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(c) 2004-2010 i.m. ruzz model: Marla Singer

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:48:07 -0600

so once again, im stuck doing fancy tumblr stuff on the first blog i created, which is the least...

Sat, 29 May 2010 13:01:36 -0600

so once again, im stuck doing fancy tumblr stuff on the first blog i created, which is the least used of my blogs. tumblr fail!

test post from tweetdeck..

Sat, 29 May 2010 12:59:49 -0600

test post from tweetdeck..

One Night in Toronto - aka ruzz meets katie west burdened as i...

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:34:00 -0600

One Night in Toronto - aka ruzz meets katie west

burdened as i was with an unwanted business trip to the toronto area i began searching the usual model sites for any interesting models. given the short notice i found little—then a friend and model of mine reminded me katie west lived in TO. joy.

I emailed her and after some discussion we managed to work it out. the plan was for me to sneak back from cambridge the last night i was out, rent a swanky hotel and make some beauty.

I booked the hotel at a pretty steep cost and was apprehensive about not having a strobe with me, just a single speedlight on pocket wizards. regardless of what strobist tells you theres no way to get 4ft ocatbox soft light out of speedlight. however, the constraint of a speedlight meant i would need to blend ambient light which is something i want to get better at.

we met up at the hotel and despite having not eaten and being exhausted i was pretty excited. She baked me cookies. how do i express the love?

after some minor technical issues (dead rechargables after only 3 days; always bring back up real batteries when travelling) and an exploration of the hotel for places we could jack without getting caught we set too shooting. it’s worth noting that hotel had a giant walk in bank style safe in the basement, however, there were cameras everywhere and the prospect of a night on the street after dropping large doughsacks made me err on the side of caution. in calgary i woulda went for it.

i was pretty tired and felt the light was fighting me most of the shoot. being in a new space, with new reflectivity, and strange reactions to flash, combined with exhaustion and meeting katie for the first time had me pretty frazzled. But we pushed through the beginning awkawardness of hello, can you remove your panties now?

the results are an interesting blend of our two styles. her posing is so distinctly her and despite the light problems i think my light felt more or less like my light and the union of those two things makes for some interesting shots. She’s one of those rare models who poses head to toe whether the rest of her body is in the shot or not, and she gives good shapes.

it’s interesting to shoot someone who has so clearly carved out their own style and almost trademarked a certain feeling. I often felt looking through the camera i was framing a katie west shot. That’s not bad thing to learn from. To recognize in-camera shots, or feelings that have already been well expressed by a fellow photographer, who happens to model for herself a lot is a good commentary on how effectively she’s carved that space out.

I took a lot of coverage because i was unsure of my light, and knew i would want to filter anything that was too “katie west”. I love that look and style, but also was curious about her other parts. her other personas. and I was really happy to get home and find some magical shots that i would classify as pure portrait art, as well as many beautiful, dark, more posed, more moody shots. I got about 4 shoots worth of shots out of a couple hours in harsh light.

and fucking cookies.

it was overall a great experience. She’s entirely down to earth and is as smart and sassy in real life as online. I feel pretty lucky to have converted a meaningless work trip into a real life experience and hey, shooting great models in fancy hotels in the big city ain’t such a bad way to live.

beatrix mae, series 2 - part 1 - the grainy black and whites +...

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:12:00 -0600

beatrix mae, series 2 - part 1 - the grainy black and whites + tone plate / pinholes.

the more i work with beatrix, the more i respect her willingness to grow. and she was early. how often does that happen? I’m really enjoying putting models in that six foot softbox i call a living room window combined with the Olympus PEN in grainy black and white mode, square formatted, and lens suitably covered in dirt and oils. the light explosions and general unpredicability of how the poor PEN might react to trying to find the model against all that white make it focused work.

and having the camera do satisfactory post for me, saves massive amounts of time (a few minutes per picture = massive total) in post work. the feel to me is luxurious. nostalgic but not emotionally. sorta snapshot like in their unwillingness to be formal, and the odd bits that turn up and somehow more casual, but retaining all the beauty.

my only wish was to find more models as comfortable naked as my sweet love marla. beatrix felt right at home and in 25 mins we made 50 shots, probably 10 of which are very good, 4-5 i’m personally attached to.

so this is part one. if you’re interested in the straight blurred form shots those are made using the Pentax K20D with a lensbaby composer + tone plate optic. fancy.

if theres a model in calgary whose body has more curves, and more interesting dips, folds and forms—i haven’t met her.

formspring.me

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:23:44 -0700

Why is it that the definition of “erotica” seems to mean “black and white”?

that’s a good question, and one i have no ready made answer for.

it does seem, that “Erotica” in the main is comprised of grainy black and whites often poorly exposed or including at least some motion blur.

I imagine that a good part of this is historical. most forms of photography have their beginnings in black and white, naturally.

there are forms of voyeuristic photography mainly coming out of japan that are made up of men going into the public parks which are frequented by couples looking to hook up, and sneaking up beside them with fast film and taking pictures.

to avoid shutter lag, and the use of a flash they end up grainy and black and white will render forms without concern for color problems from low light.

and this is where i think we end up in black and white. three primary reasons.

