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Tag Archives: Prick Magazine
Tattoos and Hot Rod Magazines!
October 2011 was a great month for me! I have a fully booked calendar of paying clients for the holiday season and this month two magazines have featured my work on their covers and in features.
Ink Atlanta is a publication featuring tattoo studios, artists, and culture in the Atlanta area. It is a localized version of Prick magazine (mentioned in earlier posts). The November 2011 issue of Ink Atlanta features the beautiful Tara Villavalzo (also mentioned in earlier posts) as the cover and featured tattooed model. My relationship with Tara and her tattoo artist husband Vince Villavalzo – owner of Mystic Owl Tattoo Studio in Marietta, GA – has been one of the professional and personal highlights of my 2011! Pick up a copy of Ink Atlanta when you visit your local tattoo studio.
The motorcycle culture magazine Biker 101 has been transformed into a new publication called Grease, Inc. featuring bikes, trucks, hot rods, rat rods, and other items of interest to the gear head and grease jockey. Each month the magazine will feature a Rag Doll, and I am the photographer for that feature. The premier issue of Grease, Inc. came out on Oct. 30 at the annual Hell On Wheels Beer Fest, and I was very proud to see my photos of Mary Frances in that magazine as well. You can pick up copies of Grease, Inc. at your local motorcycle or hot-rod shop.
Posted in Magazines, model photography, News & Updates
Also tagged Grease Magazine, hot rods, motorcycles, Tara Villavalzo, tattoo models, tattoos
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Pin Up Girls & Hot Rods
The World Of Wheels returns to the World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta January 21-23.
Like last year, Garage 71 is sponsoring a pin up girl contest at 8pm on Saturday January 22nd at the World Of Wheels.
The winning pin up girl receives $500 cash, featured pin-up on Dirty Rotten Rides, a featured in PRICK magazine, a custom one of a kind trophy, and a photo shoot by me!
2nd place wins $300, and 3rd Place wins $200.
Remember – this is a PIN UP contest – not a hot body or bikini contest. The judges will be looking for the girl that best exemplifies the modern pin up girl. Check out Dirty Rotten Rides and PRICK magazine to see what kind of girls the judges will be looking for.
If you want to sign up, or need more information, contact the boys at Garage 71.
Posted in Just For Fun, model photography, News & Updates
Also tagged Dirty Rotten Rides, Garage 71, pin up girls, World of Wheels
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Work for free?
Photographers (and other creative people – including models and make-up artists) are constantly asked to work for free on the promise of getting “exposure”. As I read somewhere, and I do wish I remembered where, people die from exposure.
Believe it or not, even in the digital age, photography costs money, and working for “exposure” does not pay my credit card bills. That said, however, there are times when working for free can pay off.
I recently shot some promotional work for Ink 4 Pink, a local cancer charity event. The event organizer, Jessica Hill (aka, JJ Diablo) is on my personal list of pretty tattooed girls I’d like to photograph. I have worked with one of the models in the promo piece, Kris Melton with Rock Fist Reviews, twice before – for free (a relationship that recently got me published in Prick Magazine again). I have worked with the make-up artist for the promo piece, Trisha Stowell, a number of times before – for free. It is those free jobs that got me in front of the event organizer. We did a really good promo piece, and had a good time creating it.
I got to work in a location that I would not have had easy access to before, with a creative team (models, make-up, wardrobe) that I would not have easily put together, and made strong network connections for future work.
Working for free – for exposure – can be a Good Thing. It ust depends on your personal goals as a creative
Posted in News & Updates, Photography Business
Also tagged Ink 4 Pink, Jessica Hill, JJ Diablo, Kris Melton, Trisha Stowell
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2009 In Retrospect

As I started writing this entry, I was thinking that 2009 was a “meh” year for me photographically. But as I wrote it, I realized that 2009 was a pretty good year for me. I did not accomplish the goals I set for myself this time last year, but it was a good year all the same.
The bulk of the year was spent finishing the basement which included my beautiful wife’s art studio, our still in disarray tiki/beach bar, and my photography studio. All of the destruction, construction, and cleaning meant not much of a chance to do as much photography as I would have liked. I did get some good shoots in, however, and I really shouldn’t complain to much. After all, I now have my own mostly finished studio space (I say “mostly finished” because no studio is ever truly finished) with plenty of room for shooting everything from family portraits to artistic figure work to product photography.

I did some travel (which I love), and went to San Diego, Albuquerque, vacation in Florida where I worked with two swimsuit models on the beach (you can’t do much of that in North Georgia), a paid trip to Myrtle Beach to photograph a hotel for the day job, and a weekend nature photography trip to the Smoky Mountains with good friends.
On very short notice, I organized the very successful model shoot out for the annual Rock and Roll Monster Bash at the Starlight Drive In in Atlanta – a feat that also put me in touch with a number of people I only knew from the internet as well as helped to get my name out to the alt model world (I loves me some tattooed models!). I also continued and strengthened my relationship with the Atlanta Roller Girls and became their official official photographer for the latter part of the 2009 season and the upcoming 2010 season. My relationship with the Atlanta Roller Girls directly led to me doing a piece on the Austin, TX band And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead for Prick Magazine – on line and in print – in 2009, too.
I ended 2009 working with the first Help Portrait project, a few shoots for my personal projects, a big group and individual portrait shoot for an international company, and some great shots of my family at Christmas. All in all, 2009 was a pretty good year for my camera and me.
As I look into 2010, I already have five shoots booked for January, including a repeat shoot with the beautiful Amy Frena before she heads off to sunny southern California to pursue her modeling career, two personal project shoots, a client product shoot, and the first shoot as the official official photographer for the Atlanta Roller Girls.
2009 did not suck, and 2010 will only get better!
***The pretty girl at the top is Amy Frena. She was one of my last pretty girl shoots of 2009, and will be my first pretty girl shoot of 2010.
Has my work finally started to pay off?
After years of practicing, shooting, printing, processing, “photoshopping”, and working on a “style”, my work has finally been recognized. I was recently put on the official list of Atlanta freelance photographers for Prick Magazine. The appropriateness of this doesn’t escape me.
A few years ago I picked up an issue of Prick to read the cover story about Andrea Smith of the Atlanta Roller Girls and learned that roller derby was alive and well in the 21st century. I went to my first derby bout after reading that article, and, after a few seasons of photographing the bouts, have become the official photographer for the Atlanta Roller Girls (taking the spot left by the much loved and respected Frank Mullen). It is because of that association with the Atlanta Roller Girls, and my work with some tattooed folks, that I got the “in” with Prick.
Last night was my first assignment for Prick Magazine. I was asked to photograph the band Trail Of Dead during their visit to The Masquerade. It was an easy assignment for me. The guys in the band were friendly and appropriately playful, and I have shot live bands a few times in the past. I hope the shots are what the magazine was looking for. If so, I’ll have my second magazine tear sheet very soon (my first tear sheet was Diva, a UK-based lesbian magazine – really).
My fingers are crossed for the hope that this becomes a regular thing for me, and after a few successes with Prick, I’ll have to work on marketing myself to the local tattoo/piercing/music scene as one of the go-to guys for publicity and marketing photos.
Posted in News & Updates, Photography Business
Also tagged Atlanta Roller Girls, Masquerade
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