All-Time Best Photograph Ever... Period

 

Yep, that's me meeting Dave Rudin for the first time and showing him my portfolio prints at the Original Pancake House in Las Vegas, NV (before it burned down). 

Okay, I've been meaning to do this post for years. I get asked about it often enough and will mention it a few times, but I've never explained myself. Just to set the stage, there are no quantifiable factors that determine the best photograph or even best photographer. You can assess whether or not a photograph or photographer is good using photographic critique, but even there you can still get stuck in the quagmire of opinion, which can lead to interesting debate hopefully. I think it's a good thing to talk about photography and that is what I will do here. I'm going to talk photo.

In an attempt to begin, we must battle with the concept of "BEST". The notion of GREAT is more easily argued, but BEST? What makes it the best? How do you factor out all the great photos by iconic photographers made from as far back as the first photo ever taken? There are wartime images by Nick Ut or Mathew Brady that are certainly iconic once in a lifetime images. Dorothea Lang showed us the disparity of the Great Depression and the hardships Americans faced and endured. Or maybe we can look to celebrity or sports figures with Neil Leifer's iconic photo of Ali standing over Liston. 

Is Amos Nachoum's "Facing Reality" the best wildlife image ever? Or is it this one by Henley Spiers "Between Two Worlds"? How do you tell? Is it being in the right place at the right time? Is it a matter of creativity? Waiting for your shot like a sniper? It can be any and all of these. But the one that I'm calling the best All-Time was a created shot. It was a deliberate choice of model, location, camera, style of edit... everything.

All-Time Best Photograph Ever made 

And yes. I confess. Dave Rudin is a friend. Is there some bias here? Maybe, but I'm going to say no. I have lots of friends who are photogs and I knew this shot was my fave all-time before I ever met Dave Rudin. And now, I'm going to break it down why:

It is a Nude

I had a photography professor teach me that I should shoot what I love. I decided two things. One is that there is no other thing on earth more beautiful to photograph than the nude form of a woman, (particularly if it's the one you love, I think). There is no sun to rise or set, no flower to bloom, and no puppy cute enough to distract me from God's gift to the world of the nude female. And second, I heard a quote at some point that said something to the effect of... that there is no photo to exist whereby it can't be improved with the addition of a nude.To me that makes the nude like bacon. Add it to anything and it becomes great. I have yet to try that with ice cream, yet, but I can imagine. (Bacon... not the nude). So there you go. That factors out any photo that doesn't have a nude model.

It is Technically Superior

This is the least of my qualifiers just because most people can set their cameras to auto-everything and come out with good sharpness and exposure. Nonetheless, it's still an important one as many photogs still fail at this despite advanced camera features and automatic functions. What happens if your subject is moving? The camera doesn't know that. It will give you a correct exposure for any given light, not the stillness of your subject. What happens if your subject is in two extremes of light and darkness, set in stark shadow, but you also need the surrounding sunlit landscape. 

It is Compositionally Sound

You can use rule of thirds, The Golden Spiral, or Triangles. It simply fits! Composition makes or breaks an image. It naturally defines compelling and composed images that are unconsciously aesthetically pleasing to the eye. You may not realize it, but your eye naturally follows lines and you are more engaged in images with leading lines, good geometry, shape, patterns, and symmetry. This image is anchored by the hole in the rock, which supports the model's weight and forces the her body to shape around it in intriguing and interesting ways.  

Spiral follows curvature of the model and then tightens at the hole in the rock which is the anchor point of the whole shot.

Model is set diagonally across the grid. Head takes upper right quadrant. Torso occupies the middle, and hips/legs take the lower left quadrants. 

The model's shape follows the height leg of each right triangle, intersecting the base at the hand and almost right on the hip.

Diagonals lines parallel the torso and arm while the other two lines dissect the nipples and hips. 

It is built by Dave Rudin

This photograph is made entirely and masterfully by a skilled artist. He selected his model,the  time and location, the specific rock "prop" within that location, his camera/focal length, and finally his edit.All these were deliberate choices made by the photographer. Carlotta Champagne is one of the most prolific models in the business with a million plus followers in IG. Her attitude, shape, and pose lends itself to this composition in a way that helps elevate it to greatness. Another model may not have been able to pull this off. Her head angle and eyes reflect an attitude that Dave may not have asked for, but being a professional model, this is what she brings to the table. Think of your all-time favorite movie. Now imagine Frodo cast with Eric Stolz and Gandalf played by Gene Wilder. See what I mean? @carlottachampagne was perfectly casted.

