1st work week of 2008

The first work week of 2008 is over. I'm taking a girl I know to dinner tonight (it's her birthday) but figured I would post since I have some time. Not much in the way of fancy restaurants here (will probably go eat some sashimi and sushi) but I can't really complain. Weekends are simple here, either going to the beach to swim and fish or sometimes going to see a movie (we have one theatre here). Sunday I will take some more more photos of a basketball game (enjoyed that last weekend) and might do some kayak fishing tomorrow.

Another girl I know (not married despite the ring). She has a simple tattoo on her right breast which I really like. For some reason I'm attracted to girls with tattoos. Not all over your body types, but one or two small tattoos are sexy to me. Hope you enjoy the post of her.

One Month

Well, Looks like I have been posting for one month now. Time sure goes by fast and I appreciate those who stop by to have a look. Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog.

So far work has taken 100% of my time. I have a big audit coming up later this month and getting ready has meant working 12-14 hour days. Not fun, but work pays for my trips and camera equipment and puts the food on the table.

So just a short post before I get back to work....

Happy New Year

Well, it will be a New Year in a couple of hours here (already New Years in most places) so time to make the resolutions. I have three. First is to lose the extra pounds I have put on (this must be the most common resolution for most of us), second is to really concentrate on my photography and third (which kind of ties in with the first) is to cut down on the beer (but not tonight). Hopefully I will stick to the plan. But tonight I will drink too much beer and spend time with my family. I don't go out on New Years Eve because I like to spend it with my kids and there are too many drunk drivers on the road. Better to stay home and party.

Been a real interesting year for me here. Job kind of sucks and the typical girl problems. But end of year started to look much better with my girlfriend and I getting back together and her getting pregnant. I'm looking forward to being a Dad again.

Well, I hope everyone enjoys their New Year. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Day after Christmas

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. If eating too much turkey counts then I had a great Christmas. The kids liked their presents and actually didn't fight all day so my day was complete.

I'm still working on learning how to convert my photos to black and white. If you check out some of my favorite links, many of the photos are in Black and White. Granted, they are light years ahead of my photos and many are shooting film, but I really like the look of a nude photo in Black and White.

Great body and a great smile, what more can I say. Just another girl I was lucky to know.

Jill

Thought for a while what to post today on Christmas. Decided to be anti-festive and post a photo of Jill. Jill is a wonderful girl who fights for her sanity almost every day. I decided to post her as I remember her telling me how she never got a Christmas present in her life. A lot of time we think we are poor, but until you see how some people live overseas, you don't realize what poor really is. She figured she wasn't good enough for Santa to bring her presents when she was young and later figured Santa was only for the rich kids When I met her she was 19 years old and still had not received a Christmas present from anyone. I first met her in November and then later spent two days in December tracking her down just to make sure she got a present. In fact, bought her a whole bunch of stuff just for the heck of it, including her two younger sisters and brother. Never saw a bunch of people more happy and really made me feel good.

When photographing Jill I wanted to convey her somewhat dark mood and her feelings of solitude. I tried to capture this by having grainy and underexposed photos. A very simple photo.

In the second photo, I added some stuffed animals, but kept teh phto the same dark grainy appearance. Although I have other more happy photos of Jill, this is how I remembered her.

Built for sex

Some women are just built for sex. I'm sorry if I ruffle some feathers but it is true. Take the girl on the left. Everything about her is natural. If you met her, everything about her is exciting. But, she actually thinks she is not good looking with is unbelievable in my eyes. Not much on posing cause she is shy, I was able to get a few shots and agree to signing a release. I think it is more because her prior boyfriend always talked down about her and she actually started to believe the things he was saying.

I'm amazed how sexist the men can be at times in the Pacific. This is especially true in the South Pacific. I'm a man, but it is the truth. At my work, nearly 80% of the women are abused. Mostly physical abuse that makes me sick to my stomach. And those who are not physically abused suffer mental abuse at their husbands hands. Although it is slowly starting to change, abuse is still very widely accepted in these societies. I guess I'm angry because I just spent a couple of hours at the hospital with one of my workers who was beat up by her so called boyfriend. It makes me want to pack my bags and leave this place.

So just a short post tonight as I'm still pissed off. Time to open a beer and relax.

relationships

Yes, I kind of like the retro lomo look (if that is what you call it). Another girl met through a friend of a friend (you know how it is). It is amazing how in the Pacific, if they know you are single then they are trying to land you. It becomes almost like a contest here. Look, I'm not crazy and I know that for the most part a young beautiful woman going for an older man is looking primarily for either (a) money or (b) security. But I also found that many of these girls are truly looking for a long lasting relationship. I am lucky that I finally found that person. At dinner last night, my boss was telling me how can I settle down with one girl when I have a lot of options and played the field so much. I told him that you need to dig through a lot of rock until you find that diamond in the rough. Not that any of these women are in the rough, it is just you have to look until you find someone you are truly compatible with. I played the other game where I jumped right into a marriage with a woman I know for only a couple of months. Things changed almost from the beginning and I stuck it out for 10-years. Now, after playing the field and being with the girl for more than 3-years, I hope I found my soul mate. Of course, only time will tell.

Tomorrow will be the kids Christmas party at school so I am looking forward to taking some photos of them and having a good time. I try my best to spend time with them on the weekends even though my work keeps me quite busy. At least this year it is inside so no problem if it rains.

Soft Light

Raining hard tonight and I was once again out all day with the boss. Had a nice dinner but after eating breakfast lunch and dinner (all out) for three nights, I'm looking forward to him going home tommorrow night.

This was a simple one light setup using a grid to control the light. The background is black fabric placed about 10 feet in front of the model. To keep the light from hitting the background, the light was placed very close to the model (the closer the light, the faster the light falloff). Simple portrait and post processing was very minimal (curves adjustment and I ran an action called Kodak Digital Gem Airbrush Professional - allows for some automatic skin smoothing). This plug in costs a little more than $100 but I like the results which require minimal effort.

1st Post

A while back I suffered through some difficult times and was very shy. A friend of mine suggested I pick up a camera and use it as a way to get over my shyness and to express myself more. I have since become hooked on photography and everything about it. This is my journey as an amateur photographer.

Monica was the first woman to agree to pose nude for me. So many things wrong from a technical sense, but I ended up getting what are to me, some very memorable photos. This is a photo that I have come to know and love. She was also a great girlfriend at the time and we have since moved on but remain friends (i'm 15 years older so it was expected not to last).

Processing was done in photoshop using two actions combined. One is called professional retro. I then mesed with the saturation until I got something I liked. Next, I ran an action called Midnight Black. Now I'm the first to admit I don't have great photoshop skills but I liked the artistic mood of the photo.