One thing I was really happy to see this week was the return of Chris St. James from, my fave place,
Univers d'Artistes hailing from France. Chris has been ill for a while now and I heard from him only every now and then. Then he posted on his blog that he could no longer maintain his blog due to his illness. That was about 3 weeks ago. I sent him an email just to wish him well and let him know I thought of him often. I still check his blog most everyday. I was surprised to see an answer that he was trying some new treatments. The next day, he posted on his blog as if he had never left. I was so elated. I pray for his quick recovery.
Over the last few months I have come across several informative links that I think I'll share on my blog. No they are not posted along the sides yet, but they will be. Some are photog resources, some are model resources, and a few fall in between. The first of which I felt was a great link is the
Photo Attorney, run by Carolyn E Wright, Esq. who is an attorney specializing in photography. She's got valuable info on photog rights,
copyright registration info, etc. I know I've spoken with several art photogs on the issue of copyright. Do you get them or no? I've elected to register my copyrights on everything I do. I send in my newest materials quarterly just to add that extra bit of protection for my work. It really too easy and I think its worth it. Some other links of interest for photogs are the
International Center for Photography and the
Society for Photographic Education.
My
Las Vegas Art Models Group is becoming more active. As we speak, I have three events with locked in dates planned over the next month or so. Two are more drawing sessions, one of which will be another like the one in my recent post. The other will be the same just without the added pomp and circumstance type fanfare, although both will take place at the World Market Center. The third event is, of course my art nude photo workshop, for which my friend
Dave Rudin is getting to come visit and lend his expertise. The group is growing and is becoming more publicized by word of mouth. I've made a few contacts with some special people who have helped promote me and my group. It's my endeavor to show that their efforts are paying off for thier friendship and support.
I got a chance to collaborate with Lydia some weeks ago. It wasn't a planned collaboration at all. It was actually a spontaneous shoot as an extension of our second interview. I hadn't planned to get as many images as I did. While I am certain we can do better, I was quite pleased with her and our work. Lydia has a great attitude to match her outgoing personality. She's a firery redhead with wit to match her splendid persona. In fact, I was inclined to cease my search for a model for the upcoming photo workshop and booked her as soon as we concluded our session for the 13th of April. I never get any good photos for myself at the workshops as I am busy facilitating. So I'll have to do Lydia again on my own somewhere in an outdoor locale that still suits her delicate skin. The day I shot her, she was leaving work and already had a sunburn. I'm all about protecting that body, so I'll do what I gotta do.
Look for more links next time pertaining to model resources.
I'm just getting back in from Texas where I got to shoot a wedding in a beautiful building in Dallas, the Weisfeld Center. I learned a little something about handling business. Sometimes, its not an excessive luxury to fly first class. I used to look at first class seats as a way for people with means to have another excuse to separate themselves from the rest of the world. It seemed frivolous to pay so much extra to fly in front. What's the big deal that you get to board first. I once flew coach in an assigned seat that was near the first class section. I hated how the flight attendant closed the curtain as I happened to be starring into the front cabin. All that was to me was an airlines attempt to play favorites with one class of people in order to charge them enough to make up for all the losses in everything else. I also would laugh at the $3 bag of chips and a $6 bottle of water they would bring us back in coach.
But on this flight, I was introduced to another perspective of the first class option. The concept actually hit me when I was visiting a model in her new home. She has a boyfriend living with her who is a Titanic freak and I don't think he would mind me saying so. Well, I noticed in his memorabilia that he had in his possession a few White Star tickets ranging from a first class to 3rd class. In today's dollars, the price difference seemed negligible, but I would imagine the $5 to $10 difference between classes meant a lot more. I still came to the conclusion that it would still be worth it to find some means to come up with the difference and get better accommodations. Therefore, I responded positively to the unexpected offer to upgrade my seat as I operated the automated kiosk to get my boarding pass. I paid the extra money since my trip was an all expenses paid deal. 
As I had to lug around my two carry-ons of camera equipment and personal sundry items, I justified my selection in that I had camera gear in both bags. The last thing I wanted to do was to be one of the last ones to board in coach and not have any overhead or under seat place to store my gear. At that point, they normally offer to take your bag and check it into the cargo hold. There was no way I was going to let my gear get checked. In first class, I boarded first and had plenty of room to store both my bags overhead. They were asking coach passengers to not place two bags on top if they could help it, but rather to place one was preferred under foot. Well, that's another point of protest for me. I busted up my left knee in the military. If I fly on any area of the plane other then on the right side in an aisle seat, you'll be wheeling me off the plane or throwing me over your shoulder in a fireman's carry. I've got to have that room to flex my knee or else I'm in pain...big-time. I've flown next to the window on the left side of the plane in first class and had no pain at all.
Another contention is the reduced stress of flying when you are travel first class. Packing, driving through heavy traffic to get to the airport, parking, going through security is already enough to make you into a stress ball. You're in no mood to deal with a client when you arrive at your destination. On the trip going to Texas, we were immediately served a heated assortment of deluxe nuts in a ceramic bowl. There was not one peanut in the bunch. Somebody came by more than necessary to ask me if I wanted something else to drink...alcoholic or not. I got a glass of Merlot at one point, but turned down another one. That would have been $16 in coach. My point is that when I got off the plane, it didn't matter so much that the plane arrived later than expected, or that my car rental wasn't already fully paid (by the client) when I got there. My demeanor was affected only slightly that I had to make other arrangements on my own. Had I been flying coach, I'd still be locked up right now and only imagining that I was writing this blog post about wishing I had flown first class.
