Guest blogging/posting – Updated 2021

For those of us who consider ourselves creative people and also try to get the word out there about our creative ambitions, guest posting or guest blogging can be a good opportunity.

With that being said, I’m looking to both guest post for other blogs as well as feature other people’s posts on mine. If you own or run a blog and are interested in in either of these possibilities, please let me know either in the comments section or via e-mail at trcapromo@gmail.com .

What I’ll accept for this blog:

Anything arts related in any way. It must be original work and at least 250 words (unless it’s poetry or a visual submission like photography or a drawing). I’ll provide one backlink per poem or visual submission and up to two per written other form of written post.

What I can provide:

Having worked in journalism as well as the arts, I am up for providing mostly anything. However, if possible I’d like to keep the topics related to:

Poetry and writing

Photography and the visual arts

Movies and video

Music and the performing arts

Goth, emo or punk subcultures

Body modification

Graphic design

Maybe we can make this work out well for everyone!

Ravenwood Collective Tattoo and Arts

A long-time friend and amazing all around artist is working on opening a Ravenwood Collective. This is a female owned tattoo shop and art space in the Pittsburgh area.

For details, you can check out the Facebook page or support this through an IndieGoGo fundraising effort.

 

An artist’s defense of Goth and Rave subculutures

As a photographic artist

and creative personality in general, I have come to meet a lot of people. And I don’t mean just in passing. I mean I’ve made connections and learned to understand how people who may not necessarily look or act like your “typical” person can be truly amazing despite negativity or discrimination that is often sent their way.

While there are many subcultures out there, for the sake of brevity and getting straight to the point, I’m going to delve into two specifically – Goth and Rave, which can sometimes overlap somewhat.

Goth Subculture

Even today, in our increasingly less judgmental society, a lot of people associate Gothic culture and style with evil and just about anything that that term might bring to mind. The fact is that this notion is far from the truth. As a matter of fact, Goth’s are really just like everybody else when in many ways, not really differing from the general population. Sure, many of them tend to have an appreciation for some of the darker elements of life, but what’s so wrong with that? In fact, I tend to think knowing the darker things more intimately helps one to appreciate, love and greater respect the brighter side of life. Perhaps this is why some elements of the subculture mix bright, vivid colors into the stereotypical all black wardrobe. Ponder this fr a moment – The brightest Sunlight also produces the darkest shadows.

Rave Subculture

Sadly and mostly due to misleading media coverage, the rave scene is often looked upon as nothing more than a series of drug-filled and sexually promiscuous events. That’s like saying that every Italian is affiliated with the Mofia, it’s outlandish and over exaggerating. Did you realize that one of the major notions within the Rave culture is a the acronym PLUR which stands for Peace, Love, Unity and Respect? This simple yet profound concept is a far try from the mainstream media view and in fact is the type of attitude or approach to life that could very well help make this troubled world a better place.

The bottom line is that the old adage still holds true today. You should never judge a book by its cover.

Winners of the first ever Creative Dreamers Blog Awards

Last month, Creative Dreamers started encouraged our readers to vote for your favorite blogs to earn the honor of the first ever “Creative Dreamers Blog Awards.”

Well, our readers have spoken and now it;s time for the results.

Blog Awards by category:

Favorite Photography Blog

lyndamichelle

Favorite Poetry Blog

Poetry Frog

Favorite Visual Design or Layout on a Blog

An Evil Nymph’s Blog

Favorite General Arts Blog

art.iculation

Favorite Drawing Blog

Drawing OWU

Favorite Subculture and Body Art Blog

Scars are Tattoos

Favorite Music or Video Blog

World Music – the Music Journey

Congratulations to all of our winners. Please fell free to brag about your accomplishments after all, our readers already have.

Video Contest – $100 cash prize!

The Alternative Modeling community at Twistedangels.net is seeking your videos to feature on our website! If you’re an aspiring film maker or just love to goof around with your video camera or cell phone, this contest could be for you.

We’ll accept videos from virtually any type of recording device including video-only cameras, still cameras that shoot video, cell phones, webcams and more, so long as the quality is reasonable.

All entries must be submitted by March 31, 2013. A winner will be announced on our Facebook and Twitter accounts by no later than April 8, 2012. And he or she will be have the option to be paid via Paypal or by mailed money order.

While the grand prize winner will take hone the cash, there will be one First Place winner who will get a HP Photo Printer with 4×6 photo paper and carrying case, a second place winner who will earn one year of free access to our website and a third place winner who will be able to select up to 5 hard copies of full-resolution 8×10 photos from our website featuring the model of your choice.*

See rules below:

Videos must be original content (you can use songs from any artist in them though) and cannot be published anywhere else on the Internet without our expressed written permission.

Videos should be centered around themes focused on goth, emo, or punk subcultures or body art and body modification.

Videos may not exceed 100 MB in file size, the smaller the better as that submitting larger files can be difficult.

In terms of subject matter, pretty much anything is acceptable from the silly and playful to the intense and sexy. ** If you aren’t sure, just ask.

There is no limit to the number of entries you can submit.

All people featured in the video must be at least 18 years of age.

To submit your video:

Upload your video to a private file sharing tool like Yousendit, Dropsend, Transferbigfiles or Google Drive (share the download like only with us).

Visit our “Contact Us” page at TA leaving any relevant information about your video (title, cast, location…) in the message box along with the other required information. You may leave the download link in the “Website” box, message area or send it to twistedangelsnet@gmail.com .

 *This prize applies specifically to models shot by our staff photographer, not those submitted by other artists.

 **Artistic nudity is acceptable but graphic pornography is not. And the videos cannot contain any illegal or discriminatory activity.

