I just LOVE this...
tell adobe as i did i won't use their products anymore, i am sure someone will come up with a replacement for Photoshop soon
The Most Elegant Anti-Creative Cloud Response Yet!!!
May 21, 2013Jene and Mary Youtt’s ‘Hell’s Kitchen Art Festival’ exhibition
May 16, 2013Here it is another Hell’s Kitchen Art Festival studio tour. This year because of movie commitments i decided to exhibit my work in a local restaurant called braai , 329 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019 (212) 315-3315. One can just stop by and see my work without buying anything but i’d hope you contact me and buy a picture to hang in your house to cheer you up.
Very interesting menu and a great luncheon special at $12.95 which mary and i hope to try very soon. The place is very open and airy with their rear skylight along with a friendly staff.
Mary is also showing at Basmati Restaurant – 764 Ninth Avenue (btw. 51st and 52nd St) as part of the Artist tour. see her link for pictures of her work.
I’ve been involved with the Hell’s Kitchen Festival from the beginning and putting together an event like this isn’t an easy thing to do. It’s an all volunteer event usually held around the Ninth Ave Food festival weekend to draw more people. The Hells Kitchen Guild Association publishes a magazine highlighting the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and artist living in the area.
At one time this neighborhood was the home to many actors who worked in the many local theaters. Since redevelopment in the neighborhood due to it’s central location a project in the 70′s called Manhattan Plaza was formed using HUD monies providing a certain percentage of apartments to people involved in the performing arts. This has been an anchor to the neighborhood and performing arts community providing affordable housing and a decent place to live.
Local artist have a very difficult time finding affordable housing in this multi million dollar housing market. Across the street from me Verizon has sold part of it’s building to real estate developers converting the top floors into multi million condo’s. The hospital behind me and next door is being converted to luxury apartment rentals.
So the Art of money seems to be the new American art form along with our local PBS station being the riches station in the network while providing no local produced shows. I sometimes wonder did i go into the wrong business ? Does anyone care about the arts anymore?
From my limited perspective i see some wonderful art streaming along the internet inspiring all who visit it. But that’s just it one has to go looking for it and in this fragmented society we don’t seem to be doing much exploring. This maybe the final frontier, we have found the enemy and it is us.
I hope not.
Tell Adobe to go FU*K themselves with their Cloud
May 15, 2013DIGLLOYD Takes On The Adobe Creative Cloud…
The past 24 hours at Damn Ugly have been pretty damned busy. We’ve gotten more hits from that Adobe post than just about anything I’ve written about in years! And as I continued scanning the interwebs to see what far smarter folks than me are saying about the entire mess, a came across a treasure trove of information posted by Lloyd Chambers, the Capo di tutti capi of making your Mac computer Ferarri-fast. Lloyd is also known as DIGLLOYD…the driving force behind MacPerformanceGuide.com…and he devoted a few days going over the fine print of the new Creative Cloud scheme, and he’s none too happy about any of it. He breaks down…with a whole lotta very funny & sarcastic asides…a whole mess of stuff I hadn’t even thought of, not the least of which is the particularly heinous contract Adobe expects you to sign prior to joining their Big, Happy Cloud Community. I loved the part where he said that since he actually took the time to READ the contract, when it came to the point at the end where he had to click the ‘ACCEPT’ button, the page had timed out!!! Apparently Adobe never intended ANYONE to actually read what they were gonna give away before signing the thing!
Now a warning…as with my post yesterday, reading through this requires a certain investment in time, but trust me, it’s well worth it! As a public service to all my Damn Ugly groupies, I’m linking to all of what Lloyd dropped over at MacPerformanceGuide.com regarding the cloud. Enjoy!
