Photo Shoot with Sammy

Thanx to Blue, he set up a session with a handsome, young, Nuyorican named Sammy and brought him up to the studio tonight. Sammy has a very defined physique (he works at 24/7 -- a gym in Chelsea), and has a face the camera loves - part sexually-charged papichulo and part innocent homeboy. With the professionalism and focus he showed in our first shoot, I'm very interested in doing a subsequent shoot with Sammy the next time I'm in NYC.

One more photo shoot with Blue

Tonight's shoot with Blue marked our sixth together but our first in two years. In the past I've shot Blue in my studio, in my kitchen, in my bathtub, in St. Nicholas Terrace Park, and out on Coney Island. Blue never disappoints, he always gives you that little added something that takes the creativity and subsequent photos to a new place. Tonight he brought candles and a deck of tarot cards - which made me want to shoot him strictly by candlelight - this made things more complex and difficult, but ultimately it made for some very interesting images.

Photo Shoot with Josh

detail (cropped and desaturated color)


full frame

Photo Shoot with Dominic San Juan

Several years ago, Dominic and I met online. After several lengthy instant messenger conversations, I convinced him to do a photo shoot with me and so we trekked off to Central Park one beautiful afternoon to do the shoot. The shots came out wonderfully, both of us posted them our respective sites, and best of all, we became pals. Since then, Dominic has become (much) more comfortable in front of the camera so ... finally the day has arrived for us to shoot his first nudes.

That was Dominic then... this is Dominic now (hotter than ever)!

Grey Gardens

I was fortunate enough to get a sixth row centre seat to see Grey Gardens for the matinee performance this afternoon (it helps when you're only looking for a single ticket.) This was the one show that I felt I just had to see since I saw a screening of the original documentary of the same name several years ago at the Edmonton International Film Festival with one of the Maysles brothers (the filmmakers) actually in attendance for a question and answer period afterwards.

The star of the Broadway production, Christine Ebersole, was beyond description playing the mother, Edith Bouvier Beale in the first act and then the daughter, Little Edie, in the second act. It was spooky watching two live actresses re-create the true-life characters to the point where you weren't quite sure that they were not, in fact, the real thing! And there was the musical number where Little Edie was doing her American flag number that was probably even better than in the movie because they were able to add the ghosts of the other members of the entire dance troupe behind/with her that she quite certainly imagined herself part of in the documentary. Also the muscial number, The Revolutionary Costume for Today, which Ms. Eversole did for the Tony Awards was phenomenal. It is so sad that this show is closing Sunday - it was jawdroppingly amazing and very touching - the final scene had lots of people dabbing their eyes during the standing ovation. This is a musical I won't likely forget ... ever. Da-da da dah dum.

Photo Shoot with Miguel (Mike)

Due to another last-minute cancellation for a shoot that I had scheduled for the early afternoon, I was able to invite Mike to the studio to do a quick session. Not only was he available and willing to have me photograph his tattoo, but he confided that this was something he had always wanted to do. Mike had a very cute demon baby on his shoulder that I wanted to capture but moments after meeting him, I quickly realized that the ink wasn't the only thing that was cute -- this boy had a million dollar smile.

Photo Shoot with Doug

Doug is an old friend and former model of mine that I first met in the 90s back at The Tunnel. He's no longer working as a gogo boy in the clubs but is still modelling when he can with the hopes of landing some work as an underwear model. We did this shoot so that he could add some images to his portfolio.

Second Shoot with Tony, Hell's Kitchen, NYC

Did a follow up photo shoot with Tony, who I shot a couple days ago up in the studio. This time we shot in the basement of his apartment in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. The space was ideal. And for the most part, I used all available light and got some exquisite results. Tony was phenomonal today as well. He applied everything he had learned in the first shoot we did and demonstrated superb concentration and discipline. Modelling is seldom easy work and down in that basement it was sweltering. However, it was all worth it when you get images like this. I'll add more photos here at a later time as there are countless images to select from - this was the sort of shoot that I absolutely love.




Update:
I don't usually post replies from people but Tony (the model in this shoot) sent me such a sweet message that I wanted to keep it.

OK I am almost embarrassed to say this but I wasn't quite sure what a blog really was, and then BBAAAAMMM right in the head like an arrow it / you hit me. Thank you for saying such nice things about me, I am overwhelmed with what you wrote and thrilled that you enjoyed the shoot as much as I.

I know it is sounding redundant , but honestly, I don't think you realize what you have done for me, and keeping it simple, you have helped me beyond what I thought was possible for the fixing of my head........lol. I got so much enjoyment from the shoots, both learning experiences about modeling, as well as myself , and yup even about you.

I preach the word passion, when one does something for work or even play, without it - it's not even worth talking about, let alone doing. You, my friend, reak of passion for what you do, it's your work, it's your play ..........it's you. I am very happy for you that you have been blessed and are able to live your passion.

Just know one thing, I am a real man, with real thoughts, both are honest and heartfelt entities in their own right, and when I compliment you, please know I am not blowing smoke, I truly mean what I say with great feeling.

And now enough.

Photo Shoot with Tony, NYC

After being back in NYC for a few days, and finally cleaning out the studio of all the junk that accumulated there while I away, I started shooting again today. My model was Tony (Antonio) Leonardo, who at 43, is a sexy, masculine, and very sweet Italian-American living in Hell's Kitchen.

Photo Shoot with Scott #2 - Abstract Nudes

As expected, I did a second shoot with Scott and once again I am extremely pleased with the results. As we began to explore at the end of our first shoot, I've come across a concept that I want to pursue further -- glass brick nudes. Everyone that I've shown these first series of images to has been very excited and positive in their feedback about the potential of this project. They have even gone as far as saying they would like a print to hang in their homes. I can see this becoming an extensive series and an unique exhibit. Expect to see more of this style of photo in the future as I shoot other models of varying body types/builds/ethnicities and hopefully even couples.

