I'm also contemplating on bringing a model with me. I'd so love to do that, but its not so easy and I'm not sure my money will allow it. I just learned this week that I might be expected in Tennessee and Texas soon and I have some other considerations that might make traveling with a model on my dime tougher. An ideal situation would be coordinating with another traveler who wants to be travel buddies and doesn't mind getting naked along the way either. How cool would that be! Or better yet, a client contracting me to follow them around with a camera doing nudes in South America! Hey...I can dream, can't I? I definitely want to do more travel work with clients and if they wanna get naked as well, I'm game. But in the meantime, I got lots to figure out and catch up on, yet still keep it in mind that we're only talking about this being 3 months away. I can't let time slip on me and next thing I know, we're in mid-August and I suddenly remember I forgot about everything. That would not be good.