I don't know, or at least don't recall, if Dave framed her like this in camera or cropped her in post. I have no idea what her feet are doing, but I am not missing them. I don't even care. The crop is perfect. The hole in the rock looks almost like a fulcrum with almost tangent levers in two positions. One can level out across the photo from left to right, whereas the other lays down diagonally and I like it. It reinforces the importance of that hole, because outside of it and the model, there is nothing else. This is a minimalistic composition as almost half the diagonal is empty space (the wall). I can also appreciate not cropping away all of that upper wall depression in the right. Dave photographed what was there instead of trying to make it too perfect. Perfection is reality.

Carlotta Champagne on Model Mayhem

I will also add that this image was shot using film. Dave is a traditionalist when it comes to his artwork. He did this shot a year before we met. He contacted me not long after I started this blog in 2007 and asked me to lunch since he would be in Las Vegas, visiting from Brooklyn. I've always appreciated that. So yes, there may be some bias that I don't see, but I'm telling you... this is the best photograph that I have ever seen. Period. Hands down. Drop the mic. Turn out the lights and go home. This debate is over. Check out my original blog post below

A Morning with Dave Rudin 

16 September 2007

Three Objectives for Central America

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley, A7MkII

"I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship."

~ Louisa May Alcott

Some of what I'll be doing for all this time that I'll be spending down in Central America will obviously focus on taking fine art photos, portraiture, and street work. This is what I usually end up coming back with the most. But I'll also be doing a few other things while I'm away, as well. I'll have a lot of down time to catch up on reading and also doing some writing. But here are some other goals and objectives (among several) that I'll share with you right now.

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley

You always know I always strive to be a better photographer and teacher, so lets start there. If you didn't already suspect or know me, I shoot nudes. That's not all I shoot, but its a definitely a passion of mine. I want to begin there. I want to do a better job of it. Yes. Believe it or not, I have more to learn in that genre. Many of you will probably believe the greater fact is that I ADMIT to needing to learn more. I do not know, as of yet HOW I will approach this objective. I can do my own study and research, but I think I will learn best by consulting with some mentors like Dave Rudin or Dave Levingston. Should I take a class of some sort? Maybe do a workshop that has a direct focus on photographing the nude? Something I have thought of doing for years has been to visit Prague. I find that many photographic artists from just east of Germany and on into Russia have been inspirations to me. I find them to be more in tune with my style or of a such that I aspire to.

In addition to that, I need to make a more concerted effort to actually do more of something with my art nude work. I have terabytes of work that no one has really seen. You've probably only seen maybe a tenth of all the work I've done with Panda. Some of my best work with Emma was never made available for about 8 months before anyone saw it. Kristi C has been a most prolific model for me over the last year. Again, most of it unseen. So big, big focus towards exhibition and a consistent venue to show my art nude work will be a major focus upon my return. I'll likely come out of hiatus on photo competitions and do some of those again, but that's an aside. Exhibition will be a more primary focus when I get back. My work needs to be on walls. This is why I do it...nudes or otherwise. I make my stuff to be viewed in person upon a physical medium.

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley

"You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over."

~ Richard Branson

Let's see...what else? Oh yeah...again, photographically speaking, I want to do better teaching. I'm limiting myself to 10 students a year, doing one-on-one, two-week courses. I used to conduct workshops when I first came to Vegas with my Las Vegas Art Models Group. A max attendance would be 12 photogs. Now I teach one-on-one and I want to do it better. The goal is to make it more fun, better information, and less taxing on myself. I just did two students back to back this month. I don't know how teachers do it every day like that...ALL friggin' year!! My friend, Howard suggested doing tours where I take people on some of my travel excursions. I can see that. I've already been asking family and friends to come visit me for a few days while I'm away. Meet me in El Salvador or Lake Atitlan in Guatemala for a few days. We can do some photowalks or just chill with me sippin' Cuba Libres. I need more and better teaching props. Some concepts I have in my head simply don't exist! I need to find somebody to fabricate some of this stuff for me. I don't want to rely on videos to make my point. Hands on physical props would serve a better purpose. So yes, I want to contemplate how I will do this.

