That's a wrap

Thyia ~ "Fungus Among Us"

We were having quite the time with centipedes and other crawly stuff on those logs. Even this one that was covered with nice fungus was full of critters. Thyia was not into bugs and it made for some wonderful out takes.

I spent the better part of today editing water spiders off of her legs from the series in the creek. I think they thought she was a nice island upon which to rest. I can't blame them one bit. The thought had crossed my mind once or twice.

I have finished editing Kate's images and have gotten them off to her. Thyia's are now done and I will get them and Claudine's off tomorrow.

It is rare for me to take so many images during a shoot as I have done with Kate and Thyia. Both ladies provided me with many great opportunities, although in different directions from one another. My Shadowscape Studio portfolio already has a couple of those from Kate that have bumped out long standing work. And Thyia has adorned my Confidential Photo site with her work.

Claudine added a new twist and will no doubt make it into my 2012 gallery show in New York.

To say I am one happy camper would be putting it mildly.

Thank you ladies, one and all.

Love at first sight

Thyia

I don't know why they do but every once in awhile a pose grabs me by the short hairs and says, "I need to be something special." Such was the case with this one of Thyia. It was in our hotel room after we had worked a good portion of the day in the woods. I was working with what natural light was coming in through the window of the room, which wasn't much that late in the afternoon considering the sun was on the other side of the hotel.

I refuse to use flashes, either on camera or off, even if you bounce them off of an umbrella or whatnot they still look like crap and you can always tell.

Since Golden Hooves was chocked full of camping gear I could not bring along some decent studio lighting which left me with the little bit of natural light that afternoon.

It was soft however and looked grand against her body.

But it was this scene that I was studying as we shot that called to me. "Hey. I'm special. I need you to do something special with me."

I knew I wanted to blend her body parts together in a luminescent fashion with only the key parts outlined. I also wanted the face to be blurred in the background but the key features still visible. With the 35mm 1.4 lens I knew 1.4 would leave the face a bit too blurry so I set it to 2.8 to give me just what I wanted at 100th of a second. That is about as slow as I can hand hold these days when my heart is racing like an Indy car, and Thyia was not slowing down to let it return to under 120 beats per minute.

The light from the window was cascading off of her skin just perfectly to give me the blending luminescence I was looking for where most of her body would disappear into the surrounding white sheets.

Of course all this took place in a matter of seconds.

The resulting image proved to be exactly what I was after although I had not looked at it until I had gotten home a few days later.

Still, I looked at it for some time and tried a monochrome version that I liked as much but not better.

It wasn't jumping out at me.

I thought back to my black and white film days. A yellow filter always made things stand out a bit better. So I played with a home made version of sepia tone that I stumbled across a few years ago.

Bingo!

I got so excited that I emailed this version to get her reaction. She liked it so much that it immediately went up on her M.M. portfolio.

Sometimes what I think is wonderful others do not like so it was very satisfying to see that I was not the only one who's heart skipped a beat at viewing it.

One of many great erotic image from the Chicago adventure.

What?! No Rocks or Trees?!

Not the normal type of photos that I am known for. As a matter of fact this is a far cry from my nude in landscapes. But after working for the better part of a day in the hot sun and every crevice filled with creek silt we needed to retire to the hotel room for a break. As I unpacked some of the camera gear Thyia crawled into the shower. Since I was still in my erotic frame of mind and holding a camera in my hand, one thing lead to another.

The nice thing about hotels at mid day, you don't run out of hot water. And after about 30 minutes of working in there, despite the exhaust fan going full tilt I could no longer make her out in the steam, and I was having to mop my lens off between every shot so we exited the bathroom and moved to the bed where she managed to kick in even my male hormones, and that takes some doing.

"Days End"

Needless to say I didn't need a hot shower after we wrapped things up.

I have never met a person that was as comfortable with her body as she is. It was a treat because she didn't have to pretend for the cameraman.

Wreckers of beauty

Claudine

While driving through central Wisconsin on a new stretch of expressway they had built around Eau Claire, I was saddened. The highway once took you through the Town of Eau Claire where local business people could make a small profit from travelers. But some asshole city people who live in Madison decided a handful of people needed to get to their locations fifteen minutes faster and by passed the town leaving them high and dry. As if that was not bad enough, a once beautiful rolling farmland valley now has a four lane divided expressway running smack dab through the middle of it. Scarred forever and noisy with cars whizzing by. Beautiful old farm houses with big front porches where people once sat and looked down their green valley are now vacant because the porch is only yards away from this super highway. You couldn't hear yourself think if you sat outside on them now.

