Can you spot Yours Truly?

Happy Halloween everybody. I’m writing this in between hordes of munchkins coming to the door. When I was a kid we walked till Mom was tired and went home; now they’re driving them around and releasing them in waves at the mouth of each cul-de-sac. We didn’t expect this many and will be out of candy soon; for self preservation the guys are going to get more. Kinda like a beer run…

I was all excited last week because the desktop has been resurrected and I was about to get my computer back. Unfortunately, Photoshop CS4 runs better on 4GB of memory than 2GB and now we’re where we started – I still don’t have my own PC. Combine that with Honey’s prolific schedule in the studio and basically I never see this thing. Sad, I know.

So 15+ models have come through the studio; I’ve missed just about all of them. Well, actually all of them. My days off he hasn’t scheduled any shoots. The last one I went to involved an awesome cat from London named Nick; there was a Mohawk and yellow skivvies involved. I’ll say no more. Check him out on Model Mayhem.

There are still no pics from Bite of LV. By the time they’re ready I’m sure no one will care. I’m getting the barking kind of response – he says I’m nagging. So until he’s ready I guess we all wait.

Please enjoy the visuals.

Trying to catch up...not there yet

Ok, so there's an old post (already written) and a new post (swirling dangerously in the gray matter), both of which are admittedly very overdue. As usual, I was waiting for edited photos and computer time, which should be remedied soon, more details later. On to the old-to-me, new-to-you post.

I think I’m losing my mind, people. I’ve been having dreams about counting (probably due to the recent inventory at work), being a Wild West woman (complete with trusty steed and shooting people), chasing things, being chased by things (what kind of things in either case I don’t know), and the largest build-your-own-whopper-sundae ice cream parlor ever. This morning in the grocery store I thought there was nothing to eat in the whole place. And I think my age is showing: I’ve made a good friend of a 75-yr old woman, and I recently listened to an 18-yr old tell a roomful of strangers she should get married immediately (to her lesbian girlfriend of 4 months) because she might die at any moment. My immediate solution to this whole mess is to make at least two batches of cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Everything seems better after you’ve eaten a cupcake.

And what is with the people who’ll gladly pay twice as much for something that has a box versus the same thing that doesn’t??? It’s just a box!

We got a little spoiled this last Saturday (Oct 17-also just learned the pics still aren't ready. sorry gang). We got to go to Bite of Las Vegas ’09 as VIP guests. Bite of LV is a one-day festival where a bunch of restaurants come out and sell sample-sized versions of their dishes so you can try them. There’s live music; this year there was Catherine McPhee, Parachutes, Uncle Kracker, Blue October, plus some local bands. Train was supposed to be there but had to cancel last minute cuz the lead singer ended up in the hospital with dehydration or something. So as VIP’s, we got access to a fenced off area beside the main stage, free water, free beer (Michelob Ultra only), and catered food we didn’t have to pay for. There were tables and chairs under a pavilion, private port-a-potties, and a little area used for “underground lounge” type performances. We got to hear Katherine McPhee and Parachutes sing acoustic from 6 feet away. I got my picture taken with Katherine; she thought Honey with his big camera was a paparazzi – she says thru the corner of her smile, “Do you know him?” I got a kick out of it. I also got a poster of Parachutes signed by all the band members, who are very down to earth guys. I think we were there about 7 hours. If we’d had to buy all the water we drank we wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long. The lasagna from Brio was fantastic, the guys really liked the spare ribs from Roy’s, and the folks at Cupcake Lane saw us three times. Like I said, everything is better after a cupcake. We had a great time and will be back next year (but quite possibly only if we get VIP tickets again – it made all the difference).

Don’t know if I’ve said, but the home studio is finished. Honey’s been very busy in it. A few samples of the fruits are below:

Two Weeks in Photos

There’s a photo shoot going on right now in the newly constructed studio. I’m here but I’m apparently no longer necessary. I’m needed to clean up and make sure the house is presentable, cook chicken wings and order pizza, but Honey is something of a one-man show in a studio. Fruits of that shoot will be along soon.