Art Model, Covenant ©2015 Terrell Neasley

Video! That's another one. I want to get as good with vids and I am with photowork. I have the A7s, which is excellent for video work. I'll need to get the Atomos Shogun external output monitor/harddrive to do 4K work, since you can't shoot 4K straight to the SD card. But for the time being, 1080p should suffice just nicely. Editing video will also be a key factor, which means I'll also need to bump my subscription to Adobe CC 2014 back to the full version. I downgraded it last Nov to just the Photoshop/Lightroom version. I'll need Adobe Premier Pro back again, in particular. I should also dust off my audio gear. I'll take with me a shotgun mic and maybe my Zoom H4n external audio recorder. My goal is to just make short clips, starting with time-lapse, some slow motion work, and then just build from there. So we'll see. 

Still in Awe of Photography

Art Model, Covenant ©2014 Terrell Neasley

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” 

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I've been in this game for a while now. At least since 2005 on a serious level. At any given time, its easy to get bored, burned out, or just simply tired of a profession, industry, or business of some sort. Its normal. Things stagnate from time to time. Monotony often sets in and you have to look for a little change in routine or maybe take a break to step away from your profession from time to time. In the Army, as well as all the Armed Services, we were all encouraged to take some R&R to blow off steam on a regular basis. Getting burned out could cause lapses in inspections of equipment or result in attention to detail issues.

I can't say this has been the case with me in photography. I am just as excited about it now as when I saw my first print come to life as it sat in a fresh batch of Kodak D-76 developer. And that was something in and of itself that you just couldn't get tired of. It was like magic. After careful exposure, and burning and dodging in a darkroom, a blank sheet of Ilford Fiber-based Variable Contrast Multigrade IV paper, suddenly came to live with the image you previously captured on film. I'll confess, though. I had my doubts when I switched to digital in 2007. I was a film purist because I felt digital took out the craftsmanship in which I made that print with my hands, manipulating light and shadow to make the final print. Photoshop seemed too much bits and bytes, and not enough of a man-made feel. I got over that the more I realized, its not so much the hands, but more the mind that creates and manipulates the light and shadow.

Art Model, Emma ©2013 Terrell Neasley

I can't say its like this for every photog you meet. I have met quite a few who's camera is more of a job than a creative outlet. They work, earn money, and that's it. No personal projects, just take the money and put the camera down til its time to earn money again. I don't begrudge them. That's their choice. As for me, I think I am still in love with photo for a few reasons.

1. First and foremost, I shoot what I like. You gotta pay me a lot of money to make me shoot something I don't really want to shoot. I learned that when I first got to Vegas and got a gig shooting furniture for a business in the World Market Center here in Vegas for showroom ads. Shooting a white couch under 3 different kinds of light on the showcase floor sucked. Granted, I still didn't know near as much as I do now, but I did it for the money. HATED IT! I learned that early on and it was a blessing. Shoot what you love.

2. I have an inherent desire to be good at whatever I spend the most time in. I study my ass off in most anything I want to know about. But for something I absolutely love, my study habits kick into overdrive. Its not always in a desire to be better. Most times, its because I have something on my brain that I want to create and have to learn how to do it. So I am in a constant state of learning to improve and hone my craft. Additionally, I don't stay on the same thing for too long. One day my thing may be landscape. Another day, its portraits. And then I want to kick it up and do extended exposure. Lastly, I simply hate not knowing. The better you get, the more people you attract. I get other photographers who ask me questions about settings or maybe how to shoot something. Often times I act as a forensic scientist to detect what was wrong or troubleshoot an issue with a camera or image. What's that thick black line that goes all the way across the bottom of your picture? Its a result of using a shutter speed high than the sync speed of your camera when using flash. How do I know that? I didn't want to be afraid of using artificial light, so I studied flash. So study your ass off.

Art Model, Covenant ©2014 Terrell Neasley

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” 

― W.B. Yeats

3. I associate with a other photographers and learn from mentors. I started the very first Meetup.com photography group here in Las Vegas. It was the Las Vegas Art Models Group mainly for helping photographers learn to work with the nude model as well as helping nude models get hired by photographers. I then assisted one of the attendees of my group, Garrett Winslow, organize another group, the Las Vegas Photographic Society made for photographers to help them network and grow their craft. Over the years, I developed a good reputation, but sharing my knowledge, but also from increasing my knowledge with mentors like Dave Rudin and Dave Proctor, just to name a few. I have also stayed active in online groups to share my work, get feedback, and offer help to others. So don't become an island.

