Intimate Sketch

Getting back in the game

2010-09-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post, and I've realized that I haven't been posting for a while. I had a few shoots since then, but one of the most interesting people I had posing for me in the studio was a beautiful Irish dancer, "The Infamous Demonatia"

She was full of energy, but as the Irish dance goes, she kept a tight control of her upper body and her hands. Forgetting about photography and getting philosophical for a second, it made me think about the constant tag of war between our personalities and the environment that forces us to keep a tight leash on some of our character traits.

As always, I've changed the pace in the middle of the shoot and made a few portraits trying to show her expressive piercing eyes, the tattoo, and the beautiful, handmade, forehead leather piece that she bought with her. I absolutely loved the images, and I hope you do to.

We also talked about a few things, and the small talk turned into a small discovery of her fascinating personality for me. I won't go into details here, but it's safe to say that I also hope to work with her again one day :)

New Toy

2009-11-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

Probably completely unrelated neither to intimate nor to sketching :) but I've gotten a new toy for myself! It's in great shape, and in due time might even become a prop for one of my shoots.

I'll need to add some padding to the saddle bags to carry my photo gear, and I can't even imagine all the possibilities for shooting in nature with this bike in the background :)

Beautiful Maternity Images

2009-09-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I had a pleasure of working with an expecting mother, who asked me to document her pregnancy in artistic style, trying to avoid glamor and allure while concentrating on beauty and grace.

Her personality lent itself beautifully to the task I had in front of me, and these images are the result of our studio collaboration.

You can see more at IntimateSketch.com

Photo session in the great outdoors

2009-09-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I had a privilege to work with a a friend of mine (again :) ) in the great outdoors. The weather was beautiful, and the the spot we found was simply amazing. It was the end of a relatively easy trail, and the few small stepping stones at the water edge were perfect.

After walking around the park a little more and meeting three beautiful and quite friendly dogs (and their owners), we found a bunch of boulders that we decided to explore. That space offered plenty of opportunities and resulted in many interesting images.

A very short drive away from that park, we found ruins of a small village, just a few houses really. Though pressed for time now, we managed to walk around and find a few gorgeous locations that lended themselves beautifully to our efforts :) Overall, the day was a total success, and I'm looking forward to visiting that place again

You can see more at http://intimatesketch.com/galleries/le5
and even more at http://intimatesketch.com

Another shoot in the park

2009-07-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

Two Sundays ago, I was lucky to work with a great model in the beautiful location. We walked up the stone steps of the park overlooking Hudson River, looking for interesting places to shoot. The theme was the natural summer look and the weather cooperated perfectly.

One of the highlights was the family of three passing by. They were walking their dog, and I asked if they would mind if we took a few pictures of the model with the dog. They were happy to oblige and the dog didn't seem to mind either.

In the end, we found a hidden spot with the small stream, which we've used to emphasize the summer feeling we aimed for.

Here is a link to the rest of the images

Gallery update

2009-07-07T18:02:00.001-07:00

Is it measured in how much you are being paid, or in how much you have accomplished? Maybe it's all about the appreciation? Getting a positive feedback is nice, but when you see that the model really means it by using your images for self promotion, it makes it for a very rewarding experience :)

Shooting in the park

2009-07-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

Beautiful female in the park with arches, steep stairs, elegant hat, flowing dresses, heels, and perfect weather :) The only thing missing are a couple of assistants to carry the gear, a makeup artist, and someone with the cooler full of chilled bottled water.

Check out the gallery and let me know what you think
http://intimatesketch.com/gallery/bz

cheers

Like any Art form, Photography is a two step process...

2009-06-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

First, I collaborate with the model and the image appears. It's adjusted, cropped, manipulated, dropped.... picked up, changed again, twisted, toned, and finally posted.

Then comes the second part: the viewer's reaction to the image. Some like it, some don't care. Some pretend to be experts, some just pull a bunch of crap out of their asses. Very few actually give an intelligent and constructive critique.

I still can't figure out which part of the art process is more interesting :)

Taking a break? Or changing the modus operandi

2009-03-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today, was the first time I decided not to re-post the ad about finding models to collaborate with. On top of having a long list of people I owe images to, and not having any time for it, my ability to pay for the studio expenses took a hit recently (all related to the economy). So, now I'm going to have to ask people to contribute to my costs, or just look for paying clients. But trying to keep the chin up, I'm hoping that this is temporary, things should improve in a couple of years :)

Recently, I had a chance to work with Laeticia again... beautiful images, strong, powerful, and happy :) stay tuned for images from that session

cheers

Great pose! Hold it while I change.....

2009-03-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

the lighting :)

this is probably the main thing she'll remember from the last night photo session. toward the end, she started saying that even before i did every time she moved on to a different pose.

and, of course, as many others, she said she doesn't smile a lot. well, as with many others, that wasn't true. i had to remind her to be serious once in a while.... well, stay tuned for the link to the gallery.

my other model was great as always: easy to work with, beautiful poses, great muscle definition, happy with results and much appreciated :)

hey, you never know

2009-02-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

For me, part of the attraction of working with new people is that I never know what they bring to the table. There's an element of surprise and a need to be creative when presented with one, work with the new image, see the lighting change that's required. There's always a feeling of appreciation for all the efforts and creativity that a model puts into her work. Here is one of my favorite images lately :

2009-02-01T23:35:00.000-08:00

finally had a chance to update my site :) feel free to leave me the comments on these galleries

on ballerinas, portraits, and other stuff :)

