Jennifer's Sword © 2011, Matt Vanecek

Mother. Wife. Daughter. Business Owner. Dancer. Jennifer.

I had opportunity to create some photographs of Jennifer at her studio. Jennifer is the proprietress of Sole Groove Dance Studio in Flower Mound, TX. Jennifer was a real pleasure to work with. She’s intelligent, has an easy sense of humor, and is pretty laid back.

Jennifer on Green © 2011, Matt Vanecek

Jennifer had a couple of costumes that she wanted to have pictures in . We started out with the blue outfit, and worked in a couple of shots with her sword. Then we moved on to an orange outfit that really went very well with her hair color. It was pretty easy to move Jennifer into different poses and positions to emphasize her elegance and that bit of playfulness. It didn’t take her any time at all to pick up on such obscure posing terms as “dancers’ hands.” Which was actually pretty impressive, since not only was that posing term obscure, it was also made up on the spot. By me.

Jennifer in Black-and-White © 2011, Matt Vanecek

Jennifer’s infectious smile and collaborative spirit helped make this session very fun. With my lovely assistant (AKA my wife!) we were able to get in and set up quickly. After that, we made some wonderful images with Jennifer, and got everything packed up and loaded just in time to see a rather spectacular sunset and lightning show.

I’m truly looking forward to the next opportunity I get to photograph Jennifer!
Take a look at my Portrait portfolio, that includes the above images of Jennifer and some others not shown here.

Vivienne Vermuth © 2011, Matt Vanecek

Bang Bang Lulu provides a rousing, energetic set of performances. Her enthusiasm and flare was fun to watch. It was hard to continue taking pictures instead of just watching her performance, honestly.

Bang Bang Lulu © 2011, Matthew Vanecek

Zamra Dollskin © 2011, Matthew Vanecek

Zamra Dollskin of Dollskin Designs gets hot on stage. Probably because of all that fire she’s playing with! Of course, when one gets hot, clothes may come off! Also a purveyor of latex clothing, Zamra is a woman of many talents.

Pixie O'Kneel © 2011, Matthew Vanecek

Miss Red provides an amusing look at how the body seems to have a mind of its own. Through shimmies, belly rolls, and chest shimmies, her body does its own thing.

Miss Red © 2011, Matthew Vanecek

Please visit the gallery and see the rest of my pictures from this show. Feel free to leave comments or ratings. Also, please consider donating to The Bridge, and to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

Blaze lit the stage on fire with her energy and beautiful blazing red mane.

Trees hosted this epic show produced by Vivienne Vermuth. I was lucky enough to be able to take pictures of the event from a handy vantage point in a balcony overlooking the stage. It was a very exciting show that brought back teenage memories.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

Lady Liquor brought a bit of KISS to the stage with her ever-unpredictable antics.


The luscious Angela Ryan steams up the air as she glides like a White Snake that goes again.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

Heavy Metal Unchained was a fun show, and I heard music I hadn’t heard in years, or even a couple of decades. I loved the performances! The show did, however, remind me why I need to carry earplugs in my camera bag. Heavy metal music is LOUD!

Please be sure to check out my entire gallery of Heavy Metal Unchained!

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

Every once in a while, a few photographers will gather at an agreed-upon location. There may be found some women (and the occasional man) who are willing to get up while Ra yet journeys through the underwold, apply makeup and lashes, and dress up in costumes (or not, as the case may be). On a hot, sticky, humid, partly-cloudy morning in June a group of us held such an outing. My wife, our dear friend Michelle, and the lovely Lisha (who is also a good friend, but that doesn’t sounds as good as “lovely Lisha!” ), consented to be our models for the morning.

I do like some good close-ups! My lovely bride doesn’t have any Steampunk accoutrement, which was the optional theme for today’s shoot. But she does clean up pretty nice, as you can see here. This was taken at the Irving Convention Center shortly after Ra got his chariot moving. There was also a nice cloud cover that softened up the light very nicely.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

The lovely Lisha sported some pretty nifty costuming. You can find her out at Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie when it’s in season. I love taking pictures of her, because she is so expressive. It doesn’t hurt that she’s pretty, either. But the most beautiful person in the world without an expression is just a mannequin. About all you can do with a mannequin is hang clothes on it. So when I get an opportunity to shoot somebody like Lisha, I am quite ecstatic. I know I’ll get some good shots!

