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Well, I may not have had an emotional snap after the big bike ride, but I'm none to sure about my teammate and buddy Bill!
As you all know, Bill and Peeair were cycling partners for the Hill Country Ride. At the end of the ride, Peeair was getting in my truck for his return trip to my house, when he was snatched back by an eager Bill who insisted Peeair needed a day at the spa before he could come home to stay.
I asked Chester what he thought, and he said that he had actually paid Bill to give Peeair some extra special treatment. Isn't that sweet and thoughtful?! Despite wanting to finally get Peeair home safe and sound, I ignored the twinge of madness I saw in Bill's eyes, and let him spend the week at Bill's spa.
And Peeair was looking a bit tattered, so he was due for some TLC. Even though Bill had made a special little rain suit for Peeair, he still managed to get quite grungy.
Most cyclist adore their “chain ring tattoos” that some how end up invariably swiped across our calf lines, but don't ask me what kind of training Bill and Peeair were doing that he got whipped by a chain on his neck and front side. That Peeair is either hard core or kinky!.
Chester requested evidence…no..uh documentation of Peeair's spa day, perhaps gleefully wanting to enjoy his special gift to his best buddy vicariously. So we an thank Bill and Chester for the photo-documentary. Isn't that just the sweetest?
The day started with a “play date” with Spencer, Bill's overly friendly dog. Bill recently tiled his living room, and here Spencer shows Peeair close up all of Bill's highly detailed work.
Later Spencer found Peeair basking in his bed, and they had a small argument. Spencer then locked Peeair outside in the backyard. That's not very friendly!
Bill neglected to mention to Peeair that he has a second dog named Gretchen. Despite being tossed unceremoniously to the backyard, it looks like Gretchen and Peeair got along famously!
Finally Bill had the tub ready for Peeair's Bath. He spent hours heating the water on the stove, preparing piping hot water to get that grime off!
Peeair complained a little bit about the temperature, peevishly yelling “Eeeeeeeyaaaahhhhhh..its scalding me! It's scalding me!” The big baby. Bill assured me he just needed to get used to what he claims was luke warm water.
Bill accidentally got some Peach Bubble Bath soap in Peeair's left eye, but a quick squirt with an eye douche and he was right as rain.
The finishing touch! Bill owns probably the oldest and most brightly tacky colored hair dryer I have ever seen! It's a little broken after all these years and only has the one “hurricane” setting on it. It managed to get Peeiar nice and fuffy-cuddley dry!
Well, Peeair hasn't come home quite yet, Bill says he is enjoying his time with his new dog pals. Bill, if you read this, Chester says payment is on the way, and that you even got a bonus! I love it when everyone gets along!
Now my week.
You know how you look forward to the next month? “Ok, May. May. May things will slow down. May is booked now. June. Yeah…June will be good! Uh..ok, so June is booking up now.” I just have to face it. I'm a workaholic!
May started off with five photoshoots over the weekend. I am photopooped!
I ended up taking Kung Fu Andy out to that same waterfall that I took Mike out to last weekend. The falls only run at a good clip for a short period of time, so I have to use it while I can. I hate re-using locations, but scenic stuff in Austin is real limiting. I need to travel!
Michael from Oklahoma flew down to shoot with Robert San Roman and I. He stayed over Thursday and Friday night.
Michael came along to take advantage of the waterfall also. Andy and Michael frolicked in the water together for a bit, but nothing really erotic. But I did get some great shots of Andy in a flower field, and then we did some more studio shots with the cool yoga poses to match the other's I already have. I now have a set of five that work nicely together.
I sent Andy on his way, then Michael and I started focusing on him alone.
Michael. ~sigh~ I really gotta watch having to spend so much time with these models. I get such a crush on them. Michael is 35, and soooo much marrying material. He sadly has a boyfriend. Oh well, like I have time to even date.
Anyway, super nice guy. Loved hanging with him, and hope that he will come back in a couple months for more work.
Here are two pics. This first one is just a simple shot of him wearing a shirt. There are really about 100 other good shirtless shots of him, but he has such a handsomeness about him that I wanted everyone to look at his face to start with ~wink~
He reminds me a little bit of my first boyfriend. I think it's the olive complexion and amber-green eyes. Perhaps that's where some of my “crush-like” feeling came from.
We also went out to Barbara's to shoot. FINALLY a trip out here when the weather wasn't crazy! I now slip Barbara cash when I go use her abandoned buildings, and I think a lot of local photographers could use her place (for a fee).
