Lyjya is a new model here in Madison.  She contacted me on ModelMayhem. 

That’s right she has super powers.  She can defy gravity.  She can fly.  I have the pictures to prove it.  These were taken in the hallway next to the Memorial Union Theater.

So this is a very large post in terms of the amount of pictures.  Depending on your connection it might take a while to download them all.  We took these pictures just after the last set.

So JimmyD (http://twitter.com/pgshooter) tweeted the following article From Polanski to “Big Love”: Hollywood’s Twisted View of Child Sex Abuse by Marci A. Hamilton.  Some of the article I agreed with, some I didn’t.  I read a few of her other things and again, some I agreed with and some I didn’t.

This post isn’t about any particular view that she and I share or differ on.  It’s about her apparent non-desire to communicate with her readers.  There is no comment system.  I could not find an e-mail address anywhere on the site.

I, and many others, especially of my generation and younger, have come to expect the ability to interact with content creators.  Be it a musician, photographer, writer, etc., the idea that you’re finished once you’ve created something is very much a last century idea.  I know that sometimes in the blogs I follow the comments are more interesting and informative than the original work.  I’m not saying that to be detrimental to the creators.  The original work is generally outstanding, but the ability to question, appreciate and criticize, especially when paired with the different views, experience and knowledge from people all over the world, makes it better.

Creators that I can’t communicate with seem to be saying “This is what you should think (do, look at, listen to).” rather than “This is what I think (do, look at, listen to).”  It’s the difference between a lecture of 300 students, and a discussion with the professor at his/her home.  It’s the difference between radio and iTunes.  It’s the difference between being passive and being active.

And I would much rather live in a world of active people, who are part of the conversation, than passive people who do exactly as they’re told.

Sydney Max being active

The Biocore Prairie that is.  So this is the first set from my shoot with Rebecca on August 22nd.  There are a LOT more sets from this shoot.  We stared shooting at around 7:30pm.  We planned to start an hour earlier, but someone was late.  She made up for it though because we took our last picture at 3am.

To find out more about the Biocore Prairie just click the link above.  It’s a really amazing place, along with the rest of the Lakeshore Preserve.  I just discovered most of it last year.  I’d been out to Picnic Point for the first time about 6 or 7 years ago, and have visited a few times since then, but I’d never explored the other direction.  There are some amazing places that I’ll be showcasing more of, especially for University Nudes.

And now on to Rebecca.

This is the very first picture I took for the day. It's rare that the first turns out so well.

I love the mood in this one. And the coloring looks almost 70's film like.

If your monitor is not calibrated correctly this one may not look good to you.

After the sun had gone behind the trees on the horizon Rebecca climbed the tree to get more light.

My next post will be either Sydney Max defying gravity, or Jason my newest University Nude.

This is the second set with Sydney Max.  Again, these were shot on August 20th.  The weather this day was difficult from a photographic standpoint.  The temperature was good, but the sun kept moving in and out of the clouds.  In one frame the sky looks like it’s about to storm, in the next frame it’s a beautiful summer day.  To try to compensate for that we moved to the chairs under a small tree.

So I’m starting something new with this post.  In the past I would wait until I was done editing all the photos from a shoot.  And while it was nice to know I had them all done, sometimes it would take a while.  I wouldn’t be able to post as often, and when I did I think some of the pictures didn’t get as much attention.

Now I’m going to post as I get sets done.  I consider a set to be one outfit or one location, from a shoot.  Today the set is Sydney Max at the Red Gym on the University of Wisconsin – Madison campus.  We shot these on August 20th.  I have three more sets from that day, and not to give to much away, but in the second set she defies gravity.

This one is my favorite.

So for the last few weeks I’ve been seeing a post on Craigslist about an art show at Cafe Montemarte.  The theme is  7 Deadly Sins.  So first I looked up what the seven sins actually were, and then tried to find some of my photos that illustrated them.  I didn’t think that any of my work would actually be chosen, but it didn’t take me long and it was fun looking through some of my older work.  I submitted five images, and three were chosen.  You can see them below and at the show starting Monday March 23rd.

"Wrath" Allison in Mike's basement.

"Greed" My nephew Leo

"Lust" Tamara on my coffee table

Allison and I went to the Memorial Union on the UW Campus.  Technically since we’re not members or students we’re not allowed, but we look like we belong there so no one said anything.  It took us a few minutes to find somewhere to shoot. We started in the Great Hall which is on the 3rd floor I think.  It’s a very strange building with lots of stairs.  Most of the pictures are taken there, or across the hall.  Then we went outside.  See my previous post for background on that.  My favorite picture (shown below) of the shoot was taken on the lake.

You can see all of the pictures from the shoot in the gallery below.