Archive for 2008

Argh

Hobbiest photographer posts that he likes to give TFCD models gas money to be a “nice guy”. Money does not = nice. Model does not = low paid whore.

He thinks a model’s work is not good enough for him to pay her, but he also thinks she is such a low little whore that he can buy her affections for a tank of gas. How disrespectful. I’m just speaking as a woman here and not a photographer, but, if you are giving someone money to make them think you are nice, that just seems kind of icky. Giving a woman a tiny amount of money and expecting her to think you are a nice guy for it also implies you think she is cheap.

Money does not make a person nice. Especially not a small amount of money. If you give a model $25 and maybe let her use the pictures, then that is a paid shoot with a low rate and some perks. That is not a trade shoot.

Money is for business arrangements and it takes more than money to make a person nice.

How to make $$$ in alternative modeling and photography?

There is a site I occasionally particpate in and quickly get discouraged.

When browsing over there, I always feel stressed out by the way people are constantly complaining about a lack of paid work while they expect artists to give them huge money and they do what should be highly paid commercial work for free. I’d honestly participate more except that, although many people have a profile for say modeling and being a makeup artist, there is no profile type on there for someone who is buying photos. As a photographer, I feel like I read stuff from people who expect money to fall out of the sky, when I’m working really hard. As an editor, I don’t participate because it would feel weird to do editorial calls from a photographer profile.

But there are more and more people willing to work for free because they erroneously believe that shooting the cover of the phone book for free means they are going to cross over to some world where everybody makes bank. One of my personal rules is that, while I will work for free, I will not work for free for anyone who has a big office. If they can pay that kind of overhead, they can pay me too.

I have yet to come across an alternative modeling agency which really hooks up particularly alternative people. There was an offline one in Los Angles when I got here, but they had really mainstreamed up zed cards where I personally couldn’t tell that I’d want to shoot some of those folks. In my experience, most of the online ones are just people who get off on associating with models or companies which make money off getting people to work on music videos for free or close to it.

If I am looking to post in my capacity as an editor, what is a good site for photographers to sell photos on?

Hollywood Hooters Hello Kitty

Hollywood Hooters Hello Kitty

by Amelia G : July 15th, 2008

XBiz Forrest Black Joanna AngelBlue Blood’s SpookyCash webmaster affiliate program sent yours truly and Forrest Black to the XBiz Hollywood show. As the XBiz show was this past weekend, I was reminded that I had some entertaining snapshots to post of the fun we had. (Footnote: Webmaster affiliate programs are what people with sites reaching thousands of visitors use to, ya know, make money.)

The first night of the webmaster show, we went out to dinner with my friends Lange and Warren. I tried to convince them to go to a restaurant called Koji’s. Koji’s serves sushi and shabu and features pretty good food in a kind of weird mall setting. Some of the same folks who Disneyfied Times Square built a structure called Hollywood and Highland adjacent to the venerable Mann’s Chinese Theater and across from the Disney one and the historic Roosevelt Hotel. Hollywood and Highland features a variety of paid street performers dressed as costume characters and it is a mall, but Koji’s is tasty. Nonetheless, when Lange and Warren realized I was directing us through a mall, they nixed Japanese food and peer pressured me into going back across the street to Hooters.

I’ve never been to Hooters before, but there had been an open bar by the Roosevelt Hotel pool earlier, so I was feeling tipsy agreeable. At the time, we all thought our waitress was super hot. Warren offered to put her in Penthouse and she giggled and he was like, “no, seriously, I’ll put you in Penthouse.” It seemed like she thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. Warren really does shoot for Penthouse. Actually, come to think of it, Forrest Black and I have both shot for Penthouse as well, but Warren . . .

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Voltaire Construction King

It was one of those beautiful wet Portland days when Voltaire, Forrest Black, and I drove all around town looking for a good spot to shoot. Voltaire guided us to this railroad crossing underpass, but it turned out to be under construction. Never ones to be daunted by such a minor inconvenience as heavy machinery and tons of people around, Voltaire and I made a beeline for the bulldozers while Forrest stayed in the rental car as lookout. Voltaire had just handed me her underwear and lifted her neon green skirt, when a construction worker waved me over. I was bummed because we were not going to have good light to shoot by the time we found a new location. But I came when he beckoned because I’m a nice girl like that. I think he was the construction foreman and he told me it was cool if we wanted to shoot pictures to our hearts’ content, but please do not actually climb up in the seats on the trucks because the city’s insurance won’t cover that. The guys working construction didn’t even roll up on us to ogle. The foreman and everyone was so nice that I actually asked Voltaire not to get in the seats. I think that, even with our good behavior, she looks most excellent in the big gravel shovel and in the danger zone and I’m really pleased with how these shots came out. I hope you all enjoy them too. It was quite an adventure and, yes, I did just give me and Voltaire good girl points for shooting erotic nudes in public but only near the seats of trucks and not actually in them. Full series via BlueBlood.com or BarelyEvil.com. Additional free NSFW shot from the series after the jump, although registration is unfortunately now required to view NSFW free pictures, it is free registration and you can post once you have a free profile set up.