1. the first mainstream erotica was brought to us by the big name photographers in the 20’s and 30s so naturally it’s black and white, but many modern photographers have kept that line because black and white is better for form, and pattern (reducing visual elements to their basic forms) and you get photographers like ralph gibson to bring sexy, but also art.

2. black and white is more tolerant of poor light. you don’t have to worry about color casts, colors coming apart, color balancing or that swollen purple member color matching.

3. related to #2, i think a lot of “erotica” is shot in natural light settings. because lots of it is home made. natural light = less light = more grain (digital or film) = more color aberrations.

but mainly.. i just think there is a body of work established and most people follow that style, as most things go. we have an established language of erotica and perhaps trying to communicate something to the fringes (and erotica does still fall into the fringes) one might take shortcuts, or easier paths to their audiences rather than trying to refine the medium.

ive been playing with erotic Polaroids and i think it’s possible we could see a big shift into that in the next few years. as sentimentality becomes a commodity, then sexuality, then regurgitated en masse.

all those thirteen year old girls on flickr taking nostalgic Polaroids of tea cups and abandoned houses are going to grow up into sexual women at some point, and i can’t see them leaving their sentimentality behind when they do.

i’m open for questions, ask away?

17-Year-Old Thinks She's Getting Into Photography | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:43:58 -0700

17-Year-Old Thinks She's Getting Into Photography | The Onion - America's Finest News Source:

is there a photographer out there that isn’t familiar with this?

Carla Fedje: Photographer: A Thousand Reasons Not to Toot Ones Own Horn

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:03:32 -0700

Carla Fedje: Photographer: A Thousand Reasons Not to Toot Ones Own Horn:

Ok, not a thousand reasons. But maybe some coaxing on the dangers of becoming an egomaniac. Here’s my own narrow take on it, inspired by two recent encounters with someone I used to know (but not very well). Both times I saw him he bragged at length about how amazing his camera is, and how…

I have many thoughts on this topic myself, but no time to realize them, so give this a read.

Strobist: It's Time for the PC Jack to Die.

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:36:03 -0700

Strobist: It's Time for the PC Jack to Die.:

no kidding. I’ve dropped hundreds on them and without fail they are the single bit of gear that slows me down during shoots.

"the camera does not add ten pounds. it adds recognition to the fact that you’re an unattractive..."

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:03:46 -0700

“the camera does not add ten pounds. it adds recognition to the fact that you’re an unattractive human being.”

- (via becomingnothing)

DIY (DI-Husband, really) Beauty Dish!

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:49:00 -0700

this is why carla should be blogging, and also why you pretty girls should marry someone good with their hands.

carlafedje: check out how she forced her husband like chinese child labour to modify an ikea light fixture to a nice profoto beauty dish.

formspring.me

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:26:47 -0700

Riddle Me? http://formspring.me/ruzz

i know i’m behind on my shoot updates.. i’ve been...

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:29:48 -0700

i know i’m behind on my shoot updates.. i’ve been sick.

so to pass the time why not look at these pretty pictures.

formspring.me

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:49:09 -0700

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/ruzz

Beatrix Mae.. For a long time I had this photographer’s...

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:22:00 -0700

Beatrix Mae..

For a long time I had this photographer’s crush on this edmonton based model. She’d worked with some photographers I liked, and had modelled some of tasha’s designs along the way. I sent an overly exuberant email off to her way back then professing my photographers love which generally kills any hope of working with someone as you seem a bit too eager, and it did for a while.

Then she moved to Calgary and we began discussing a shoot. Somehow we’d always be out on schedules, or one of us would get sick, or I would be overcome by my normal bouts of massive inadequacy and chicken out. yes, I still have those after all these years with some people. Then we finally set a date.

I’m suffering from a malaise of shooting indoors, in the same location too often and for too long and it’s really soured my eagerness to shoot, which tends to happen this time of year when outdoor shoots are iffy and the daylight is short but while she was getting ready i decided to hang some cloth against the wall to give some extra depth to things and give a sense of space I haven’t been doing in shoots lately. things fall out of habit so easily.

I had my lights in place early for this one and we tripped into beautiful light from the outset. It buoyed my spirits and I felt even if my eye was faltering the light might save me. sometimes the gods are kind in moments of weakness and within about 20 frames we had a publish worthy shot.

I was hoping for some grace and beauty and i found deep wells of it hiding between awkward moments. Like so many young models she hides in girl energy when unsure, but my prediction that she had a beautiful woman lurking unmanaged behind that was founded and it slowly eased out.

I did my best to capture it for you.

set intent. release. repeat.

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:35:04 -0600

set intent. release. repeat.

on non model models. when i first started shooting I worked with...

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:08:03 -0600

on non model models.

when i first started shooting I worked with regular people. Friends, neighbours, girls i was dating and found the results pretty much showed that. while i miss working with continuous light i don’t miss the awkward over modelling most non models do. It’s and odd fact that non models generally model more when they pose for you than more experienced models. the finer the model, the less she relies on dramatics, more on subtle variation.

