year in review

2022 Year in Review or: How I always say I'm posting 5 photos but never stop at 5.

So here we are once again, another blog post where I go back and get all nostalgic for the last year. As 2022 comes to a close, I look back at all that I have accomplished this year, and realize that once again I have come so far in such a short time. And seeing as how I don’t have anything on the books between now and the end of the year (at least when it comes to my personal work that is) I think I have earned a little rest.

Every time I capture a moment in time I feel like I learn something. Every person who sees themselves the way I see them and smile, makes me smile. And every time I work with someone new, I just want to keep doing it again and again and again.

I think I’m going to do this one a little different this time around. Instead of just re-posting my favorite photos from the year, I’m going to post a photo that either hasn’t been posted before or one that perhaps wasn’t given enough attention.

If you missed things the first time around, I will be linking to the original posts. Go back and check them out if you see something you like.

And here are some photos from sets that didn’t see the light of day at all. Not everything I photograph makes it onto the main page, but that doesn’t mean the time I shared with the people in these photos mattered any less.

(This is the only photo in this post that I think was featured in its respective blog post…but I don’t care, I still love how it turned out)

And finally no end of the year post would be complete without a photo of my cat.

Thank you all again for being part of my world for another year. Of course the work I do is mostly for me, but without all of you to share it with, I don’t know if I would feel the same about it. Stay safe, stay warm, love each other, and I’ll see you all in 2023.

Top Photos of 2021 - And Other Stuff I Guess

I always start these posts off with something like “Man, it’s been one hell of a year! It’s going to be so hard to pick just 5 photos– Blah Blah Blah”. But this year was different. Not for lack of trying but I hardly shot anything at all. Looking back at my blog posts for the year I have only made 5 updates in all of 2021.

In many ways this makes me feel kinda sad, and like I haven’t been living up to my potential. I’m not even going to try to argue this point otherwise.

I, like many others, look at Instagram and Twitter (I gave up Facebook at the end of 2020 and really haven’t looked back, but that’s a story for another time) and see hundreds of photos each day taken by peers and other creatives. I try not to, but most of the time I can’t help but ask myself “Why aren’t YOU putting new content into the world?” “Why isn’t X shooting with me” “Why aren’t you out there in the world more?”.

It’s extremely easy to get wrapped up in all of this and look past a lot of the great things that have been going on in my life that aren’t EXACTLY photo related. I hope I can share some of those things with you today (as well as a few photos in the process).

First thing I’d like to mention is that in the beginning of the year, I had a new job opportunity fall completely unexpectedly into my lap. That in itself was a big change that will play very heavily into some other EXTREME accomplishments that happened this year.

The most important of which is that I bought a house. That in itself is huge, but what this actually means is that I now have my own studio and workspace. Which for someone who has been a bit of a photo-nomad his entire career, I can’t say enough how stoked I am to not have to carry gear in the trunk of my vehicle all of the time.

Forgive the shitty iPhone panorama, but it’s hard to see everything in one photo.

If you are at all interested, here are some work in progress photos. It’s not at all finished, I still need at minimum a bunch of paint and some other equipment, but for now I have more than what I need to get things going.

Back in March I took a very sudden trip to Arizona to meet up with an old college friend, and in between sleeping almost an entire weekend i had the chance to meet up and shoot with Goddess Celeste DeVille which in some ways re-sparked some of the things I loved when I started shooting.

Due to the nature of her work I was only allowed to capture her from nose down, but we still had fun creating some wonderful images in the process.

Shortly after finishing phase one of the studio build out, I invited Karina Treance into the studio for some test images (and because I needed to familiarize myself with some new toys…which…happens a lot these days).

It’s weird to me that I’ve had that backdrop basically since my beginnings as a photographer, but never really use it anymore. But it was all I had until I got the paper roller system set up.

I’m fairly certain I have about a hundred more photos from this session that I haven’t even looked at because I learned the hard way that my almost decade old laptop just isn’t cut out to handle modern camera files pumping in 10 at a time.