Adobe Clouds Software Choice (Adobe Creative Cloud Only Going Forward)
Adobe Creative Cloud: Date of Birth Mandatory, Lopsided Legal Agreement
Adobe Creative Cloud: Lopsided Legal Agreement
Adobe Creative Cloud: A Time-Wasting Chat
Adobe Creative Cloud: No Fair Warning Given for Upgrades
Adobe Creative Cloud: Why no ‘Buyout’ or Read-Only Option?
Adobe Creative Cloud: Reader Comments
Adobe Creative Cloud: The Main Point
Adobe Creative Cloud: Summary View
Adobe Creative Cloud: The “Toaster”
Adobe Creative Cloud: Activate/Deactivate and “Phone Home” License Check
And please…if you haven’t done so already, head on over to www.change.org and sign the petition to get Adobe to offer us users a choice!!!
8 ways to flatter women using one light
May 15, 20138 ways to flatter women using one light
I often work outdoors with just the sun as my one light source or in very tight spaces, with little room for more than the model, me, the makeup artist, and one strobe. There are many wonderful ways you can use one light source to flatter the women you photograph, and it’s nice to have a handful of go-to lighting scenarios that are easy to execute, consistently reliable, and flattering to the majority of women. I have included eight looks that are just that, which I think are particularly useful for boudoir photography.
Mix it up and make it your own
The following scenarios are techniques that you can borrow to inspire your own work. Think of them like recipes and trust your inner artist to add, subtract, or tweak them to your taste.
Within each of these looks are many alternatives. With just this single light source, it’s possible to create a wide variety of looks, even with just slight adjustments. You can vary the height of the light, the angle of light, the distance of light to subject, the distance of camera to subject, the position of camera in relation to the subject, and your choice of accessories— not to mention changing your exposure settings, background color, her wardrobe color, and so on. Experiment with each lighting scenario, have a good time with it, and make it your own. Take it a step further and add your own creativity. You can also use these setups as a base and then start adding on additional lights if you like, such as a hair light, a second fill light, or a light pointed at the backdrop. But for me, simple is usually the way to go.
A couple of small but important technical details: All setups with strobes were at the lowest power, 2.3—about 30W. In most cases, a higher- or lower-wattage strobe could produce a very similar look, as would continuous lights. (Continuous lights are different from strobes in that they stay on all the time. For simplicity’s sake, I don’t cover those in this book, but you could easily do any of these lighting setups with continuous lights instead of a strobe.) Because describing it is nothing like seeing it, I’ve included demos at christameola.com/artofboudoir.
What’s the story you want to tell?
When creating a lighting setup for a shot, I ask the following questions to help guide my decisions. The first is one I’ve emphasized previously: What is the story I want to convey and what is my focus? Is it her facial expression, the curves of her body, her clothes, the setting? Which lighting setup will help me communicate that and pinpoint the focus there? And most important: Is it flattering to the subject? Do we want to enhance or de-emphasize certain body parts?
Keep these questions in mind as you read through the following lighting scenarios and consider how you would use each one with the women you would like to photograph.
1. Gorgeous backlighting
Shooting a subject backlit is one of my favorite techniques and is an extremely easy setup. Whether using the sun as the main source or an artificial light, this scenario is great for flattering women of all body types and for creating a striking image with a feeling of luminosity and joyfulness. When shooting indoors and only with natural light, I place my subject in front of a window (the main light source), and then make a few different choices depending on the following:
If my model is modest, I like to try a few shots placing her behind sheer fabric or sheer curtains, so she feels and appears less exposed, as we discussed in the “Styling” chapter of the book.
Then I decide whether or not to add one or two large white reflectors just to the side and in front of her to act as fill light, depending on my focus and the amount of light in the room. For Figure 1, I did not use a reflector since the available light in the room was enough and what I’m focusing on here is her form, not necessarily her face or catch lights in her eyes.
Figure 1. By overexposing this image, we blow out the outer edge of this young woman’s belly, back, bum, arms, and upper thighs, giving her an even slimmer appearance.50mm lens, ISO 100, f/2.2, 50 sec.
