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 I’m going to try really hard to do the Strobist Boot Camp II.  I’ve been following the Strobist blog for a while now, a year, maybe two.  But so far I haven’t done any of the assignments.  I’ve learned a ton and have done things similar to what’s shown on strobist but not while the assignment was going on.  If you’d like to try as well check out http://strobist.blogspot.com

Self-Portrait using two lights, back light had a red gel on my slate gray seamless

So two weeks ago I was thinking about death a lot.  I don’t really know why.  I wasn’t thinking about my death, or any death really, just kind of death was in my head.

It started with and episode of COPS.  I don’t remember what it was about but it got me thinking about handcuffs.  So I got the pair I have out of my prop bin, and just started playing with them while I watched the rest of the episode.  If I could go off topic for a moment the cuffs I have are not “official”, but they are heavy duty stainless steel, double locking, with a key that’s remarkably similar to a real key.

Now the handcuffs got me thinking about serial killers. Somebody tied up, blood, knives, nakedness.  I think it’d be something fun to photograph.  I don’t have anything specific, concrete planned, but you may be seeing some pictures in the future.

Then I went to bed, next day I needed to go out.  I still had the same general feeling as the previous night.  It was nice outside so I thought I would head downtown, no particular destination in mind.  On the way I passed Forest Hill Cemetery.  I decided to go in.

I’ve been to Forest Hill before.  It’s a very interesting place, with a lot of history.  There’s even an Effigy Mound, so this particular piece of land has been used as a burial ground for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

So to recap —>COPS–>handcuffs–>serial killers–>cemetery.  I’ve had an idea for a while to do some back lighting of these particular tombstones.  These markers are in the part of the cemetery reserved for veterans, most of them served in WWII but I did see a few from earlier wars as well.  The back lighting idea really didn’t work this time but the image below did.

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