Greetings!

I’ve had a busy week with editing and doing some serious fun things with my other hobby, Amateur Radio. I now have an antenna on the house that pretty much lets me talk with people from all over the world. I know; I could do that with my cell phone. But do you know how that cell phone works? I know how and why my radios work, and they don’t work at the whim of some greedy company. Just tugging on your chain a bit. (grin)

I got a chance to work on more of the Playboy-style shoot with Griffin, and I think we ran that idea all the way. We created some fantastic timeless art in the style that Mr. Hefner imagined so many years ago.

The real fun, for me, was the feel of what it might have been like to be an actual Playboy photographer. I’m pretty sure I’m wrong and that there were fifty people, stylists, makeup artists, and directors, and one hundred lights at least. But Griffin and I and a handful of lingerie and one light did what I think was just as good and maybe better. At least we did it way under the budget I’m sure they had, and it isn’t just a ‘job’ for us, so we cared more about each shot. It's nice to dream, though.

It doesn’t hurt that we had a fantastic studio/home to shoot it in. I can’t thank Robert and his wife enough for so many opportunities to shoot there. I’ve even hosted a few classes there, and all were strikingly different and successful. Just the way I would like them to be for my students.

I’ll always be enormously thankful for the ladies and a few men who have found their way in front of my camera. Those who worked with me when I wasn’t sure what an fStop was. When my work would have looked better taken with a cell phone. Those that I knew then have mostly moved on. And those that work with me today. To me, they are friends and are almost family. I hope to create with them until I’m done creating. I know some will move on with their lives in other directions. Of course, I hope they do. You can’t grow standing still. And I hope there will be some people who create with me in the future that I have yet to meet. In every case, they are all welcome to be a part of my life as long as they want.

The pandemic taught me how vital the social part of working with people was. I knew the bantering and exchanging ideas, the laughing, the painful poses, and the scrambling over rocks on location, and hearing about people’s lives was important to me. But when it stopped for a while, it showed me just how important it was.

I remember the day I got back from my first seminar in Denver. Part of it had been shooting some local models there. Suddenly I had friend requests from 20 something year old ladies on social media. I sat back and wondered if I would look like a creep or feel like a creep with a bunch of girls younger than my daughter following me. Well, I got over that to the tune of thousands of models that are ‘friends’.

The funniest part is, for many of the models I’ve worked with, I’ve sent nude pictures. Not of me, of course. Hell no! Of them. (grin). I’m in the self-esteem business, and giving the ladies beautiful pictures of themselves is exactly the core reason we do this. And all this time, you thought I did it to let you see naked ladies? Sorry. Not at all.

Of course, as I’ve said in the past, I have a PHD in Show and Tell. I love to show off my work. I graduated from pocket trinkets in kindergarten to female figure art, but hey, if you grow, you change.

Did you find someone to hug last week? No? Now you have to find TWO people to hug. Cats and dogs don’t count.

To be a great conversationalist, ask questions and listen. Repeat.

“Be curious, not judgemental” - Walt Whittman

And if you’d like to give me feedback on these Museletters, feel free! I love to hear from you all! - Contact form