You can also experiment with the model in front of the sheers (Figure 2). Here, since we see her face and the room was fairly dark, I did use a reflector just to the side and front of her to bounce light back onto her body and face (Figure 2).
Figure 2. This behind-the-scenes shot shows the placement of my two reflectors used together and how close they are to the model.
Finally, I consider my model’s modesty level as well as what she loves about her body and adjust my exposure accordingly. By varying exposure, we can control how much of the model’s body we see or don’t see. If your subject is modest or unsure about how much nudity is too much for her, you can give her a few options by capturing this shot at different exposure levels. You can see nothing but a silhouette by underexposing, her entire body by overexposing, and every level in between.
There are two additional benefits to overexposing. First, you can blow out unattractive or distracting backgrounds. Second, you can give her a slimmer appearance if she so desires by blowing out the edges of her body, as in Figure 1, so its outer edge cannot be detected.
Equipment:
- 42 x 72-inch and 42 x 42-inch white reflectors (Figure 1)
- Multiboom light stand (Figure 1)
2. Sultry, low-contrast lighting
For this setup, I wanted a subtle look and sensual mood, so I went for a low-contrast, low-light effect, something seductive that will flatter the woman who wishes to de-emphasize certain body parts, such as her stomach, arms, waist, chin, or even legs, depending on how you position her (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Whether your subject is standing or sitting makes a significant difference in how much light hits her legs. Here. I have her slightly seated to push her legs forward toward the light, since she loves her legs.50mm lens, ISO 200, f/2. 160 sec.
For this look, I placed a single strobe fitted with a medium softbox overhead and a large white reflector about a foot away from the model and slightly to the side (Figure 4). The reflector is just enough to cast a soft, even light across her whole body. Set your camera to underexpose by a couple stops, and you’ve got a beautiful shot with sensual mystique.
Figure 4. You can see just how close the reflector and light are to the subject.
You can experiment with this setup by adjusting her proximity to the light (Figure 5). Inching your subject forward or back a few inches dramatically affects the result, and the reflector adds just a bit more information to evenly light her body so you don’t get a disconnect. Her tummy and back of arms are hidden, disappearing into the shadow. You can further experiment if you’d like to see more of your model’s body outline by choosing a lighter backdrop, lighting the backdrop, selecting lighter colored clothing, or increasing your exposure.
Figure 5. It’s important to make sure your model doesn’t end up directly under the light, in which case the light would be strong and entirely on her head, blocking the light from reaching her body.
Equipment:
- Elinchrom BXRi 500W Strobe
- Elinchrom 27 x 27-inch Rotalux Softbox
- Elinchrom Skyport Speed Transmitter
- 42 x 72-inch white reflector
- Two multiboom light stands
- Black muslin backdrop
3. Simple, slimming short lighting
Short lighting and its opposite technique, broad lighting, are excellent techniques to flatter faces and bodies by creating the appearance that they are either narrower or wider, respectively, than they truly are. Short lighting occurs when the main light illuminates the side of the face or body furthest from the camera, which means that the majority of the subject’s face or body is in shadow (the side closest to camera), thus giving the appearance of a slimmer face or body (Figure 6). Broad lighting is the exact opposite, where the majority of the subject’s body is in brighter light, creating the appearance of a wider body. So just by choosing which side to photograph your subject from and which side of the light to place her on, you can affect how wide or narrow she appears.
Figure 6. This curvy gal’s face and body appear slimmer with a classic short-lighting setup.85mm lens, ISO 400, f/2, 80 sec.
When shooting indoors and shooting with natural light, my subject is positioned to the side of a window (the main light source) with black muslin behind her, either taped to the wall or on a background stand (Figure 7).
Equipment:
- Black muslin backdrop
- Household fan
Figure 7. Vary your subject-to-light distance according to how strong the light is and whether or not you have diffusing material. I like to start about six feet from the window and then tweak it from there.
