Nikki Nukem

2016: A Year in Review

Oh hey there! Yes, I know it's been a while. But fear not, I'm still around. Just unintentionally took the last two months of the year off. I guess I just needed to take a bit of a break. Right now I'm lying in bed, getting over the last little bit of some flu or some other sickness. I figured if I can't be good for much else, I may as well get my yearly review post out of the way. 

Much like last year, I had a very hard time getting things narrowed down to just 5 images. But since this is my blog I guess I'll do what I damn-well please.

 

On a rainy Easter Sunday, Sara and I took an afternoon just doing whatever we could. Just being cool. Some great photos walking around Atlanta and getting caught out in the weather. 

Cody, Damien, and Coco from Ecto Proxy asked me to shoot some promo photos for them this year. We had planned on a few different shoots, but this one was the only one that materialized. Not that I am complaining. We had fun with a simple white background set up in the practice space. 

I actually don't think this photo of Hada Pixie ever got shown in its full resolution this year. Long story short, we were trying to save it for publication, but it never did get chosen. None the less, I still like what we were able to do with such a simple setup.

Sig and Nikki. So glad to get the chance to shoot them both together. After having individual shoots with both of them over the course of the year, October came and with it came Halloween photos. I was extremely happy with a lot of the photos we captured that day, but this one still stands out as one of the best of the year.

Unintentionally 2016 became the year of the cosplay. Shooting with Sig (also mentioned above) with his Red Hood costume, got me tied in with Hysteria Machines (and with it Risky Sour, Persephone Phoenix, and Jesse), as well as Estella Zorn and her great gender swapped Tuxedo Mask. I never really fancied myself a cosplay photographer, but if the shoe fits...I'm not opposed to wearing it.

Honorable Mentions:

Sig Sawyer – 2016.

I met Sig Sawyer at Dragoncon last year. He was part of the group I shared a room with along with his lady friend (Nikki Nuke'm, who is no stranger to this blog). Sig is a devoted cosplayer and a rather unique part of the Atlanta Burlesque community. We weren't exactly planning this shoot, it was more of a "hey I'm off work early. Want to shoot something?" but I am so excited with how this turned out. 

This also is a debut for a few things. Thing-the-first is his beautiful Red Hood costume for this year's DragonCon. Secondly, he let me know while we were working that this also was his first professional costume shoot EVER. So be on the lookout if you are out and about this summer con season, and also be on the lookout for more work coming from us in the future.

And I have to say, for a guy who for so many years talked trash on photoshop I have to say it's growing on me. I'm still learning what power this program holds, but lets just say if I didn't use photoshop you would have an entire update of photos that look like this:

Which I mean, isn't bad. But I still like the final images much better after some compositing. 

We also warmed up by shooting his Mortal Kombat Scorpion costume (which also appeared on this blog last year during the DragonCon on film update).

Nikki Nuke'm – 2016

This was originally supposed to be a couple's shoot with Nikki and her partner Sig, but on the day we were scheduled to shoot we had to make a few changes as they had a last minute rehearsal for a show they are both performing in. But being a lady of her word, we re-booked for the next day and decided to set up the backdrop and see what we could come up with. 

Our original plan is still in the works, but you will have to wait for that to come in the near future. But for now, enjoy a few of the images we were able to create together on a somewhat impromptu shoot. 

Week 36 – Nikki Nuke'm – Kodak Portra 400

You know, when I first sat down to scan these images my first thought was "You know, just copy and paste what you wrote from the other photos of Nikki Nuke'm that you shot. Nobody will ever know". Except once I started the retouching process, I knew I just couldn't do that.

If you don't know what I am talking about, please make sure to view the digital photos taken during this series here. 

There are few things I can say about this entire series more than "I LOVE THIS". Not every shot was a winner, they never are, but I was able to create a solid series of images and for that I am pretty excited. This is a great example of what a year of constant practice will do for a skill set. I can only hope that I can continue to see things improving, and that my follow up sets with Nikki turn out as great as this one did.

Development Notes:
Standard Development Unicolor C41
Levels adjust and retouching performed in Lightroom

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