Rein it in...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this Monday finds you well out there! Things have been so busy over here, I barely know what to do with myself and it's all good stuff! I'm very lucky. Let's get started, shall we? Of course we shall!

To start, I did two more shots in my big secret project this weekend. The first 5-7 shots in that series will be released in September and it's looking so good so far. I'm very happy with how it's coming along! Here is a teaser shot of one of the shoots from the weekend. It involved 7 models, 7 fittings and over 60 pieces of vintage WWII military uniform items courtesy of a local military museum. I worked with a ton of new faces, which is great because it keeps my work fresh. Thank you to all of the models, assistants and makeup/hair artists who helped with this big shoot! Take a look:

In addition to the secret project, I've begun a second series entitled Rein It In that's just a ton of fun. I like to do projects occasionally that are just fun, bright and crazy and this is one of them! The basic premise is as follows: Sure, you could own a dog or a cat and walk it on a leash. You could put a goldfish in a bowl and set it on your credenza. Parrot in a cage? Of course. But that's not going to cut the mustard with my Rein It In Series, folks. No. In my world, people have pet lobsters, cobras, rabbits, peacocks, even rocks and they like to take them for walks on the streets and in the neighborhoods of America. Why? Because normal is boring... The first two photographs in this series: Smoking Stanton & Rabbit Rita are available as fine art prints in the shop right now!

The female model from the shot above was a new face for me, so we also did some classic portraits for her portfolio and also to showcase my MUA's abilities. Here are a couple of those shots. So beautiful.

Have you heard of the French Paper Company, Lovelies? It's a paper/printing company out of Michigan that's been around for 6 generations. Despite the paper industry taking a real hit in recent years and many mills closing, French has managed to go strong due to their amazing marketing, their gift and designer/artist print offerings and their partnership with the CSA Image library. Their PopInk store is overflowing with good design, fun gifts and crazy... just the way I like it. Well, I decided to put in an order for their set of artist Old Maid game-style cards. What? That's right, they created a deck of faces using the CSA stock library and you have to match not two of the same cards together, that's boring, no. You have to match-maker match these cards; doctor with a nurse etc. The printing and the colors and thermography are breathtakingly bright and sharp. And then, icing on the cake, they sent along some paper samples... with metallic ink printed on them! (That's an expensive process that's usually reserved for actual money-making products... at least in the greeting card industry with which I'm familiar.) Take a look:

Until next time: unpleasant dreams!

Shriners with Shiners...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there this week! We've been having a wet spring here in New England, which is great. (It makes me feel like I'm not missing much when I'm shooting in the studio on the weekends.) As promised, here are the latest shots, entitled Shriner with a Shiner (yes, those are parakeets), and Crazy Band. These were so much fun to do, the model was great and the outfit was drop-dead. I just listed them for sale in my shop if you like crazy things (which, if you're here, you do).

I just did another wonderful shoot this past weekend that I will share next week, so prepare yourselves, I'm cranking them out these days!

My Lovely and I just spent two wonderful days at the Brimfield Antique Show in Massachusetts, digging through boxes, climbing into tents and haggling with dealers and it was a ton of fun as always! I found some amazing pieces I'll be using in future shoots, as well as the loot pictured below. (I am getting those dark framed glasses converted into sunglasses for summer. I've been looking for a neat vintage pair for years and I'm really excited I found some!) More pictures on my Flickr page.

I just found an amazing artist: John Frame. He is a sculptor and stop-motion animation director who is making a film called The Tale of the Crippled Boy, a feature-length piece comprised of vignettes. His work is beautiful and amazing as you can tell from the stills below. He is taking donations to help him finish the project and I gave a little. If you like what you see and want to see the film finished, you may help out here. Amazing work.

Speaking of amazing, have you heard of Lisa Swerling's Glass Cathedrals? Wow you guys, she's neat. She takes little people and puts them into little worlds and then makes profound statements. It's been done, but never this concisely in my opinion and the little people are almost heartbreakingly wee down there. Take a peek, good stuff.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Shipwrecks, Closets and Shriners...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there. Things here are crazy busy, but going really smoothly. (Which means a lot of work is being produced in a short period of time and it's all looking really good!) As promised, here are some of the shots from the sexy shipwreck shoot I did last weekend. You can see the whole series on my Flickr page. I want to thank the entire team of people who helped me and the models for being such troopers. It was a pleasure.

And here's a teaser for the shoot I just did this past weekend. I found a wonderful vintage Shriner parade outfit on Ebay and I couldn't pass it up. The outfit inspired the shoot and I think this one is going to blow your minds.

And speaking of mind-blowing photography, I discovered Eric Schaal via Etsy's Craft + Style Blogosphere post this past week. Schaal did a ton of work for LIFE Magazine among many others, and all of his work is compelling, but it's his Experimental Housing Storage photos that really amazed me. When closets were coming into vogue in homes of the 40's and 50's, LIFE commissioned Schaal to document as many as possible via scale models and real home photos. The results pop with Kodachrome hues and are deliciously voyeuristic. Take a look:

And speaking of amazing photographers, Celeste Canino does some amazing conceptual work that I've been enjoying. She seems to have some really fun clients who let her play with bright colors, over the top personalities and cutting edge concepts. She also uses a ton of different approaches (black and white, filters, hyper-saturation) depending on the project, which I admire. Peep it out:

Let's wrap up with some funny news, shall we? We all know the royal wedding was a huge deal, millions of people were watching and there was a lot of pressure to get everything perfect. Which is why it's hilarious to me that apparently, a very young bridesmaid snuck a "Wiggly Worm" into one of the group shots. Best. Photo. Ever.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Bright and Dark...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are doing well out there! I have a lot to share as usual from the Mill. First, I have entered CMYK Magazine's Top 100 New Creatives competition and I'm really excited about the pieces I entered. I'm hoping for the best. Take a look at my entry page, their layout is really nice and puts everyone on an even playing field. Wish me luck!

I have scheduled a ton of shoots both for personal projects and for clients and I'm really excited about all of them. One of the shoots I'm especially excited about involves the outfit below + a swarthy looking fellow + mischief and maybe a black eye. It's almost as much fun preparing for these shoots as it is actually shooting them (though washing those pants in my bathtub got a little crazy). Standby for greatness!

Have I found some neat stuff for your eyes this week Kiddies! First, have you ever heard of Wladyslaw T. Benda the famous mask maker? Neither had I, but Etsy posted a blurb about him on their blog and I was blown away! The work is impeccable and the shots of the masks are dark and moody. I love it. {Most of these images came from Chromium Dumb Belle Blog, which is neat in its own right.}

And if you love days gone by/classic 1940's/50's life as much as I do, you need to stop by Neat Stuff Blog. Every post is chock full of great old snap shots of how people lived back then. The fashions and architecture and cars are fascinating. This post of Kodachrome shots of New York City is especially amazing. Here are a few of my favorites:

Let's wrap up with a bit of odd news, shall we? Apparently, there is a 103 year old judge still hearing cases in Wichita, KS. Now, I'd be the last person to say that working while you can is a bad idea, but really? He was literally appointed by John F. Kennedy and he says he'll be leaving office "feet first"... Wow. I hope Kansas doesn't get any cases that require a young mind, they'll be out of luck.

"As I've told you, and your father before you, and his father before him, and his father before him: Marijuana still isn't legal in the U.S. Now get oughta my courtroom!"

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...