4. Full-length flattering lighting
For more fashion-style boudoir and full-length portraits, I love the ease of a big Octabox. Placing your main light slightly above eye level, angled down, and just off to the side in front of your model is my preferred position (Figure 8) to add a touch of shadow and dimension to her body and create a pleasing shadow under her chin (Figure 9). Placing the fan directly under the light will create wonderful movement in her hair and clothes (if she’s wearing any).
Figure 8. The fan and the Octabox are as close as possible to being directly in front of the model without getting in me shot.
Since we were shooting a full-body shot in Figure 9, we chose the 53-inch Octabox, which creates some of the softest and most beautiful light. This is plenty to light a full-length subject as well as the background if you bring your model close enough to the backdrop. Here, the model is about four feet from the background (Figure 10).
Figure 9. This is a flattering look that works well with almost everyone.50mm lens, ISO 200, f/2, 160 sec.
Equipment:
- Elinchrom BXRi 500W Strobe
- Elinchrom 53-inch Rotalux Octabox
- Elinchrom Skyport Speed Transmitter
- Multiboom light stands
- Gray seamless backdrop
Figure 10. This behind-the-scenes show shows how high the light is and its slight downward angle, as well as the low angle I shoot from to flatter full-length bodies.
5. Side lighting to dramatically enhance or reduce curves
This dramatic look is extremely flattering to body conscious women, whether they are looking to create curves or de-emphasize them. By placing the light source directly to the side of the subject (and either slightly in front of or behind her) and moving yourself on an arc in front of or opposite to the light (Figure 11), you can create a number of looks. (See chapter 6 of my book for examples).
Figure 11. This diagram shows the arc that you can position yourself along to have either more or less of your subject’s body fall into shadow.
The 3 biggest lighting mistakes and how to avoid them
The biggest mistake my students make in terms of lighting is neglecting to pay attention to how the light is falling on the model’s face. Make sure you know where your main light source is and that, in particular, it does not fall below her face, which casts very unattractive shadows I call “horror lighting.” Light her intentionally. Any shadows should be “drawn” for a reason, and make sure that if your assistant is holding the reflector, she doesn’t inadvertently lower the reflector as her arms tire, causing the fill light to come from below your subject’s eye level.
Another misstep I often see is that the subject is lit so flatly that there are no pleasing shadows creating interest, depth, or flattering curves. Make sure you angle yourself or your light to create some depth with shadows, and experiment with not using a fill light, unless a flat look is what you are intentionally going for.
Lastly, some students become so preoccupied and distracted by their lighting equipment that they forget to engage with their subject, resulting in a moment that lacks interest. Keep in mind that connection with your subject takes priority; it shouldn’t be sacrificed to fiddle with gear. Find your best light, tweak it, and then practice bringing your focus and attention to creating a rapport with your subject. Gently remind yourself of this throughout the shoot.
6. Sexy noir lighting
The deep shadows and strong highlights of film noir are a natural fit for boudoir photography. This look is a fun one for women looking to evoke a certain era or who love the extreme chiaroscuro look and drama of the darkest blacks and lightest whites (Figure 12).
Figure 12. I kept the model bright and the background dark without blowing everything out by exposing for her fair skin.50mm lens (with .9 neutral density filter), ISO 200, f/2, 160 sec.
While there are a multitude of ways to create this look with other equipment, I thought it would be great to show this setup using the same gear we’ve being using for the rest of this chapter. Using the medium softbox off to a 45-degree angle, we aimed it at our model. To narrow the light and keep it from spilling onto the backdrop, except where we desired, we put two flags in front of the light (Figure 13).
Figure 13. This behind-the-scenes photo shows how close together the flags are (only a couple of inches apart).