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

Michelle is a bellydance and Romani dance instructor. She also makes hats and hair accessories. Because of her dance and the hair accessories, she does have a nice assortment of costuming. I’ve done a few shoots with Michelle, and those have always been fun. This was no exception. We needed to get some photographs of Michelle in her latest dance costume, which she wore in the annual dance recital for the dance studio she teaches at. I think there are a couple she’ll like!

The ones I think are the best from this shoot are over at 500px.com. The full set of processed images is in my Irving Convention Center set on Flickr. Go take a look, and then leave me a comment here about which ones are your favorites!

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

I was presented recently with an opportunity to work with a burlesque class to make some photographs for them. This was a group of lovely ladies who were branching out a little from their normal routines. These days, burlesque is an entertainment art form for women, controlled by women. From strippers to housewives to the occasional boy-lesque, burlesque is a community that brings together people of all backgrounds to celebrate sensuality and poke fun at the issues of the day, or to just have a fun time.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

So, I had this opportunity, and I was extremely honored that the class allowed me to come in an perform this service for them. There was a pretty wide range of emotion, from apprehension to excitement. It’s not easy to get down to your bare essentials or less in front of strangers, and sometimes not even in front of the ones you love. A photographer must be respectful and positive at all times–before the shoot, during the shoot, and when processing/displaying the photographs. The ladies were all wonderful to work with and very patient.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

The shoot actually turned into more of a boudoir shoot than a burlesque or pin-up shoot. Which I’m quite comfortable with. There would be less photographs I could display in my blog or portfolio, of course. But if the pictures we were able to create together could bring some joy and fun into lives and relationships, I feel I’ve done my job and accomplished something great. If the lady and her significant other are happy with pictures I created with the lady, then I’m satisfied and content with my work. Pictures are meant to be shared, but sometimes, they are only meant to be shared with only one or two other people and not the whole world.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

A pin-up, burlesque, or boudoir shoot is always going to involve some makeup, maybe eyelashes and hair styling. For this session, to help with time and cost, we asked the ladies to do their own hair. But we tapped the resources of Vivienne Vermuth to apply her skill and art to all the ladies for make-up. I’ve done a test shoot with the talented Vivienne, and her portfolio of make-up she’s applied is pretty impressive. In person, Vivienne was very professional and skilled. She was prompt and her work exceeded expectations. Be sure to check her out on Facebook to see her portfolio and get her contact information.

© 2011, Matt Vanecek

The class instructor and a long-time beloved friend Jessica Dawn helped out with posing the ladies. Jessica has a very good eye and was able to get the girls into some nice flattering poses, which I could then tweak if needed. She was very helpful! My lovely bride Angela was my photographer’s assistant and performed such tasks as skillfully positioning a reflector or adjusting the angle of lights here and there. Over all, I felt the evening shoot went very well, although it lasted a bit longer than expected. No matter how quick you snap the shutter button, there’s always lights that need adjusting or poses needing tweaking or hair needing to be swept out of faces. Or chit-chatting that needs doing. For me, this shoot was totally worth the work, and I enjoyed it immensely. Next time, I’ll plan at least an hour per client in front of the camera, though…

Yeli at Star Rise, © 2011, Matt Vanecek

Wow, so it’s been a while since I posted a blog update! Much too long. Life has been a bit short on photography and a lot long on work for the last few months. And the work part is not showing signs of getting any shorter any time soon. So I’ve been struggling to find time to make photographs. I have a video project to finish (hopefully this weekend), and another to start and finish. My day job has been keeping my time monopolized to the exclusion of almost everything else. My poor wife has been taking care of household task all on her own, including the classic man’s task of taking out the garbage. The balance between work and life has found the scales tipped entirely in the wrong direction. Aside from contributing to my ongoing ability to pay my mortgage, this unbalance is also encouraging me to find a workflow that allows me to process pictures faster. I am working on finding a way to keep photography in my life, and even expand it. I love making pictures, and I love when I can make portraits that make people feel good about themselves.