A couple things I should address for anyone who’s curious: I finally got to see the horror short that Kendra was in (she’s the disturbing child clown), and honestly I was confused and thus didn’t ever post the link. It was something along the line of ‘bad things are coming to get Daddy, but your guardian angel (Mommy) will protect you if you sit in this bathtub’; then Daddy gets attacked by an orc (for lack of a better term). Daddy got disemboweled, then the orc considers Kendra thru the shower curtain (a clear one no less), and Mommy turned into a demon, kinda like something at the end of those emails where you’re supposed to stare at the super hot chick but then she turns into a zombie hag accompanied by the scream from the Exorcist. And that was the end. I personally thought Kendra was creepier during our photo shoot.

Secondly, the photos from the other photo shoot I was working on getting are done. They’re here for you now.

Then there's the stuff from Stephanie, aka The Guess Model.

And lastly, a sample from the Barrit Jackson auto auction and a very disturbing creature at the Renaissance Festival.

For those that don't know, that's a Maserati emblem.

Can You See the Baby in this Picture??

Note: Honey still isn't ready with Meghan O's images - they'll be up as they're available.

It’s been another busy weekend. We worked with the lovely and always prepared Meghan O’Hare on Saturday night. Also got to meet her new fiancé, Ben. Congrats, you two! The location was basically in the middle of nowhere on some railroad tracks. I think a total of three cars passed in the two hours or so that we were there. Very eery after dark.

Sunday we met up with a fellow photog. While on vacation in Hawaii he got his main camera wet with sea water (for those that don’t know that equals instant death). His back up camera is in the shop, so we loaned him our old Sony, the one we bought for my college graduation pictures back in the day. His model for the day was…damn - and not in a good way. She had really bad acne, the make-up she put over it was too light for her skin tone, and there wasn’t an inch of her with any muscle tone. Plus she was almost 30 minutes late and still had to get ready. Ladies, this is not how to be professional model! She wants to work with Honey. I’m gonna leave that as “no comment”.

Later that afternoon we did our first expectant mother photo shoot. Belly pictures are a must have for soon-to-be grandmothers apparently. The model and I used to work together; I haven’t seen her since I quit, mostly due to scheduling conflicts or either of us being out of town. We’d sent sample photos to give her some ideas; it took about an hour and a half altogether. She was, as I’m sure all expectant mothers are, concerned about stretch marks and looking lumpy in places, but Honey smoothed everything and she’s very happy with the two sneak peak photos she’s received so far. I think we’ll be doing her new born pictures here in the next 3-4 weeks. Fingers crossed.

The Britney Spears concert was surprisingly good. I say that because it never would have occurred to me to buy tickets, but having gotten them for free – which reminds me I need to send an email thank you – it was really good. She had two opening acts; someone named Kristinia Debai and Jordan Sparks, who looked fabulous in a black fringe dress. Then there was a 25-minute intermission of sorts. A big clock showed up on the megatron saying the show will begin in…and started counting down. When the show, called The Circus, did get underway there were real circus acts: acrobats, feits of balance, ninja warriors, and a very talented and flexible lady with lots of hoola hoops. The crowd cheered so loud when Britney did take the stage that I think I went slightly deaf for a few minutes.

I gotta give it to the girl – she’s gotten her shit together. She looks good, can strut the entire concert in heels, and has learned not to dance all the time and so hard that she can’t catch her breath to sing. This time she was actually singing and she’s got a good voice live. The stage, which I’m sure was custom made for her, has three discs (to represent the three rings of a circus, duh) and lots of floor panels that spin, raise, lower, etc. There was also a round LED screen the size of the center circle (think like 30 feet across) that raised and lowered to show videos and stuff in between sets and costume changes. And it was a sold out show, which in these economic times, is saying something.

Attendees ranged from 8-yr old kids to woman in their 40’s or beyond, some dressed like they were going to prom and some like they were going to a backyard bbq. I saw a lot of skin, some good and some other, and one man dressed convincingly in the blue stewardess outfit from the ‘Toxic” video – he had very nice legs and managed just fine in heels. I watched four grown women seat-hop and get booted three different times before returning to their original seats. It was a good time.