She has a hidden resource, and with all the animal re-hab she does, it would be a great way for her to get some money in for the animals.
The weather was accommodating, but we had a new issue- the Poison Ivy! It was way up! I need to go out there and mow it down. Michael was a trooper and we just walked through it all, only allowing (hopefully!) our jeans to come in contact with it all.
We raced back home and we Ivy Blocked and Tecnu'd our legs and hands, and anywhere we might have inadvertently touched the Poison Ivy. I wasn't too concerned, cuz I'm not real allergic, and it's early in the Spring, so it's not quite as oily and toxic. Another month and I would not even have attempted it.
We washed all our clothes in Technu and neither of us have had any problems. (so far!)
But it's funny, I am sure botanist/plant afficionado people will look at the picture of Michael holding a sledge hammer in a field of salvia and poison ivy and laugh. Just let it go….its a fantasy! Hehe!
Michael left on Saturday, but first he shaved up so we can get some smooth skinned shots. That way body hair lovers and smooth skin lover will both be happy.
Robert came over and picked him up for more shooting and his trip back to the airport. I was kinda sad to see him go, but I guess glad, cuz if he had stayed another day I would have asked him on a date or something CRAZY like that.
I cleaned up the house then I had a much needed massage with Tony. That was my second one with Tony, and if you live ANYWHERE near Austin, you should get ur aching body here for one. I'm not just hyping Tony. He is the kind of massage therapist that make other rmt's jealous with his skill. (Note: This is a shot I had on file and he looks uber sexy and all, so don't go thinking the massage is all sexually oriented-like. He's real professional, so don't wanna give ya'll any false impressions!)
I went over to Wendy's and had dinner, went to Bath and Body Works and spent..gasp…about a $100 on smelly good stuff. I LOVE their aromatherapy stuff. Pillow mists, body scents, and the lotion. I tend to really only like the Eucalyptus scents, but have branched out to the Lavendar Vanilla. (parts of my house smell like an ole lady!) I gotta stop spending money on this crap. I am taking this "no May mortgage payment" a little too far!
I came at 7pm then started really digging into Michael's images. I worked till about 2am on them and got a gallery together to submit to Unzipped. I hope they like him!
Sunday, was of course journal, more Michael pics, and little tech support for Bill up in Chicago (who incidentally is moving in at the end of JULY!!!!!!!!!!!) Microsoft Word can be so tedius!
I do have some other things.
Simple color treatment |
Been really playing with trying to alter my images and make them look less Digital and more like a medium format or film. I have always liked images with scratches and distressed effects.
Distressed with white scratches |
So spent some time finding a recipe for tweaking images. Here are some shots of Mike that I played with.
Distressed with black tones |
My reaction to the flecks have been spread evenly across two camps. One camp can't stand 'em, finding it too distracting, and the others love the realistic “antique” feel that they have. I kind of like them, myself, so you will likely find more of this effect in the future.
I talked with Jeff Wietor at raincoat.tv about the treatment, trying to get some guidance as to how to create this effect without it looking too “Photoshopy” What he sent back was cool treatment of the three images. Thought you all might enjoy it!
Jeff has also been branching out his wallpaper images and getting them on his site. If you some cool impressive desktop artwork, but don't want a male body embedded in there, (ya know, something you could get away with at work!) Go check out his latest additions. I downloaded one, and immediately had a fellow staffer gawking at it!
Jeff got his hands on a digital camera, and has been developing a series of images that feature glimpses of San Francisco and his immediate surroundings. You gotta go check it all out!
Ok, that's it for today. Gotta get ready for two more photoshoots! Have a good week!
The iPod winner!!!!!
Congrats go out to Al from Colonial Heights, Virginia for his winning entry!
He will be notified via email, and hopefully we can get an update from him when the iPod arrives
Thank you thank you THANK YOU for supporting this cause. WE totally make a difference. Over 70 percent of what we raise goes right to AIDS services. Not some lame 15 percent! David Smith and his team make sure practically everything is donated, and he is the only full-time paid employee. Our efforts go straight to those who need it the most.
Special thanks to corporate sponsor Bill Evans and Ajaxx63.com!
Between us and all the other hard workers, we will likely make almost $400,000 in donations! That is A lot of money for a single two-day event, making it the biggest AIDS fundraiser in Austin history!
CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED!
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