I’ve had a couple photo sessions that I’ll blog about later (the clients get first peek, of course!), and when I found out my wife was going to dance in a bellydance hafla, I was like, “Score!” and charged up my camera and flash batteries. Yay! A chance to take pictures! Bellydancers are great to take pictures of because they have great expressiveness. Bellydance is an interactive art form–the dancers perform and give energy to the audience, and the audience whoops and hollers and claps and gives positive energy back to the dancers. It’s not like ballet or jazz dance or other modern dance forms where the audience sits and watches and claps politely at the conclusion. Bellydance can be elegant, or it can be down-home, but either way, the audience should clap to the music and vocalize their appreciation throughout a performance. Aiwa, habibi! Our friend Cathy is a wonderful local Bellydance instructor, and she puts on a hafla (dance party, so to speak) called Star Rise every June. The show takes place at Denton Civic Centre–making most excellent use of facilities we all pay for to present a folkloric dance style a little different from the United States norm. There were also some Tribal Fusion dancers–Tribal Fusion being a cousin to Bellydance, but incorporates a tribal motif and a fusion of different dance styles. Shimmies and pop-locks abound!

The dancer in the picture above is Yeli. Yeli is a very popular dancer in the area, and she also cooks up some mean chocolate treats! Some other dancers were my lovely wife and her troupe (Just Fabulous), Farasha (a Tribal dance instructor) and her class/troupe, and of course Cathy Barton’s class. It was a rousing show with some beautiful, fun dances. Click on the picture above and browse through some moments in time at this hafla!

Until next time, drink, dance, and make merry!

© 2011, Matt Vanecek. Bettie Blood at Dr. Sketchy's

So, a while back, there was a Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School in Denton, TX. The event was held at Banter Cafe. Off in a flash, I carried my camera and a light or two down to the cafe to see what art could be captured. I expected an interesting evening of old-time art, sketching, and picture-making. Boy, was I in for a surprise!

© 2011, Matt Vanecek. Julian Pax contemplates his next move.

What’s a poor lass to do in a situation such as this? Her nemesis was, after all, Julian Pax! In the end, Pax stood triumphant and proud, with poor Bettie at his feet. Julian cast as spell of charm and manliness, and no Bettie could possibly resist! The swooning Ms. Blood knelt in front of Julian in sensual adoration. She fell under the hypnotic wiles of the infamous Julian Pax!

Dear ladies, let this be a lesson. When Julian Pax arrives at your gathering, guard well your virtues and keep the dashing Julian at umbrella’s distance. For if you let him get too close, then you, too, may fall under the spell of the devilish Julian Pax!

Until next time, fellow art appreciators, keep exploring your own artistic yearnings!

"Skin" by Lee Varis

Soft. Smooth. Silky. Creamy. Alabaster. Ebony. Glowing. Leathery. Weathered. Skin.

In the world of photograph retouching the color and texture of skin is one very important aspect of preparing an image. The color and shade of skin can make a person glow, or look like a corpse, or look, um, artificially tanned. One of the problems is skin is never the same from person to person and reacts to different lighting conditions quite radically. The goal, whether doing a complete retouch or just a few minor corrections, is to make sure the subject’s skin color is spot-on.

Lee Varis is a prominent photographer and illustrator who has been featured in Newsweek, National Geographic, and more, with over 30 years experience. I really became interested in him when reading some reviews of the first edition of “Skin”. I never got around to buying that book, though. Then, late in 2010, Varis published the second edition of this book, which similar to the first received outstanding reviews. I hemmed and hawed, though. I invested in some of Scott Kelby’s books, a Bambi Cantrell book, some lighting equipment and gear, and got most of my Photoshop knowledge through the Internet and trial and error. Recently I had opportunity to purchase a stack of books from Amazon, and this was on my list of potentials. What really sealed it for me, though, was the man is endorsed by Rick Sammon. Who can resist a Rick Sammon recommendation?