4. I started working in a camera shop. B&C Camera, owned by my good friend and accomplished photographer Joe Dumic. He bought this camera shop when ever other one was failing, turned it around and this store not only survives, but thrives. He's spearheading his third expansion project for B&C Camera in just 4 years. Joe has helped me immensely in my own business operations. However working in a camera store gives me the ability to tap into a knowledge base you won't find anywhere else. I am there only two days a week, but I get to learn about every new camera system that comes out. Technology is changing all the time. Most industries can't say that. A hammer hasn't changed much since its invention. Devices to capture a still image or record one moving, and all the accessories that are invented on a daily basis are improved every day. I get to try out these new systems and get help from the best gurus from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic, Leica, and also LYTRO! Just today I got an email from Joe inviting me to an exclusive Canon event. Anther great aspect is the customers I meet. I stay on my toes to help those beginner photographers get the right camera, fix their problems, and get ideas on lighting set-ups. But I also meet professional people coming in to get gear as well. Just a couple of days ago, Adan Van Dam, Las Vegas based film producer/director visited the store and I got to learn about his 4K BlackMagic full frame rig. So don't restrict your universe to just the gear you know. And surround yourself with and learn from other great talent.

Art Model, Faerie ©2012 Terrell Neasley

5. I like to experiment and take chances. I know that every endeavor I take won't pan out. I'm okay with that. Sometimes I lose money. Sometimes, all my efforts are wasted; but are they really? Every time I do something that doesn't pan out, its really a learning experience. I can honestly say, I learn some valuable lessons when I get screwed over, lose an opportunity, or otherwise fail. I learn how to be wiser with my selections on who I deal with, prepare better, and thus protect myself better from unfortunate events. Learning these lessons early on help keep the ripples from these mistakes small. I don't mind small mistakes. And catching them early keeps the big ones at bay. So learn to play and don't be afraid to fail.

I could list several more, but this post is getting long. To add 3 more, persistence despite rough times, doing your own personal projects, constantly looking at other great work, teaching photography, and traveling would be key elements that definitely aid in my ability to stay locked in on photo. In all these years, photo has never been a dried up concept for me. And you know...another great motivator is that if you're good enough, people will pay you to keep doing what you do. So.... Amazing, isn't it?

Between Labor Day and Halloween

Summer is starting to draw to a close and before you know it, you're going to be surprised that Christmas is just around the corner. September and October usually blur past for me. The time between Labor Day and Halloween is often fast-forwarded before I realize I'm staring down the throat of November and the year's end. Often times, its at this point that I'm looking back over the year trying to figure out what I've done and evaluating my life for the year. Did I do what I set out to do? Am I further along now than this time last year? What's around the corner for me in the upcoming year? And finally, what am I doing for New Year's?

Model Melissa

So am I alone here or what? I'm guessing I'm not that unique in this regard. So here is my challenge to myself and I'd like to extend that same out to you. Instead of letting September and October blow by, let's slow it down a bit. Let's ask of ourselves all those November questions NOW and then actually answer them AND address them. If we haven't met our goals, why not and what can be done in these two months to meet them? I'm willing to bet that a lot can be done in these two months if we stop with the distractions and just get to work for a bit. And another trick I'll throw at you, how about getting Christmas shopping out of the way early? Like, NOW! Make the holidays easier for yourself. Get to work for the next 60 days with some measurable progress along with some early holiday prep. This way you coast into the season feeling better about entering the new year AND you feel better about yourself having accomplished what it was you set out to do in 2011.

Model Melissa

I mean, its just an idea. For myself, I know I could use a diversion and some better focus for my stress. August was kind of a ball-buster. Between my car issues (which seem to be better, by the way) and now computer issues... I'm going nuts. Most times my computer is working well, but as soon as I get really deep into something, it starts freezing up and I get a "display driver has stopped responding but has recovered" error message and its kicking my ass. I've updated chipset and display drivers, ran registry cleaners and virus scans, a system restore, and installed a new graphics card. I've checked the web and see many people in forums having the same issue, but no one solution seems to solve it. I'm really hoping I don't have to do a complete system dump and re-install windows. If anybody's got some solutions, I'm running an Intel Core 2 Quad processor on a 64-bit Windows 7 operating system, 8GBs of RAM, with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX250 graphics card pushing a 25" monitor that I've had for almost 9 months now. So any help would be appreciated.

But back to my point.. I'm just telling you how I plan to spend the next two months. I have a few things in play that I hope will take me where I want to go and get me what I need, but its going to take a little hustle, some studying, some prayer, and a lot of reading/researching. All focused on answering those aforementioned questions. My goal is to learn, learn, learn...make connections and figure some things out. You might need to try to inspire yourself to spark some motivation to get going. Whatever you gotta do, make it happen. I'm on a mission. I hope you can be with me on this.