Equipment:
- Elinchrom BXRi 500W Strobe
- Elinchrom 27 x 27-inch Rotalux Softbox
- Elinchrom Skyport Speed Transmitter
- Multiboom light stand
- Two flats used as flags Gray seamless backdrop
7. Universally flattering clamshell lighting
Clamshell lighting is very popular for beauty closeups; it’s super easy and simple, and it flatters everyone. The main light is raised above the model and angled 45 degrees downward, and the silver reflector acting as fill light is at her waist level, angled 45 degrees upward (Figure 14), which looks like a clamshell from the side.
Figure 14. You can see how the reflector is positioned on her lap.
This is a quick, no-fuss setup. The light is soft and wrapping, great for women of all ages. You can do this with an umbrella, a beauty dish, or even natural light. It’s a good trick to reduce the appearance of blemishes, under-eye shadows, or bags, as you can see in (Figure 15). You still see light shadows, which I love, but they are so subtle, and this woman seems to glow from within.
Figure 15. The silver reflector eliminates deep shadows, creating a luminous glow.50mm lens, ISO 200, f/2, 160 sec.
Just make sure your subject doesn’t lean too far into the shot, or she will be more lit by the silver reflector, which will create that upward unflattering horror effect—not good on anyone! You want to make sure the top light is brighter than the lower fill.
Equipment:
- Elinchrom BXRi 500W Strobe
- Elinchrom 27 x 27-inch Rotalux Softbox
- Elinchrom Skyport Speed Transmitter
- Multiboom light stand
- Gray seamless backdrop 42 x 72-inch silver reflector
8. Seductive and flattering feathering
I love the look and mystery of a form disappearing into the background. This is another technique to flatter women of any size, since you can’t see where the body ends (Figure 16). It just disappears into luscious shadow. Place the light with softbox on a 45-degree angle from the model and turn the softbox away from the subject so she is lit only by the edges, where the softest light is. This technique is called feathering the light and provides a supersoft, even light. You will likely have to place a flag between the light and the background (Figure 17) so the light doesn’t spill onto the backdrop, especially if you are using a larger softbox.
Figure 16. The light is soft and gradually falls off into shadow.50mm lens, ISO 200, f/2, 160 sec.
Equipment:
- Elinchrom BXRi 500W Strobe
- Elinchrom 27 x 27-inch Rotalux Softbox
- Elinchrom Skyport Speed Transmitter
- Multiboom light stand
- Black muslin backdrop
- 42 x 72-inch black reflector used as a flag
Figure 17. The softbox is aimed almost entirely at the background and away from the subject.
Excerpted from The Art of Boudoir Photography: How to Create Stunning Photographs of Women by Christa Meola.
originally posted on Model Mayhem
i think one can adapt using these setups using any type of light, so just try them see what happens.
jene
seems i can’t stay out of trouble
April 25, 2013i’ve not been shooting much these days and sometimes that bothers me. to tell the truth i’ve not found something that interests me. so drawn between the two extremes of not creating or trying to create just never turns out that pleasing. sometimes the magic works but mostly it fizzles nowhere. one never knows the quality of models posting on craigslist or model mayhem for that matter they are all professional models, or so they say. heck i’ve never said i was a fashion tog, one would never think that looking at my portfolio. maybe in some art director head my look would look good in an upcoming campaign but they won’t be looking for my vision any time soon.
i continue to look around for interesting people to work with as i did with this model contacting her. she was eager to work with me after seeing my portfolio. she set up a date and i thought why not? she had posted a couple interesting pics on her modeling page which i thought i could work. when she showed up here she didn’t bring the stuff i had requested.
i really need to discerning when it comes to my work, but i though well i can make this work. so i had her try on this outfit.
red camisole
we took a couple of these which turned out ok. as i said i am not a big fashion photographer but i think it’s nice to have lingerie in ones portfolio. we quickly moved on to this outfit.
then on to this
i give my models a prop so they have something to do with their hands. hopefully it will inspire them to do something creative with it. below wearing a black scarf.
here is a multi colored cloth belt
belt
now i move onto the last a red silk cloth which she loved how it felt, who wouldn’t?