The city people had come and ruined another part of America.

That got me thinking of the song, America the Beautiful. Long gone are the amber waves of grain. Purple mountain majesties are covered with ski resorts. And our shining seas are not covered with plastic and oil.

Not much the song represents anymore.

And it is the city people who have done this. Take, take, take. They don't care about the wreckage they leave behind. Get me there faster; make my world cheaper; and the hell with everything we once considered good and beautiful.

Nobody in that little town in Eau Claire wanted the highway moved. Nobody in that valley wanted a highway running through it. Just the asshole city people who don't live anywhere near there wanted it.

That is the trouble with large cities. most of the people live there so they get the most votes to do what they want and the sparse country people are made to suffer.

Government was never meant to be run by a majority of idiots, but it has been reduced to that.

______________________________

The wife was very busy picking blue berries and raspberries while I was gone. In fact we now have about 25 gallons of raspberries frozen and quite a few gallons of blueberries.

We should be regular this year.

______________________________

Claudine joined in on the erotic set and gave several interpretations that day.

Much to the interest of two fawns that hung nearby.

Not a Beemer, thank god

Thyia ~"Shiloh"

I was driving for eleven hours yesterday and for lack of anything useful to do I began to give some thought to the life of Golden Hooves.

Internal combustion engines operate because gasoline and air mix in a cylinder, then it is compressed by the piston to a very high pressure where a spark goes off and creates an explosion of violent proportions. Violent enough to accelerate your two ton vehicle to 60 miles an hour in just under 6 seconds.

As Golden hooves has 330,000 miles, or there abouts, I got to thinking just how many of these violent explosions have taken place inside her engine over the years.

At 60 miles per hour the engine turns about 2,200 revolutions per minute.

I decided to calculate a side note in while I was driving as well, for lack of anything else to do.

At 60 miles per hour you are going a mile a minute so if I took that as an average (just to round things off), at 330,000 miles one would have to drive that speed 24 hours a day for 229 days to get to this mileage. Which means I have lived in my car for a full year since I did not average 60 miles per hour.

Golden Hooves is a six cylinder. Since a cylinder goes off only every other revolution of the engine (pushes the burnt gasses out on in between firings) I went with revolutions per minute times three in stead of times six and dividing in half (easier on my brain when I am trying to figure numbers in my head).

I calculated that Golden Hooves has experienced some 2 Billion, 178 Million explosions within her engine block over the years.

Her tires have gone around 240 million, 240 thousand times, give or take a few, if you figure the circumference of them to be 87 inches (which was a quick calculation in my head based on a 16" rim and about 6 inches of rubber on each side of that).

She has burned a tad over 17 thousand gallons of gasoline in her day. About two full tanker trucks worth, or roughly 64 thousand dollars worth of gas.

She has gone through 5 sets of tires that probably averaged 600 dollars a set, or 3 thousand bucks worth.

Maybe 130 oil changes at 30 bucks a pop calculates to about around 4 grand.

Her original price new was about 22 thousand dollars. Add in oil and air filters and such and she has cost me around 100 thousand dollars after you add on about 6 thousand for insurance and registration fees, or about 30 cents a mile.

Of course everything of non importants to her operation has long been broken. The check engine light has been on for the last 200 thousand miles; the ABS light has been on for the last 50 thousand miles; the windshield is cracked all the way across and has several rock holes in it; the 4 wheel drive light has been flashing for the last 75 thousand miles; the carpet is gone where my feet sit and I am beginning to see the pavement go by, but that lets the water out of the car because the sun roof jumped a cog on one side and does not close tight anymore; there is no grill because I needed to get under the hood one February and the hood latch cable was frozen so i kicked out the grill to get my hands up there. Little stuff that is non-important. She has a few dings and the hood is pretty well trashed from me standing on it to untie my canoe that is a permanent fixture on top of her these days.

Golden Hooves and I have just returned home from another 1,700 mile adventure and I would not hesitate to take her to Alaska tomorrow if I really, really had any desire to go to that place, which I don't.

