American Idol Top 10 for 2013

This season of American Idol

has featured quite a few new twists. But now we’re down to the Top 1o and I suspect their won’t be to many such surprises left, at least when it comes to the rules of the game if you will. That’s not to say that there won’t be any shocking eliminations. That’s almost a given to some extent.

But now that the Top 10 is in place, here’s my quick analysis of how the voting public fared in choosing the best of the best.

The Girls:

Even though Kree was the last one announced, it seemed to me that she and Angie would be pretty much a sure thing. I love the fact that Janelle also made it through despite the fact that that puts two female country vocalists head to head to go after that particular voting block. Candace was a solid addition. With the competition among the girls so high, Amber was one of the many that could have easily filled the final spot.

The Guys: 

The only real “must have” in my opinion is the heartwarming Lazaro. Devin has been steeping up his game in recent weeks and seems to be a good selection. I’m not a huge fan of Curtis but I fully anticipated he’d be there as well.  Burnell and Paul probably squeaked through, most likely at the expense of Vincent and/or Nick.

Can’t wait to see what happens next week.

 

 

Welcome in 2013 – artistic resolutions

With all of its ups and downs

2012 is now yet another closed chapter in our lives and the history of the world. 2013 is a chance to start over and perhaps even make this year the best one yet. Besides the personal and not so personal resolutions you and I have made and set out to accomplish over the next 12 months, I also offer a few artistic resolutions if you will (after all, this is an arts blog)  for the new year that is now upon us.

1. Hold a model shoot marathon

In terms of photography, I’d like to set up an event, probably with fellow photographers, in which we will shoot several models thought a single day which one coming in for a few hours, then leaving for another to step in front of the camera. We could even overlap them a bit for a doubles session if you will. And of course, we’d use a variety of different backdrops and props for different looks in the images.

2. Write more poetry

While poetry is among my literary passions, I haven’t written as much as I would like over the last year. While I truly believe that you can’t just sit down and write a poem as that it requires inspiration, sometimes you can do a little bit to encourage inspiration to come along. In the past, I tried to write an average of one poem per month. I hope to get back to that.

3. Get my work “out there” more

Sure the Internet is a great resource for showcasing your work, but even today many people still don’t use the web and even if they do they like to be able to physically approach or even touch art work or feel the the tactile experience of a book or written/typed page. I’m working on getting some shots into gallery-like displays once again and maybe doing some more poetry readings for  literature enthusiasts.

No matter what your resolution(s) may be, here’s hoping you reach your goals.

Wall Calendar

It’s finally here!!!

As you may know by now, in my photography work I love the chance to work with alternative models. While that genre of modeling does cover a lot of area, I’m specifically referring to those who feature tattoos and piercings, vibrant colored hair and perhaps something of a goth, emo or punk style.

That being the case, a site I work with called Twisted Angels just published it’s 2013 wall calendar. I’m so excited by the results considering it’s the first time the site’s calendar has featured more than 13 photos. The count is actually 25, the cover, one main shot for each month and one small one too.

Anyway, if you’re so inclined to check out a preview, you can do so below.

Please keep in mind that some of these photos would fall into the NSFW category and you may not want them to be readily accessible by children. Nudity can be and often is artistic and beautiful but is also often hard to explain to your boss of an inquisitive young child.

Calendar preview form store standard version)

Video preview of deluxe version from the site itself