Flashback Friday; “One Day I’ll Look Back and Say, “I Did It”.

Beauty, Nudes

We were sitting at a dive bar on the Lower East Side one night drinking vodka and whiskey when I turned to Julie and said “One day you’re going to let me photograph you.” I had been friends with Julie for years and always thought she was beautiful. Though I had hinted at wanting to do some studio work with her in the past, she always shyed away from the subject saying “A lot of guys have asked or tried. I’m just not  comfortable having a camera in my face”. About an hour later she turned to me, slammed her drink on the bar and barked “Yeah, let’s do it while I’m still young.”. After a few more shots we moved to the next bar and eventually planned our session.

I always loved Julie. We met while working together and quickly became friends. We had a similar dark humor that always made us click on all cylinders. I was in love with her sense of adventure and strong sense of independence. Whenever she had some off the beat idea to try something different, she’d ask me gingerly. My response was usually an excited “Let’s Do It!”. One of the best offers was when she took me to see the Dalai Lama speak at Rutgers. It was never a dull moment with her.

The day of the shoot she showed up with a sense of confidence I had seldom seen. The more we talked and took pictures, the more confident an intuitive she became. There was a certain layer of beauty and aura that I had never gotten from her before. I had not done many nude sessions in recent years but I honestly feel she opened the door for me to shoot many more in the future. She also taught me a lot about making the model as unaware of the camera as possible.

I haven’t seen much of Julie recently. People come in and out of your life. I just know in my heart that one day the phone will ring and the person on the other end of the line will have another great adventure to share.

How Many Records is “Too Many Records”?

Record Collecting

I’ve always been a fanatic when it came to music. Some of my earliest memories involve me sitting in my diapers amongst my parents rather encompassing record collections. Before I was even really listening I would sit in awe amongst piles of records. Bewildered and a bit freaked out by the cover art of artists such as Leon Russell, Frank Zappa and Tom Waits, just to name a few. As I grew my parents and their tastes had a serious influence on my ears and and my ongoing obsession with music. By the age of ten I had already attended a couple of concerts and developed my own musical tastes for bands like The Clash, AC/DC and Jimi Hendrix. My Dad would make me sit with him as he forced Zappa and Waits records on me. At the time I hated what I was hearing and thought my Father was well, nuts. Years later I’m still obsessed with music and in particular, buying records.

Today my friend and I took our monthly trek driving over two hours past state lines to our favorite record store. Now being that my friend is pretty much the sickest record collector I have ever known, it’s not odd for him to drop a couple of hundred dollars on any said occasion. As for me, I’m a little more conservative with my shopping. Often spending under a hundred dollars a trip and stick to the endless selection of 7 inch records the store has to offer. However, on this particular trip I decided to start with the LP’s. Now when I say “Big Mistake”, I mean “Big Mistake”.  About ten years ago I decided to sell my record collection to help fund a trip to Japan. Although I made a lot of money at the time, it’s something I later regretted. So about a year or two I started rebuilding my record collection. Basically replacing what I had sold as I picked up ones I didn’t have and new ones that have come out since. Two years later I have twice as many records than I ever had before I sold them and my collection/obsession keeps growing.

As I went from bin to bin my pile kept growing and multiplying. Most of them were one dollar purchases so what did it matter. Then my buddy handed me a few more records he pulled out for me when he was cruising the adjacent aisle. Before I knew it I was putting a box of eighty three records in his car. I was happy with my choices and my overall purchase but damn, getting them up three flights of stairs once I got home was a bitch to say the very least. As I sit here writing I’m also listening to the Manowar record my buddy put aside for me. Thanks bro, I’m enjoying it. On a side note, I’ve noticed my Mother has been reading the blog lately and I fully prepared for the lecture I’ll soon receive. Mom, lecture all you want. But you’re responsible for creating this monster.