I’ll get around to those one day I guess–

Last year I started a project I’ve been calling “The Cats who Live with my Friends” and while shooting some of those images, my local hair-witch reached out and asked me if I would be interested in capturing her cat Cinder.

I mean, of course I said yes. I’m nothing if consistently on brand.

for the last several years I’ve been having to cat-vicariously through my friends after the loss of my fluffy friend back in 2015. Since that happened I have had the attitude of “When it’s time for another cat to enter my life, then I will have another cat”.

Well, the universe called, and I answered:

It’s hard to believe that this little creature who was left in my care when she was less than a pound, has become the thing I have photographed the most this year.

Around the time I was re-learning how to become a cat-dad, I reached out to the always lovely CharLee Cherie. CharLee is great for a number of things, the least of which is answering positively when I asked my group of friends “So, do I have anyone who owns a ball gag?”.

By the way, I still have your robe here at the house. So next time you are out this way come get it.

Around this time Sig Sawyer of The Fandom Nerdlesque (no strangers to this blog, and of whom I sit on the board as media head…I guess? Which basically translates to me being a delightful pain in the ass about making sure everyone has great photos of themselves) reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to take a stab at some graphic design for a show poster.

I am a lot of things, but a graphic designer I am not.

I put together something that I thought was kinda interesting, and even though it never got used I don’t think it should live forever in cold storage.

As we got towards the end of the year, and the beginning of the “spooky season”, Brandie ended up in my studio wanting some particularly witchy photos.

…she brought her own props.

And that’s pretty much where the year ended for me. I’ve been taking on a lot of projects for my day job, and haven’t really been shooting all of that much for the second half of the year (or really the most of the year).

I’m hopeful for 2022. There are a bunch of upcoming projects that I’ll be spearheading for The Fandom, so keep an eye out for those. And through them as well I have reconnected with some of my earliest Atlanta friends which hopefully will lead to some new images as well.

I think I’m going to end this update and the year of 2021 here. We are almost halfway to the end of December, and I don’t really have anything else on my dance card for the year. But if something ends up happening before then, I assure you that you dear reader, will be the first to know.

Postscript - I was cleaning out my phone and remembered that just last weekend that I took this photo:

I’m reminded that I have come so far. And even though I give myself a hard time for not shooting a whole lot this year, I have to remember that other people’s highlight reels are not their play by play. And that in the best of times “[I’d] rather be Nine peoples favorite thing Than a hundred peoples ninth favorite thing”.

I don’t think I say it enough, but for all of you out there who support me, who keep me around, who hang me on your wall, or who just “like-follow-subscribe”, Thank you. Thank you for keeping me going. Thank you for taking the time to look.

I create for me, but I post it for you.

Top Photos of 2018 - An UNEXPhotography year in review!

So here we are, it’s that time again. Another year has almost come and passed. 2017 was a HUGE year of firsts for me (I mean, you can see that here if you like, just make sure you come back), and even if 2018 wasn’t as huge, I still accomplished several new things.

Unlike last year, I only averaged a shoot every 1.85 weeks this year, but I still was able to create some quality work and capture some quality times from my friends and clients.

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The year started almost immediately, I was at a company meeting for my day job and was challenged with a team of my peers to make a series of images. I’m not sure if I ever actually shared this with anyone since most of my work is portraits and not abstract works, but I still liked how this one turned out.

I was hired to shoot some photos for one of my cosplay clients, and after wrapping I just wasn’t done yet. I had built a very simple and basic lighting setup against a blank wall and asked Kat to step in for a few shots after she finished with a shoot of her own.

I still love how these turned out, and I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve ripped myself off with a similar lighting plan on several shoots after this one.

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It also just occurred to me that I never posted any of the final images from the shoot I was hired for. Unless one or two made it to Instagram.

The final images that were delivered to the client were drastically different than this one, mostly because their vision was something very specific (even if it wasn’t really my cup of tea in the end). But I’m still very thankful that I was allowed to experiment on some final images after we shot what was needed.

