2015

2015: A Year in Review

So here we are, Another year in the books. And like every year I just want to take a few minutes and share with everyone my favorite 5 images I have taken this year. This list will probably have more than a few "runners up" as well. 

2015 was a year in which I decided to get back to the basics and start fresh. At the end of last year I was a little burned out with my lack of creativity, and my goal for this last year was simply to "shoot more" which I did in spades. See the 52 rolls blog for more information. My original goal was to not pick up a digital camera at all, which I failed, but instead of counting it as a failure...I'm going to instead call the work that came from a digital medium a huge success. Re-shooting on film has caused me to slow down (as I hoped it would) and I ended up with a few great shots!

So without further ado, and in no particular order. Here are my favorite 5 shots from 2015.

I met Bri through another model I worked with this year. After seeing what Morgan and I were able to create she jumped at the chance for us to work together. This shot was taken very quickly as the sun was going down. And the effect that the lighting had, combined with her posing worked out very well to create the image that I had in my mind. 

Hada Pixie is no stranger to this blog. After meeting her around 2011 while working with a lot of other talented photographers and models during "Beautiful Darkness" we have off and on worked together in many projects for Zivity. A trend that I hope continues on into the future. This was shot as a bonus to one of our Zivity sets, and in all honesty I liked it better than some of the other images that came out of that shoot. 

I shot like a madman at DragonCon this year. But most importantly I had the lovely chance to work with Atlanta's own "team tank" (which also were my gracious roommates during the long weekend). My third Con and probably my favorite so far. These folks provided me a lot of great opportunities to shoot, laugh, and enjoy myself to such an extreme level. 

Along with Team Tank, another one of my Con roommates was Nikki Nuke'm. Shortly after the release of Fallout 4 this year Nikki decided to let her inner vault dweller out into the world, and we captured this image among many. My only regret was not snapping a horizontal image of this one, but even the image I was able to capture I am in love with. 

My final official favorite image from the year comes from working with Finite Automata. They saw my work and wanted some new photos for their press kit. After taking time to decorate a basement into a working set, we were able to snap a few great photos, including this one which ended up being one of my favorites for the year. 

But of course I can't stop there, 2015 also brought on many great opportunities and even more wonderful people that I worked with. There are so many that I can't name or post from everyone here. But don't fret, I want to let everyone I shot this year know that I appreciate the time you spent with me, and I hope that we were able to create something awesome in the process!

"Titan Addams" was the first set I ever shot on a digital full frame camera (surprise I know). I loved how the tones came out, and that bokeh. Hope to see more come from Titan and I in 2016.

Stan, Justin, and Cody all helped me back to back while I was working the kinks out of my DIY black background. You can find more of that in an earlier Extra blog post.

Blix, Stevhan, and K all stepped up to the challenge when I needed to keep the 52 rolls project alive. Also a big thank you to Clockwork Calamity and Caprica Song. Clockwork and I did some great work for Zivity this year (hopefully more to come), and Caprica worked very hard for a spot in Poisonous Pinups magazine! So be sure to keep your eyes open for that very soon. 

I definitely can't forget Ilker and the rest of the team at REGen Magazine. Thank you for allowing me to cover a few great shows this year, and an even bigger thank you for publishing my photos in the mag. So happy to have been a part of your culture in 2015.

And finally, as much as I hate to end this year on a down note. I wanted to share a photo of my fluffy cat. Although she is no longer in my life, she was a big part of keeping me together in 2015. She may have only been in my life for about three years, but I miss her dearly. I'm happy to know she is in a better place and no longer in pain. <3

Sorry if I missed anyone. I've been trying to put this blog post together for the last month or so, but couldn't decide which images I wanted to show. Thank you again to everyone I worked with, and everyone I have yet to work with. Here's to 2016!

Week 30 – DragonCon in Black and White – Various Films

50 ROLLS! As of this entry there are 50 rolls that have been shot and shown to all of you. The journey is almost complete...although much earlier than expected. I've already shot next week's entry into this adventure and I believe I have 12 rolls of film left. This should put me up to 42 weeks (10 weeks short of my goal of a year). So what does this mean? Well...if I have the spare pocket money I will try to pick up 10 more rolls and finish 52 weeks of entries. If not, we'll figure something out.

I'd like to take a moment to say a big early THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me and kept up with this blog. Your comments and love has been instrumental to the success I feel about 2015.

But without further ado, DragonCon Mega Update 2, This time in Black and White. 

Development Notes:
 All Stand Developed 1 hour at Room Temperature.
1:100 Dilution of Rodinal.
30 seconds of Agitation at start.
Standard Fix 4:00.
 

Arista Edu 100 (x2 rolls)

Arista 400 EDU (+2 Stops to 1600 iso)

Ilford HP+ (+2 Stops to 1600 iso)

DJ System Fail – 2015

After seeing what Stan and I were able to do last week. Another friend of mine from the old Shelter days (RIP) Cody aka DJ System Fail said he wanted to get some photos done as well.

This shoot was special for a few reasons (and I have a feeling I know what you are going to say "Oh hey, look, another black background shoot" well yes. But more important than that this was my first time working with a full frame mirrorless camera).

My first shoot shot on a truly "professional" piece of equipment. Granted I am borrowing it from my day job, but that's a whole other story. (Also long story short, I'm pretty happy with the results...except that somehow in the middle of shooting it switched from RAW to JPEG and I lost some ability to edit in post.)

The most exciting thing from this shoot is after capturing digital photos. We decided it was time to shoot the final "official" roll of my 52 rolls project. After I develop this roll I will probably need to re-name the blog something to the effect of "The GREATER THAN 52 Rolls Project". Those photos will be developed today, and will probably be hitting the blog the first week in November. So be on the lookout then. 
 

Blix (In Black and White) – 2015

You wouldn't know it by looking at her, but Blix and I have worked together before at an event here in Atlanta a few years ago. However back then she looked completely different (not that that's a bad thing!). When I heard she was coming into town for a few days, I wanted to make sure that we had time to shoot together...even if it meant that I would be tired the next day.

We originally planned to meet around 8:00, but got pushed back to almost midnight. I wish we had time to shoot more, but luckily we found a somewhat quiet spot by an elevator and were able to snap off a few quick shots.

I couldn't decide which versions I liked better, these or the color versions, so I decided to post both. Check out the Extra blog in a few days to see these in a completely different way.

It was great catching up, and having a good laugh about a mutual "friend" of ours. I hope to do it again real soon.

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