finally winding up here.
i sent her a copy of the first image retouched a bit because she had what i’d call problem skin, lots of bumps and her answer was could i retouch her face? i said i had already done some and felt doing anymore would be dishonest. she didn’t like that oh well.
but i posted a question on model mayhem retouching forums about retouching a models portfolios for her saying i thought it dishonest. would i have considered working with her because all the facial skin issues? probably not. so i am the ogre here.
oh well
Plea of support from Dance New Amsterdam
April 18, 2013here is a plea from Dance New Amsterdam’s Martha Chapman. i’ve written & posted here about them before because i believe in them and the work and support they give to the dance community.
Hi Friends & Colleagues!
I am writing to you as a fellow-lover of arts and culture, here in New York City and everywhere! Thanks to good folks like all of you, the arts are appreciated, created, trained for, agonized about, and in general celebrated. Keep it up!
As many of you know, I teach and am on the Board at Dance New Amsterdam, where some of you know me and my classes. Our annual Spring Fundraising Drive is starting up – and I am asking if you would be willing to help us meet our funding goal of $100K this year! It’s ambitious, but we already have donors (including me) who’d pledged almost $30K, and the drive is yet to “officially” start. Let’s keep dancing!
If you can contribute yourself – great! Any and all donations are welcome – www.dnadance.org – click on “DONATE.” AND – there will be some special benefits like tickets to DNA shows for new donors once the funding drive kicks off this coming Thursday. If you’d like to receive this official eblast from DNA, send me a message and I’ll forward the eblast to you. You can sign up for eblasts yourself on the site too.
But…if times are tight and a donation is not possible for you at this time, woud you be willing to reach out to 3 of your connections, asking them to donate? “Crowd-sourcing” is a great way to introduce folks you know to a great place that makes dance and dancers.
AND – if any of you are in New York and can attend, I would love to invite you personally to a terrific event on Thursday, May 16th… DNA’s first annual “Spring Soiree,” to be held at Plein Sud – a swanky hotel down the street from our studios on Chambers St. Come raise a glass to dance and the arts… let me know and I’ll send your contact info to DNA’s offices asking them to send you an invite.
Thank for your attention and for being the fantastic, art-conscious and creative people that you are.
Blessings -
Martha Chapman
marthachapman62@gmail.com
The Moving Beauty Dance series
April 13, 2013beginning next week on 4/15/13 through 4/21/13 at the Secret Theater i have the pleasure of working with a friend/dancer who is producing this week. my part of this is designing the lighting and what ever else is needed to make this successful.
that’s Juan Michael Porter with a bag over his head. yes in the subway he’s always pushing the limits. that’s one of the reasons why i like him. this should be an interesting week with 18 different companies on the bill, three each night a culture cross section of small dance companies in the city. wow.
who would want to miss this? all week i’ve been contacted by the various companies asking about the lighting plot while they share with links to their work. one of them is Yoshito Sakuraba Artistic Director/www.Abarukas.org just saying they are open to interpretation. others have different needs. i am never sure after seeing videos what the are performing but hey i love this stuff see michael mao dances here.
as i am writing this the energy is building up around me. a lot of work yes, climbing ladders at my age yes but i wouldn’t have it any other way. this is what i do, this is what i love. having my partner/wife to share it with me is even better.
please come out and join us. it would be our pleasure to meet you and hopefully your pleasure seeing all this wonderful work by so many talented people.
here is the performance run down
The Moving Beauty Series presents
The Series
7 nights of dance. 3 companies a night.
www.danceseries.org
Monday April 15th through Sunday April 21st @ 8 PM
Tickets: $15 for Artists and Students
$20 General Admission
Available at the door or online at www.wepay.com/events/the-series
In keeping with it’s mission statement of producing ‘artistically provocative yet commercially viable art’, The Moving Beauty Series has created ‘The Series’ as a platform to present 20 exciting dance companies in concert at The Secret Theatre.
