More images around town.

The Studio

Bolangerie/Patisserie (bakery and bread shop)

Overlooking the town

This guy's name is Fripon, which is "Rascal" in French.

Studio with the cafe at the end of the street.

Town Square

Somebody's watching me!

More lovely bridges.

Dusk... finally at 10:45pm.

Victorious hike!

cinq jours

I leave in 5 days.

I leave in 5 days.

I think I have everything done. Well, of course except for having everything packed. I have everything pre-packed (which means there are piles and piles of things in my room that need to be placed in suitcases) and 98% of all my errands done.

I'm getting anxious here!

What is it going to be like? Will I be in pain after every session? What will the town be like? How much French will I learn/pick up? How homesick will I get? What will the food be like? How can I live and experience this adventure to its fullest?

Trying to stay calm here, but honestly, so excited and scared at the same time. But fear can be exciting, just as long as we don't let it smother us.

This might be my last post until I actually get over there. Wish me luck!




_______________________
Mark S. Chaplin

Dear Abandoned Readers

I apologize for my absence. I haven't kept up with this blog as much as I've wanted to. I've neglected it, and neglected you. It makes me feel bad, but hey, what can you do?

I absolutely, positituvely (yes, I know that really isn't a word), promise that very soon you will see a drastic change in the amount I post. I will be writing very frequently about my travels and experiences in France. You will be my link back home, back to friends, and back to loved art and artists, and hopefully I can be a link to some lovely happenings (at least in my world) in small-town France.

That is less than weeks away - OH MY. Anxiety, excitement, curiosity - a whole range of emotions is tingling through me. Thankfully, I'm not terribly stressed getting things together for the 3 month excursion. I've known about this trip since October so it's given me plenty of time to stock-pile supplies, compile to-do lists, and get psyched up for my adventure. There are last minute things that need to be done, such as car insurance, cell phone account suspension (definitely not taking my cell phone across the pond with me - it's terribly expensive), and actually packing, but other than that, nothing to stress on.

Okay, I lied.

The one thing I'm terribly concerned about is being homesick. I'm an "attached" sort of person. I love my family, friends, and of course, the boyfriend. Being away from them all will be the hardest part of the trip, I'm sure of it.

But anyway, enough of that!

-------------

Two weeks ago I was in Ohio for a whole week. Wow, it was what I needed. Papa's funeral was three days prior to me departing for my trip, and I needed to get away and just make art and hang out with friends. Dave Levingston hosted me in his house for the week, and we made such lovely, wonderful images like the ones below.






It's always wonderful working and hanging out with Dave. He's one of the best people to be around and create art with. One of my favorite people in the whole world.

Thanks Dave!

California Dreamin'

Sorry for the lack of posts, folks. I can't really say that I've been soooo busy I haven't had time to make a new entry, but rather finding suitable material to post/talk about has been lacking. Which is kind of silly, since a good friend of mine just set up a blog not too long ago and I have been advocating that you make a blog your own. It doesn't have to be substantial, or profound - it just has to be yours, and you post what you want.

So here I am.

I'm leaving in a few days to go to the Palm Springs Photo Festival. This will be my second year attending as a workshop model. I will be working for Greg Gorman's Fine Art Nude workshop, and I'm sure it will be as great as last year. I'm looking forward to seeing familiar faces and friends, but most of all, I'm looking forward to getting out of snowy Minnesota. Last night and this morning we had yet another substantial snowfall - 8 inches - and it's still snowing. Ugh. I'm so done with the snow and cold. Done done done.

I'm making lots of progress on my needed essentials for my long working vacation to France over the summer. I'm doing a great job at emptying out my pocketbook! But the expenses are necessary. New computer (I'm finally and officially a Mac user), new glasses and Rx sunglasses, new clothes, new camera (don't get terribly excited - its just a point and shoot, albeit an awesome one), and a bunch of incidentals. Shop til I drop.

On another note, I have a shoot today with Matthew Scherfenberg. Always love working with Matt. Let's just hope I can make it out of the driveway.



_________________________

Azureus by Matthew Scherfenberg.

Post-Holidays

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

I had a blissful 2 week break from life modeling gigs, and goodness, I soaked it in. I love working with artists and doing what I do - it is so rewarding in so many ways - but it is very physically demanding, and in some ways mentally challenging as well. So I gave my body lots of TLC, and thoroughly enjoyed my time off.

But now! - Back to work. January and February is filling up fast with life modeling work. But I'm going to be restricting life modeling work in March and April so I can focus on traveling and working with photographers around the country before I leave for France for the summer.

Dates are not in place quite yet, but I know I'll be traveling to the following cities/states in the spring:

NYC
Los Angeles & Bay Area
Chicago
Ohio

Other possible locations are:

Portland
Seattle
Austin/Dallas
Baltimore/DC area

I might do a quick 5-6 day midwest tour via car. But... that depends on my car's condition. It's getting old and unreliable.

Feel free to suggest a place for me to go!

I'll update this travel list in due course when details are worked out.