She is old and not exactly pretty anymore, but we are comfortable with each other. Sort of like a marriage of twenty some years.

Nothing like being outside

Thyia ~ "The Baptism"

We both got wet during this set. I was pretty much laying down in this small creek in north central Illinois. Blue jeans that are wet get damn heavy when you are hiking around in the woods. When we returned to the motel it was good to shed the clothes and jump into a shower to wash the gravel out of the crevices it seems to manage to creep into.

I did shoot Thyia when she was taking her shower and then again in the hotel bed afterward but my love is the work we did outside. Nice greens and wonderful lichen just topped it all off for me.

Drizzle, Drazzel, Drozzle, Drone

Thyia ~ "Southern Charms"

I'm on my way home now. Had one hell of a good time and shot with some pretty swell models.

I have found some new friends and will be sure to let them know when I am going to be back in the Chicago area.

Thyia (above) was the highlight of my trip and reminded me of my days with Abigail. I was doing a lot of arm waving, and for those who know me that only happens when I get so excited I can't control myself.

She is a special friend and our talks were as intimate as our shoots. She became one of the few people that know the demons that haunt my soul.

Now I am ready to be home. I miss my wife, my house and my yard. Not necessarily in that order.

Last day in Chicago

Kate

I have one more shoot this morning. A model we all know for her fine art nude work wants to join in on this erotic series I am working on. I was a bit taken back when she approached me, but hey, I'm not going to turn her away.

As I am letting each model work within the boundaries they feel is erotic I do suspect her images to be a bit tamer than those of Thyia yesterday (from which my head is still reeling), but who knows. Time will tell.

In the mean time you can enjoy another image of the wonderful, Kate.

A few more days in Chi Town

Kate ~ Tonte Canyon

Kate has a wonderful figure. Perfectly proportioned. My only complaint is she shaves, but I can work with that even though I don't understand why anyone would want to look like they were twelve.

It is not sexy, not even pretty. It is like putting metal rings in your eye brows or in your nose.

But who am I.

She is still a wonderful model to work with and I look forward to our next adventure.

______________________________

When you are reading this I will be in the woods with Thyia shooting an erotic set. She seems to be a person who is not afraid to do anything I have in mind, although I am going to let her call all the shots on this shoot.

When we are finished with the outdoor work we will move indoors and I am looking forward to some interesting shower work.

I will be using a photo assistant with this, and that is something I rarely do but could not pass up the opportunity that was presented me.

Need to rant just a bit

The ACLU is a waste of airspace as they are a dinosaur from years past. Currently they are here only to justify their existence and they are doing a very poor job at that.

They fall into the category of libraries; free broadcast television; and milk men. No longer needed but they just won't die and go away quietly.

Please fade away without pomp and circumstance so you will be forgotten about in a reasonable manner.

________________________________

Jan Brewer is leading Arizona once again with her January primary proposal.

It is too bad the rest of the U.S. is so damn stupid.

I sure wish she would run for president.

People who do not like what she does are those who live far, far away from the reality of the problems they so eagerly want to dispute. Reminds me of Sunday night quarterbacks that bitch about a football game play from their couch. They have no idea of what is going on but think they have the best answers. Same people who campaigned for Obama. Worthless individuals who want to impose their un-knowledgeable ideas as though you should believe anything they say.

________________________________

Another image from my work with Kate.

I give you Katie

Kate ~ "LaSalle Shower"

(Click to enlarge)

Yesterday I shot with a wonderful gal, Kate.

The temperature and humidity was terrible and I soaked two full sets of clothes in the first couple of hours we shot.

Kate got to cool off under the small waterfall in LaSalle Canyon during one of our sets. I also partook of a nice, cool shower there.

By evening we were toast.

We got some really exciting stuff for our first time working together and she will be on my list of Chicago models I will notify whenever I am in town. A real treat to work with her.

More to come, but for now I need to concentrate on my shoot with Thyia and Claudine I have coming up. Both will be erotic work. Both will be different.

Chi Town

No Photo Yet

(Stand by)

When I was getting ready for this trip and gathering up all the gear I was mulling over what cigars to bring along. Of course I had a bundle of Newmans for the drive. A very nice everyday working cigar that is relatively inexpensive. I figured six cigars for every ten hours of driving.

