I know I've been MIA for a while. Of course some of it was spent in Puerto Rico. That was a great way to spend my birthday. Those 10 days allowed me to refresh myself and feel young again. At 30 I feel younger than I did when I was 29. I spent days along the beach, went ziplining for the first time, gambled alot, and of course went clubbing. Funny to imagine that I went by myself and completely enjoyed myself. I feel like I went out and found myself and came back a new person.

During that time, the photos that I took during the fashion show were out being published. They hit a few magazines, blogs, and newspapers in New York. Had I been around to put some effort into getting them published more, they would be in even more places...so I'm proud to see that without me doing any work, they found their way to being published. I actually can't wait to start breaking in and doing more shows. It was some good shooting that I enjoyed completely and got to see them pay off. And I still finished some more photos that I expect to be published soon also.

Now that I finished editing the Fashion show photos, i can return to doing what I was editing before I did the fashion show. I have some great fashion shots of a model that I can't wait to finish and I also have some great shots of Tore that I can't wait to get to. Hopefully I'll have that set up soon and shooting another set.

Where are all my Butter Pecan Ricans?!?!? Today is the day. Puerto Rico here I come. 10 days of rest, relaxation, and the Bicardi Factory.

Any Puerto Ricans in San Juan...hit me up!

This trying to be a proper well dressed man is expensive. Getting clothes tailored costs me almost as much as the clothes themselves. But damn I look good in them and I'm going to be mingling with some top celebrities.

In other news..I'm pretty sue my mailman is unsure if I'm gay, straight, or just crazy. In the past week the magazines he's delivered include Rangefinder (photography magazine), Golf Digest, Sports Illustrated (and the swimsuit version), Playboy, and Vogue....okay so only the Vogue magazine sort of stands out. haha but when Tore came over to shoot I had my vogue magazine sitting next to the swimsuit magazine sitting next to the SG book...so I'm a little busy this month..what can I say...I have to study all three. Speaking of which...is it awkward to shoot an SG set on Friday and then a High Fashion runway show on Sunday? Hmmm...that means I will shoot Tore one day and then Patti LaBelle and Melanie Fiona two days later....now if only I could get Melanie Fiona to shoot the same type of set as Tore.

So I guess I let the cat out of the hat already...had a great set shot with Tore on Friday. My lips are sealed shut on the set until I start editing and at least get some previews out there. In the mean time to keep your appetite wet....go show some love for Liya's set Scarlett Train and Pesky's Set Hesher

In even better news....only a 6 more days until Puerto Rico....Starting Friday I will be a drunken mess 23 of 24 hours...the other hour will be drinking to get my drunk back up. I will be on a constant party and I will be sure to get a great tan....haha jk. I'm already tan for life! I can't wait. For some odd reason shooting makes me happy (editing doesn't always make me happy) so I will be shooting if I can hold a camera steady. Don't know what I will be shooting, but it doesn't really matter now does it...damn I can't wait. Drinking rum all week to have my liver ready for the Bacardi Rum Factory.

Did I miss anything?

I'm in Southern California and I just found this incredible hotel to shoot in. The only way to describe it is PLUSH. The video does it no justice. The shower is one of those that would be great for a set. And the atmosphere is great for it too. (And yes I've been in much better hotels especially the Embassy Suites in Montreal).

Any Southern California models want to shoot a set Monday or Tuesday...specifically thinking a shower set.

So looking past the trip I'm currently on in NC and the next trip to KC...I'm looking forward to going back to Cali Feb 10-15th. It's amazing how much more interested you are about visiting home when you are going to stay in a nice plush and fancy hotel for most of the trip. And if I'm lucky I'll get to shoot a set while I'm there. Who's game?

And don't forget to check out Pesky's set Hesher and tell her how much you love the set....It's my birthday this month, give me the present of seeing her go pink.

Almost forgot...the set I shot with Pesky came out today. Go check it out and give it some love.

Pesky in Hesher

So I guess it's about time for new blog. Alot has been going on the last few weeks.

This fashion week thing has been taking up a lot of my time and keeping me busy. On wednesday I got to shoot my first Fashion show. It was a pre-showing for the designer. Im glad I got to do it because I needed to practice before the real thing. Got some good shots.....took a lot of bad ones, but learned and had a great experience. It's a fucking madhouse with all those photographers though. I had a spot dead in the center on my knees with a guy behind me straddling my legs standing over me, but trying to crouch and two people in front of me trying to stay under my lens. The guy straddling me annoyed the shit out of everyone because he was making me uncomfortable and he was getting in everyone elses shot. It was one of those guys who showed up late after everyone else marked a spot. He ended up getting moved because we all got pissed

Right after the show, since i was there for the designer, I went to the back and got to shoot the entire set. It was fun, it was great, it was qiuck, the lighting was shitty, and I used my flash the entire time. Somehow managed to get some jewels out of them, but now I'm nervous about the quality because they need to be magazine ready....unedited magazine ready...yeah this is going to be difficult. Spent all day editing one photo only to find I edited the wrong one...I only left my house today to get pizza and somehow only edited 3 photos. And I have to turn some in by Sunday. Guess no snowboarding for me tomorrow....well technically today. I would rather have 10 edited than give up a whole bunch of unedited photos.

