Rainbow

Yesterday there was a rain shower near sunset that had an absolutely incredible rainbow. There were actually TWO rainbows, (which you can see in the picture I took with my phone). Even cooler (in my opinion) was that you could actually see where the rainbow ended. It came down into park into the middle of the field. Right there. It wasn't like, 'over the horizon'. You can even see it in the picture. No pot of gold however.

Drat.

Time

I've been in the business long enough that I've finally started to find myself in odd places when I least expect it. Meaning, I run into my former self on televisions, old posters, stuff like that. It's a bizarre experience. To see me, somewhere, for something, like I was years ago. Looking back at me. Today I walked into a store and saw myself when I was 19, talking about something or other. Wearing something or other. It's a strange moment. Like deja vu, only more startling. You must always remember when you are in front of a camera: somewhere, somehow, you will never age. That moment will live, detatched from you, somewhere, forever.

Back on set

I had some time this weekend so I took an acting gig for telcom commercial. It's funny because I had forgotten a: how much waiting is involved and b: how much fun being on set really is.

The whole commercial was shot green screen, which means we had a giant multi-story green background on which we did all sorts of silly things that will later get ample computer treatment to look real. Quite fun really. I was a tatoo artist and was covered in fake tattoos. Here's a little crappy phone cam shot.

More beauty

So, I have a little confession. I've been addicted to the last season of America's Next Top Model. I know it's cheesy, I know it's corney. But to be honest, even though it's produced for mass-market-consumers, its also kind of a trade show at the same time. If your in the business, you know what I mean. It hurts to watch. Really hurts to watch. But oh, it hurts so good!

polaroids

I ran into this girl at an agency yesterday so I shot some polaroids of her at the top of the office building in an office they were remodeling.

Editorials

Looks like I've scored about four editorials recently. My thing in HYPE just came out, I've got a thing in Street for next month, Emma in Slovakia in May and fingers crossed, MGZN for May as well. Keeping busy!

Google Earth

I've been playing around recently with the program Google Earth which lets you sort of 'fly' around the globe using satallite imagery. Great program! When you are bored it's fun to zoom down into China or onto the Beaches of Greece. There is a community aspect to it as well, so people post photographs all over the world of what so-and-so looks like on the ground. So you click and have it all at your finger tips. I've been thinking of doing something similar as my camera supports GPS. So every picture I take can be tagged with it's global position and then automatically accessible through Google Earth. Very cool.

Costa Bravo

I had a dream about Costa Bravo last night. It's in northern spain and I dreamed I was there. In a hotel room. But the thing I didn't know was that I was in some sort of fashion photographer purgatory, a photographer hell. Every day I awoke in the same hotel room. The room was white and bright and clean with a view of the sea that filled the windows. I dream that each and every day I awoke there, before some dreaded fashion shoot and I would meet someone new each time and they would impart some reflection or wisdom to me, and then I would fall asleep and awake in the same room. At the end of the dream I meet my daughter who is on the balcony over the sea. And she tells me something, something that unfurls the nature of ones life to oneself. And then she smiles and we are eveloped in light and thats it.

Costa Bravo.

Workaholic

I have a peculiar problem- I'm a work-a-holic. When I was younger I had a tendency to be 'lazy' to put it politely. Or so i was told. Anyway, to compensate as I grew older I grew into a work-a-holic. Generally I feel if there is time on your hands that's free, it's time you could be using to do something usefull. Hence- lots of work. Also, I'm alone here in prague, so the time most people spend cuddling or chit-chatting I spend by myself. Hence- extra time for work. I've married my camera it seems. Not nessesarilly a good thing.

My new years resolution however has been to give my self vacations. I'm not doing so bad at it either i might add! When you find yourself becoming so incredibly one-minded about something, sometimes the oly way to 'escape' is to actually leave. Vacate. In prague I'm so used to my rythem of work that I can't see the forest for the trees. When I leave though, i feel like stuff opens up infront of me and everything becomes easy again.

But I like working.

Correction- I love it.

Beauty

I'm expanding my beauty portfolio these days. I've got some time in studio and the weather is still crappy so it's a good fit. Often it can be hard to find really, really, really high level styling here in Prague because the selection is fairly limited. My solution? Just take the clothes off!

Actually I'm starting to build a colletion of beauty work so I'm doing more and more of it. Lovely huh? There's more in my portfolios.

Greece

I've been thinking lately about going back to greece for the summer. I went there years ago when I was 19. It was fabulous. I had a super 8 camera, rented a moped and worked as an acheologist. It was amazing. My last summer that was filled with dreams and sea and youth.

I feel that in the past five years I've come full circle. As though I am back where I started, yet somewhere else. Five years ago I was unsure of what I was doing, who I was, and what I wanted to be. Today, I still am unsure of all of these things. But there's something much different at this point too. These days, I am older. Much. But younger too. When I was 19 I was just realizing how wide open the world was, now I'm realizing how far out into the world I can actually go.

So, I'd like to see. Go back to where it started, where this all opened up. See if it still means anything to me, and if so- what.

Backstage

Wouldn't you love to have such perfect skin?