Then there was after dinner cigars. For that I chose Punch double coronas. Then I needed to pack some special ones for the conclusion of a perfect day of shooting. Rocky Patel 1990 vintage rubustos were in order for that.

As I removed them from the humidor I sniffed one and squeezed it gently. The wife said, "I wish you treated me that way."

"If you were wrapped in an aged Connecticut broad leaf wrapper I probably would", was not the correct response.

Then I needed something for that very special time when not only does the day go perfectly, the shoot go perfectly, but things can not get any better. I needed a Montecristo Limited Reserve, of which I had one left.

So, with my passenger seat filled with fine cigars I headed out.

Nothing gets me in a better mood that the smell of a Wisconsin farm field that has been freshly spread with manure. There is nothing on earth that smells better. I love it.

The temps were hot and I drove with the sun roof open (no sun because there is a canoe on top of my car) and the windows fully down. Still the sweat poured down me all evening and well into the night. By midnight it was feeling reasonable but I left all the windows down to enjoy the night air, oh and to let the cigar smoke out.

At Madison, Wisconsin Golden Hooves turned 325,000 miles and I lit up a Punch cigar to celebrate. I figured she deserved a good cigar. I also realized I had not eaten for about 38 hours so I stopped at McDonalds to refuel. Food does not excite me so I sometimes forget to eat.

I am now in the exciting town of Chicago. Unlike the sewer of Minneapolis, people here enjoy art rather than flaunt it for attention. This should be a great trip. Number one stop will be at my favorite gallery after I do a quick shoot with a couple of local models.

Life is good. Time for a Rocky Patel.

Gone for awhile

Cheryl

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals

2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.

Modern liberals prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare... Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink beer or scotch. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively.

Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history.

___________________________

Be in Chicago for the next week or so. If I get time I will post something from there.

___________________________

Want to watch a bunch of idiots filming cops for the sake of irritating them and putting them in danger, watch this.

Each of those people who interfered with the officers safety by talking to suspects, talking to officers and being a distraction to the officers by getting close to them while they were attempting to watch suspects hands and actions should be thrown in jail. Law or no law.

What a bunch of assholes. All for the sake of, "Because I can".

Wackos

Abigail ~ Photographed by me, edited by Gary Petersen

I agree with the last line here. It has to do with where this country is going in terms of social and moral values.

It has nothing to do with being religious, because I am far at the other end of that spectrum, nor does it have to do with being homophobic (as some like to blurt out in defense of their children with strange sexual habits). It has to do with: Children in public schools can't read; They can't spell; They can't behave; They can't interact with others in a calm manner. How about we teach what is really important?!?!?!? Let's leave the teachings of people with weird sexual habits to the colleges as a elective course.

I will no longer travel to California. And I hope all the rest of the weird people move there so we have them all in one spot where we can keep a watchful eye on them. If they seem to be moving out of state we should set off a charge and sink the entire state into the Pacific. It would be a waste of good landscape, but well worth it.

Concrete worker

Cheryl ~ Caribou Falls

Yesterday I was a concrete worker. I began building the outdoor bread/pizza wood fired oven.

Since it is going to be made out of clay and will be not only extremely heavy but fragile, it needed footings. So I became a concrete man and formed up and poured footings.

The pedestal of the oven is going to be open in the front so that I can store wood in there so I poured a floor in that also.

For those who are about to ask, yes there are two hand prints in the concrete, touching and, NAMASTE written below.

This morning i went out and sprinkled water on the surface, which I will continue doing for the next couple of days.

The work has only begun.

_________________________________

Illinois may be the most corrupt state in the Union, but Minnesota has the stupidest politicians of any. There is not a one that should be re-elected.

A dangerous place to work

Claudine & Cheryl in pose

(not my normal thing)

This image was taken on Cutface Creek. It is a small stream that flows into Lake Superior that I have used a few times. No one goes there because from the roadway it looks very uninteresting. Once you hike a few hundred yards up stream and around a couple of bends it turns into a wonderful place to work. It is very dangerous however as the walls crumble easily. You can see the pile the gals are standing on. That just came down. Also there is a bit between them that looks like it will fall very soon. You wouldn't want to try and climb these rocks.

_______________________________

Need to make a cigar run tomorrow to restock.