Snowboarding....women....that's a whole 'nother story that I'm not going to even get into! I'm just hoping one day I actually meet a woman who isn't crazy...i've yet to meet one, but I have hope.

Travel is about to get hectic. I just calculated that I will be in my house for a total of 7 days of February.

Feb 6-8 Asheville, NC
Feb 8-10 Kansas City, MO...AGAIN!
Feb 10 -15 Long Beach, CA
I get to go home for a day or two Feb 16-19
But of course on the19th I'm shooting the fashion show (which is now a couple of days after fashion week and spending the night in a hotel in NYC...only to wake up and continue the tour...
Feb 20 -23rd Back to Kansas City, MO..

and then..the grand finale...

Feb 24 - March 4.....PUERTO RICO... so that will be worth it.

I've been getting myself back in shape...my 6 pack is almost as good as it should be. I'm back to running. I have a couple more weeks to get my sexy back.

ummm...that's enough for today. It's already taken me 45min to write this blog...but mainly because i'm playing Modern Warfare.

I'm starting to wonder if I got in over my head with this fashion week shoot. I'm no longer just shooting during fashion week, but I'm shooting a book pre-fashion week. And I'm starting to wonder if I have the ability...let me rephrase that, I think I have the ability, I'm starting to wonder if I can show the designer I have the ability. This will be my biggest, hardest, most press, and greatest shoot I've ever done. I'm really looking forward to it, but also quite nervous.

So I haven't updated in a while. Mainly because I'm running out of stuff to update with. I'm not very good at this sharing my personal life stuff.

I did another non-SG shoot with a model looking to be a muse of sort. She wants to shoot more often with me and help me with pretty much any of the weird ideas I come up with...trust me I come up with some crazy shit and sometimes can't find the models who see that same vision. So I put her to the test and pushed her to her comfort limits. I know she doesn't shoot nudes (at least I thought she didn't..story to come at the end of this) so I pushed her to the limits of what she does do and making sure she is comfortable shooting with me in crazy ideas and to make me comfortable when I come up with crazy ideas in just a basic set...and she freaking shined. I was very proud of her and happy with the work (pictures will follow later when I get to editing them). She did a great job and I could see her comfort level really develop as the shoot progressed. Most people underestimate the power of a model and photographer being comfortable with each other and trusting each other during a shoot. Next up for her is a test of her acting and posing....it's a great idea that she already loves, and I think she is going to do great.

So speaking of nude...at the end of the shoot we were talking and she said that she was sending pictures in to SG. She had no clue that I was shooting sets for SG when she told me. I'm not sure how comfortable she is with shooting nudity or if she fully knows what SG is about. I actually don't think she's ever done a nude shoot and had to develop comfort with an implied shoot, but I may have another model to shoot SG sets with.

Almost forgot..one of the best things about this set is that I tested an indoor-studio type set up that I created. It worked amazing. It worked better than I expected. That means I can have a steady place to shoot indoors and I love it. It was just a plain white background, but can be painted any color. It was the one thing I was lacking. I can set it up the night before and it only take five minutes to take down. I'm excited that I finally have a location to do shots with just a plain background...all without ever leaving my house! Can we say in-home studio? I still have more work to do before everything with it is completely done, but the initial shoot turned out great.

Keep an eye out for the set I did with Pesky that is to come out on February 1st.

And I think that's all for today. It's time for MW3.....Kill confirmed!

well my hopes for a drama free christmas ended quite early today. Next year I think I'm making sure there is no wine in the house. So far I've spent most of the day drowing myself in alcohol and editing. Tonights plan.....more alcohol and editing. (And no I'm not the drunk one causing the drama...I just need to get drunk to ignore the drama!).

Wow it's been several weeks since I've postd a blog. But lets see if I can get back into the groove of things

First things first...I need to finsh Pesky's set. I feel like I've made that girl wait long enough. I just got so freaking busy all of a sudden. It's amazing how much work they expect you to do when you can walk. How bad is it? As of last thursday I was supposed to be off work for the rest of the year but ended up calling into a meeting on Monday, going to work today doing overtime, and having to call into a meeting on Thursday! I just don't want to work any more...at least not in 2011.

A good thing that did happen is that i got a great opportunity for February. I didn't expect it, but it happened. I won't say exactly what it is because I don't want to ruin it...but it may have me shootingduring NYC Fashion week. But I'm already putting in workfor it.

And at the end of February....A 10 day trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Already booked the hotel room and the flight...both cost me a total of $5! yep you read that right...10 days with hotel and flight for a total of $5. It's great to be a frequent traveller.

And as always..I'm traveling to Long Beach Ca Dec. 19 - 28? Anyone up for a shoot?