______________

Nad Iksodas. 4x5 Film.

Voyage

I've known this for a couple months, but I wanted to make sure everything was in order and finalized before I gave the news.

I'm going to France for the entire summer of 2011, May - August!

I'll be working for an intensive life drawing studio about 2 1/2 hours southwest of Paris.
Six hours a day, 5 days a week for 12 weeks. Most of the poses will be 60+ hours.

So after the holiday season, I'll be busting my butt to travel and book as many photo shoots as I can in the U.S. before I leave for the summer. Please send me an email if you'd like me in your area.

I might be able to book some photo shoots in Western Europe while abroad, but it will be very limited, as the life drawing studio is my number one priority and commitment.

It's absolutely amazing the opportunities I've been given because of art modeling. I can't imagine what my life would be without it.



___________________

Scott Nichol.

chocolate + loveliness

The trip is going fantastic. I'm so, so, so happy I could make this happen.

For the first part of my trip, I'm traveling with the gorgeous, wonderful, and superbly talented Stephanie Anne. She is a delight to hang around with and to work with.

We met up in Pennsylvania and worked with Scott Nichol and Bill Earle, worked with Steven Billups in Delaware today and we're ending our travels together on Monday in Baltimore with David Hilton. It will be bittersweet, because I know we'll meet and work together again, but I just don't want to part ways.

But for the second part of my trip, which will be just under a week long, I'm going to a truly beautiful location, with two of my most favorite people in the world, and I'm meeting up and working with another talented model... but I'll just leave that a mystery until my next post.

Until then, here is some Chocolate Polaroid goodness of Stephanie and I, courtesy of Scott Nichol.

Off I go...

Tomorrow morning I skip town for a week and a half!

Toooooo excited. I need this, for many reasons.

The great thing about my job is that, not only is it my job, but its my passion, and I am so lucky that the people I work for are almost always the most awesome people on the planet. It's work AND play. I am blessed.

Not only that, but on this trip I'll be meeting and working with two models who's work I've respected for a long time. AWEsome.


I'll blog on the trip, for sure... how often, I do not know.



But I'll leave you with a self-portrait.


Until next time, dear readers, take care.

Antelope Canyon

edit: here are the remaining two.








Portra 800


My Lubitel was NOT happy after this shoot.

the roadtrip breakdown.... thus far

I'm finally here at Palm Springs, CA! Whew! It's been an amazing few days.

I've had great times and great conversations with my absolutely amazing hosts: Mark and Dee Dee. I cannot thank them enough.

Quick breakdown (I'll write more about my visits when I have photos of those said visits):

Wednesday was all day driving, ending up in Glenwood Springs, CO for the night.

Thursday was Arches National Park and Monument Valley.

Friday most of the day was at Antelope Canyon and the latter part of the day was the Grand Canyon.

Saturday all day was at the Grand Canyon.

Today was Joshua Tree.


Visual stimuli overload!!



Lots of music and thoughts in between. Figured out some important things I need to deal with when I arrive back home.

But now, its time to live in the moment, and appreciate every second I have here in Palm Springs.

So with that being said, I'm going to explore the town until it's well past dark.





Ooooh, and I know who I'm going to be rooming with tomorrow through Thursday morning. Yay!

_____________________

R Michael Walker. From last summer - my first time being in Joshua Tree.

You can't always get what you want

but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need.

A few local things happening.

A new organization aimed to foster rewarding collaborations between the professional, creative forces of fine art figure photographers and figure drawing models has just been born here in the Twin Cities. It is called Phigural. Once I have more information, I will gladly pass it along here. I went last night to its first meeting, and it was very well received; I saw a lot of familiar faces and hopefully met some new people I will eventually have working relationships with.



So my original plan to get out to Palm Springs was to take a roadtrip down and shoot along the way before and after the workshop. That fell through because of the car's condition. I resolved to fly out there, and was gathering the capital to purchase the ticket when I was approached with an opportunity to travel with another Twin Cities photographer who just so happens to be taking the workshop that I'm modeling for. So I'm on another roadtrip, just not my own. But we will be hitting some marvelous hotspots, and hopefully get some amazing art out of this process. I know I'm going to be taking and shooting a lot of film myself!

My next week will consist of me preparing for this roadtrip and making sure I have all the necessary essencials without overpacking. But good news is, I can finally wear shorts again, as long as the weather cooperates. My legs need some sun.


Some amazing things have been happening lately, both good and bad. I'm just trying to sponge it all in, learn, and grow.





____________

Chip Willis.

...often go astray.

So, life has thrown another curve-ball. I'm no longer making the roadtrip due to my car's condition. It's a big letdown, which is a bit of an understatement. But I will still be making it to the Palm Springs workshop, I'll just be flying out there and back.

Figure/Life Drawing sessions have been picking up, which I'm very excited and grateful for. I just modeled at Hamline for the first time this past Tuesday. The instructor was wonderful (with British charm to boot) as well as all the students. So respectful, and very talented. I'm scheduled for more sessions there in the upcoming weeks, which will be great!