Beautiful piercings

As anyone who follows this blog knows…

I have quite an admiration for the art of body modification. And yes, it is indeed an art.

Of course, one way in which piercings are different from tattoos is the fact that they need not be permanent but still allow one to express themselves.

With that in mind, I just decided to post a few photos of beautiful, amazing piercing work for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy.

The variations of Goth

The term “Goth” is pretty generic.

It tends to conjure up certain images for the typical, mainstream individual. However, as a photographer who spends a lot of time working with alternative models, I can assure you that there are a number of different sub-cultures within the larger category we typical define as Goth.  These sub-sections each tend to have a cool, artistic style of their own. With that being said, I give you a few of the many faces of the Gothic community.

Old school, traditional Goth:

Cyber Goth:

Raver Goth:

Punk Goth:

Gothic Lolita:

 

 

Editing disasters – what not to do to your photos

As a general rule…

every photographer edits his or her photos to some extent. Sure once in a while a shot here or there will turn out just fine from the start  but that’s pretty rare. And while most serious photographers use a program like Photoshop to make adjustments to their photos, the tips below will apply to just about every possible editing tool.

Let’s think of it this way:

Hollywood celebrities and those with substantial incomes who spend a lot of time in the spotlight sometimes get a little “work done” aka plastic surgery. However, sometimes it’s done well and other times it can be a horrific disaster. The same can be said for these two approaches to re-working your images.

1. Exposure

Say you take a picture you love but notice that the image you bring up on your computer screen is darker than you had hoped. What’s a shutterbug to do? – why, bump up the exposure of course. Not so fast! While this is an easy and effective technique, you have to be careful. If you turn up the exposure too far, the washed out effect that will result can look unappealing and amateurish. Unless you are going for an intensely blown out scene intentionally for artistic purposes, this is a very bad idea.

Blown out shot from excessively high exposure.

A well exposed photo from my work with Three Rivers Creative Arts.

2. Saturation

Having the pleasure of working with a number of alternative models, I know that photographers like myself love to showcase subjects with colorful hair or body art. When attempting to do this, or to enhance colors in less than vibrant skin, muted sunsets, animal coats or  anything else, you might opt to increase the saturation. Again, good idea, but keep it to a minimum. While a little saturation can add some wonderful coloration, too much can actually bring out the noise in a shot, redden this skin too much in people and simply make things look less realistic.

Unrealistic looking shot resulting from excess saturation. 

One of my well saturated shots from a shoot for Twisted Angels.

The bottom line:

No matter what the subject matter might be, the same rules apply – by all means kick the exposure and saturation up a notch, but be careful about how much.

Alternative style girls in the music industry

It’s been a while…

since I’ve posted about one of my favorite subjects. As an avid fan of the arts, especially photography, I’ve long had a fascination with alternative style. This is apparent in much of my work with alternative models. If you’re not familiar with it, there are a number of prior posts that deal with this subject matter.

Anyway, when I also stop to consider my interest in various genres of music, some of those musical styles go right along with the alternative cultures of body modification (like tattoos and piercings), Gothic looks, punk attitude and more.  That being the case, I decided to write this little post highlighting six of the hottest ladies in the music industry who fit the aforementioned mold if you will. Of course, there are many, many, more so feel free to offer your thoughts, suggestions or additions to this list.

Avril Lavigne

From the beginning of her career in the poppy punk rock scene, Avril has been a huge success. She’s got attitude, she’s got talent and she’s got a punk but marketable look. She’s also been featured in the Maxim Hot 100 several times as well.

Hayley Williams

The first time I heard Hayley sing I was highly impressed with her vocal skills. Once I learned more about her band Paramore, I got hooked. She’s a stunning beauty and seems like loads of fun too.

Taylor Momsen

This child actress from films like How The Grinch Stole Christmas has done a complete 360 and now sports a sexy goth look. The music she makes with her band The Pretty Reckless is dark and edgy.

Megan McCauley

While Megan is a little lesser known, it’s surely has nothing to do with her skills as a musician or her very attractive punk-ish look. I suggest you check out her song Tap That for starters.

Siobhan Magnus

Perhaps American Idol’s hottest and most authentic rock chick, Siobhan seems to be a fun and eclectic package. After she sang the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black on AI, I darn near fell in love.

 Shirley Manson

While Shirley hasn’t been active in music in a while, this lead singer of the band Garbage was arguably the most notable Goth chick in music from the mid-90’s – early 2000’s. If you want to see for yourself, maybe you should check out the video for the song When I Grow Up.

The art of modeling and it’s many, many genres

When we think of modeling, most of us probably have a particular image in mind. Perhaps that image involves gawking crowds around a runway with models strutting with vigor in some “new look” for the season. Or maybe the bikini clad woman of Sport Illustrated and other notable publications pop into your head. Whatever the case may be, it may surprise you to find out just how many different types of modeling actually exist.

Here’s and extensive but certainly not complete list:

Fashion Modeling

This niche is all about the clothing being worn and usually features tall, slender models.

A few of the many Sub-genres include – 

Editorial, Runway and Showroom

Parts Modeling

It’s pretty much just what it sounds like. Models in this niche show off specific body parts like hands, feet, legs…

Commercial Modeling

Some sub-genres include –

Product, Lifestyle and Corporate

Fitness Modeling 

This genre is all about showcasing fit and athletic models often in sporty clothing.

Alternative Modeling

One of my favorites, it deals with models sporting body modifications like tattoos and piercings along with a punk or goth pics style.

Glamour Modeling

This style focuses on sexual or sensual themes. This can range from mild to quite intense in terms of how graphic the content might become.