tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306641062009-12-17T22:16:13.222-08:00<p>One Photographer's Thoughts on the Art, Craft, and Business of Glamour Photography.</p> <p>All Photos Contained Herein Depict Models 18 Years of Age or Older.</p> <p>This Site Contains Images That Are Not Intended for Visitors Under the Age of 18 Years. It Provides Informative Discussions and Illustrative Examples of the Art and Craft of Glamour Photography. If You are Under 18 Years of Age or are Offended by Artful Representations of the Human Form, This Site is Not for You.</p>jimmydnoreply@blogger.comBlogger542125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-15721728352605765342009-12-17T10:24:00.000-08:002009-12-17T18:41:26.359-08:00

An online acquaintance, photographer Jim Felt, a founding principal in a very successful, Pacific Northwest, commercial photography business, emailed me this morning. Jim said he finally found time to listen to the interview I did, some months back, with the good folks at Photographer&Model.com.If any of you have some time to kill and you're up for listening to someone babble on about photography

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-63121076599588343272009-12-15T16:09:00.000-08:002009-12-16T08:50:36.759-08:00

Before I begin writing (and pretending) I know what goes on in model's minds--they are women, after all: Leastwise, most models I shoot with are--here's an end-of-the-year holiday reminder: It's Winter Holidays time! Wait! D'uh. You knew that. End-of-the-year = Winter, leastwise, start of it. And start of Winter = Holidays. Again, D'uh.I'm only making this oh-so-obvious reminder because, while I

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-15920754064007858892009-12-13T15:27:00.000-08:002009-12-14T09:00:37.976-08:00

In the comments section of my last update, photographer Ed Verosky suggested some ideas for PGS updates. (Thanks again, Ed! I've said it before: For me, the writing part is easy, what to write about is, more often, the hard part.)One of Ed's most-excellent ideas for updates suggested interviews (Q&As) with models regarding being photographed, i.e., what's going on in their heads during the

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-13761416944534185012009-12-09T15:33:00.000-08:002009-12-10T00:30:11.408-08:00

I spend a lot of time on forums, photo forums. Probably too much time. But still, doing so can be an education. Not so much an education in photography but more of an education regarding the attitudes many photographers appear to have these days. You know, their attitudes towards the craft of photography.These days, especially amongst some new-ish photographers, it appears more than a few of them

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-40304023518082525792009-12-06T10:18:00.000-08:002009-12-06T16:52:39.351-08:00

I have two camera bodies in my bag: A Canon 5D and a Canon 20D. As a rule, the 5D is my primary camera and the 20D serves as my backup. That aside, I sometimes decide to shoot with my 20D.We all know the 5D sports a full-frame sensor on board while the 20D, like all Canon's double-digit-DSLR-cams, feature 1.6x cropped-sensors. The exception is the new 7D: Single-digit nomenclature yet also with a

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-36116688625191958032009-12-02T10:50:00.000-08:002009-12-02T13:40:31.749-08:00

I was just getting back on an updating roll then, BOOM! I kinda got lax again. But this time I have a legitimate excuse: I've moved to a new residence.To say, "I hate moving!" is an understatement. It truly sucks! (As if so many of you actually relish the act of moving your domicile.)The only good thing that comes of moving, well, two good things are 1) you get to go through all your crap and get

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-74235689053831990172009-11-27T12:07:00.000-08:002009-11-27T12:35:30.469-08:00

From the good folks who brought us the Mola line of beauty dishes comes a blog with everything you ever wanted to know about Mola beauty dishes.Actually, since the Mola Light blog is brand-spanking-new, everything you ever wanted to know about them probably hasn't been posted yet. But as the Mola-Light blog grows and evolves, everything and anything about Mola dishes will probably, eventually, be

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-15729454121204402122009-11-25T12:37:00.000-08:002009-11-26T08:03:36.764-08:00

This isn't going to be one of those "old photographers do it by the meter," updates. It's not a rant. I'm not going to infer that, if you're not using a light meter, you're not a "real" photographer. I just want to point out a few advantages of metering over relying on histograms.Let's say you shoot weddings. I don't but, for the sake of argument, let's say I do. I'd probably be using a light

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-82970247382248118922009-11-24T09:42:00.000-08:002009-11-25T13:23:55.437-08:00

This week, the Thanksgiving holiday officially kicks off the Christmas season, leastwise, for most Americans.Traditionally, it's always been my slow time of year. I don't expect the 2009 Christmas season to be any different. I'm not saying there will be no work. There will simply be less work. Significantly less work.I'm not crying or whining. I've long been aware this happens each and every

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-32521280733917487352009-11-21T11:02:00.000-08:002009-11-21T22:13:14.423-08:00

Decisions, decisions!If you're at all like me, you have gear that offers more than one choice for a key light (main light) modifier. I'm talking, of course, about when you're using strobes. There's all kinds of potential candidates for the key modifier job and different situations and/or environments might dictate which modifier makes most sense. Other times, the "look" you're going after pushes

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-16907945884769227662009-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:002009-11-12T12:44:21.268-08:00

...Or lack of one.I don't envy young or new photographers starting out these days, leastwise, those with a mind towards making a career out of it. It's a tough business made tougher by the economy, technology, and more competition than ever.It doesn't matter whether your hopes and dreams include being a photo-journalist or shooting editorial, fashion, glamour/tease, commercial, events, or most

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-55166736618829385862009-11-03T10:20:00.000-08:002009-11-05T09:56:24.948-08:00

I got sucked into a Model Mayhem thread recently that was about DIY gear (Do It Yourself) versus paying for manufactured equipment. I can't believe how easily I can be drawn into these things. As is usually the case with MM threads, it morphed and distorted and zig-zagged around the original subject but, at first, it remained relatively on topic.The OP (Original Poster) was wondering if he should

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-44640598082745381482009-10-29T16:19:00.000-07:002009-10-30T13:42:28.124-07:00

Been too long since I've updated: A combination of being busy and being lazy. I'd lay the blame about 50% on each of those factors.I've been spending some of that lazy time on Model Mayhem lately. Nothing Earth-shattering about that. It's just that MM isn't a forum I've invested too much time with in the past. Generally, I perceive MM as more a social networking site and less a photography forum.

