Greetings, fellow earthlings.

This week we are in the valley's heat, which is toasty. But there is some rain here and there, and the weather is always nice to see, at least in Arizona.

I have a few shoots lined up this week, and then it’s back to the nice cool north country for us for at least a couple more months. Unfortunately, I’m sure our massive flock of hummingbirds has abandoned us for a more natural hunt for nectar. We may not see them in those numbers again this year. I always miss the constant humming.

In a short time, I’ll be shooting with Kenzie. I think it’s been a few years since we’ve had a chance to create. She’s always fun and brings a very confident look to the camera. Many of the planned shoots this week are of models I haven’t worked with in a while. Not just because of the pandemic, but just life and how it changes for everyone. Priorities.

Over the last 4 days, I’ve been hosting Daniel, a photographer from South Africa. He came 10,000 miles for training. He shot with Elley Cat for the main training days and then had the treat of shooting with Ziva for a few hours. He’s headed back as I type this, and he says he has a very different mindset on what he wants to do for art now.

He was surprised I didn’t go into many technical things about light or the camera. And I rarely do unless someone is that new at it. I think I teach more of the zen of how you feel how you want the light and what angles are creative. And then using the editing tools to round out the image and turn it into beautiful art.

I spend a lot of time on the point that, as artists, we just have to create things we love. It’s not about what others might think or like, or dislike. It does free the mind and makes it far more fun.

This week you’ll find about half of the gallery is simple figure study art with a model named Madison. These were taken years ago, and in just about all of them, they are exactly as they were shot. The lighting was perfect, and her poses are spot on to show off her shape. To some, these will look repetitive, but each is unique and beautiful. I rarely get a patch of art that doesn’t get edited in some way.

This week’s video is of Elley Cat and the shoot by the little waterfall at Bonita Creek. If you see a shoot there, it involves three miles of hiking for that set. And you can bet the water is chilly. At that point, it is less than a mile from where the water bubbled out of the ground, where it has been in deep caverns with no sun. Brrrr.

Stay cool, happy, and healthy!

Dave

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