Second Chances

Beauty, Studio Lighting

As I opened the door to greet Tara earlier today I could hardly believe my eyes. The beautiful woman with the flowing hair that reached beneath her waist now sported hair that barely touched her shoulders. It framed her face perfectly and brought out the glow in her porcelain skin.  The change added a layer of beauty that I hadn’t noticed before. There was something about her new look that made her seem warmer, more mature and open. The smile and hug made my nervous knots disappear.

The girl who came to me as a model last year was now blossoming into an actress. As we talked and sipped coffee we talked about the changes in both of our lives since our last creative collaboration. She seemed happy, focused and excited about the future. It was a cool and relaxed vibe that made for very natural shots. Our last shoot had it’s tensions due to some lateness on part of her makeup artist and perhaps a lack of planning on both our parts. Today’s session just felt right from the jump off.

The dramatic makeup and theme of last years shoot was replaced by minimal, self applied foundation and a chill urban feel. The only similarity today’s session had to last years was getting her to try some things that she might have felt, were out of her comfort zone. Later, when I went over the shots more thoroughly. I only noticed one or two that were decidedly similar to those of last year. As for me, I’ve noticed my confidence grow with each and every shoot. Overall improvement in preparation, lighting and ability to manage time are noticeable and I’m not quite as clumsy as I used to be. Not bad if you ask me.

Second Time Around

Beauty, Nudes

Every so often a model I’ve worked with returns to update their images or perhaps go for an entirely different look. Tomorrow afternoon I’ll have just such an opportunity. I first worked with Tara a little over a year ago. During that November shoot Tara and I worked really well together. However, there were some challenges. There have been times when you don’t really gel with the people you work with. It’s not that you don’t like or trust the person. It can sometimes be a simple difference in approach or vision.        This was one of those times. On this particular night I think I challenged her to look outside of the box a bit. Perhaps to step outside of her comfort zone. Looking back I was really happy with the results and recall her thanking me for taking her out of her comfort zone.

I’m really looking forward to shooting with her again tomorrow as we go for a more urban vibe. I’m sure I’ll have some good stuff to post and a new story to tell.

Thanks For Checking In, All 16,000 of you.

Uncategorized

Earlier this morning I received an email from Word Press wishing me a Happy New Year and sending me a personalized report detailing the blogs traffic, most poplar posts and where my visitors are checking in from. I was astounded when I read that in 2011 16,000 people from four different continents visited Photo Geek throughout the year. This was shocking considering I rarely check my stats or get many comments on my posts. I’ve run into many friends and strangers who when I give them my business card tell me “Oh my God, I read your blog all the time.” or “You’re that dude?’.  It’s pretty weird to say the least. It’s one of the many reasons I still do this.

To tell the truth, it’s one of the longest creative endeavors I’ve been involved with. Knowing that I’m actually reaching somebody is enough to keep me going. Knowing that there’s more than half a dozen of you out there is the icing on the cake.

Thank you and Happy New Year,

The Photo Geek

The Good, The Bad and The Very, Very Ugly of Occupy Wall Street.

Uncategorized

On a beautiful, sunny afternoon I decided to finally head down to Lower Manhattan and  Zuccotti Park to see for myself, just what this Occupy Wall Street movement had to offer. Being somewhat disappointed by the way the media had been covering things and not quite ready to believe what my Left Wing friends were preaching. I headed down to the WTC area to get a look and possibly engage some of the people down there in conversation. I decided to break this down into three separate posts; The Good, The Bad and the Very Very Ugly of Occupy Wall Street. Enjoy.

Below are some of the images I managed to capture.

The Good

"Freedom"
"War Is Not The Answer"
"I might not agree with what they have to say; But I respect their right to say it."
"Add me on Facebook"
Civilized
"Free Tibet"
"Occupy Santa"
"Hooray for Free Speech"
"Sewing the Seeds of Love."
"Occupy our Souls"
"Peacemaker"
"Occupy Dignity"