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-12820597555522533472009-10-21T12:44:00.000-07:002009-10-25T07:43:42.655-07:00

The brouhaha about uber-skinny models continues. Opponents believe Twiggy-like models are negatively influencing women and young girls by setting body standards for beauty that are difficult, if not impossible, to realize. Some opponents contend that manipulated images should be labeled as such.The latest fracas involves Ralph Lauren's company and a model, Filippa Hamilton, who has been a

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-1315296123187352962009-10-16T13:52:00.000-07:002009-10-16T17:57:53.401-07:00

I had some minor outpatient surgery yesterday so, today, I'm recuperating. Jeez! The recovery is worse than the freakin' procedure! It's nothing particularly serious so the blog is in no imminent danger of becoming collateral damage due to my "gettin' old" syndromes and maladies. But, I'll admit, I'm not up for writing a real update at the moment.Anyway...A friend sent me some YouTube videos and

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-61164441399612981942009-10-12T20:22:00.000-07:002009-10-30T12:24:52.145-07:00

Since a photographer whose photos I enjoy viewing, and whose blog I often check out, dug deep into the PGS archives to comment on something I wrote over three years ago (Yikes!)I thought I'd republish it, perhaps with some extra commentary. BTW, the shooter/blogger who dug and commented is a guy named Ed Verosky, an Austin, TX, photographer. Republishing this also means I don't have to write

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-38348099957033950842009-10-09T12:34:00.000-07:002009-10-09T13:58:00.322-07:00

If any of you ever wondered if I have a voice other than my writing voice, you can now put your curiosity to rest. A month or two ago, I participated in a phone interview with Ron Davis (a shooter and photography educator) and Shawna Rencher (a model, actress, director, and more) of PhotographerandModel.com.So, assuming you have nothing better to do, you know, something really important like

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-2651359408212299552009-10-07T10:38:00.000-07:002009-10-08T09:38:08.201-07:00

On the heels of my first and last foray into the world of wedding photography, I had an opportunity to again shoot something different; something different, out of the norm, and apart from my usual gigs shooting pretty girls, that is.A few nights ago, I spent a couple of hours with some guys from Brooklyn, NY. Nothing particularly unusual about that. I know plenty of dudes from Brooklyn and from

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-42553267394493123522009-10-06T11:38:00.000-07:002009-10-06T14:33:36.984-07:00

I think my subject title says it all in terms of my attitude about shooting weddings. For those of you who do this, either full-time, part-time, or sometimes, my hat's off to you. I was toast the day after shooting the wedding. Freakin' wore me out!It was a G-Job. For those of you not acquainted with that term, the "G" stands for gratis and the photography was our gift, that is, a wedding gift

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-34070116420179642362009-09-27T12:48:00.000-07:002009-09-28T08:22:26.638-07:00

When you're shooting for clients, whether the subjects in front of your camera are those clients or the clients are third-parties who have hired you, you're often tasked, like it or not, with thinking and shooting inside their boxes. Assuming, that is, you want to get paid and hired again.Most clients don't want photographers thinking and shooting outside the box, make that too far outside the

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-7614528469575493462009-09-24T10:13:00.000-07:002009-09-24T14:05:26.494-07:00

Yesterday, I posted something on a photo forum I regularly visit and participate in. The post was my take on some previous words and actions by a member of that forum.The member had angrily deleted his thread and pics because he didn't like some of the criticisms he received, specifically, from the forum's owner and administrator, as well as yours truly. I didn't name names and few others on the

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-84142598184851041012009-09-23T16:14:00.000-07:002009-09-23T17:09:46.963-07:00

I'm pretty sure all of us are interested in improving our skills, whether they are photography skills or modeling skills. That's one reason why you come here, to the PGS blog: You're hoping I might accidentally write something that will help you improve. (You might also come for the pretty girl pics. Either way, it's all good.) And it's also why we visit photo forums, read other blogs,

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-8574950643537000172009-09-16T11:51:00.000-07:002009-09-16T15:24:15.442-07:00

It's true there are some models who primp and pose with little going on behind the scenes, that is, there's not much happening, cerebral-wise, while they're pimping their stuff in the light. On the other hand, many models have Brainiac-like machinations constantly going on in their melons while seducing the camera with their charms and allure.Personally, I think it's an 80/20 thing: The 80

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-65565178578557930712009-09-14T15:23:00.000-07:002009-09-14T15:55:44.702-07:00

Haven't updated as much as usual lately. But there's a reason: I've been spending too much time with my newest crush, seen in the pic to the left. (Click to enlarge.)Not such great images. I shot them, full-auto, with my little Canon Powershot point-n-shoot. They were for my insurance guy's files.Besides working, I've been spending quite a bit of time with (and on) my new squeeze. If you're not

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30664106.post-49962189473609555662009-09-10T09:31:00.000-07:002009-09-10T10:24:55.027-07:00

A just-starting-out as a pretty girl shooter wrote me and asked for some advice. Since asking me for advice feeds my barely-constrained ego, I, of course, responded to him. I thought I'd reprint his email, as well as my response, here, on the PGS blog. Why take the time to write an email that parallels the subject of this blog and not publish it on the blog? After all, I haven't updated in more

jimmydnoreply@blogger.com5