On another note, I'll be having breakfast with good friend Dave Rudin in a few days and this time my Vegas-bud and fellow photog, Dave Proctor will be joining us. Next month, I finally get to meet, your fave and mine,  Dave Levingston! Everybody knows DaveL, so I'm excited about that. The dude's a legend in nude photo art. Enjoy these shots of Model Melissa! And be sure to check out her Blog, CLOTHING OPTIONAL!

An Interesting Month So Far

Model, OutdrBeauty

Its really funny how, throughout the week you've got all this material in your head you want to blog about. Then you finally sit down to write and you draw a blank or have a difficult time gelling your words together to actually make a coherent sentence. I'm sure it happens to the best of us, right? ...Right?

Model, OutdrBeauty

Well, its been a fun-filled, action-packed month so far. Lots of new pics, new models, new locations, and new friends. Its been a strong desire for me to get to shoot out at one of the hotsprings near here and with the help of Ourdrbeauty, I was finally able to get on that. This has been in the making since last December. Outdrbeauty has been in contact with me since our shoot late last year. Things have slowed down a bit from her hectic schedule and she was able to give me a little time to shoot. She called up, we hooked up, and then there was the walk. Its 3 miles down to the hotsprings. That's not so bad. Its the walk out that's the butt-kicker. You're going uphill, all the way, in loose fluvial gravel that gets in your shoes! It was still fun though. Conversation helped big time. We had reached a point that I thought put us about a third of the way back to the car, but was actually more like three-quarters of the way. Carrying all that camera gear and water wrecked havoc on my knee and lower back, so I was popping pain-killers a-plenty. I stayed on my ass much of Sunday.

Model, OutdrBeauty

I got to do a more extensive project with VikiMae two days later on Monday. She and I did a two and a half hour road trip, to some well-know spots and also some remote locations. I had to treat my Pontiac Grand Am like an ATV to get back to one particular location. Not sure I want to do that again, but I was adamant about seeing this particular spot. In all, I guess we were gone about 15 hours. I've gone over all the photos and most of the edits. I always like to learn new things and I definitely saw areas I could improve upon. Shooting through reflective water, for one. A polarizer would have been nice. And I've often talked about this intense and direct Nevada sun which can also require more post-work, so maybe a ND filter would suffice. Sometimes stopping down just does not do it.

Model, OutdrBeauty

Model, OutdrBeauty

Dave Rudin came to town for the week. We only got to hook up one day while he was here. Both our schedules turned out to be somewhat occupied for the both of us, but we made the best of the one day. We had breakfast at our usual place, just not in the same spot. I got to meet a most interesting girl while there and  she's since contacted me and I got to visit her place and discuss some ideas for a shoot. She had one of those faces that you just have to talk to and you can't leave without putting a card in her hand. Yeah...one of those girls. I got to meet with her a few nights later after my Las Vegas Photographic Society meeting and discuss some potentials. Hopefully, you'll be reading a special blog post on her before long. After breakfast, Dave and I scouted some excellent locations. I got to skinny-dip in the Colorado. Dave got some pics that I will probably not be too proud of. Then he took me to some of his Nevada spots near Lake Mead where he likes to shoot. We think we found his Carlotta Champagne spot where he photographed the best pic ever taken. And then scouted some more locations along North Shore Drive.

Model, OutdrBeauty

Three of days of the week last week was spent with VikiMae (OMP profile) for one reason or another. Aside from shooting Monday, she came with me to one of my photo meetings that Thursday after we had already spent a good chunk of the day scouting. Rather than taking her home, she just came with and met some photog friends of mine. We're meeting one tomorrow to discuss ideas for a shoot. That Friday was an evening event at the Aria that SHE, in turn, invited me to. I then kicked off this week, with back to back days of shooting Enyo, whom you'll also get to see pretty soon. I'm just starting to edit her work tonight. Trust me, you ARE looking forward to these. The girl's amazing. I'm telling you...I've been working with several models of whom I can fully recommend you include on your "Need to Hire" list. VikiMae, Tawny Fein, Outdrbeauty, Enyo... check them out.

Dave's Visit and the Sara Ziff Documentary

"We might need to see you without your bra, he told me. I was 14... I didn't even have breasts yet." 

~ Sara Ziff, supermodel

This is not Sara Ziff

I know I wanted to keep Tara, The Organic Sister's post up for a spell, but I didn't mean for it to be this long before I posted again. I've got a couple projects I'm working on and am behind, actually, so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Okay...Update...