All for now!




________________

David Winge.

The best laid plans

...often go astray.

That's what I'm expecting when I go on my roadtrip in a month. Something unexpected always happens. But I'm doing my best to prepare myself, and have started planning a 'Plan B.' Different routes... different options. The only thing I can't really prepare for is cancellations. Oh boy, the nemesis of the photography world. Perhaps I should instate a cancellation policy, but I don't know how often photographers really abide by those anyway.

But I'm still booking away, and still have room for a few more slots, especially on my way back to Minnesota. So if you're interested, hit me up at brookelynne@me.com

Here is my revised map.
Although, if the weather is bad in the mountains, I will take I-25 south after my stop in Denver, head down to Albuquerque and then west on I-40 with a quick jump up to Las Vegas before Palm Springs. Going back home will be another story as I'm planning on heading up to San Francisco and then across Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

So, anyway, I'm planning away. Hopefully my plans wont go too astray.

Next weekend I'm going to be modeling again for one of Doug Beasley's workshop at the Minneapolis Photo Center. It was a great experience last time, and I'm expecting the same, if not better, this time. It is already full, otherwise I'd offer registration information.

And I have quite a few life drawing sessions before my trip, so that will also be fun, as well as decent start-up capital for the trip.

Blah blah, sorry this is not the most exciting topic, but its been weighing on my mind a lot lately. So out it pours.




______________

Bill Earle. From my recent trip out to PA.

buggy...

I'm going a bit buggy here in snowy, cold Minnesota. I need ouuuut! I need sun and warmth and beaches and no more fucking snow. Don't get me wrong, the first month or so of winter and a fresh new snow are absolutely wonderful... but after a while, it gets really old. Anyway... enough complaining.


I'm going to be doing a roadtrip at the end of March from Minneapolis to California. It will look something like this map, but with lots of stops along the way, depending on where I'm needed to shoot. If you are nearby my route and would like to shoot, please contact me at my email address here: brookelynne@me.com .


The main purpose of this roadtrip is to get to Palm Springs, CA March 28-April 2 for the Palm Springs Photo Festival to model for Jock Sturges' Workshop. I'm incredibly excited for this opportunity; to meet Jock, and even more excited to be surrounded by such like-minded artists in such a wonderful location. It will be an amazing experience, I'm sure.

I just have to remember to bring tons of film and all three of my babies. :)

Hope February is treating you all wonderfully. So far mine has been wonderful (with Valentine's day and my birthday) so I have much to be grateful for. I hope that no matter what your situation, you all take some time each day to be grateful for what you have.



________________

Sylvie Blum.

shiny goodness

I'm here in LA at casa de Blum. She had to pick up her hubby at the airport late last night, so we are getting a little bit of late start. I thought blogging would be a good way to kill some time.

Getting here to LA was rough. My flight out of MSP was delayed (because of the snowstorm) so therefore I also missed my connecting flight. What a hassle. Not to mention, I was not feeling good at all. I had a pounding headache, which made me extremely nausous when I moved. Not a good thing when you're in airports all day. I attempted eating, but... my stomach was not having any of it. I barely got off my flight to LA and into the bathroom before it was too late. And whatever it was stuck around until mid-morning yesterday modeling for Sylvie. Have you ever done extreme posing when you have a blistering migraine? Nooooooot fun.

So, that's my dose of whining for today.


So it's mid-to-low 60's here and everyone and their brother are wearing sweatshirts and/or coats. When I went to the coffeeshop, I overheard someone talking to the barista saying they had such a large appetite lately, and they contributed that to the "cold" weather. The barista was convinced and continued to reassure his theory by saying that the body has to work harder to keep itself warm in the chilly weather so therefore you need to injest more calories to make up the difference. Sure.... this is true, but I would think only for the extreme temperatures, not in 60 degree weather. But its all relative.... right?



All I can say is that SoCal residents are a bunch of wimps. And I say that with love.





Tomorrow I'm back on a plane to Minneapolis. I just hope the temperature is above zero.


_________________

Sylvie Blum.

dropout

With everything that's been going on in my life the past few months, I've made the decision to not go back to school this next semester.
It'll get done... eventually.


I'm going to be focusing on my modeling full-time again.

I haven't even started to put together a plan, but already decided destinations include:


Allentown, PA
NYC
Portland
San Francisco
LA
U.K.
Germany


I just need to figure out when and how.

If you want me to come to your area to shoot, hit me up, and lets try to arrange something.

______


I'm going back out to LA for a quick (4 day) spell with Sylvie next week before she has to submit her book. I'm excited. I think its a lot warmer in LA than in MN right now. :)


______


Lots and lots of shooting this weekend. I'm going to pump through my remaining 5 rolls of film tonight and tomorrow, which means I have to buy more developer. I'm thinking of going with Rodinal, and I've heard such good things about it, but neither NatCam stores have it, and if I order it online it wont be here for weeks. Maybe I'll just get some Ilfosol 3 or HC-110 for the time being.





_________

AJ Kahn.