Seduction Halloween Party by SEAF

Last night was the gala Halloween party put on by the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival. Like the festival itself, it was held at Fremont Studios here in Seattle.

Michael Holden spins at SEAF

The night brought out a wide variety of revelers in a wider variety of costumes and some body paint. For me this was a departure in that I used my flash to photograph guests of the party. Of course I also went for some "available light" photos. Available light in quotes because I believe in the W. Eugene Smith quote that available light is any damn light that is available (which could be strobes, sun, a bathroom wall sconce, etc.). But back to partying...

At some point in the night I noticed someone sitting in a large bird cage in the "Village" area of the studio. I thought it was part of her costume, but quickly found out it was not, it was a studio prop, so I set up shop there for an hour or so to take photos of guests in the cage.

I finished up the night with some photos of body painting and my friend Tiberio, who you may know from previous blog posts about his La Figa project.

 Here's til next time...

Return of the iPhone

For a while I was really into "iphonography," taking and editing a LOT of photos with my phone. But for the past few months I've been using my larger cameras more than the iPhone.

That all changed today. I woke up to a wonderfully foggy morning. In the past I'd go grab a big camera with a few lenses and head out into the fog. But this morning I decided to go it alone with the iPhone. Here are three of the images. The one above has had a lot of great feedback on Facebook. Just a reminder that many of the images that appear on my blog can be purchased as prints. If you don't see an image you are looking for let me know and I will get it uploaded there. But that's all the selling for today. Please enjoy these images taken with and edited on the iPhone (I'm still using the iPhone 4)...

UPDATE: We had another foggy morning and I was able to create these two new images:

Rick Sammon at creativeLIVE Day 3

As usual, at the end of day three of a creativeLIVE workshop I'm too wiped out to write much. But still have photos to share from behind the scenes.

This time I'll start our with one of the last photos of the day in the studio. This is only a part of the full crew. Here we see students, camera operators, sound technicians, production assistants, chat hosts, Rick, Myself, Craig, Kenna, Susan, and the two people who really keep the whole thing together, Celeste the producer, and Nikko, who's job title is Nikko because he does so many things.

Today we got to take some photos, play some music, teach some concepts, talk to Catherine Hall, take more photos, and go out for dinner where Rick entertained us with magic tricks.

Rick Sammon posting to Google+

Mic-ing up the students

Adam being Adam

A new look for Jacob

Emily

Wonder what Sammonism is being discussed here

Adam explains the camera angles

Celeste trying to fly away

Butterfly lands on Kenna's hand

The Power Trio (see/hear us on YouTube)

Thanks to kaylyn for taking this group photo

Thanks to the remote trigger for taking this group photo

View from the ground during another group photo

Celeste signals us that we're all clear and off the air

Craig watching a magic trick

Celeste participates in a magic trick

Pick a card, any card...

Next up at creativeLIVE is Matthew Jordan Smith. I look forward to seeing you there! But before we leave for the night, one more photo of Rick after 3 days of non-stop action packed photography classes...

Rick Sammon workshop at creativeLIVE

Whew! We're two days into the Rick Sammon workshop at creativeLIVE. It has been a whirlwind of tips, tricks, and general photographic education.

Outside of Serious Pie in South Lake Union

 On day 1 we worked with small strobes in a variety of sets with two models. From an elegant rim light on black background to Little Red Ridinghood in the woods. In the middle of the day we did a call in session with wildlife photographer Juan Pons. And then we finished up the day/evening with a great dinner at Serious Pie (second time this week!).

Day 2 mixed continuous fluorescent lights (a Westcott Spiderlite TD6 kit), strobe, and window light. And I got a good amount of air time discussing various lighting topics with Rick and the students. Rick has really gone out of his way to include me in the class instead of being in the background. Who knows, this might lead to me doing some of my own classes on creativeLIVE. Let cL know if you want to see me present on something there.

Tomorrow I will try to post some photos of me as model, musician, assistant, photographer, general go-to guy on set. In the meantime, some photos from the first two days...

Rick Sammon talks to Juan Pons

Some of the items on the equipment cart

Behind the Live's Kenna and Susan

Getting the crane ready for some overhead shots

Introducing the Rick Sammons Custom Light
Modifier (patent pending).

Getting ready to start the show

The behind-the-scenes crew

Introducing the new FJ Westcott Apollo Orb

Got batteries

Who is our mystery guest?

Little Red Ridinghood

Chase Jarvis and Rick Sammon

Celeste and McKenzie

Rick enjoying interaction with his students

One more day to go! Watch us live on Sunday, October 23 from 9am to 4pm Pacific time on creativeLIVE and/or purchase the class to watch at any time.