For Release: August 22, 2014. ZBHH Cancels Asia Tour Dates

Press Release: Earlier today Lemuel Mandell announced that unfortunately the tour dates scheduled for later this month in Asia have been cancelled. An unfortunate incident occurred in Stockholm last weekend between ZBHH and touring partners Stinky Nickles. When asked, Mandell said "As a trio, Peace Mama, Paulie Knuckles and myself do a lot of the heavy lifting. Sadly the Nickles didn't see it that way and were being primadonas about pitching in." Later during an undisclosed incident ZBHH and the Nickles clashed after a show. An investigation is pending but allegations of assault are at this time unconfirmed. There's no word if cancelled dates will be rescheduled. The Nickles were unavailable for comment. ASCI 2014

There's One In Every Crowd . . .

. . isn't there?

What does it mean to be that 'one' in the crowd? Why are you that 'one'? Are you getting good attention or bad attention? How do you feel when you are that 'one'? Do you stand proud or shrink down?

Ultimately there are only four possibilities: good attention/stand proud, good attention/shrink down, bad attention/stand proud, and bad attention/shrink down.

I think it is a wonderful thing to stand out in a crowd - so long as it is for the right reasons. Furthermore, if you can stand proud while doing so, more power to you.

Here's to doing the right thing, standing out because of it, and standing proud the whole time. So there!

A Time to Reflect

We all have times in our lives when we reflect on who we are. An inquiry into what our belief system looks like; what our core values are; how we define success.

I am very much at one of those times in my life right now so it seems ironically fitting that I have recently taken these two photos. They are both photographs of reflections but that is where the similarity ends. One was taken in nature; the other in downtown. One was taken with a Canon G10; the other with a phone. One was taken while sharing time with someone I love very much; the other while alone with myself.

This goes to show that reflecting on your life can happen anytime, anywhere, with anyone. It's up to you whether or not you choose see the reflection or choose to ignore it. At the moment I am choosing to see it and make important decisions in my life that are more in line with who I am at my center and less in line with the unimportant distractions that oftentimes distract from what is truly important in life.

I Cook . . . A Lot

My mom taught me how to cook when I was a teenager (thanks Mom) and I also took Home Ec in junior high - I took Shop class too before you get any smart ideas! ;-)

However I have really stepped up my cooking largely in part due to Nature's Garden Delivered which offers home delivery service of organic fruits and vegetables. The crazy/fun part is I only have a small degree of control of what I get - this results in receiving vegetables I didn't even know what they were let alone how to cook 'em!

In steps 101 Cookbooks and voila, cooking cooking and some more cooking. It feels great to eat so much organic whole food and thus the inspiration for the photo above.

A behind the scenes video of the lighting setup can be seen here.

Behind the Scenes: Super-Macro Photo-Art

This is a recent creation of mine and I like to think of it as the monster that lives in my closet scaring me at night; the reason I don't sleep with the closet door open. After I created it I thought that perhaps someone may mistake it for a photograph of a toy or doll or the like; when in fact that couldn't be further from the truth. So for this blog post I am going to provide a little 'behind the scenes' on how the image was created.

For starters it is important to know that it is a composite of two photographs taken with my cameraphone. It is also important to know that I outfitted my cameraphone with a lens from a DVD player which makes it a super-macro (about the magnification of a cheapie microscope).

This is the first image I used. In the final product it is what I would refer to as a headdress; perhaps similar to a Native American ceremonial headdress. What it is in reality is a weensy little hole in the surface of my desk. Once I got it edited to my liking I thought something filling the hole would be cool. Which leads us to . . .





. . . the second image I used. This is the face of the monster. I think it looks like an evil feline monster of some type - like a Thundercat gone awry. What it actually is is a segment of the body of a dead crane fly.



Mix equal parts, put in Photoshop for 30 minutes, and voila! You have have the monster that lives in my closet.

The Relationship Between Artist and Artwork

So I have been thinking for some time now about the relationship between myself as a photographer and my photography. The question that kept rolling around in my mind is whether I, as the maker, define my artwork; or if conversely my artwork defines me.

I have finally come to the conclusion the two are inseparable - sort of a 'chicken and egg' deal. I am obviously in control of the artwork I create (and/or choose to publish) but then at that very moment of creation/publication the artwork instantly becomes a defining element of who I am.

This may seem pretty obvious (things usually are once they are out there in front of you) but it all makes so much more sense now why I have such an emotional reaction to creating photographs. It's because when I look at my photos I am really looking at a little part of me; a piece of who I am on the inside.

I Shall Levitate My Way Through Monday

Man, sometimes I feel like I have anchors on my ankles (is it Monday already?).

But not this guy - he's got it all figured out. That's why he can levitate. ;-)

You can check out more about him at Desert Standard.

If The Door Is Locked, Does It Matter What Side You're On?

I guess this is a similar notion to "The grass is always greener on the other side" - except different.

I am pretty sure being locked in is as painful/hurtful/exclusionary as being locked out. So, at the risk of sounding trite by quoting music lyrics, as the Beastie Boys say "I got an open mind so why don't you all step inside" [no locks here sucka].

Werd.

I Think My Blog Hates Me . . .

. . . and I can't say I blame it. This poor little feller's been neglected now for 6 long months!

"Bad blogger, bad blogger!"

I could write a laundry list of reasons why but I know you don't care. So what matters now is that I get my blogging ass in gear and start/keep publishing.


This photo is from a magazine shoot I was on. I was the lighting dude/assistant on this project. Props to Morton Photographic for consistently getting magazine gigs - it was his photoshoot. However, I couldn't resist getting a few shots of my own in between the real shots for the article.

Anyway, consider this the beginning of the beginning of my return to blogging.

Stay tuned . . .

Ambient Light - Part 2

I continue to experiment with ambient light; I also continue to be surprised by how cool shooting ambient can be.

As you know, my normal M.O. is to figure out what I am going to shoot and then build the lighting scheme accordingly. Shooting ambient for me, however, is a completely opposite process. When shooting ambient I first search for the light and only then does the subject matter reveal itself; it's as though the subject matter takes a back seat to the light.

Amazing subjects with uninspired light create dull photographs - and that holds true whether I am shooting strobe or ambient. The biggest difference is whether I create the light or chase the light.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.