You can go read the table of contents for yourself, since you’re most likely reading this blog in a Web browser. I’ll stick to a higher level description and let you fill in the details. In my opinion, this book is so completely worth the cost and then some. After you read my review, I encourage you to visit Amazon and do the “Look Inside” thing to get a sample of what you’ll get with this book.

The color of skin in an image is impacted by many things. Ambient light color, strobes being used, the walls, the ceiling, the white balance, the color space in your editing software. A treatise on skin that just explored Photoshop or Lightroom would be a huge disservice to the readers. When I read this book, I was pleasantly surprised to find the book covered almost the entire work flow, from lighting to printing.

Another thing I really appreciated about this book is that it’s not one of those excruciating step-by-step manuals. “Skin” is not intended for beginners; I would say journeyman level would be about right. Lee coves color management and calibration, including how to build camera profiles in a couple of different ways. The section on lighting is very nice, and more advanced than basics. Lee covers a variety of lighting situations and sources, and speaks to the rules of lighting, both in observing and breaking said rule. In the processing sessions, there are a few steps here and there, but Lee does assume the reader knows what s/he is doing in Photoshop, Lighroom, etc. I found the Photoshop sections invaluable and have already recorded some of the steps as Photoshop Actions. Skin retouching, skin replacement, now to keep the skin looking real, some tips on how to quickly achieve the correct skin tone and then how to tweak the skin tone for effect. Truly good stuff!

I really enjoyed Lee’s writing style. The writing is straightforward and clear. I felt that Lee assumes his readers would be intelligent and have a good grasp of the basics of image capture and processing. The book was written in a more conversational style as opposed to how most books touching Photoshop are written. Consider yourself warned: occasionally Lee throws a couple of numbered steps in the text, but for the most part he assumes you know how to create and manipulate layers and mask. One thing I found truly useful that I did not already know, though, was the use of Advanced Blending Options. That was like a revelation for me.

I highly recommend this book, for whatever that’s worth. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and even more so because I did not need to be sitting in front of a computer to follow along. I will go back and read it again, and probably again and again. I will most definitely pull out many more of the Photoshop activities and record them as Actions, applying my own tweaks in the process. I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed the writing style. It’s so hard to find more advanced books, as most people seem to write for beginners. After a while, all those beginner books seem to be one big duplicated mass. “Skin” stands out and on top of all the rest, in my opinion. Truly a valuable purchase.

Go get this book, and make some wonderful images!

Ms. Red Snapper at Dr. Sketchy's © 2011, Matt Vanecek

Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School returns to Denton! Featuring the vivacious Ms. Red Snapper and inimitable Bettie Blood and hosted by the ever unpredictable E. Pax, laughs abounded. For those not in the know, Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School is a burlesque event, in most cases. Various and sundry performers and models pose in often humorous, frequently provocative poses tor the drawing pleasure of sketch artists. And they allow photographers. I typically use the event as an opportunity to practice this or that part of my photography craft. This time, I was testing the feasibility of using off-camera hand-held. I gotta say, it’s not that feasible. At least, not in my current physical (lack of) condition. I need to hit the gym! I used my 24-70 lens, which is pretty light. Trying to hold that camera and get both portrait and landscape shots is quite difficult when working the camera with one hand. I would never do this with a larger lens attached, although the 24-105 f/4 might be workable.

Back-button focus I think is a must in this situation. I could work that with my thumb and didn’t have to worry about trying to finesse the shutter button to get focus. I had to set my zoom and frame the shot with both hands, really. Then I would raise the flash up and off to one side with my left hand, and bring the camera back up to try and re-establish my framing. Finally, wait for my camera arm to stop trembling from the effort of holding up the camera, get focus, and snap the shot. Wow, I have really got to start doing push-ups or curls or something! It should not be that hard to hold up a light camera like the 50D!

Anyhow, I think I got a few creative and fun shots. Ms. Pax is always good for a few fun laughs. This was my 2nd Dr. Sketchy’s with Ms. Red Snapper. Sooner or later she’ll bring Mr. Red Snapper!

Click on the picture above to see my best of the session.