Got to chill out with the incomparable Dave Rudin last week. That's was cool. I took him around some of my stomping grounds near Red Rock to scout out some locations for a shoot, which didn't happen. That was still okay. It just didn't work out timing-wise with the model who was traveling through Vegas. Dave still got to shoot another local girl while he was here. Breakfast, as always was at The Original Pancake House and I had my same old French Toast. We also got to head out to Valley of Fire since Dave hadn't been there in a long time. I thought I was going to have to take it easy on the guy, but hell, not only did he keep up, but he was out-pacing me at times! It was good to see him again. I guess its my turn to head back to New York for a change. Let me just go book a ticket right now...

Hysterically, I just popped over to Dave's Blog. He's basically already done yesterday the same thing I'm doing today only he's posting shots of me and also regales his adventures while here. I just wanted to point out that it was by mere coincidence that we are at the movies both wearing red shirts. Just thought I'd clear that up. COINCIDENCE!

Dave must have forgotten that he can't be a Vulcan.

All Vulcan's names begin with a letter "S".
(I apologize for knowing that.)

I'm hoping to find the new autobiographical documentary by supermodel, Sara Ziff called, "Picture Me: A Model's Diary". What started out as personal videos has turned into a full on feature length movie where she gives some insight into the darker side of the modeling industry. This following is an exerpt from Sheila Marikar's article, "As Fashion Week Trots On, New Documentary Exposes Exploitation Behind the Scenes", 16Sept2010

"Picture Me" follows Sara Ziff, a New Yorker who started modeling at age 14, over five years of falling in and out of love with the fashion industry. She struts for Calvin Klein, Chanel and Marc Jacobs; she poses in London, Paris and Milan. But backstage footage of Ziff and her friends (shot by Ziff and her then-boyfriend, filmmaker Ole Schell) reveals realities of the job that few outsiders ever see: models crying as shameless photographers snap them semi-nude, stylists pulling at scalps and tugging at limbs as if their subjects were Barbie dolls." 

Dave Rudin, just messin' around

I found this 2009 interview by Louise France, for The Observer to be most intriguing. Its like she's a whistle-blower on the entire industry and is leaving no one without guilt, though she doesn't name names. I'm imagining that the more this documentary is publicized, the more investigative work that will be done and then those names will be revealed. Some type of federal intervention will ensue, maybe some prosecutions (because she details sexual assault), and then possibly a congressional oversight committee will be established to create some rules called the Sara Ziff Laws under which the Fashion Models Guild will be created to unionize the business. So there's plenty of controversy regarding Sara's documentary and the motives that cause her to shine the light on an industry that has made her wealthy and internationally known. When I do get to see it, I'll be sure to review it here, on PHOTO ANTHEMS BLOG, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here is another Sara Ziff interview done by Mother Jones.

On a much more solemn note, I wish to express my condolences to the family of photo peer, Scott Leighty who died last weekend of a massive heart attack or a stroke. He was a member of a photo society I help run and also worked at my favorite camera store here in Las Vegas, B&C Camera. 

Picture Me Trailer from Blake on Vimeo.

Three Years and Counting

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NOVEMBEARD is OVER!

 "Kissing a man with a beard is a lot like going to a picnic. You don't mind going through a little bush to get there!"- Minnie Pearl

Me, with as much hair as I have ever had on my face

I'm glad there is no Decembeard...at least that I know of. Having that much hair on my face was just a complete oddity for me. I kept thinking my nose was running until I went to the mirror and noticed I had one mustache hair curling up and back into my nose. I had never heard of the thing, but apparently its [Novembeard/No-Shave November] growing in popularity. My daughter put me up to it. She said all the boys back in TN were doing it, which consisted of her hubby, his brothers, my son and a few of his friends. I figured, what the hay, so I told her I'd commit to it. I don't think I look that good in a beard, if you can call it that. Its the most hair I've had on my face, but I don't grow facial hair that fast. For me, all that was actually about 6 weeks worth of growth. At the time she told me, on Nov 1st, I was just getting ready to shave off two weeks of face hair. It still took me about another week after Nov 30th to shave it all off. The place I normally shop at was all out of my depilatory cream I use to remove hair on my face and head. I can't use a razor. The "Brothas" tend to bump up too much with a razor. I often had to have a shaving profile in the military which was a doctor's excuse not to shave.

