Diana Quezada (Daily S.P.O.T. for 4/30/09)

"Goin' down to Snap'Mup, gonna have myself a time..."

Snap'Mup (now just Snap*) is a monthly get-together for models, photogs, makeup artists, and the like. Half cocktail party, half photo op, half rave. They started out in the Arts Factory in Bayonne, NJ, and outgrew the room after less than a half-dozen events. They then moved to Studio 6 in Passaic, NJ, which is effing HUGE -- and pretty much outgrew it the first night. The Snap* shindigs can be a lotta fun, if you're not claustrophobic and not afraid to jockey for a clear view of a model, paparazzi style.

Last Halloween, I went down there with my lights and backdrop, along with verbal assurances that two of my regular models would also show up. Well, one no-showed (I found out later she'd had an anxiety attack so severe she would up in the hospital), and the model who did show up was being such a pain in the ass that I vowed never to work with her again.

That's when Diana Quezada saved the day.

She'd shown up with a bunch of friends, all of whom were amenable to being photographed by moi. As the night wore on, the friends shifted into different outfits -- while Diana stayed in "referee mode" all night. Noticing this -- and having brought some outfits for the model who didn't show -- I chivalriously asked if she'd be interested in trying out some new looks.

She was.

These shots -- and many others -- have taken up permanent residence in my print portfolio, as well as both of our MySpace and Model Mayhem pages. (In particular, the black and white one -- if I may drop into brag mode for a second -- has gotten nothing but raves.)

You'll see more of her -- and her crew -- as this bloggery continues. Snap*'s running again tonight, so I expect to see more of her in just a couple of hours.

Tiffany Shepis (Daily S.P.O.T. for 4/28/09)

Today's feral smirk comes courtesy of B-movie ingenue and one-time Tromette Tiffany "Don't Call Me A Scream Queen!" Shepis, who was worth standing two hours in line for at the 2003 Chiller Convention. She's often been the best part of whatever low-budget celluloid atrocity she's appearing in (TROMEO AND JULIET and DELTA DELTA DIE are two personal faves). Now, in general I'm not one to mark out for celebs, get their autographs, pose for pix with 'em, etc. On the other hand, I discovered very quickly that when you stick a camera in Tiff's face, it's Happy Hour. Lady looooves to be photographed. In fact, at not one but two different points during the afternoon, the throng of amateur paparazzi around her autograph table got so large, she invited us out into the parking lot for impromptu photo sessions (as seen below). Three cheers for "fan friendly..."

Gavin Quest (Daily S.P.O.T. for 4/28/09)

Here's a nice airborne shot of longtime NJ indy wrestler Gavin Quest, from an April 2004 UCW (and no, I don't have a clue what it stands for anymore, other than the "W" part) show in Clark, NJ. To the best of my knowledge, they only ran the one show, but it drew well and had a lot of familiar faces and/or good workers on the card: Jay Lethal (with family in full voice!), Azrial, Skinhead Ivan, Damian Dragon, Corvis Fear, Danny Demanto, etc.

One of the toughest things to master in wrestling photography is capturing action shots like this. A budget digicam simply won't cut it, because they take too long to actually snap the damn picture (the so-called "shutter lag"). A true film or digital SLR, while costlier, is mandatory.

I've always like this shot because, even though Gavin was sharp-focus frozen in mid-air, there's still the slightest motion blurring of the background. Blurring of moving objects is tough to master; a little gives a sense of movement in an otherwise static image, but too much blur is just blur. This was one of those "just right" happy accidents.

Jasmin St. Claire (Daily S.P.O.T. for 4/27/09)

From January '04: one of my favorite shots of Jasmin St. Claire, back when she was running 3PW in Philly at the old Viking Hall/ECW Arena (now the New Alhambra). I dug my year-plus at Three-Pee for several reasons:

1. It was the closest I'd gotten to in my early days to a "big time" indy wrestling promotion.
2. The people in charge (Jas, Blue Meanie, and Tod Gordon) really made me feel at home, as grass-green as I was.
3. I went in there not knowing diddly-squat about posing people, and to work with someone as camera-savvy as Jas for a year -- who could give you great shots with almost no instructions -- was a HUGE confidence builder. Thanks, Boss!

(This picture also became the cornerstone of the short-lived "Team Tucchus" in-joke. Maybe someday I'll elaborate...)

Hello, world! (And/or sailor...)

My shrink sez I need to socialize more. Consider this the Petri dish for that puhticular little experiment.

I've been taking pictures as a full-time hobby/very part-time job since late 2002. Started out shooting wrestling shows in the NJ/NY/PA area. Some of the wrestlers I shot were female, and pretty, and wanted to pose for shots "out of gimmick," as it were. I was amenable to that. Found some female models who were willing to pose, not so much "out of gimmick" as "out of clothes," period. I was extremely amenable to that.

I recently expanded my online social networks to the Facebooks and Twitters (and now, it would seem, blogs) of the world, but the question remains: what the fuck do I have to say that people would actually be INTERESTED in?

The answer, it would appear, is not "say" so much as "show." Picture equals thousand words and all that rot.

The goal is to root through six years and counting of photos, pull out one each day that I'm especially happy with, and stick it online here. Link back through status updates at Face and Twit and "Everybody Else's Space But Mine." Show stuff that might walk up to the edge of the PG-13 cliff without actually base-jumping offa it: Sometimes wrestlers get bloody. Sometimes models get semi-nekkid. Shit, you want nekkid, I got portfolio pages with all the T&A you could wish for.

Lemme know what you think. Onwards!