2009-01-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

it was a pleasant surprise to see my new model pulling ballet shoes out of her bag and trying them on. the sight of the ballet dancer standing on her toes, stretching her legs and gracefully extending her arms, is an honor and absolute pleasure to photograph. the seemingly effortless elegance, muscle tone, graceful movements appear to transform her into the human work of art. even her facial expression changes, it's bright and serene at the same time.

she makes a few jumps, and i capture her in the air, just at the right moment when her arms and legs are stretched to the max. i then show her a closeup of her face and she exclaims that she loves it :). she never likes her portraits, but i seem to capture her face very well. hearing that from her and then from two other people, who i worked with before, all in the span of a couple of days, makes me feel happy. not in a cocky, grandstanding kind of way. just happy. seems like i'm on my way of achieving my goal of becoming known for nude portraits and flying dancers :). stay tuned for links to her gallery

Antique livingroom

2009-01-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Went to see a new studio space

WOW

5th floor (top floor), tall ceilings, photographer lives there (tall, thin, hairy). stereotypical ny artist

He was surrounded by other photographers, models, friends. His livingroom is full of antique furniture cluttered with modern stuff, beautiful nude images and artwork on the wall. His dining room table is completely full of sun shades, he does product photography too. His studio is used by two young guys messing with equipment, while the model is standing in the middle, snaking on the banana.

There's access to the roof. Even the elevator is so antique that it requires an operator to close the doors and get you upstairs. Its roof is made of iron lattice, and through it, I could see the skylight on the top of the elevator shaft. Given an opportunity, I wouldn't even need his livingroom :) I could just use the elevator

Now, how do I use that space? It's a rhetorical question, but the devil is always in details

being professional

2008-12-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

last night, i had a pleasure of working with two models consecutively. both being extremely professional, punctual, creative. i felt lucky, especially since i took a chance on one of them and skipped my usual initial meeting. very positive experience overall. stay tuned for my favorite images from last night

random event in black and white

2008-12-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

i was looking outside the window, down at the river under the bridge that the train stopped on. the overcast winter morning made the picture devoid of any color. steel of the bridge, coldness of the cloudy water, everything on the river banks were rendered in different shades of gray.

then i saw a bright newspaper page flying in the wind, getting closer to the water. one final gust of wind lifting it up a little, and then it hit the water with it's corner. now it's stuck the the surface, wind still trying to lift it up, but it's slowly loosing the battle. the half crumbled newspaper is getting flattened out as it settles on the water surface. it becomes a few shades darker while getting wet and surrendering to the current.

the train jolts responding to the traffic light, and i'm on my way again

two blonds and ...

2008-12-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

i'm done reading a day and a half old news printed in the free newspaper. looked up and saw two tall blonds. one had sideburns and a-la Elvis Presley hairdo. his headphones were pressing down on the voluminous blond patch, and he was making faces following the music blasting into his ears. the other blond was reading "the wall street journal", standing 6'1" tall, slim frame clad in heels, jeans, short jacket. her makeup was applied very well, and she was obviosly reading the journal for the articles.

the 6'2" that i really liked wasn't blonde. her short dark hair were perfectly cut, reaching the middle of her eyes in front. her batting eyelashes were moving the hair back and forth in a funny kind of way. she was wearing dark clothes without any brand names, and her perfeclty done lips were in harmony with her skin tone. it's rare that you see someone with a sense of style on the path train during the morning commute

the two other guys i got a good look at were also quite interesting. one was wearing a beat up leather jacket with metal zippers, his jet black hair were gelled and styled in the form of the ram's horns. his stubble was soft, short, and rare. the other one was a plain looking office dweller reading the book about willingly "dedicating oneself to the divine person", but that's a whole other can of warms that i don't want to get into now

in the end, the doors opened, and we all walked in our own ways. without going phylosophical on you, it appeared to be a good analogy for life. you never know who you'll ride with, and which one of them will follow you to the last stop on that line

give up your seat, you selfish ass

2008-12-17T13:49:00.001-08:00

two days ago, i saw a rare situation on path train going to new york in the morning. packed train, morning commute, in walks a pregnant woman. normally, everyone sitting are sleeping or pretending to be, g-d forbid they look up and feel compelled to give up their seat to someone who obviously deserves it more than they do. the most sleepy ones are normally healthy looking adults, exercising their fingers on their latest electronic gadgets, while listening to headphones or just dozing off keeping one eye half open monitoring their surroundings.

so, this morning, all of a sudden, a middle aged white man, cleanly shaved, stands up and offers his seat to the pregnant woman. she smiles, thanks him, takes a seat, and he stands without making any efforts to get her attention at least for the duration of the trip

strange acts of random kindness are so rare

why isn't there a public campaign to make people more courteous toward each other? public commute operators might think of putting up a few more signs and images of people giving up their seats, letting someone else in front of themselves, helping others. there's no need to wait for a disaster of some sort to show how americans are able to help each other, this should be a daily thing

i love the commercial that some bank came up with where random people help each other with small little things after seeing someone else do the same. i think we need more of it.

to art or not to art

2008-12-03T13:41:00.000-08:00

Meeting new people to discuss the possible photo session is an interesting process, especially in the winter. It's almost impossible to see the body under the pile of warm clothes, and I have to concentrate on the eyes, trying to see the personality and guess about how it will transfer to film. Given that very few faces out there match the general "model" stereotype, it is always a challenge.

Today, the tables turned a little :) She, being an experienced art model, had some definite ideas, and it was my turn to let me imagination run wild, trying to imagine what she was describing. The general feeling of the power of personality can be conveyed in many different ways, but trying to match it to the style she has in mind is a bit more challenging. I'll follow up on my thoughts once she sends me links to the images she had in mind.