Greetings!

It has been a fun week with a few shoots sprinkled in. All in the studio. It’s good to interact with people and get creative with lights again.

My goal has always been to make a photo shoot an escape from the daily life for the ladies modeling. For a few hours, we play with ways to show their beauty in pictures. We all need a break from routines from time to time. We never know what someone else may be going through. I am very sensitive to keeping a shoot light and enjoyable.

That said…

I wonder if stalking has a season or if it is just a coincidence that they seem to hit me all at once and once in a while. I swear, there are a few people who see fine art in the world and a lot of people who just see boobs.

When I get requests for more edits, behind-the-scenes footage, and anything I have on a specific model, I would have to say I don’t respond well to the request. Actually, I respond just fine, but I’m sure the recipient doesn’t think so. It is a hard no, period. Red flags are waving on the mountaintops.

Stalkers usually request and then demand content. Like they have some right to it. When they say they will pay any amount for it? Yeah, that’s a real stalker with an obsession. By this point I’ve already contacted the model to see if there is a history of stalking by this person. The contact either warns them, or if it is a known people, I can provide evidence.

I have told the story before here of someone contacting me and demanding I sell them all nudes of a certain model. You can bet I recoiled on that right away. After some research with the model, we found that the person doing the demanding was using her stepson’s name to try to hide their identity. This person even signed up for my online training in search of any nudes of this lady. That was their downfall. Like most criminals, they didn’t think using their own credit card to sign up for the training site would be a problem. They did sign up under the stepson’s name, so that made me check their form of payment. Caught!!

That could have been a devastating result of a photo shoot, and I’ll do anything to prevent it from happening.

I certainly didn’t have to explain myself, of course. But it explains some of the things I end up going through. I can’t imagine the stalkers who go directly to the object of their obsession.

Any past or current models I work with should make sure they pass any name or social media links to me so I can be sure they are blocked.

On a lighter note, the group shoot that Elley and I are putting on at the Mesa studio/home has only one spot left! I limit it to ten photographers, and that still gives everyone plenty of room to get a good number of angles throughout the day. Sign up and grab that last spot. This is the premier shooting event of the year in Arizona!

Take some time to sit and enjoy art. It’s good for your soul.

And, if you are a photographer and want to attend our class, there are only TWO spots left. Check it out!!

I support an organization called Model Society. So many wonderful artists to inspire me. Check out their magazine!

And, we have a new photography class scheduled for May 11th!! It will be the third annual natural light class with Elley as the model. I’ll be adding a single light to the mix this year and Elley will have some new and unique outfits. Last year a good number of people who attended had come to the first one. They knew just how much fun it is. After five hours of shooting everyone was happy and exhausted.

Check it out!!

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