NYC Tattoo Convention - May 2012

This weekend (Friday and Saturday) I went twice to the NYC Tattoo Convention at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan. It was quite an experience as this was my first tattoo convention ever. The the event was well attended. Many vendors and exhibitors were present in a well organized areas, and life tattoo artistry were been performed on many tattoo lovers. On Saturday, many contestants were exhibiting their body art on stage in a contest that included many tattoo artistry categories. There was a large crowd following the contest and the contestant were being judged on stage by a panel of tattooed judges.

It was a very interesting event, and I was able to take a few shots which some them are posted here. Enjoy!

The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden.

Today, I went to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx to visit the recently opened Orchid Show. This is the tenth year the Garden has this show featuring the most seductive and mysterious flowers in the world the orchids. I have attended this show twice in the past and fell in love with it ever since.

This year's theme was the vertical gardens. The show simulated the vertical gardens of French botanist and artist Patrick Blanc. Hence, it was dubbed "The Orchid Show: Patrick Blanc's Vertical Gardens".

Unlike prior years, the attendance was meager and the show was modest. To me is was clear that the Garden is suffering from the economic downturns of the last four years. Nevertheless, was enough orchids and vertical gardens to make the visit worthwhile.

The Garden had two lectures on flower arranging with orchids and on orchid care. I was able to attend the orchid care lecture and was very informative and interesting. The instructor explained in details how one can grow orchid at home and ensure that it would flower from year to year. I am thinking of planting some orchid at home. I did not know until today that orchid do not grow in soil but rather on the trunk of trees. They survive on the nutrients that are shredded off the trees and some orchid can store water in their stems which act like the humps of the camels. That was quick a fascinating fact I leaned today.

I meant to swing Little Italy in the Bronx and have an Italian dinner, but the temperature went down quickly and it became so chilly that I decided to head home instead for some hot soap.

Photo Shoot with Model Kerri Taylor

Kerri Taylor is a very beautiful and talented model. I first saw Kerri last December in New Jersey during a one day photo workshop. I booked a half-hour private photo session at the end of the workshop and shot with her in an unfinished room of the studio, the one that was still unoccupied. Kerri modeled beautifully for me during the half hour shoot and I was so convinced that I need more time to shoot with her. So, I arranged with her to come to my studio in Long Island City for a four and half hours of shoot six weeks later.

The shoot took place on February 19, 2012 and I six week period give me ample time to think about several concepts for the shoot. The photos shown above were all taken during the February shoot. I provided hairstylist for the shoot, the talented Aleetha Clanton who she and I discussed the hairstyles which will be using in the shoot ahead of time. Aleetha also saved the day for me as my makeup artist did not show up for the shoot, and almost ruined day for the second time in a row, and she was able to contact one of her friends, Elias Gutierrez, who is a makeup artist and arrange for him to come to the shoot on a short notice. The makeup artist who did not show up for the shoot did this before, but claimed that she had a car accident before the shoot and could not come to the shoot and could not call me from the hospital. This time she had no excuse whatsoever, so if you read this and would like to know who she is just shoot me a message. This disappointment forced me to take matters into my own hands and vowed to not let this happen again. Accordingly, I signed up for a course in a professional makeup art school and will complete my training by the end of April 2012. This should give me a peace of mind as I will be my own backup plan in the future.

At any rate, Kerri came to the shoot with two bags full of fetish and other outfits that would have provided additional fabulous looks on her. However, I already had my plans for the shoot and was aiming at producing three to four looks during the shoot. Some of the looks involved artistic nude shots which you can see some of them in my NYC_Man Photography portfolio on Model Mayhem.

Kerri was brought so much energy and fun to the shoot. She was so much into every aspect of the shoot with very positive contributions. She is funny, conversable, easy to work with, comfortable with her body and looks, and highly professional in the way she conducted herself. 

We all had a blast that day and we hope to do more shoot with Kerri in the summer.