Mary and I kicking back some cold ones in Crested Butte, CO

So what's ol' Big T, been up to lately. Well, Photo Anthems.com has been revamped, big-time. In an effort to cater towards more weddings and other events, I've redesigned the site to reflect that a little more. Almost nothing on the site is as it was last week. Many a nights was spent taking down HUGE loads of my art nudes and other images that just didn't cut the mustard. I've got to go back to work on my landscape images, in both re-edits and new pics as well.

Mary, off the edge of a cliff  in Black Canyon, CO.

That's a couple thousand feet free-fall below her.

My good ol'e bud, Dave Rudin was in town over last weekend. He was the only one to get pics. We met for breakfast along with Wolf189. It was really good to meet Wolf. I think we share some commonalities in styles and approaches. He's been around for a while and really knows his stuff. As usual, when you put a gaggle of photogs in a small space together, time flew by as we discussed everything from camera gear, to classic films. Not film like, TMAX, well...we did discuss that. Wolf only shoots film. However I was referring to classic movie films, particularly foreign films. He and Dave were much more familiar with many of the more notable ones and the actors/actresses of the day. As Dave and I always do, we had breakfast at the Original Pancake House and about three hours had passed before we knew it. Wolf had to head out for a photo gig, otherwise we could have helped close the place. As of this moment, I didn't see any of the shots he took, but I am sure DaveR will have pics of us posted on his blog, Figures of Grace, shortly. In the meantime, pay a visit to my new friend Wolf189 at his web site, www.Wolf189.com and his blog, www.Wolf189.blogspot.com. Oh, and here is his profile on Model Mayhem. Trust me, you are in for a treat.

I've gotten a good laugh out of a few things lately, but none really so much as getting to see my friend, Jodi (with no "e"), do a tandem sky-dive. The girl's got guts. But that's not the only reason I love her so much. Outside of being a good friend, she's a strong believer in doing things the natural way, as nature intended. I love her hippie-style and the way she has a genuine care for people. She's a great mom, very spontaneous, and will take on a challenge with vigor and courage. This is the first time she's ever exited a plane while airborne. At no time does she ever flinch, hesitate, or even carry a distressed look on her face. Yeah, the girl's got guts. Enjoy the vid below or click HERE. And I thought I'd reacquaint you again with pics of my friend and once model, Mary since she said I looked like Kimbo Slice!

New York City

This time last week I was enjoying myself by celebrating my birthday in New York City. It was my first trip and was quite an experience. I hadn't "experienced" a city like that since well, when I first came to Las Vegas. Vegas has its own feel, but its quite different. NYC felt like it had history and it felt like a home. Not my home, granted, but the city felt as though you were walking into your best friend's grandma's place. Everything there was grounded...rooted...the city is a weathering rock. And despite all that, I didn't bring my camera...purposely. I already have enough work to do and I knew I'd spend all my time shooting rather than enjoying the company of friends. For the record, the iPhone is not a good camera phone, but it did do a nice job when you can hold it steady. That's the view from my hotel room pictured to the left there.

I hadn't seen my friend Shwu Huoy, (pronounced Shu-Hoy), since my last semester in grad school about two and a half years ago. We've kept in touch over the years. So it was definitely cool to see her again and have her show me around her city. We both graduated at the same time...but with dual Master degrees in the same programs: MBA and a MS in Telecommunications. When we graduated, I came out West and she went East. So she's only been there a few years, but she's got that city down. I arrived on Friday morning and I got to see her later that afternoon. From then on, it was us in the streets or the subway. The subway system seems so difficult to learn and I felt like I had to be on guard for much of the time. I was surprised to learn that Shwu Huoy often took the subs at night. I guess I've seen too many movies about how dangerous the underground trains can be. When you see women with strollers doing this, you start to feel a bit more comfortable with the idea. The intricacies of the labyrinths were truly a monumental feat of engineering. At one point, as I commented on the last post, I saw a huge rat go around the corner. Nobody even flinched.

Central Park was probably the most amazing to me. I'd meet people everywhere and talk to them for a bit, conversing with them like we were life-long friends who hadn't seen each other in a while. I met a beautiful woman who had shaved her head. You could see through her blonde stubble that she had a map outline of the globe tattooed on her skull. It was gorgeous. I had to ask to check out her head and I HAD to give her a card, cuz I'd love to work with her sometime. I played catch with a couple guys throwing around a football. It was one of those "I had to." moments for me. All I had to do was signal the guy with the ball that I was wide open for a pass. It the universal signal meaning, Throw the Ball. Of course, I caught everything thrown my way.