_______________________________

I foresee this current batch of stupid Americans voting in Bachmann as president just because she is female. Much like they did when they voted in Obama just because he was black.

Tells the rest of the world just how uninterested Americans are in finding out the facts and where candidates stand on issues. We like our reality TV shows, and we like voting for a president because of what they look like rather than what they are.

The rest of the world is laughing at the U.S., and I don't blame them one bit. I'm laughing too.

Not quite a shoe store - Chapter 4

Cheryl & Claudine

Reasons I could never be an over the road trucker:

1) Running water. I seem to use running water at least once an hour, if not more.

2) My grill. I would starve to death if I had to eat at a restaurant everyday.

3) Nude women. Although there are no doubt plenty of creatures to be found at truck stops I doubt most are interested in posing naked on a rock.

4) Morning tea. Sitting in my truck having morning tea just would not be the same as sitting on my porch while I look out over the lake.

5) Evening cigar. See #4.

6) The garage. I seem to spend a lot of time in the garage fixing stuff. Although it might be argued that if I was busy driving a truck I wouldn't be breaking things so they wouldn't need fixing. But that's not the point. I don't actually go to the garage to fix things. I go to the garage to hang out with my tools. I use the, "Fixing Stuff" as an excuse. One can always break something if something is not already broken.

7) They don't make big trucks with a convertible top.

______________________________

CNN does it again.

"Bear owner found dead"

Think the bear had anything to do with the fellows death?

No, just CNN being the assholes they are.

Crystal Cove

Oliviah

People who have ideas that are not accepted by everyone want to make up names for those who do not believe like they do. Usually the pick some name that has a meaning reference what they believe. Sort of like, "If you don't think like I do I will give you a name that goes along with the way I think".

Example: Religious people want to name those who do not believe, atheists. Atheists. If that doesn't sound like a religious thing I don't know what does. Atheism is a religion in their mind of people who do not believe in god or life after death, or whatever.

Why can't people who do not believe in religion just be without tagging them with name.

Sometime people get carried away and misuse a name.

Example: If someone believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, calling them homophobic is a misuse and basically just name calling. It has nothing to do with being homophobic.

But again these people should just be, without attempting to give them a name that associates a persons beliefs. They are people who believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. Not homophobics. Calling them that just shows ignorance. These people are the first ones to stand up and scream bloody murder if you called their gay child, "a homo". But they are willing to shout, "homophobic" at you if you don't think their way.

Consider the source and move on.

_________________________________

I visited this same spot with Cheryl and Claudine two weeks ago. It is a nice stretch of Lake Superior where people do not go.

Gawd awful heat

Sloth

Holy buckets, it is stinking hot!

A guy can only take off so many clothes, and I shed all of those thirty degrees ago.

My sister-in-law, in her infinite wisdom, is in the process of moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

I'm not helping her. A person would have to be nuts to move there in the first place. Yeah, I want to live a spit distance away from Juarez where they are churning out a dozen bodies a day; sweltering in 115 degree temps; be in the second most economically depressed state in the Union; and in the middle of the flattest, most uninteresting part of New Mexico there is. I sure would like to do that. And to attempt to do it in mid summer no less.

Also she is moving to a trailer park. Going to be living in a little tin oven.

When they were handing out common sense I think she was out to lunch.

______________________________

I am going to walk down to the lake for a swim. Probably will have a cigar (since I restocked my supply this morning) when I get back to the screen porch, where I shall contemplate the vicissitudes of life.

Splat !

Claudine ~ "Bird Poop On A Rock"

I decided to re-mulch all the pathways and around all the raised beds in the veggie garden. I didn't quite realize what I was in for. Three cubic yards of mulch is a lot of mulch. That is equivalent to 27 of the really large bags of mulch you would buy at the garden center.

I did most of the work yesterday in the 98% humidity with 88 degree temps. I was melting. Us northern Minnesota boys can't take that kind of heat and it took its toll.

Today I finished up but will probably get another yard just to have on hand and tidy up what I have done.

Right this moment I am enjoying a very nice Punch cigar as a reward for all my hard work.

_____________________________

Minnesota still has its Government shut down and little hopes of anything happening in the near future to sort it out. Two sides. Two idiot philosophies, with shit for brains.

How these clowns ever got elected is beyond....

Never mind. I remember that city people elect politicians because there are more of them than country folk.

