day 142

a long day that started with good intent and ended with a soar neck. not that i am saying it was a bad day, let me explain.

i had some prep work to get done for tomorrow mornings location shoot. i also knew that it was going to be a busy day working on the deathmatch portraits. so the "good intent"-ion was to wake early, knock out the work for tomorrow's shoot, then be prepped and ready for the portraits. my mind would be at ease about what i had to get done for my paying work, then i could truly crash after the portraits.

so my alarm went off, and after a few snooze punches, i was out of bed and into the shower. doing good on the early thing. but then i sat down in front of my laptop, and for some strange reason figured i would update my itunes library. i don't know why, it seemed like an appropriate use of time at the moment. then lady friend came down and started making breakfast. so i couldn't just leave, that would have been rude. so i update, and i eat, and i notice that now there is not enough time to get the "proper" work done.

well shut, so much for good intent.

i headed over to joe's and we piled in and split for the cemetery. the weather was drizzly and nasty but appropriate for joe's image. the shot turned out great and only took 5 minutes.

then it was eat time at tu casa.

belly's full, we split to the second portrait of the day. this one was a bit more difficult. tight space and odd lighting and lacking proper tools. but the shot works. they are mimicking a famous italian sarcophagus. i know i have the shot in focus, but i can't seem to make it sharp like the others. i can't figure out why. probably because i had to use a longer shutter speed and there is probably just some motion blur to the image. oh well, everyone involved seemed happy with it.

then off to 158. another 5 minute image where the nasty over-cast day and rain played into the theme perfectly. everyone seemed pretty happy with the final result.

now i am back home, i have knocked out 3 portraits, pulled the last minute items needed for the location shoot, and am ready for a meal and sleep.

day 141

alex, thank you. breakfast was great and i can't wait to get the wheels turning. you are a spark of inspiration.

since breakfast i have pretty much had every available resource of my brain working. it is about 11 pm and i am only now able to get to a point of understanding of the days events. so, that just says to me the available resources in my head ain't worth shit.

the lady friend and i weren't that friendly today. but i can't even say what we weren't friendly about. i don't know why we argued today. the worst part is that i am scratching my head wondering if there was a positive outcome from it or not. i can't even remember why i was put off.

i think my head is just exhausted. the wheels don't want to turn anymore. i just want to lay my head down and sleep and not have to worry about anything.

i debated all day about working on something creative, but nothing came to fruition. at one point i pulled the camera out and starting just snapping some shots of whatever i could find interesting in the living room. of course there was bertie, in all his lazy glory.

i am going to hit the sack. i have several portraits to knock out tomorrow and i have studio errands to run prior to shooting. so, off to bed for an early rise.

day 140.02

so i saw that Lady Friend was looking for a cookie image.

this is something i pulled together at lunch as a taunt. it is the enjoyment on my face from a black & white cookie at lunch.

no reason it shouldn't go up here.

day 140 (and end of day 139.03)

after work yesterday i picked up joe ricchio and we set off to knock out some portraits for the deathmatch book he is putting together.

initially we were going to shoot joe's portrait in the cemetery where his grandfather is buried, using his tombstone as if it were joe's. we couldn't find the headstone after searching for a chunk of time. so we set off to get some other shots done instead.

the next portrait was for nolan. he is the gent in the red shirt. went pretty well, no real troubles. i am actually liking the shots we got.

let me just say this really quick. i have been so wrapped up in the commercial photography thing, that i don't know what it is like anymore to just show up somewhere and shoot something. every shoot i head out on, i know (typically) where i am going to be shooting, what my surroundings are going to be like, how much natural light i am going to have, what the desired end result is, the concept, etc.

with these portraits, it is pretty much just show up and take a picture. i don't know the where or what parts. i was starting to get frustrated with it yesterday when i was trying to think about what i might could possibly need. i take pride in what i do, and i want the end result to be something that i WANT to put my name to. there have been little side projects in the past that even though the client was happy with the final product, i didn't want my name associated with it. but i digress. these portraits are going to be going into a book, with photos of food. and even though the book is not going to be for sale, it is more of a keepsake for those involved with the deathmatch, i still want to be proud of the work i produce.

so, i was getting stressed when trying to prepare for the unknown. then i said fuck it, and i would make it work. so i made the first portrait work. the second, i am not sure about.

so i have gone through and done a quick once-over work of joel's portraits. there are actually some in there that i am happy with. yippee!!!!!

day 139.02

so i have been digging around looking for some ideas on subject matter for an editorial piece i could do for my portfolio.

i would hit up this site, which would link me to another site, then to another, then to another, etc., etc., etc.,then........everything always lands us at youtube.

here is my final youtube landing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAyW73byr7o&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.homegrown.org%2Fgroup%2Ffeedamandapalmer&feature=player_embedded

here is the coolness that brought me to youtube:

http://www.homegrown.org/group/feedamandapalmer

day 139

i am playing with pasta today.

i wanted to take some pretty and clean color pasta shots to compliment a series of B&W pasta making shots from Hugo's kitchen.

the pasta i used i just picked up at the grocery store in a plastic container. i figured it would work well enough for me to light and get a feel for what i really wanted. now that i feel like i have it where i want it, i will run down to a local pasta shop and get the real deal and fresh.