The Series kicks into high gear on April 15th, 2013 with the live premiere of Lost in Between, a dance and music collaboration between ‘Together Alone’ (Arielle Baron and Elnard Jones) and Juan Michael Porter II. The evening continues with stand-alone concert pieces from Hailey Lauren and Colleen Hoelscher, also in collaboration with Together Alone.
The Moving Beauty Series; beautymoving.com
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 features the brilliant Michael Mao Dance’s latest collaboration with the composer, Huang Ruo, Sandra Kramerova & Artists’ spiritual exploration of ‘Aqua(rius), and Charly Wenzel & Dancers’ hybrid of contemporary dance and LED light show. All three companies make vivid use of video art to accentuate their performances.
Michael Mao Dance; michaelmaodance.org
Sandra Kramerova & Artists; sandy006.wix.com/sandrakramerova
Charly Wenzel & Dancers; charly-wenzel.com
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013 showcases a wide palette of concert dance with Undertoe Dance Project’s fusion of tap and concert jazz dancing, Caliince Dance’s dance theatre narrative of developing community across the globe and finally Nikki Nasto and Animal Mechanical’s presentation of experimental contemporary dance and performance art fused with jaw-dropping aerial feats.
Undertoe Dance Project; undertoedance.com
Caliince Dance; caliincedance.org
Nikki Nasto; nikkinasto.com
Animal Mechanical; animal-mechanical.com
Thursday, April 18th, 2013 delves into the world of spirituality and finding a sense of self with a collaborative multimedia work from Perceptions Dance and Studio Anya led by directors Melissa Gendreau and Courtney Bauer. The evening rounds itself off with a vision of lost connetions and recovery in Japan through the eyes of Abarukas’ artistic director, Yoshito Sakuraba.
Perceptions Dance; perceptionsdance.org
Studio Anya; studioanya.com
Abarukas; abarukas.org
Friday, April 19th, 2013 is a night of dance theatre of every variety. First, with a magnificent opening from the ground breaking tap dancer, TED Artist, and Artist in Residence at Webster Hall, Andrew J. Nemr. The evening moves into the waters of musical theatre with an exciting premiere from Glitter Kitty Productions before returning to the shores of traditional jazz and contemporary dance as shown by DoubleTake Dance’s artistic Directors, Ashley Carter and Vanessa Martinez de Banos.
Andrew J. Nemr; andrewnemr.com
Glitter Kitty Productions; glitterkittyproductions.com
DoubleTake Dance; doubletakedanceco.com
Saturday, April 20th, 2013 is the concert with the greatest content variety. We have a story of community and Americana inspired narrative from ACB Dance Company, a tapestry of isolation inspired by the overuse of online communication as put forth by NonaLee Dance Theatre, and an incredible retelling of ‘Swan Lake’ from SUNPROJECT, wherein ‘The Swans’ assert their personalities and take over the tale. A vision of dance like no other from the geographical locations of Connecticut, the American South, and Korea.
NonaLee Dance Theatre; nonaleedt.org
ACB Dance Company; acbdance.org
SunProject; http://www.sunproject.co
Sunday, April 21st, 2013 features the perfect closing for The Series with a wide range of experience starting with the fearless and award winning Chris Ferris & Dancers, the incredible new contemporary dance company of Michael J. Clark & Artists, and a dazzling display of virtuoso hip-hop and jazz funk put together by Eric Samson’s The Beat Club.
Chris Ferris & Dancers; chrisferrisdance.com
Michael J. Clark & Artists; michaeljclark.weebly.com
The Beat Club; funktiondancecomplex.com
For more information or tickets, please visit:www.danceseries.org
The Secret Theatre | 4402 23rd St | Long Island City, NY
E, M, G or 7 train to Court SQ/23rd St.