In the mean time this has cost Minnesota more money than the two idiot sides are arguing about.

_____________________________

One of the poses I like to put my models through is to place them on a small rock that is much to small to pose on. Then I tell them to act like a seagull flew over and pooped on the rock and you are the poop.

It sometimes become interesting; sometimes becomes comical; and sometimes they manage to mold themselves onto the rock so we get a very nice image.

Claudine did very well with it.

But don't forget to look at the rest of the images as well. After all, she is just a fraction of the scene.

Yellow is for school buses

Cheryl ~ Lone Ranger in a tree

Here is a little scrap of information that might win you a beer if you can find a friend willing to make a small wager.

When you go into a campground you can easily pick out the midwesterners from the east and west coast yahoos buy the color of their tent.

Green and brown tents sell in the midwest and it is unlikely you will find any other color, even in the catalogs.

However, on the east coast and west coast you can only find bright yellow, red or orange tents. No green or brown tents to be found in the stores or your Gander Mountain catalog there.

So now you are asking yourself, Why? Well I'll tell you.

People in the midwest like to blend into nature.

People on the east coast and west coast like to stick out like a sore thumb, being attention whores that they are. They have no concept of blending and being unobnoxious.

The tent manufacturers will tell you a little different story however. They would like the east and west coast people to believe that if they are lost while camping on a snowy mountain it is easy for the rescue people to find them. Yeah! That's what I said too.

These idiots don't go camping more than 500 feet from a Starbucks Coffee House let alone on a snowy mountain. And if you were to go camping on a snowy mountain with one of these silly two pound tents you would freeze to death before morning. Hey, that gives me another idea....

No, the real reason is the east coast and west coast people are jerks, which can turn an otherwise peaceful campground into a zoo.

It should be illegal to build a tent in any color other than green or brown. First you don't wreck an otherwise beautiful setting with bright colors, and second the east and west coast city people wouldn't buy them and thus not show up at a campground to wreck everyone else wonderful time.

Starbucks would pull all their Coffee Houses out from around campground because there isn't a midwesterner that is going to pay three dollars for a fifty cent cup of coffee (unless they live in a city where they have zero concept of reality). It would be good all around.

Turning the tables

Claudine & I

Sometimes the models like to pull out their cameras on our outings. In this case it was Cheryl that caught Claudine and I taking a break. I don't remember where we were when this was taken but it no doubt was after a long hike and a good shoot because I am smiling.

That is a smile.

She is smiling also so I guess it wasn't too much of a grueling day.

And there are the sneaky ones.

One of the gals finally got a shot of me using the outdoor shower on my deck. The shower tower has become nicely encased by the ivy these days.

At least I wasn't drooling tooth paste out of my mouth.

I can't leave you with a photo of me so I offer up this shot of Claudine to end today's post.

I ended up with about thirty pounds of charcoal from yesterdays cook. That will be enough to last me the rest of summer. Took about two hours to make and is far superior to anything you by in a bag at the store.

I will keep it in a metal garbage can I have in the garage for just that reason.

Glue and fuel oil burgers

Nisswa Gal

This seems fitting:

Picking the first batch of snow peas today. Sounds like it is going to be a stir fry night on the grill.

This afternoon I am going to make a batch of charcoal for the remainder of the summer grilling. I hate those brickettes you buy in the store. Carbon dust held together with glue. Yum!

It doesn't matter what kind of wood you make charcoal out of because there is nothing left but carbon when you are finished. No flavor what-so-ever.

You Kingford people have acquired a taste for glue and lighter fluid. Another product I only use for getting brush piles to burn.

Why would anyone want to sit in their own yard and have to listen to their neighbors window air conditioner going?

"The Race"

Worked with a gal in Nisswa Minnesota this morning. I had not been in the Brainerd area for many years and once I got there remembered why I don't want to be there. The homes are wall to wall around every lake. People are elbow to elbow, just like they are on the lakes in the Twin Cities.

The waters are so polluted from yard fertilizers that there are very few fish other than carp type fish that can live in anything. The only difference between the Brainerd lakes area and the Cities are the roads. The Brainerd area still has some nice gravel roads instead of pavement. But even that does not offset the crowded conditions that would drive a reasonable person insane.