A short time later I had the chance to shoot New York Burlesque Royalty Nina La Voix while on a business trip. I was happy that she took the time to respond, and actually took a chance to meet up with me in my hotel room for a shoot. We captured a couple of different set-ups that day, but I still love how this image came out.

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Zachary reached out to me again to document some photos for what would become the second of his Talon’s Grasp series. We shot this book cover almost exactly one year to the day that we shot his last cover in 2017.

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And of course it wouldn’t be a shoot that involves Zak without some out of context snaps that actually end up looking pretty good.

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Where would I be without Dom inviting me to shoot concerts that he books when they come through town. I didn’t get to be at as many as I would have liked to this year, but I still love the photo of JD from Grendel as well as the below photos of Ghostfeeder’s guitar player (I never did catch his name) and Peter Turns Pirate frontman Neil.

I need to partner with Dom and make sure I can schedule my time around more of his shows. They are always a good time.

Around this same time I was given the chance to work with Tru Facade and take some of her first burlesque performer photos. She has grown so much over this last year, and I am so happy that I was able to be there at the literal beginning.

In a first in a LONG time I was invited to be a part of a few different art shows. Kate AKA Artetak did a great job at stoking my ego by actually wanting me to be a part of some of the great shows she has held this year.

But of course where would I be without my subjects. Big shout out to Roux for playing ghost in my entry to the “Occult” themed show, and Kali Fornication for being willing to be tied up by a bunch of random cables for my “Sci-Fi” entry.

Put on your best “monster truck voice” because, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. I met Sunday when she came along for a birthday brunch of mine this year, and knew that at some point we had to work together. Sunday has a great look, and I’m so happy of the work we made together. Can’t wait to shoot more.

I’d be completely lost if I didn’t mention my local Atlanta burlesque family, I didn’t do as much work for them this year as I would have liked to, but that doesn’t mean that 2019 won’t be different. I’m working on a few special things…so stay tuned.

I spent a week in Germany this year for Photokina. This is the second time I’ve been out of the country, but I am already seeing a trend. When in a place where I don’t speak the language I seem to let street art speak to me on behalf of the people who live there.

Sometime I’d love to spend a period of time in Europe just walking around taking photos of stickers and spray paint. Maybe the occasional bicycle as well.

I had one of my blog posts picked up by two international photography blogs (so you don’t have to). I’m still riding the waves of this since it hit me basically out of nowhere. I’m so entirely thankful that two publications thought so highly of me, and I hope that I can leverage some of the contacts I made during this process to get the opportunity to try and review more products next year.

Also (and I’m sure I’ll be posting about it later) keep your ears open to hear my goofy voice on a podcast in early January.

For Halloween I partnered with Courtney from Courtney Walters Makeup to turn her partner Taylor into a spooky skeleton. I loved this shoot, it was so simple yet so expressive. And of course I love how excited people get when I turn their living room into a makeshift studio.

Courtney and I will be collaborating on a few different projects in 2019, so please stay tuned for that.

Keep your eyes peeled for a stand-alone blog post of this gentleman right here. LA Comedian and Podcast host Rivers Langley.

We squeaked in this shoot on the friday before Christmas and I was able to finalize everything while I had some downtime at home. I should be getting that post up pretty soon, so I’ll save my comments for then.

And of course, where would I be without my friends who love the work I do so much that they ask me to be a key part of their special moments:

Jessica and Thomas

Erin and Preston

Jesse and Rachel

I want to make sure that I give a big Thank You to everyone I have worked with or have talked about working with this year. And also a huge thank you to all of you who follow this blog (or at the very least catch updates as they come through your social media feeds).

I don’t want to put the cart before the horse but I’d like to say that big things are coming in 2019 one way or another, and as always I’d love to see you all there for the ride.

From me to all of you and yours, Happy Holidays and a beautiful new year!

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:

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!

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