Setsuki

These two images are from a brief initial shoot with Setsuki. btw, that's her real, given name! I'm always excited when I get a very genuine portrait such as this one below. They are not easy to come by, despite the fact that I'm always trying. It depends more on the person I'm working with, rather than necessarily what I do. There are certain qualities that need to be present. Things such as eyes that can lock with the camera, yet be translucent as well. Expressions that are natural and relaxed, almost detached. Usually someone who feels comfortable wearing little to no makeup. Still, the right time and place- not to mention luck, play a large role. I can't help to be painfully aware that some of the most memorable portraits were created by extremely capable photographers, yet could never be repeated or matched. They remain well known solely for that one image, rather than their complete body of work.  Steve McCurry's "Afghan Girl" or Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" are good examples of this phenomenon.  A rarer thing is a photographer who can consistently attain superb portraits, such as Richard Avedon, or Yousuf Karsh. But even Avedon has "Dovima with the Elephants", and Karsh has "Winston Churchill". Of course, I don't have that defining image yet- perhaps never will. But there are a few images that I capture that give me hope that there is still a chance...

Katy & Kitty

These images might seem a little out of place with any thing else in this blog. They were intentionally part of a shoot with Katy & Kitty, and I've been dedicating a portion of many of my shoots to shooting these images. They're for my body scape series, which I have not shown anywhere on the web but here, although some were incorporated in my body painting show at Mew gallery last year. btw, I hate the term body painting, but I can't seem to come up with anything better. The lighting, texture and mood are the same as everything else here, so I suppose that they do sort of belong with this body of work.

Meira

This is an out takes from a recent shoot with Meira, for her new paysite. Of course the images used for the set of 40 pics look completely different- pretty much formula soft core porn, in color. The lighting was even and straightforward, and I only employed my film noir lighting for the more interesting shots. I'm not very fond of doing sets because the post production is very time consuming, despite the fact that I try to rip through it. The typical porn producer would consider my "ripping through it" extremely time consuming. I need to work on letting go and just setting some auto levels to each image. I don't know how to be a hack. There are many days when I wish I could be. I do have to admit, however, that it's a blast shooting these sets! Porn formula is so easy. I don't even have to think about it. I just shoot and have fun. In my personal work I need to be so intensely focused- constantly moving lights, looking for the right angle, checking the camera parameters, et cetera. In the work that I post here, I'm always trying so hard to come up with something that is on a different level. I tend to forget that, perhaps, I should be enjoying these shoots more. I just saw your eyes roll... I'm serious, though. As Ming-Ming always says on Wonder Pets, "this is Seer-wious!!"