So I went to see Miss Singer dance the succubus at Conventia De Mentia a few weeks ago, got loaded up on jack daniels and pilsner and acted like a total rockstar asshole sending people off to bring me one of the dancers that caught my eye. Fortunately I had enough jack in me to pull off the swagger, and probably more fortunate I had doug’s (my new assistant :P) iphone to show her my work. I’ve learnt if the work is good enough you can probably get away with more than you should. so we exchanged contact info.

we set up our first shoot and when she got there it was strange to see her not covered in makeup and feathers and tribal dancing in the dark but I still had the sense it would work out. your gut can screw you or save you and without realizing it you refine your eye over time for what sorts of people can pull off your mood. this new girl, nikki, might not be a conventional beauty in the high fashion sense of the term, but she’s got a very open energy and moves with some grace. That often can be far more important than entirely perfect beauty.

we all have oddities in our physical makeup. my lower jaw is way too big for my face, and almost every model I’ve worked with (being mostly amateur models) has something thats not quite there. thats the difference between photos and video work I think. We can shoot around small flaws. light them, frame them, or abstract them out of the way. Video makes that much harder to do.

But, then, really I’ve never been much about perfection or conventional beauty anyways. I think every woman has beauty in her given the patience to wait for her to trust you with it.

so we had our first shoot and surprisingly it took very little time to get into a flow. My intuition about her movement paid off in getting poses from her (Sometimes mid movement) that i’m unable to get from more established models. I’m concerned this success may turn me into creeper guy in the bar handing out cards and “talent” scouting but I will try to keep that under control as best I can. It would be nice to break out of the modelling scene with all it’s politics and dramas and there are so many fantastically beautiful women out there..

if there’s a moral to the story, and i hate morals, it’s to trust your gut and take some chances. sometimes it works out for you, and when it doesn’t.. well, you lose a few hours of your life. big deal.

test from my crackberry.

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:43:54 -0600

test from my crackberry.

the everything is love shoot. marla and aura were having a...

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:56:02 -0600

the everything is love shoot.

marla and aura were having a little love fest for one another in the comments of photos of each other and watching it i had possibly the greatest idea ever. What if we take marla singer, and we take aura and we put them together under the same light?

I suggested it and both were on board. It wasn’t easy to schedule for three busy people and waiting for it was killer. they arrived after a joint shopping trip during which they matched up their underwear, which i thought was a nice touch. We made sure we were amply stocked for wine and foodstuffs and returned to the den of sin.

earlier in the week i picked up my first light meter. I’ve never been much for precision but the idea of measuring light seems so exotic and interesting i couldn’t resist. I spend most of the week measuring the EV differences between one end of my curtains and the other. Fascinating stuff.

So I had this concept, as far as me and concepts go, of having them together and using a red gel on the background to give this brothel/erotic feeling. Given the space constraints of my tiny place thats a task and a half. I spent probably two hours trying to get the lights right while the girls sat around talking and drinking wine. after numerous technical problems with the meter (and my cabling for my pocket wizards) I gave up on the gel and put the meter down. Theres no point in having two amazing women available if you’re going to spend the entire time working out your lights.

I was pretty down at that point. I really wanted to use this shoot to learn more about gelling backgrounds and my recent addition of hair lights with grid spots seemed like it was going to be a deadly combo, but you’ve got to roll with it when its happening and what i learnt is gear gets in the way sometimes. Light meters are for learning on your own, or staged shoots where its pre-planned, and my shoots tend to just grow organically.

i won’t think about how that meter is 1/4 of the cost of the new lens i want.

within moments of shooting, while i was still doing test shots for light they were full into it and giving me more than i could handle.

you never know what you might get when you put two people together. it may seem like it will be amazing but often it fizzles as they try to relate to one another. I’ve watched painfully as it happens wishing for it to be over. this time though, they really interacted together amazingly and there were probably more great shots than i will have time to process. these are the sorts of problems one wants to have.

aside from that, it was just fun to hang with two aweosome people for a night.

i’m not sure i will ever be able to translate the fluid, moving nature of the photos i want to capture into the correct light. the two seem opposed sometimes, and when you catch exactly the right shot it seems like pure chance. i want to lessen that random element and yet keep the open ended nature. its something that will require many more years of work to achieve.

the first shot in the above slideshow seems nearly perfect light wise and it was a real eye opener for me. I saw clearly for the first time flaws in my light when comparing to that image and now the work begins to understand why they are different and how to get to producing that quality of light regularly and predictably.

My first attempt at the long portrait. I’ve wanted to do...

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:46:58 -0600

My first attempt at the long portrait. I’ve wanted to do one forever and it wasn’t easy. video is way more work than photos, but i think it worked out and captures some of the fragile beauty i see when i look at tasha.

the song is Beauty’s Colors by Serena Matthews who is brilliant, and also was kind enough to let me use it for this video.

www.serenamatthews.com