Voltaire Construction King Blue Blood

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London Modern Burlesque

I shot some pretty pictures. Free gallery with more on BlueBlood.net

Blue Blood
(Image Courtesy of Blue Blood)

A Thousand Words

I’ve been writing a lot lately, so I thought I’d take a moment to post photos I’ve shot. These turned out nice. Free gallery of pics from this shoot on BlueBlood.net now.

Blue Blood
(Image Courtesy of Blue Blood)

Gwen Shows Off Trash

I wrote an article for BlueBlood.net called Fashion Show in the Champagne Room and shot an accompanying Trash Factory Fashion Show at Devil’s Point photo free gallery which this is one of my favorite shots from.

Blue Blood
(Image Courtesy of Blue Blood)

Independence Day Last Words

Independence Day Last Words

by Amelia G : July 5th, 2008

Last Words Bang Go Boom

Alex Groh is an unofficial sort of cookie monster. He claims to subsist on cookies, jilting his loving refrigerator in the process, and only getting out of bed to draw and get milk for his cookies. This may be exaggerated for comedic effect, but that’s really not a bad quality in a cartoonist. Alex Groh draws a webcomic called Last Words and cookies and the blood of small children are his inspiration.

The comic strip stars the severely psychotic Loc with his trusty kitchen knife. No whining if you get cut. And remember to keep a magnet under your pillow, so your computer can’t come assault you while you are sleeping.

Alex Groh says just because I’m looking at porn doesn’t . . .

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Coffee Better Be the Answer

I have a headache and hate everything this morning. (Yes, I know what time it is, but I also know when I woke up.) In the words of the great philosopher, coffee had better be the answer. Heading to favorite watering hole shortly.

4th of July Double Ration of Rum

Happy 4th of July

by Amelia G : July 4th, 2008

John Adams George WashingtonIn the early days of American history, the founding fathers were a little fuzzy about which day of the first week in July they wanted to celebrate American independence. In 1778, General George Washington, who became the first president of the United States in 1789, saw to it that his soldiers got double rations of rum for the event. In 1776, John Adams, who became the second president of the United States in 1797, and was recently commemorated in a decent HBO miniseries, said the occasion “ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations.” Over time, the holiday has been more or less formalized and somewhat regional. Parts of the American South refused to celebrate July 4th for some time because they were pissy about losing the Civil War. Well, in a way, everyone loses a civil war, but, in this instance, I mean lost in the battle-followed-by-formally-admitting-defeat way and not in the personal and societal loss way. It was actually not until 1941 that Independence Day was formalized as a paid federal holiday on the 4th of July and celebrated all through these 50 states.

Even when I worked on government gigs, back when I lived in the Washington, DC area, I was always a contractor and I don’t think I have ever gotten a paid holiday from any job I have ever held. Apparently, being my own boss is no improvement, as I’m making myself work today. At some point this evening, I’m going to go up on my roof with some family and friends though. During the day, I can see the Hollywood sign from my roof, but, on fireworks-oriented occasions, my roof is one of the best views in town. Los Angeles is very spread . . .

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Cookie Monster is Not Blue Elmo

Cookie Monster is Not Blue Elmo

by Amelia G : July 3rd, 2008

Cookie Monster is Not Blue Elmo Jefbot

Carny: We have a WINNER! Choose your prize.

Little Girl: I want the blue Elmo!

Carny: Here ya go! One blue Elmo for the young lady!

Jeff Schuetze: Blue Elmo? Did you hear that? Cookie Monster is not a blue Elmo!!!

Sean: We are totally old.

Jeff Schuetze: And he eats COOKIES!!!

Actor/comic strip guy Jeff Schuetze (pronounced “shoot-zee like a gun”) writes a web comic called JEFBOT. His strips are mostly about pop culture and his trials and tribulations as a SAG actor. Although he generally brings readers a new comic twice a week, he does something unusual but clever in the world of comics and lists his acting resume on there. I always wanted to see what Dogbert’s Scott Adams’ resume looked like alongside the Dilbert comics, moreso when he still had a day job. At any rate, Jeff Schuetze’s acting curriculum vitae includes a special skills and abilities list. Having looked over mountains of headshot submissions myself, I can confirm that it is fairly common for someone to list unusual talents on the back of a photo or on an attached piece of paper, the sorts of oddities which might make them a better candidate for a booking. Jeff Schuetze’s list includes biking, bowling, hydroslide, ju-jitsu (brown belt), ostrich jockey, programmer, soccer, surfing, tennis, ultimate frisbee, and videogames. While including the list is common, I’d have to say that is a unique and interesting list. I googled hydroslide and I can’t figure out how it differs from regular water-skiing. I’m dying to know what exactly that is and how the artist became an ostrich jockey and what that entails.