Yesterday (Monday) we took Darryl to dinner for his birthday which was earlier last week. As far as Honey is concerned, his last meal if he ever gets on death row will be stuffed shrimp embrochette and bananas foster. We all ate too much and it was savor-ever-bite fabulous. I’m pretty sure that’s the only dish I’ve eaten at that particular seafood house.

Oh! Before dinner I managed to tame the closet monster. It took 4 hours and several waves of dust bunnies, but I reign victorious. It was a pretty big deal so I thought I’d share.

Please enjoy the music

Play music here
So I haven't got the link to Kendra's horror short. And Honey isn't ready with pictures from the last photo shoot, even though I have the next blog written already. I'm working on both parts, hopefully coming soon...

Brianna, Stephanie, Seth, and Kendra

I’m writing to you from a work computer today. Not that I’m seeking sympathy for my crazy schedule (photo shoots, work, meeting models, fishing, business infrastructure, the necessities of everyday life, etc) I just hope ya’ll appreciate my dedication, despite how long it’s taken to publish this post.

Last week Honey did a photo shoot with two new models, Brianna and Stephanie. I didn’t get to go since I was working – same feelings as previous shoots I’ve had to miss: bummed, “it’s not the same without me”, etc. But Honey got some great stuff out of it.

Just found out the guys are going to Henderson for a car show without me. Again, bummed.

Got to go fishing last weekend. After you’ve gone for 8 days, 3 days just seems kinda short, like you’re not trying hard enough, but now that I have a job it’s the best we can hope for. We got rained on twice the first day, both times hard enough to bring us in off the lake. The second time we headed back to camp, because even though the rain had passed us, the camp was getting dumped on, and Honey had had the bright idea earlier to leave the rain cover off the tent so it could “air out” from the last trip… luckily there wasn’t too much stuff in there to get wet and what did was dry by night fall. His first ‘blonde’ moment of the trip. His second came the next day when we launched the boat to fish, and as the boat was sinking at the dock, Honey realized he forgot to put the drain plug back in (after taking it out so all the rain water could drain). There was good fishing that afternoon; Honey caught an 18” bass that came home as fillets. The last day was so windy we weren’t on the lake much. The fishing was lousy; caught one decent rainbow trout but decided it wasn’t worth the hassle for one fish and let him go. Maybe it’s snobby, but I love fish only if it’s no longer attached to its body. We had lunch and both of us dragged our feet a bit when it came time to pack up. That was our last trip with our faithful boat.

“Many go fishing all their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.”
–Henry David Thoreau

We know, the fish are just a bonus.

The first day home we had a night shoot with a Cirque family, featuring Seth and his sister Kendra. It was a lot of laughs and flowed easily. Kendra is in a 3-minute horror film you can see on youtube.com here.

A Lady and a Clown

Labor Day, aka Creepy Clown shoot day. It was a last minute deal; the model called and said “hey, I’m off tomorrow, you wanna shoot?” Of course, we said yes. Alethea's boyfriend Darrin is a professional clown (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?) and apparently his “inner creepy clown” is just below the make-up. See Alethea's link at right. We met at a bar – we’ve never shot in a bar before – this one a seedy little, off-neighborhood bar which shall remain nameless. We expected it to be empty; the people expected a peaceful afternoon drinking, not I’m sure, a clown and photography show…it worked out. One couple carried on like they were witnessing something akin to celebrity. These are a sampling of the fruits of Labor Day…

We also met an upcoming, prospective model that night. I’ll link to her site when she has something worth showing – she’s in full agreement of that statement, by the way. That was after Applebee’s “2 for $20” and a mile high ice cream pie. It was a great day.

Last night was the monthly meeting of LVPS, a rather disorganized and forced emotion kind of night. When people say they’re excited but their body language says otherwise, it’s very confusing. There was “brief” presentation of Lightroom. I sat through one of these in Portland that lasted 2.5 hours; the local one was very similar. So far both presenters have been lazy wedding photogs.

Tonight we’re guesting at the Nevada Camera Club (NVCC). They’re having a guest speaker from the Review Journal on photojournalism. We’ll see how it goes. My only complaint so far is the chairs are agonizing. Young and spry meets hard and non-ergonomic.