I torment myself enough about the mistakes I make without you irrelevant snots playing pseudo-chivalry and 6th grade gossip games in an attempt to compromise my person. Keep your lust for one-sided misinformation away from me. I don’t need that filth in my life.

Fuck off. Really.

Rachel makes everything better…brighter. Getting to visit her is exactly what I needed. We also decided to do some camera playing while at it.

More pictures forthcoming after I get some sleep.

It feels as if there’s so much to say…and yet nothing comes.

Let’s see if Pinocchio exists somewhere over the horizon…

Recent events have made many things unexpectedly difficult in numerous facets of my life. Through this, there have been voices that strike at me in the figurative dark…the way defibrillators would strike a dying body…and, through their words, has a faint spark remained.

I don’t know how to adequately express my gratitude for those voices…but I suspect refusing to permanently disappear may be the first step.

Thank you.

This morning, I awoke to my town getting its first official snowfall of the year.

There’s something painfully ironic about it.

I don’t want to make pretty things anymore.

Apparently, my answer to the Kobayashi Maru is the same as Peter Kirk’s.

But at least this artistic/emotional self-destruction will give a voice to the silent. It will singe the source of the indiscretion and, with any luck, it will save others in the future from being subjected to it…

EDIT: It appears me assessment of the situation was flawed. I’ve since learned that, concerning the situation, the only one worth emotionally/artistically martyring myself for…is me.

Burn and purge.

I rarely get the chance to work with a makeup artist. I just seldom seem to have the opportunity…the main reason being that I’m passive about approaching someone if I don’t know them personally or if I’m unsure if I can contribute something worthwhile to their portfolio.

Fortunately, I’d had the accidental pleasure of meeting LaT at a shoot I tagged along for last summer. I have a tendency, if only subconsciously, to remember people who’s personalities really shine. LaT is just oodles of fun…you can just sense it. It’s probably the main reason why she was the one person I felt comfortable enough to approach when I was planning ideas to shoot with Jessalyn. Granted, saying just that does her a disservice…she’s absolutely amazing at what she does. I really felt completely humbled the entire time she was here.

I’m not gonna flower up the story any more. Mostly because, after shooting all yesterday morning with these two wonderful ladies and then driving out to Norfolk for a concert, I’m still a bit exhausted this morning.

So, here are a handful of the results from part 2 of Jessalyn’s visit!

Oh…and one more than should have been included from Saturday:

…and then there are days that manage to completely counterbalance all the valleys of artistic/photographic discomfort and self-doubt. Jessalyn came to my neck of the woods today. Even if we’d just spent the time hanging out and chatting it would have been a fantastic enough experience…but she took time to grace the front of my lens as well. I think I’ll be ecstatic for a while…at least until tomorrow, when we complete Round 2 of our shooting spree!

I’m the nostalgic sort. That, combined with not having done an update in a while and having recently spoken with Rachel as to getting together again soon, prompted me to go back and peek at some of our last shots.

Fortunately for me, she’s back in Richmond now. At the time, however (last fall) she was all the way up north in Poughkeepsie, NY. I’d been in the Long Island area visiting my folks and meeting some friends, but found myself with a free day where I wasn’t doing anything and decided to take a road trip up to see her.

Some of these shots I consider personal breakthroughs…points where I could feel the push to take certain styles to better levels. Rachel and I usually find ourselves shooting outside, and she’s singlehandedly been the biggest confidence booster for my comfort with shooting exterior locations. Everything with her always comes out glorious.