Well, another year has passed and I've had a lot more wonderful shoots. I've met a lot of wonderful and interesting people through Model Mayhem, and my photography has become a lot better because of it. A few highlights:
Loretta Wilson and
DJ Rouse
January 6
For some reason, people want to shoot with me in the winter, and this year started early! I'd shot with both Lori and DJ before, and putting them together was a great deal of fun. It was cold out that night, and my fingers froze up after a bit. But neither model complained a bit, and we got some wonderful stuff.
Sarah Hutch
January 20
Manhattan, Kansas ("The
Little Apple") seems to have no shortage of great models. Jessalyn is from Manhattan, and so is Sarah, who came to KC knowing that it was supposed to snow. We had another idea in mind for our shoot (and the dress we bought is still hanging up), but once it started snowing, we decided to head out. Sarah was wearing high heels with open toes and no hose, and she bravely walked through the snow with me. She was amazing! It was very, very cold, but it was so pretty, we had a great time.
I filled my tub with hot water, stuck her feet in them and gave her hot cocoa when we got back. She still has all her toes, and we both have some great photos.
HeidieN06
January 26
Heidie was coming into town to do some promotional modeling and she contacted me about shooting again. I'd recently seen this awesome storage locker in the basement of a friend's apartment. The friend was about to be kicked out, because they were going condo (I don't think they've sold any units, yet), so there was a real urgency to shoot down there. When I mentioned this to Heidie, she jumped on it.
It was cold, dirty and cramped. And Heidie was great. Fitting a six foot model in a four foot cage takes some talent!
Loretta Wilson
February 10
I drove down to Springfield to work with Lori again, who by this point had become a close friend. She's just amazing in front of the camera, and it's really hard to take a bad picture of her!
Tara Lou
February 13
Tara lives closer to me than any other model I know, and we'd been trying to do some bad weather shots for quite a while. When snow came, she jumped at the chance to shoot in it. Only later did she tell me that she was sick the night we shot. She didn't tell me because she didn't want me to turn her down. So sweet! She, like Sarah, is still alive and healthy.
Jenny A
February 24
Jenny is the third model I've worked with from Manhattan. She came over and we shot for a bit, and the weather produced some awesome light that day. She went home early, though, because snow was bearing down on us. Loretta assisted me, doing Jenny's makeup.
Loretta Wilson and
Alexandra Courson
March 11
I'd been trying to pair Jessalyn with Lori for quite a while, and this shoot was in planning for several months. Well, shortly before the date, Jessalyn became very ill. Alex had recently moved to Missouri from Florida, and we'd had a great shoot the previous December, so I gave her a call. Lori and Alex got along amazingly well, and they looked so great in the awesome outfits we got that date to the 1980's. This is an alternate take of a shot that spent a long time as my avatar.
Jessalyn
March 18
Jessalyn has done a lot of great work with some amazing photographers in the year and a half I've known her, so I was really honored that she reserved her first shoot once her braces came off for me. After being sick the weekend before, she moved some stuff around so we could get the shoot in. I'd seen hints of things to come when we shot with braces on, but I tell you, with them off her smile is just electric.
E-String
March 21-25
Man, I'd been wanting to shoot with Erin for a long time. She needs no introduction, but I'll mention that we did what I think was her first shoot with glasses on (damn she looks seXXXy in them) and that I looked up and saw a police car right after shooting a nude photo of her in a
very public park. Fortunately, he didn't see us, but it didn't stop us from running!
We went down to Springfield and did a very fun shoot with Lori in the most awesome motel ever.
Alexandra Courson
April 25
Rain + mud + Alex = fun!
Kathleen Mais
May 10
Kathleen and I had been dancing around about shooting for a while, and we finally got together in May. She is a natural poser and photographs beautifully. I enjoyed working with her. She is the first model to bring wedges with her to one of my shoots. You'll note my preferred technique for photographing them: leave them in the car.
E-String
May 22 - June 2
Erin and I had been trying to find some rain to shoot in for months, to the point where she was considering driving down from St. Paul because they were forecasting rain here in KC. Fortunately, she was already down here to shoot with Sarah when the skies just opened up. This photo was shot in one of the largest, most public parks in Kansas City. It's in a neighborhood with multi-million dollar homes. It was awesome, and so was Erin.
Model Sarah
May 22 - June 3
I really don't think I need to say much about Sarah. She's beautiful, sharp-witted, hates wearing clothes and makes a mean biscuits & gravy. She joined Erin and me a couple of days after Erin arrived. We had an absolute blast, and I'll bet my neighbors must have thought I'm something else. We took a rather infamous photo while the two were here. Here's an outtake:
Tara Lou
June 22
You see! Tara survived the snow, and I promise you she didn't fall off the skyscraper she's posing on the edge of.
the empowered one
July 4
I can't think of a better way to celebrate Independence Day than running around with a nude model in the rain. She has been a great model to call for last-minute shoots, as so far, she's been ready to shoot at the drop of a hat. Reliability goes a long way in my book.