Central Park was another staple of New York in which I had a misconception. I didn't realize how large and expansive it was. I thought it was just a open space surrounded by trees. No...the place is more than 850 square acres. I could have spent my entire time in the one place. We walked the walking/running/biking paths and I came upon a group of women who were trying to get one girl up into a tree for a picture. You know me...never to leave a damsel in distress. So I boosted her up onto the tree limb and helped her down. We proceeded on over to a pond where there must have been a million people in row boats. We watched one couple run into another. That many people really takes the romance out of it, I think. That's where Shwu Huoy and I stopped to catch up on life and the happenings of our lives.

We were due to meet good ol' Dave Rudin later that night for dinner. We made our way over to the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan, and had dinner at the Pacific Grill. Our waitress, Irena, who is from Russia was a beautiful girl. She's with me in the picture. I had a lobster ravioli entree that was delicious. I liked it better than the place we went to the night before, which was an Italian joint, in China Town called Il Piccolo Bufalo, if I remember correctly. Pacific Grill had the view, it was next to the open waters, and it had Irena!

The three of us then took a walk over the the Brooklyn Bridge and we walked to the other side. Now that was an experience as well. Only two thing marred the moment. One was the traffic. There were still a bunch of people walking and biking at night. Second, and most weirdest of all was a scary moment when a guy made a threatening move toward Shwu Huoy. Dave had stopped me for a sec to explain some sights. Shwu Huoy didn't immediately see that we had stopped and walked another 15 feet past us. I half listened to Dave as he explained the view and watched a somewhat imposing figure of a man approach Shwu Huoy. She never said anything to the guy but he made a threatening move toward her as if he wanted to make her flinch. Granted, I was over there in less than a second but it still unnerved me that the guy had gotten that close to her. I guess my concerns in the subway were warranted after all. The guy just smiled and walked on. He passed us once more later on...said something....and left. I kept my eyes on him the whole time.

We had breakfast at the Tick Tock Diner which was connected to my hotel, the New Yorker. We hung out there for a while with my bags in tow and then we did B&H Photo which I didn't even realize was just around the corner from where I stayed! The place was HUGE. I know many a photog has walked in that place and come out broke more often than compulsive gamblers do in casinos here. I got to meet Dave's friend. Dean Lavery, who really knows his stuff and takes some wonderful photographs.

I know there is something I am missing or forgetting to mention but I'll pick it up in the next post. Oh, I think NASCAR can save a lot of money training their drivers, if they'd just train them in a New York City Cab.

Some Original Trix

This'll be a quick one since I just noticed Blogger's scheduled outage that's coming up real soon.

So what's new? I got to hang out with Dave Rudin again this past weekend. Dave is a big Star Trek fan. So am I, but I'm thinking Dave's got every episode on a deluxe special edition DVD anniversary set. We did Star Trek at an IMAX theater on Friday, along with Model Melissa. Everything was cool. We got there early. We got our tickets early. But I guess pouring into the auditorium 40 minutes early wasn't early enough. To get 3 seats together we had to make our way down to the 3rd row where in order to see the movie without neck strain, you've got to position yourself as if you are in the space shuttle as it sits on the launch pad for 2 and a half hours. I was all set to call it a wrap and try again on another night, but a lady comes ups as I say lets go and tells us that up close isn't so bad. She says she's experienced sitting close like that before and it was all good. Melissa and Dave look at me with renewed expectation, so how could I resist. For the record, the lady was wrong.

Felix just got back from his fishing trip to Kirch Wildlife Management Area, about 3 hours or so from here. He's going back in a few weeks, so I think I'll look into a trip with him. I wanted to go out and spend a day this past weekend there, but I ended up having to work and I really didn't trust my car for a long trip. The transmission has been acting funny, so before I use it for anything other than the Las Vegas area, I gotta get it checked out. That may take a while cuz, I'm in need of saving up for the 5D Mark II. I need to have it for a wedding in July, so we'll see. I know I need to pack up and head out sometime. I'm getting antsy for a good camping adventure.

I've also got a new goal for this month. Clean up and Organize. As it pertains to all my photo work, that is. I think I'm going to go through my pics and get rid of stuff I know I don't want and do some editing on stuff that I always planned on coming back to but never did. I need to catch up on all my metadata labels for my old images and check my backup drives. Maintaining digital work isn't all that easy. At least not for me. I'm always checking on new ways to organize and archive my work. I thought I'd bring back some of my original work with Trixie. Enjoy.