Why is it such a wreck, you might ask. Because the Brainerd lakes area is the summer get away for City people, and they bring City stupidity with them to the north woods. They have wrecked everything good in the City so they need to come north in the summertime to find something else to wreck that is good and beautiful.

I really think anyone who lives within a city should be required to take numerous courses on conservation before being allowed outside city limits. And even then they should be required to make a deposit of ten thousand dollars that will be returned to them if they act like humans once beyond those city limits. The State would make millions because city people would fail miserably in that department. I don't think they have it in them to act any different than the assholes they are.

We found a section of a red pine plantation to work in and a bit of shoreline at 7am in the morning that was not crawling with people yet. by 8am you could not take a photo in the area without a half dozen people in the background that should not be in the image.

How anyone in that area can feel at ease is beyond me. I think it truly is why we have so much hate and anger in the world.

Still, after 30 minutes we managed to get a couple of nice images for her. but I was back in my car and headed home within an hour of my arrival.

"Morning Thought"

I'll be your friends as long as you think I'm special

Cheryl ~ "Campsite Cliff"

click to enlarge, as always

Well you know me, I can't get too damn close to a model when I am working outdoors. Where's Waldo is my norm for this type of work, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sure, I could put on a 400mm lens and get a bigger Cheryl, but what would be the point of being out there on that cliff then?

I too was standing on a similar, thin outcrop and by cracky I was getting vertigo looking through the view finder. At one point I was sure I was tilted over at a 45 degree angle but was perfectly vertical. It was time to trust the horizon in the finder and not my brain else I stumble back a step and become a tiny splat on the rocks some 200 feet below.

One does have a commanding view of Lake Superior from this area. We enjoyed eating our breakfast and evening meals sitting on the edge. One morning we even watched the sunrise.

But it is not a campsite for drinking, and we ran a dry camp for just that reason.

This beautiful evening, at sunset, we enjoyed shrimp kabobs off the grill and a wonderful salad that Cheryl whipped up. Tea with a dash of honey was the finality of the evening as the sun disappeared below the horizon and the campfire was lit.

_______________________________

I don't write on this blog to try and be popular with everyone. Heck, there are probably very few people who agree with my views totally. So I just speak my mind as it is and not as other want it to be. I'm not what you would call the norm. What an ugly thought that is. I don't want to be a sheep that has to think like everyone else and go along with everyone else because it is the current social acceptable thing to be or do. I am willing to hold onto my moral values even though the rest of the mainstream sheep no longer agree with them. But I also don't abandon my friends because we disagree. Those people who do that are just users of other for some ego building thing they need to enforce. You know, the ones you over hear telling their wife that they can't go to the opera tomorrow because the BMW is in the shop and they are certainly not going to be seen at the opera in the Honda. The ones that are all for show. These are the people who dump you as a friend because you disagree with what they think.

Fortunately I have a good circle, although small, of friends that make me feel welcome when I am in their neighborhood. Most of them disagree with my views but that doesn't matter. None of them are stuck up snobs who think they are better than anyone else, including me. Real people, not fake one who spend their days trying to impress others. A much higher class of people.

______________________________

Okay, okay. One a little bit closer in.

Claudine ~ "Afternoon Break"

Not quite a shoe store

Cheryl ~ "16 Tons"

The State of Minnesota in its wisdom of shutting down has pulled their web sites down as well.

Government has gone off the deep end.

So why do we have to pay income tax and property tax and sales tax to the State of Minnesota if the Minnesota Government is shut down?

I do believe Minnesotans should begin a class action suit against the State for just that reason.

What a crock!

States like Nebraska must have a higher class of people living in them. Minnesota has no class what-so-ever, run by a bunch of city people who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

The State Parks have already lost 13 million dollars because of this shut down alone. This stupid Government will loose way more money than they are arguing about in their non-talks that caused this shut down.

Everyone of them should be fired on the spot. From the idiot Governor on down.

Why are the Representatives getting paid if the Government is shut down? Other State employees are not. I bet you cut off their salary and things would get resolved quickly.

______________________________

Doesn't look like I will be moving to Rhode Island either. Another limp wrist Governor has caved to the whining parents of children with abnormal sexual habits.

Only a few years ago you could have sex with a horse and if any agency pushed the issue (which they didn't) you might get a petty offence charge for it.