Jessalyn and
Walter-Louis
July 7
I finally found Jessie a man! Heh. It was a hot, sweaty, July day and we went downtown and played with toys. We got some strange looks from the people hanging out at the bus stop, but we got some fantastic images.
Later in the day, we shot the infamous cliché shots.
Fun day!
the empowered one
July 24
Remember what I said about "the drop of a hat?" I discovered an empty apartment with an open door. I called her up, and two hours later, she was nude in front of my camera.
Cydnie Owens
August 4
I drove up to Iowa to shoot with Cydnie, who is pregnant and a lot of fun to hang out with. She has a million great ideas for photos. If she was more mobile, I'm sure she'd be shooting every weekend.
Black Swan
August 26
Ashleigh is yet another great model from Manhattan, KS. I had a great time working with her. She has wonderful ideas, and is very flexible in terms of working with photographer's ideas. I look forward to working with her again soon.
Kathryn in Wonderland
September 1
Kathryn lives in Mississippi, and as it turns out, my mom's from Mississippi. So I scheduled a family visit and a photo shoot with Kathryn at the same time. Kathryn is the goofiest, most pleasant person to be around. She photographs well, too.
It worked out well for me because I could shoot on the farm my relatives own, and it just so happened that most of them were away on a horse-racing trip.
Raelyn Mouse
September 8
Raelyn is the 4th or 5th model to actually stay with me when she came to visit. She's clearly a very experienced model who is up for just about anything. She's a total pleasure to be around, and she'll be back around here in about a week. She's hoping for a major snow storm, which tells you a lot about what she's up for!
Varvara
September 28-30
One of the highlights of my year was to finally meet Julia. We've known each other for over a year, but our schedules just never meshed until September, when I drove to Madison and we went on to Detroit. I already have a pretty good "hit rate" when it comes to good images, but with Julia, it's probably as good as I've had. I just adore her.
Aja Erhardt
October 20
I really like Aja a lot. Between October 10 and 20, we shot three times. She's so comfortable in her own skin, and she just loves creating images. Together, we discovered the amazing cavern in this photograph. I wasn't prepared to shoot in the water that day, so we came back a week later, when the water was deeper and much, much colder. She was a total trouper, though, and the images we got were worth the effort. For what it's worth, I was waist deep in water, too.
Cydnie Owens
October 27
Cydnie again, much further along in her pregnancy. I love shooting pregnant models.
Nasrina Evenstar
October 28
What amazing eyes Nasrina has. As many times as I've shot with people from Manhattan, Nasrina is the first I've shot with from Lawrence. Manhattan's over two hours away, but Lawrence (another college town) is only 45 minutes away. Go figure.
Heather LeStabbityDeath
November 11
Heather had started a thread about the lump they found in her breast, so I immediately contacted her about doing a shoot before she had surgery. I drove up to Des Moines that weekend and we had a wonderful, three hour shoot. Heather was another terrific model to work with, and I hope to shoot with her again.
Envy
November 24
Oh man, what can I say about Envy that hasn't already been said? For me, personality goes a
long way, and Envy has personality oozing out of every pore of her skin. What's more, it translates to photographs beautifully. She's every bit as incredible in person as she seems in photos and in the forums. Here, she's joined by EJ Holmes and his girl friend.
Lory
December 6
Lory is the entire reason I went to Los Angeles earlier this month. Out of the blue, she invited me out and offered to feed me and give me a place to stay. I refuse to pay for hotels when I travel (I'm cheap like that), so that's all it took. I've noticed a curious thing, actually: I've had invitations from all along the West coast (L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, etc.) and the midwest (Chicago, Madison) and the South (Nashville), but never one from New York or any other East coast city. Odd.
Lory was a wonderful hostess. She made awesome food (flan! bacon & eggs! shrimp scampi), drove me all over creation, and did makeup for the shoots she didn't participate in. And when we were back at her place, her cat kept me entertained. Or did I keep the cat entertained...?
Stacy
December 7
Another model who I'd been wanting to shoot for a while, I finally got my chance in California. It was cold and rainy (the brochures
lied!!), but Stacy was happy and she smiled
a lot. She was great to work with, and to just be around.
Trish
December 8
Oh wow, nobody says "sex" in a photograph like Trish! I loved working with her. She's a complete pro, ready for anything and very comfortable in her own skin, which seems to be all she wears most of the time. And the world is a nicer place for it.
Natalie Addams
December 8
Natalie joined Trish and we headed North for some amazing photos that I'm still working on. The two of them were terrific together. Here's the
first shot (18+) from that set.
Miya
December 9
Miya drove down and picked Lory and me up and we drove out to Joshua Tree, where it was damned cold and very windy. We shot for several hours there, where the light and the clouds were just gorgeous. The models didn't complain at all. In fact, they were gung ho! The photos from that shoot will be posted very soon -- they're incredible. Really. Stay tuned.
What a terrific year 2007 was. I already have a bunch of shoots set up for 2008. I'll be posting a thread about that next December.
