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| Art Model Elizabeth, Copyright 2006 Terrell Neasley |
"The muse drags me down many different roads often at the same time."
~ Colin Poole
My Gigabyte Aero 15x suddenly failed on me and it picked a most inopportune time to do it. I was traveling and extended my stay in a beachfront property down South for an additional week with the specific purpose of writing and editing photos. The next morning after that extension, I woke up and tried to get to work at breakfast only to have my laptop not turn on at all. It just wouldn't power up. Thinking that the power cord came loose, which it was wont to often do, I retrieved it only to find no different result.
An IT guy from the hotel tried working on it, but to no avail. Therefore I went that whole week just chilling with no ability to work. When I arrived back in Hanoi, two different repair places gave me the same result. Busted chip and no way to get parts. I'd have to replace the motherboard and for whatever reason, nobody had any confidence to get Gigabyte parts. Despite the fact that Gigabyte laptops are made in Taiwan, they said it was a no-go.
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Art Model Elizabeth, Copyright 2006 Terrell Neasley
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I jumped back on with my
Grab-bike driver... like a motorbike Uber, and headed to the computer store for a new laptop. I did not enjoy having to drop another $2K unexpectedly, but sheesh... I can't go without having a laptop.
Enter the
MSi GS-66. They didn't have the top tier of this model, but I was able to pull my 32GB of DDR4 out of the old laptop and install it in the new, which came with 16gigs. I would have much preferred the better graphics card, but the Nvidia RTX 2060 is nothing to sneeze at. I'm back in business and all seems to work fine. The thing does not have an overheating problem having THREE fans and unlike last year's version, the GS-65, the motherboard is easy to get to. It doesn't have the independent number key pad, but other than that, I'm adjusted to it well enough.
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Art Model Elizabeth, Copyright 2006 Terrell Neasley
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Currently, I'm waiting on my next visa extension approval. That should be in in another week. On a more aggravating note, we were Covid-free for right at 100 days.
Now, it's back! Three times as strong. They are still investigating how the outbreak began, but it coincides with illegal Chinese immigrants who were smuggled into the country in Da Nang. Da Nang is in Central Vietnam and is a hotspot for tourists due to the attraction of it's beautiful beaches. There was not really any international tourism, but domestic tourism has been promoted widely since April to encourage economic growth. It was working. 80,000 local tourists had to be evacuated out of the city, but more than 95,000 departed Da Nang to get out of the epicenter.
That means the infection also came with it and Vietnam has experienced it's first deaths due to Covid-19 related issues. I believe 10, as of this date. As I mentioned, this strain is faster and more deadly. BUT, it looks like the Vietnamese government is on top of this one too. Quarantines have taken effect again. Masks have been mandated once more. Bars and local gathering spots are off limits as before. I can only trust that we acquire the same results as before and eradicate the Coronavirus again. Stay tuned.
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Art Model Elizabeth, Copyright 2006 Terrell Neasley
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This model featured in this post is Art Model, Elizabeth. I've often called our collaboration my first great work. The shots we got were some of my first shots I ever did that I might actually call art, and not just photographs of a naked girl. Beyond that, I'd say she was one of my top 3 original models that taught me about photographing the nude. What she brought to the table to teach me was about model movement and being able to SEE my shot within each shot. I moved in closer and began doing bodyscapes. She would continually move and pose in a manner that helped me learn to direct a model.
Of course she is a beautiful woman with a great body, but her gift to me was definitely in her movement. For never having done this before, she continued to give me unique looks and shapes. That's what I remember most. We shot twice, I think, against a white backdrop in a studio and later against a black one... all under continuous HOT LIGHTS! I was able to see how to light a subject in both cases. I call her my Godsend Number 1, due to the circumstances in which we first began shooting. A direct, and sudden answer to prayer. It was quite the unique experience. Not even sure she knows that. Anyway, these are negative scans, mainly unedited and Raw. But pure magic, nonetheless.
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Art Model Elizabeth, Copyright 2006 Terrell Neasley
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