Douglas Adams

I'm a fast reader, so today I read the final Douglas Adams book The Salmon of Doubt during my little computer breaks that I take once I feel like the screen is starting to make me nauseous.

It's a good book. I really quite liked it, even though it's not really a novel or anything. More just a collection of all the things he had left on his computer when he passed away. I still found it a great read. I'll admit, I never read the original hitchhiker guide series. It was reading that I couldn't follow. It was either too funny, or two witty or just too off-the-wall for my brain to grasp efficiently so I would always find myself re-reading for the hundredth time the same sentence and getting nowhere as my eyes would be skipping like a record every time they hit something that my brain found totally incongruent.

Anyway, reading fast is like stuffing your head full of someone else all at once. I'd almost describe it like getting drunk. When I swallow a book I find I take on the linguistic characteristics of whatever I was reading, and just like getting drunk- it's can be both a really cool sensation to lose control, but can also be quite uncomfortable.

As our freedoms evaporate

One of my favorite websites to browse, United Nuclear has been threatened by the federal government. United Nuclear, despite it's name, sells lots of cool stuff. Chemistry kits, crazy strong magenets, and laser pointers. They are a primary source for universities and hobbyiests alike. The federal government however has recently moved to make ownership of things such as chemistry kits for kids, illegal without an explosive permit from the ATF. Having grown up a hobbyiest, and having owned my own chemistry kit, this really saddens me to hear. You can check out more here: United Nuclear vs United States CPSC

Saturdays

Today is one of those days that I desperately wish I had something interesting to do with someone wonderful and interesting who was somehow near by who could actually 'get' everything I was saying or not saying and somehow really just enjoy the company.

Yes. I suppose that is the definition of feeling lonely.

Otherwise I wish I had enough mental space freed up that I could write something interesting. Something that could somehow let me reflect upon the absurdity of the situations I often find myself in. Or just somehow document the fabulousness of all this. It's about noon and I've got nothing more interesting to do than catalogue pictures, retouch faces, and eat slices of warm bread with butter.

It's rather bright and cheery outside on top of all that.

Meaning- I wish I had something to do, or somewhere to go. I'm broke at the moment so flying away is out of the question. Generally I find that while you can't run away from your problems, the act of running generally helps quite a bit. Not to say I am running from my problems. Indeed I doubt I could claim to have any genuine problems of my own. Besides being lonely that is.

My neighbor and his wife are living with me at the moment. They are waiting for their mortgage to come through so they can buy their own place. They spend all weekend in bed doing nothing. Just lying there. I think: "gee that seems nice". I'd feel lonely but at least I get to sit on the couch and scratch the belly of their small lap dog that also spends the entire days nearly motionless.

Actually I think that makes me feel more lonely?

I'm not sure.

I think perhaps I'm a photographer to chase away the loneliness. Its like, if at least I can create images that look like I was once at least someplace really interesting with really pretty people doing really fun things, then perhaps on these Saturdays I can sit on my sofa and look at the wall where all my inventive charms hang, and think, "ha! See! You can't be all that lonely, it's not like every guy gets to hang out with women so blistering beautiful!"

But that is rarely a comforting thought.

But then again, most thoughts, rarely are.

Anyway- back to the couch.

Alps

I'm not an aerial photographer, although the more I think about it, the more I think I might like to be. I love flying. It feels like swimming to me. I even love the feeling of bad things happening on planes. I've never been in a real-honest-to-god plane crash, but I had a close call once. We were coming into Warsaw (or Krakow, I forget) in a TINY (and by tiny I mean like ten seats, TOTAL) propeller plane when something happened to the engines and we went into one of those nose dive type things. It was scary, I won't deny that, but also oddly serene. I was listening to Yann Tiersen (the Amelie Poulain soundtrack) on a CD player, and it was like dying in a dream where you plunge effortlessly towards the ground.

Obviously it all worked out.

Anyway, the point is, the world is a pretty strikingly beautiful place from above. Everything is so small and calm. This photo is of the alps. And yes, this is from another little propeller number.

around us

You know, there is no shortage of things to love in this life. Really. Beautifull, wonderfull things, are all around us. Everywhere. Most of the time, I suppose we don't notice it, or we don't see it. But we should take solace in the fact that indeed, the beauty is all there. Sometimes we might have to strain to find it, but if we close our eyes and open our hearts- then we know. It was always right there, infront of us. And everywhere.

clothing

light

Long pause

Sorry I haven't written. I've been on a long pause, and honestly- doing lots of stuff at the same time!

Last month I traveled a bit, mostly through France and a touch of Italy. My bosses from Asia were in town when I got back, so I've been working non-stop from when I got back from Milan till now.

So, lots going on. Hopefully I should have two editorails out this month. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, new shot on the front page. Like it? I pulled of the Skyscraper shoot with my boss. Great. Really great.

Anyway. Not much to do, yet tons to do all at the same time. Spring is comming and I'm preparing for that. Lifes changing in a million ways and that's always something that never ceases to impress me. One of my friends passed away two weeks ago. She was very young and a really wonderfull person.

So we move on, and on, and on. I'll try to keep in better touch.

;-)