JEFBOT is fun in general, but it probably comes as no surprise that I especially loved the cookie monster webcomic. It is actually . . .

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Athena Hollow by Funkatron

Free EroticBPM gallery posted as part of my interview with Scott Owens of EroticBPM 🙂

Blue Blood
(Image Courtesy of Blue Blood)

Happy Birthday EroticBPM

Happy Birthday EroticBPM

by Amelia G : July 2nd, 2008

EroticBPM Pics Bella Starr KrystalI did this interview with the wonderful Scott Owens from EroticBPM a while back for the esteemed Thomas S. Roche back when he was editing Eros Zine. Eros Zine was unfortunately not able to post it permanently before they lamentably stopped updating. As yesterday was EroticBPM’s nine year anniversary, I felt like now would be a good time to post it here.

Scott Owens is the founder of and mastermind behind EroticBPM. BPM stands for Beats Per Minute and is an electronica term for how fast the musical percussion is thumping to get your booty shaking. The site initially grew out of the rave culture which Scott was active in. Hence the moniker “Erotic Beats Per Minute.”

Partiers who have had a blast at raves will enjoy the site, but it also appeals to a more general taste in unique young women — and occasionally men. Those who like partying teens will find EroticBPM has a lot of hot stuff to fit that taste as well. And there is a special forum for photos of models and members showing off their elbows. MistyB, one of the star models on EroticBPM, posts, “Elbow fetish is the only fetish.” She might be joking. Then again, the site features a plethora of fine examples of elbow photography.

Scott Owens is creative and always pushing the envelope in terms of how erotic content can be presented online. Although blogging is less of a focus now, EroticBPM was one of the very first multigirl erotic membership sites to feature model journals and structured profiles and the very first in his niche. The site features a thriving community where members and models and Scott and company interact in a friendly and positive . . .

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Marquis 44 Hitting Newsstands Now

Marquis 44 Hitting Newsstands Now

by Amelia G : July 1st, 2008

The new issue of Marquis is hitting European newsstands now. This makes twenty-six or twenty-seven issues in a row of Marquis, the highest circulation glossy fetish magazine in the world, which have featured work by yours truly and Forrest Black. As you probably know, Forrest Black and I do the Big in America column. I write it and he and I shoot it.

For this issue, we featured Serena Toxicat, Nixon Sixx, Vampirabat, Eirik Aswang, and Antiseptic Fashion, and there are mentions of tons of cool pervy events and people including photographers, directors, painters, and designers. I first met author and pro-domme Serena Toxicat more than a decade ago when she slept in my living room, having come through my town as a new member of the gothic gypsy carnival which is the band Apocalypse Theatre. She has a book out now called Evangeline and the Drama Wheel, based largely on her travels and adventures with Apocalypse Theatre and partly on her personal passions and interests in sex magick. We’ve known the dangerously adventurous and itinerant Nixon Sixx since 2002 when she was living in New Orleans and Forrest Black and I were guest speakers at the ill-fated GothCon held there. We’ve had a lot of fun shooting in NOLA whatever events we came through for. Beautiful city which attracts beautiful people, but . . .

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Soon I Will Be Invincible

Soon I Will Be Invincible

by Amelia G : June 30th, 2008

Soon I Will Be InvincibleSoon I Will Be Invincible is out this month in paperback from Random House’s Pantheon. The hardcover was my favorite fiction read of last year. Which is saying something because I go through an average of a couple hundred books a year. From some of the promo when the book was first released, I sort of assumed it was going to be a geek chic thing. If there was ever something I was into that I had thought nobody would pretend to like just to be cool, it was being into fandom and having a big brain. Which just goes to show that, no matter how smart you are, sometimes you’ll get it wrong. When I finally got around to picking up Soon I Will Be Invincible, I couldn’t put it down.

The story is an exploration of the issues of alienation and self-confidence which face someone who is exceptional. A person can be different from the other children without being technically lesser, yet there is still enormous alienation which comes with being different. In a very real way, a top scientist or a top athlete or a top musician is truly alien, in the dictionary sense that he or she is estranged and unlike those who should be his or her own. I have often observed among my friends and acquaintances, in real life, that those who are just a bit above average often seem to function best in society. A person with a 120 IQ succeeds in a general way more often than a person with a 180 IQ. Human beings are social animals and that is just the way the system works. Which is not to say that someone who is exceptional . . .

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