Continuing dance project
March 25, 2013well every once in a while, maybe i need to rethink my projects and life sooner, maybe change this thinking thing to daily,but i get to add new skills in my life. photography seems to be down pretty good but now playing with both still and motion stuff. i’d like to be able to add slideshows link on here. moving to final cut pro x soon, i’ve the free 30 day download and it’s been pretty cool.
much different than the old days of sitting with stacks of tape cassettes in front of a linear sony editing machine. but both linear or digital editing eat up hours of one’s life. well what doesn’t burn brain cells? just sitting in mobile on the couch eats them up so might well put them to good use. try to create something beautiful which is what i am doing with this video piece.
so here is the utube ‘mother earth’ opening sequence here in case the embedded link below doesn’t work.
along with some of the still images here
Mother Earth opening sequence
it must be that kind of a day since i can’t upload these images on my web site and this upload is a bit weird but hey at least it worked better than Photoshelter today. UGH. maybe it’s time to find another web hosting site. so when i get back to nyc and my other computer i’ll try again. i am doing the best i can is all i can say, who among us is perfect?
this must be right because i read it in a newspaper
this adam & eve mother earth is a work in progress and being developed as i write this, this is where we are at so far. looking out my window at grey skys waiting for another snow storm. mel torme on the cd player……….ah to have a shovel in my hands instead of a camera, that’s what i live for. at least wordpress is here for me. thank you
so this is the news of the day today.
Adam & Eve modern dancer performance & video
March 2, 2013well sitting around watching other dancers and companies i’ve finally gotten off my ass and am trying to use all my training and put a dance together. of course using my friends whom i really enjoy being around, as the Beatle’s said ‘with a little help with my friends’ that’s the way to go.
using the money i spent at UCLA for screen writing courses and independent workshops Robert Mc Kee in Hollywood being one. if you’ve ever been in hollywood and connected to the movie industry this is the one to be at. one heck of a weekend.
what did i do with all this higher learning, wrote produced Karaoke videos in LA. i’d write the script take it to the company who would forward it back to japan wait for approval and budget, find someone to shoot it, pay for all props rentals do all the grunt work then sit in an off line video console and do a off line edit. sometimes banging my head on the table because some idiot camera person would have the seconds i needed on tape, ugh. unless you’ve been there needing 5 or 10 seconds more, doesn’t sound like a long time but believe me sometimes it’s an eternity. what to do at 2 am with just a pile of tapes on the table?
enough with all this backstory so i opened my mouth with a dancer and now we are off on my Adam & Eve performance shoot. oh yes it’s just not a workshop performance but i want to do a video. how much this will all cost i’ve no idea but it should be fun or a nantucket sleighride .
but we’ve started so here we go. one of the hardest parts is finding the right people, i’ve got two of the three both of whom i’ve worked with.
Juan Michael Porter ll as Adam
and Masha as Mother Earth
Masha
the third part is still open although i’ve talked with a dancer who declined. so the search is still on. posted on craigslist and model mayhem. still waiting.
but there’s a lot to do so we’ve [mary & i ] begun working on the costumes. i shot the first model fitting in my apt/studio just to begin a reference, maybe even start a kickstart opportunity. hey you never know.
Cast is simple: Mother Earth a Russian woman, Adam an African American male, Eve an Asian female. at least this is how i see it now political statement maybe but this earth is peopled by all kinds of colorful things and people. of course a wonderful dancer could change my mind.
Waiting isn’t one of my strong points but sometimes that’s all one can do. how to forge ahead well that what one has and see what develops. how to costume whom, Adam seems easy some sort of loin cloth so his personal parts don’t flop around, now Mother Earth how to portray her? i’ve an idea of making her part tree, part human, that we all come from the earth not just plopped on it.
so we began with this concept
now move the limb see how that works
adding headband
now the trick is assembling the costume because of the material, no one can accuse my ideas being simple ones. now move on to another important part the music which i’ve no clue. this weeks assignment.
BTW if an Eve is out there drop me a line.
more to come
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