Sirens at Sunrise in June

Posted on July 17, 2011 by mvanec

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.

Sirens at Sunrise 0032 by Matt Vanecek (mevanecek) on 500px.com

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!

Sirens at Sunrise 0257 by Matt Vanecek (mevanecek) on 500px.com

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!

A Burlesque Affair

Posted on June 28, 2011 by mvanec

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

A Rising Star

Posted on June 19, 2011 by mvanec

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!

Matt Vanecek Photography

Presenting my photographs and thoughts.

Sirens at Sunrise in June

A Burlesque Affair

A Rising Star