because a Reverend can't be wrong.
self sufficient
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This shot of Rachelle is from my first shoot with a few new lights I purchased.
These new lights are more rigid than my others. First of all they have only 4 output level settings over 4 stops instead of the 5 stop variable output range that I’m used to. Additionally, I can’t adjust the power of each light independently. I can either have both of the lights outputting at the same power, or a 3:1 ratio.
Despite those difficulties, there is a lot of flexibility afforded by them as well. These lights are also more powerful and, in my small studio, I’m finding a need to turn them down a lot, which is good because that means I’m not running on the edge of my capacity. Also, the actual light units are lighter (since it’s a pack and head system) than my other lights, which makes putting them in strange positions a lot easier. Finally, these heads have a reflector that casts the light much broader than the others that I have, which makes them a lot more flexible.
All in all, they are a very welcome addition to my collection of tools.
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated, as always.
standing alone
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This is *my* favorite image from the shoot with Glora. But, generally speaking, my favorite is generally not anyone else’s.
Technically speaking, the tones are soft and subtle, which I love. The honest look in her eyes and the hip in one direction makes it feel real, and her bare stomach and low neck line make it very sexy.
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated, as always.
For those of you that didn’t know, “GMail”:http://gmail.com, “Google’s”:http://google.com awesome webmail service, now supports “customized from addresses”:https://gmail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=20616. This means that you can forward your domain mail to a GMail account, and then use GMail as your storage and interface for mail while still maintaining your own domain identity.
I’ve made the switch, at least for now and, so far, I am very happy. In fact, all things considered, I’m loving it. It’s got the speed and ease of use of Mutt, the simplicity of a native GUI application, the accessibility of any website, and the power of Google all rolled into one.
I’m still looking for a nice featureful tool to import all of my old mail into GMail. Unfortunately, I’m not certain that, after importing everything, I’d be under the 2GB mark. I wish GMail offered to allow you to have MORE space if you provided storage for it (IMAP access, probably) or allowed an “upgrade” for those willing to pay for it. Not that I can really complain. 2GB is a lot of mail. But, I have a lot of mail. My current IMAP server is holding 663MB of mail. That’s not counting archives that I have offline nor the mail in my other account.
There are also some features I’d really like to see in GMail to make it even better. For instance, I know GMail doesn’t want us to delete anything, but, there are some things that REALLY are NOT worth keeping. Like, for instance, the stupid messages I get from “MySpace”:http://myspace.com/ (the world’s most cluttered and disgusting user interface) telling me that one of my contacts has updated his or her blog. I’d like to be able to delete messages more easily. I managed to find a “GreaseMonkey GMail Delete button script”:http://www.arantius.com/article/arantius/gmail+delete+button/ that gives me this functionality, but it sure would be nice if it came from GMail.
GMail gets conversations confused sometimes too. “LiveJournal”:http://livejournal.com/ comments, for instance, are often grouped together when they shouldn’t be and often appear to come from someone that they are not actually from. It would be nice to be able to break up conversations. On that same note, sometimes we change the subject of an email when the topic of conversation takes a turn. It would be nice to be able to group messages with different subjects into the same conversation. These aren’t real killers, but, just things that would be nice to have.
GPG/PGP/SMIME encryption would be nice too. Of course, then, if done properly, Google wouldn’t be able to advertise to me as well, so they’ll probably never implement that feature. Of course, a GreaseMonkey or Firefox extension could probably handle this pretty well too.
And finally, while I’m being all pie in the sky, I’d really like a Google Calendar: Something easy to use and full-featured, with iCal exports, RSS feeds, and intelligent reminders and alarms.
If you’d like to try out GMail and, somehow, don’t have an invite, let me know.
surface tension
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This is Jess’ favorite image from the Gloria shoot so I’ve decided to show it off today despite the fact that it wasn’t in my original posting schedule.
So many people ask if I ever take pictures of my models smiling. Of course, the answer is yes.
The problem is that happiness is, in many cases, that part of us that we show almost everyone. When someone asks how we’re doing, we say “fine” without even thinking. This is the face that everyone sees everyday. While it is indeed beautiful, I like to dig a bit deeper than that.
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated, as always.
the way it works
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Another photograph of Gloria. I think you can learn a lot about a person by their hands, and this is certainly no exception.
The style of this photograph is very flattering — not that Gloria needs it, but, shooting this way brings out even more of her natural beauty. The soft round light, emphasis on the side of the face, and offset composition keep our eyes entertained and draw focus right where we want it.
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated, as always.
waiting for something better
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I had a great time photographing Gloria. This is her favorite image from the evening.
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated, as always.
Are you already using “GMail”:http://gmail.com/, arguably one of the best webmail interfaces available to date? Google has introduced “Google Talk”:http://talk.google.com/. By downloading Google’s IM client, you can now use your GMail user name and password to communicate via text or voice with other GMail users. If you don’t feel like using Google’s client, their IM system is written using the “Jabber”:http://jabber.org/ protocol, so any Jabber client, including “Gaim”:http://gaim.sf.net/, can be used.
Just look for your favorite IM client on “Google’s List”:http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html and follow the instructions. Then, look me up: *revjim @ gmail.com*
With the right people pushing this the right way, you may be able to get rid of hotmail and MSN Messenger in one beautiful sweep. And, with Google leading the way wrapped in open protocols, the Mac, Linux, and whoever else people can play along too — without having to cheat to get there.
And, of course, if Google wanted to keep their “why delete anything” philosophy, I’d like to see all of my Google Talk IM conversations inline with the email (offline messaging?) conversations that GMail stores for me. Talk about powerful.
Make the koolaid taste really, really, good, and even I’ll drink it.
If you’re in the Dallas area and work as a model, are interested in modeling, would like some edgy, unusual portraits of yourself, or have an interesting look and nothing better to do on a Thursday night, then listen up.
This Thursday (08/25), beginning at 5:30pm in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas, a mass photoshoot will be held. There will be two photographers ready to shoot in a full studio. Your compensation will be TFP (1 8×10 per hour) or TFCD (4 hi-res per hour) and model releases will be required. Additional prints and images are negotiable. This is an excellent opportunity to meet new people in the business, expand your portfolio, see a broad range of photographic styles, or simply have a great time creating something beautiful. Be prepared with several outfits, make-up, and at least one hour of free time.
If you’re interested, please contact me with basic physical information (height, weight, measurements, eye/hair color, etc) and a photograph of yourself if you have it and I’ll give you more information and directions. Be sure to let me know if you’ve ever modeled before so that I can make sure you’ll be properly prepared.
We look forward to hearing from you.
country road twenty-six at night
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This is a 248 second (~4min) exposure @ f/8 taken a little more than an hour AFTER twilight under a nearly full moon.
I used to do a lot of long exposure work like this when I shot with film. This is my first attempt at anything greater than 30 seconds with digital. Just managing to get the fence straight in the picture on the first shot — which I did — is difficult enough, let alone actually framing the rest nicely and exposing properly.
This image required 4 shots for me to get it just right. In the first 3, I drastically overestimated the amount of light available to me.
If you look very closely — and you may need the “big size”:http://photos32.flickr.com/35310491_722de6505b_o.jpg for this — you can see streaks of light in the sky. There is one (that goes a different direction than they rest) that is a plane. The others (all the same length and same direction) are probably stars, although, I don’t know enough about astronomy to say that they aren’t satellites, planets, meteorites, or something else like that.
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated, as always.
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