Fancy new camera, Burlesque and more!

Well hello people-

I just picked up a fancy DSLR this weekend, I'm no longer a point and shoot girl. Hurray!

I had been on the fence about whether to go Nikon or Canon and am very happy with my new Nikon D40. It was a great deal and came with two lenses: 18-35mm and 55-200mm

Now I have a ton of stuff to learn, but it is very exciting. I will be able to shoot my own reference for paintings! This has been a goal of mine for the last 6 months or so. While I have enjoyed working with different photographers to get pin up reference, I want to be able to express my 'voice' from the outset of a project.

The only way for me to accomplish this is to shoot my own gals.

So this is going to be an interesting exploration, the photographer has just as much work to do as the model, and I will be gaining confidence in this area.

Part of my goal is to shoot burlesque performers in motion. Pin ups are fun, but I really want to capture the movement and sparkle of costumes and the sass and tease of the performer. Along with my goal to shoot, I am going to perform. I've been taking classes from local Burlesque queen Bombshell Betty since October of last year and I hope to be performing with her troupe, the Burlesqueteers, sometime this month.

There is also personal growth that go accompanies all of these new things in my life, I've been discussing with my therapist (Susan) how to push back the fear that comes from performing. We've talked a bit about how actors accomplish this, one way is to access an emotion that is already inside and bring it to the front (despite the fear). This is something I find really interesting and hope to pursue it and blog about it as well.

And...

Another goal is to finish all three 30x40" portraits by mid May.
I am going to put them up for sale, so if you are interested let me know!

Paypal buttons have been added to my website and that makes purchasing so much easier.

One last thing: stay tuned for an exciting project that I've been working on with artist Jessica Whiteside. We're co-curating an incredibly sexy Pin up art exhibition with artists representing Hot rod babes, Kink, Burlesque and Rockabilly chicks.

Happening February 09 at 111 Minna.