XTRA! Magazine

Happy to see that the portrait I did of Cijay Morgan here in Edmonton has finally appeared in the May issue of Xtra! published out of Toronto. This was my first shoot for the magazine and hopefully more work will come of it. Here's the photo that ran -- click on this link to see how it turned out and to read the full article.

Analyze this!

Here is but one of the many dreams that I had last night. I am in a tug-of-war with an almost full-grown lion or tiger (not quite sure which, or maybe it was both) cub over meat. What seemed to start off as just a large bone in the scramble to keep possession of it turned into a full roast-sized piece of meat by the time the lion/tiger finally won possession of it. I felt I couldn't challenge the animal any more because it was still "wild" even though I really did what to control it. But I also let it have that piece because I knew I had a full-side of beef size piece of meat put away where the lion/tiger couldn't get at it. Make any sense to you? It actually all makes sense to me. Scary huh.

I also had another dream where I was showing someone a very large tank (think aquarium only bigger) where sharks were hiding under/amidst the sea plantlife. I was using a wooden chair to show them how the sharks would attack, which a large one did, once you started poking around. I can't remember much more of this one so it doesn't make nearly as much sense to me.

There was also an elevator dream which ended with a short french woman and I running through a parkade to evade the other passengers who were in pursuit because we hadn't held the elevator for them. Well it was more complicated than that but you get the idea. Signficant factor the elevator was going down.

Anyway I'd be happy to hear anyone's idea what they think this all might mean or if you are into dream intrepretation at all I'd like to hear what all the images symbolize. Or maybe not.

Edmonton Queen

I attended the book signing of an old friend of mine, Darrin Hagen, who's book The Edmonton Queen has just been republished on its 10th Anniversary. Darrin delighted the crowd by reading from this and his other book, Tornado Magnet at Audrey's Books. The hilarious accounts of his drag persona, Gloria Hole, and the defunct gay club Flashback and all its tawdry characters took me back 20 years -- a time when I was first hitting the nightclubs here in Edmonton. Apart from being a talented drag queen, Darrin is a gifted storyteller and performer and I'm thrilled to see him having such success. I have countless personal memories of Gloria Hole: how she used to terrorize patrons when she bartended at Flashbacks; performing "This is My Life"; in her Star Trek catsuit serving jello shooters on the bus ride to one of my Hell parties; playing the accordian as a contestant on the live gameshow Panic; and just too many wondrful nights at the clubs to list. Thanx Darrin for being truly one-of-a-kind!

Photo Shoot with Scott

After years of talking about doing a shoot, Scott McLeod and I finally were finally able to do it today. Although this isn't the exact shoot I want to do with Scott -- we both want to do shoot outdoors -- I thought it would be good to get him in front of the camera and become comfortable with posing nude. As it turns out, Scott was very relaxed and consequently we got some remarkable images. The other wonderful thing about our session is that I discovered a new abstract concept that opens up a whole new series of photo shoots. Scott will be my first subject.

Figure study - legs

You'd Scream Too!

OK since I posted one of my favourites the other day, I'll add this one too since it has to qualify as one of my all-time faves. Thanx to Lady Bunny for turning me on to this one.

BOM CHICKA WAH WAH

I love this commercial! This is perhaps the funniest commercial I've seen on TV in a long time, made only funnier by trying to show someone who's never seen the advertisement what happens in it. C'mon you try those moves.

The New Hilton Hotel

Paris Hilton ... jail ... Paris Hilton in jail ... hehehe!
Her porn video from there should be quite interesting.
Bye Paris, enjoy your 45-day stay in your new Hilton Hotel and maybe think about whether there's anyone with as much money as you that could possibly be any dumber.

I Heart NY but ...

NEW YORK - New York City produces nearly 1 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions — an amount that puts it on par with Ireland or Portugal — according to a city study.

The study, released Tuesday, was ordered by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to assess the city's progress in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. It was conducted by the mayor's Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability.

"You have to have a real baseline or we're just talking past each other as to what works and what doesn't work — we won't ever know whether we really made a difference," Bloomberg said.

The study found that the buildings, subways, buses, cars and decomposition of waste in America's most populous city produced a net emission of 58.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2005. The report said the city's emissions "are currently as much as those of Ireland or Portugal."

The U.S. total was 7.26 billion metric tons for that year.

Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and other gases, essentially trap energy from the sun, which warms the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere. Many scientists believe human activity that increases those gases is contributing to global warming.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations network of 2,000 scientists, warned last week of possible catastrophic risks such as floods, disease, food shortages, species extinction and human suffering throughout the world.

The city has 2.7 percent of the country's population — 8.2 million of 300 million — and the average New York City resident contributes less than a third of the emissions generated by a typical American. This is largely due to the popularity of the city's mass transit system, which cuts down on car emissions, officials said.

The operation of the city's hundreds of thousands of buildings — which consume electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and steam — contribute 79 percent of the city's emissions total.

The study found that the city's focus on environmentally friendly initiatives — including alternative fuel vehicles, energy efficient traffic lights and green buildings — appears to have helped stabilize emissions rates in recent years.

"Each one of these things really does make a difference, and they add up," Bloomberg said.

Still, emissions were found to have increased by more than 8 percent between 1995 and 2005, the study found.

Bye Bye Ruby

Attended the final Edmonton performance of local drag queen extraordinaire, Ruby Slippah at the Roost tonight. As usual Ruby did not disappoint. Also leaving the city is her roommate Michael aka 'Pepper' Dore (included in the photo) who is heading to Toronto for film school. All I can say is words Ruby said herself "Look Out Toronto!"