i could even play with getting an assortment of different styles of pasta and seeing which ones work best. like the larger sheets of lasagna, or bowtie or fettuccine, etc.

day 138

PHOTO BY: LADY FRIEND (a.k.a. Nicole)

sunday is a day for cookin'. made some shrimp creole using Maine shrimp. will not do that again. it wasn't that it tasted bad, just that it didn't taste right. it was sweet, and i didn't want sweet.

either way, there was creole to be had.

that evening arielle, neil and myself ate with leslie at her place. she made maine shrimp scampi and a peach tart. very very very damn good. the perfect amount of food and wine.

day 137.02

i have been scanning through craigslist.org in the creative services section for maine. damn, is it scary.

it amazes me how much crap talent there is out there. it not only amazes me, it scares me. it furthers my thoughts of the doom of tasteful society. i feel the post-apocalyptic the future of design will one revolving around cheesy photoshop filters.

since every creative tool has either been cheapened, or compressed into a dumbed-down format (i am talking to you photoshop elements) anyone can do it. this topic is nothing new, and i am not the first person to bring it up.

i guess i am finally visually offended enough to be scared by it.

crap, i gotta get. maybe i will write on this more later.

day 137

i played around with some new B&W's of kitchen prep for my food portfolio this morning.


i have amassed a good chunk of the gritty side of cooking, that i might could start a separate book just for the B&W stuff. if i do that, i need to figure out a way to either have it tag along with the "porn" food shots. or figure out a way for it to be an entice-r for someone to want to see the porn.

something to ponder over lunch.

day 136

can you spot the camel toe in the picture?

The modesty of fashion

day 135

so i bought a domain name(s) today.

zackbowen.com
zackbowen.net

kinda thought that if i did that, i might actually get off my ass and start making a website.

i also started playing with dreamweaver today. seems like something i can potentially wrap my mind around. i think i need to by a book to use as a crutch (then later as clutter) so i can start putting content together.

day 134

it has been too damn long. i won't make any excuses, but i will try and bring everything up to speed...with the aid of bullet points!

• my last post mentioned returning from Texas and jumping straight back into work. physically i did just that, mentally i clinged to the thought of being back in Texas.

• my last post also mentioned the probability of an argument. to be honest, say the "probability" of an argument is like putting lipstick on sarah palin, it is trying to be polite and disguise the truth. there were arguments, just like there had been, and just like there were going to be.

• the weekend in rangeley was great. wish i could have spent more time there. the conversation getting there was great as well. it has been learned that we should never start our own porn business.

• after the rangeley weekend, i can pretty much describe the next few weeks as a blur. up until the past week.

• the past week nicole and i have split up...

• ...but we still live together

and you may be asking yourself, "where does the creativity work in?" wish i fucking knew. the sad part is that i haven't really done much creatively.

here, again with the aid of bullets, i will list of my creative endeavors:

• i played with honey. i wanted to shoot honey dripping down onto honeycomb and get this really poppy, sexy, slick, sumptuous image. i didn't quite get it. or at least not all the adjectives i was aiming for. i think it pops, i think it is sexy and sumptuous, but i have yet to meet one person who has viewed it and known what the honey was falling onto. oh well, i think the close up of the honey bear is cooler anyway.

• i played with a beauty dish and astro-turf. i have never truly been comfortable using a beauty dish as a light source for fashion or portraiture. so Madeline (my mannequin's name) stood in for me to test some lighting. am i any more comfortable with the beauty dish? not really. i wanted to see how the shadows affected the face using a beauty dish; Madeline has no face; therefore Madeline has no shadows. Bitch!!! but it did end on a happy note. aside from Madeline and i having make-up sex, the pic did inspire me to want to shoot my friends in the same vein. i thought it would be fun to have my friends stand in and have their pic taken with the fake flowers as well. they could do whatever they wanted to do with them. the flowers would be the common thread between the portraits. could be kinda fun.

• i also started a conversation with two different models about posing for an art project inspired by an illustrator named Cath Riley.

http://www.debutart.com/artist/cath-riley/work/3518

i love the idea of shooting gritty B&W closeups of hands just grabbing onto soft flesh. when i came across her illustrations i immediately thought of the first time you get hot and heavy with a new lover. that moment when you feel a sense of comfort and reciprocation and all you want is to experience every inch of the person's body. you have that excitement and passion of exploring a new landscape that you can barely contain yourself. so you grip a bit harder and bring the new landscape closer and you get more excite when you pull you tighter and grip you firmly as well.

or maybe that is just me. either way, i was turned on. so i want to make some pics that hopefully would convey that same feeling. i don't know how soon i will be getting to it, but i will post it as soon as i do.

• i shot the kitchen prep and dinner rush as Hugo's a week or so ago. spent nearly all saturday shooting the prep before the restaurant opened, then the actual execution of the night. the line in progress, etc. and then i feasted. much thanks to rob and nancy for being so generous.

side note here. since i started shooting food in my spare time two years ago, i have met some amazing chefs and amazing people. every one of them have been beyond generous with their talent and art. and i just want to say thank you to all those people that have let me come in and invade their kitchens and dining areas and then fed me on top of that. i only hope my contribution is as pleasing to y'all as your generosity has been to me.

i think that is it. i guess i should do that work thing now. lets hope i can get back into the groove and post daily again.

- zack