I'm on it...kinda

ok ok, i know i need to get better at posting on my blog. but in my defense, i have been mad busy. ok ok, i know thats not a good enough reason. i'll try and do better.

a couple of cool things going on in my craft; in a few days i'll be headed to LA to hopefully finish up shooting for my Purple Spades series. i'll be sure to blog my experience while on my trip.

my Flashing Lights Powershoot tour is underway. The first city that me and my creative team are hitting is Richmond, VA april 16-17. i've also signed a deal with Richmond's 106.5FM The Beat to be the official photographer for this year's Making The Model Competition for the radio station.

my idol

the legend Terry Richardson

Lai-Ling at my studio

Lai-Ling at my studio

The Purple Spades

Lai-Ling at my studio

jonathan at my studio

tunnel vision

ok so it's pretty obvious that it's been a minute since i last indulged you into this crazy mind of mine. in fact, it's been about 2 weeks. i could share with you the uber boring story as to why i've been m.i.a. or i can give you a flashy faux rendition. flashy faux? no prob. so 2 weeks ago i was on my way to buckhead (in search of a new suit) when i was pulled over by the popoes (thats slang for police officers). they mistaken my fj cruiser for a recent bank robbery in the area, so i was dragged to county jail where spent over a week learning new trades such as snitch shanking & cigarette smuggling until i was released as a mistaken identity.



so here i am. a few more gang affiliations later and i'm a better man.



uber boring truth? fine...i was inundated with work. sorry, i'll try not to let it happen again.

B-rolls...

i think that my favorite aspect to having a blog...this blog...is being able to give my less furtunate photos taken a home. you know, the photos that arent good enough for neither me or the model's portfolio. every photog can relate to this. in every batch, there are a few photos that we see as awesome (personally) yet we also know that the mainstream would see them as garbage. so here's to my b-rolls!

taylor

lai-ling

taylor

The Blue Print

i stole this from my friend's blog (lucimablog.blogspot.com). i'm not a fan of tyra but you have to admit, she's laying some game down for newbies. i wish i could make this a prerequisite for newbies to watch before shooting with me.

3-shot

The Purple Spades

Shadai at my studio

The Purple Spades

dave at my studio

tunnel vision

the best piece of advice that i think i've ever given a model was to not model. to just pretend that she was modeling. that single direction changed her entire persona, thus giving me one of my most faved shoots ever. ain't that some shit? it's funny how serious we can be at producing something so fun. i struggle with shaking the serious off too. my method: singing the entire Purple Rain album karaoke style, while the model is going through makeup and wardrobe. as loud as i want. as dramatic as i want. its crazy, but it gets me to my creative fun-place. and it either annoys the life out of hte model or gets her right there with me.

The Purple Spades

taylor at my studio

tunnel vision

most models have like their staple poses and facial expressions. they like to call it their signature pose. some have a set of current popular poses that they practice to perfection. and then there are some models who come on set like a clean canvas. they have no poses in there head. they don't want to do the industry popular poses. ie; the broken shoulders with hands on hips. instead, they want to be used as your paint brush to create new art. their open to anything. they laugh at nothing. they understand and respect the creative process.

some photogs seek the clean canvas model. some seek the broken shoulders with hands on hips. it's all good.

the origin of The Purple Spades?

i was looking at the Prince photo that i ran across and posted and i couldnt help but to notice a deeper connection to it. then i realized that i had shot a similar photo about 3 years ago. i think it favors...

inspiration

i just find this photo of Prince and Vanity just so raw and inspiring. it speaks so much, to be so simple.

tunnel vision

i was recently in the motor city on business when i saw the most beautiful perception of detroit architecture. stepping off the plane i was expecting to see the most beautiful array of american made muscle. instead, i witnessed the most amazingly lit airport walkway. it was so captivating that i had to stop and shoot it for 5,... 10,... 12,.... ok 45 minutes. i shot and i shot and i shot. i shot so much that i was approached by airport security.

its funny; 10 years ago, who would have given a damn about airport security? today we piss in our pants if they look at us too long. anyway, i digress.

i'm sitting down going through sandisks, trying to see if i have one to use for a photoshoot when i run across these shots... the detroit airport. after not looking at this disk for about 3 months, the photos of that airport looked even more amazing. almost like an aged wine. i couldnt help it. i had to break the ultimate photographer's rule. the rule of 1. 1 look 1 photo. 1 shoot 1 shot used. but not this time. i am using all of these photos. in fact, i'm going to use these photos in a 'thought' series i'm going to call tunnel vision. and the coolest thing about them is that they need no touching up. the colors burned in perfectly.

i will contribute my most inner ocd thoughts on photography, modeling, and the industry in this series.

fresh out the box

ok so it's day one. well not really. The Purple Spades has been an idea for a couple of year's now. it's gone through different names during the masterminding phase. it's working name was The Purple Reign. the Purple in the name was to signify one of the 80's most iconic pop-culture and fashion time stamp movies. thoug it's not necessarily represented in this collection, it is the core of my inspirational motivation. not so much the fashion as it was the whole feel and emotion of the film. it's hard to explain but the things that i pull inspiration from arent the images that i want to mimic. the Reign in the name was to signify my artistic side finally reigning over my intellectual/fearful side. more on that another day. unfortunately, The Purple Reign and purple reign dot com was taken and closely associated with the vikings football team forcing me to go with a name that represents another inspiration symbal. thus spawned The Purple Spades. and now here i am...putting the pieces together and putting it out there for appreciation and critism. more importantly, i'm putting it out there to conquer and reign supreme over my fearful side that keeps my artistic side from fully expessing itself. its a crazy demond that i battle with. anywho, here i am. day 1. the beginning of the beginning. the inseption of The Purple Spades feels like the recreation of my photography. in fact, i dont even want to be referred to as a photographer from this point on. just a visioneer. here's why...