Butt fuck a boy and you went to jail on a felony charge for years. Now we let them get married.

Go figure.

Whining parents of gay children are as powerful as the N.R.A, only the N.R.A. has some scruples.

Back to normal (for me)

Claudine, Cheryl ~ "Double Gecko"

Another Illinois Governor goes to jail.

And you elected an Illinois politician to be your president solely because he was black. There was no other reason. He was a junior senator who had nothing to show for himself in terms of being a presidential candidate.

Hang your heads in shame and promise to never again spew your views as to who you think should be in office because, you that voted for Obama, and campaigned for him have not a clue what you are talking about. Just mindless twits that had to have a black person in office.

_____________________________

My Illinois erotic outdoor shoot is shaping up nicely. It has been a battle schedule wise getting the models lined up and paired but things are on a roll and look as though this is going to be one hell of a good time, not to mention coming away with some great images for the gallery show in New York next year.

This is going to be what Mapplethorpe should have done.

Day #4

Cheryl ~ "Emergence"

Day four. What can I say other than, "Minnesota Shut Down" !!! The whole bloody state.

They closed the wayside rests on the interstate and kicked everyone out of the State Parks, including us.

Thank you kindly, Tim Pawlenty !!! Yes, it was his administration that brought this Government shut down. Asshole.

Anyone who votes for this clown as a presidential candidate needs to be euthanized.

Claudine ~ "Luge"

So we packed up our hundreds of pounds of camping gear and hauled it out.

I wonder how many millions of dollars this Government shut down will cost the State of Minnesota.

Day #3

(Don't forget to click for full size)

On the third day Death March Moose took us on some more hiking. My calf muscles were knotted up and I was having trouble walking down hill and at one point had to turn around and walk backwards just to make my legs work.

But we worked up Cut Face Creek and got another set of great images.

I looked for my pocket knife that I lost out of my pants pocket when I was putting my clothes back on two years ago, but it was not to be found.

We worked the shoreline of the lake near Cascade River State Park on our way back to camp and found the dark colored rocks in that area warm to lay on.

Our day was a bit shorter because we slept in that morning. We needed that.

After dark we did some light paintings that turned out relatively nice.

(Half the fun is just getting there)

Day #2

Cheryl ~ "Chained"

The morning of the second day was altogether different. We woke to a warm and sunny day. As Everything that seemed so miserable the night before in the storm had changed. Our camp was set atop a high cliff over looking Lake Superior. To the right was Shovel Head, a high cliff that climbers often use. Just below and to the left was the mouth of the gushing Baptism River flowing into the lake. The views were to die for. I made breakfast and everyone was in great spirits as we then started off on our intended work. We shot on a nearby cliff and on the lake shore. From there we hiked back into a waterfall on the Caribou River and shot there. Then we hiked back up the Temperance River and worked the cascades. Miles rolled by like inches as we worked our tails off getting to the locations. The girls got wet and cold and every ones legs ached. We were very happy people.

We returned to camp and took some time off. As I sat on the cliff edge admiring the great view I noticed a kid at the mouth of the Baptism River getting into the 40 degree water. I thought the kid must be a bit daffy, but who was I to tell him so. He didn't see me way up there anyway. But then it happened. The current of the river dumping into Lake Superior swept him out to sea. He was swimming for all he was worth to get back but was loosing ground at a great rate. At about 200 yards out he began yelling for help.

Cheryl had her cell phone and dialed 911, but any help from that in this area is about 30 minutes away at best.

The secret to this type of situation is in getting people to understand you can't fight mother nature and you need to stop fighting the current. You won't win.

And even though the kid had told me he couldn't make it the rescue boat that arrived almost an hour later picked up two, very cold and exhausted people from a remote cove down the shoreline a bit that was not accessible by any other means.

Both were removed by paramedics.

We all slept very well that night in camp after a late supper

Day #1

Midnight light painting

Cheryl

Day one of the photo trip was conducted in the rain. Three of us carried in near four hundred pounds of camp gear for better than a mile, making multiple trips each. This was done during a thunder storm. We got a break for a few minutes and I got the tents and kitchen set up. Then it started once again. By nightfall we were toast and cold. The forth person arrived after the work was done but brought Rocky Mountain chocolate with her, so all was forgiven.

We all slept despite wet sleeping bags and cold wind.