Ekserb

Mrgl720 said:

Ha, funny. I just recently started with my laser hair removal. & literally just found this thread. The laser hair removal is worth it but, I'm Irish so, my hair is a bit on the lighter side. (I'm not a ginger) it has still been quite successful though. I'm on session 2 of 6.

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I've done 3 sessions. Next one is the end of June. Not fond of the procedure, but ecstatic about the results.

I was just thinking about you... hope your hand has healed & you're doing well.

oldasspussy said:

I was just thinking about you... hope your hand has healed & you're doing well.

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I'm doing really well, thank you! I still have several weeks of therapy remaining, but I saw the doctor a few days ago and he's not happy with the progress of my index finger. The little finger is also still really stiff, but we knew that one would be a problem. The index finger was supposed to be much better by now. I'll see him again at the end of this month and we'll discuss whether further surgery is necessary.

In other news, I've been house hunting. My best friend (also my ex) and I have been looking for a place we can both afford and split the costs. We're each tired of paying rent with nothing to show in equity, and while home ownership doesn't really fit into my long-term plans of a life on the road, we're going to each have more money in the short term if we don't have to waste it on rent, and sharing the costs of a mortgage would almost halve our individual rent expenditures. So far we've missed out on one opportunity because someone else made an offer mere hours before ours was sent and several other homes that looked promising turned out to be … not so much. We made an offer last night on a place in a smaller city just outside Ocala in a very nice neighborhood, so we have our fingers crossed that they will accept it before tomorrow.

If this works out, I'll be able to save a little more and hopefully finish the remodel of the bookmobile by next summer. I can still do some regional traveling while she stays in the home, giving me a place to stay between art shows. If I am successful enough to afford more travel, that's great, but if not, I'll still have a place to live. And no matter what, there is a good chance the house will appreciate in value. We'll be able to sell it for a nice profit which we can split so she has a down payment on a new place and I have enough to feed myself in the lean times. LOL.

I hope you'll have full mobility once you finish the therapy & don't have to have another surgery but if you do I wish you the best. Also hope the rest of you has healed okay, you're lucky to be alive!

I don't spend nearly enough time with my camera & I have yet to figure out the intervalometer you suggested! My progress has been really slow but I have learned a few things... which has made me even more appreciative of your work. In fact, I just mentioned you to another litster the other day.

I haven't been to Ocala in years & don't remember much about it. A friend had a horse stable in Unincorporated Broward (do they even call it that anymore?) about 35 years ago & relocated there.

I was recently looking for another place and rent is outrageous these days, so I know what you mean. I also know the frustration of looking for a house, finding one you love & it getting sold to someone else. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you tonight, good luck with getting the new house tomorrow!

I'm pretty sure I'm never going to regain full mobility of the fingers on either hand, but I should have pretty good function for day-to-day tasks.

Are you familiar with the city of Belleview to the south of Ocala? That's where the house is that we are trying to get. It's a small town with good access to major roads, and all the homes in our area are well kept and nice looking. You're welcome to visit whenever you want. I'll help you figure out that intervalometer.

I've never heard of that area. I lived in south Florida & Daytona for a while and haven't been to many other places other than driving through them. I don't care much for water or flat terrain, if I head anywhere for a lesson it'll be to the mountains.

I'll be sure to let you know before my next trip to the mountains.

I spent a good hour looking at your images. They are absolutely stunning.
I read your comment just before this ... I hope you get better soon.

Such gorgeous work. Thank you for sharing.

May I ask, the blue tinge in some of your shower posts, is it post process or do you use some kind of special light?

LizzieEr said:

I spent a good hour looking at your images. They are absolutely stunning.
I read your comment just before this ... I hope you get better soon.

Such gorgeous work. Thank you for sharing.

May I ask, the blue tinge in some of your shower posts, is it post process or do you use some kind of special light?

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Thank you very much!

The tint you refer to is done in post. I'm pretty sure all of the black and white or toned photographs were processed in a plug-in called Silver Efex Pro (some may have been converted directly within the Aperture application). I love the look of the work I created with SEP; it simulates the tonal curves of over a dozen different B&W film emulsions, right down to the density of the grain structure.

I've been derelict in keeping this post filled with photos. Since I haven't shot any self nudes in awhile, let me entertain you with some of my professional work.

You might remember Elaina from an earlier photoshoot. We share ideas every few days and this day we wanted to try something along the lines of a few photos we'd seen on the interwebs. I don't like to directly copy the work of other photographers, but I will use their images as inspiration and as a starting point during a session with my own models. In this case, Elaina and I tried a few things that led to other things. Before you know it, we had a ton of beautiful photos. More can be found on my web site....

Most recently I worked with an old friend from Boca Raton. I think I've known Krista for almost eight years. The first time we worked together, I was still new to shooting other people and I was so nervous! Now it's like putting on a favorite pair of jeans: we meet somewhere, she takes off her clothes, and I make with the camera. LOL

Inside Dames Cave near Lecanto, FL:

News:

I bought the house I mentioned earlier and have been living in it since the beginning of the month. It needs some work—mostly aesthetic—but it's serviceable and clean. Had to make an emergency run to Walmart on the first night to get a float assembly for the toilet; it was running pretty much constantly and the previous owner (who wasn't living in the house while it was for sale) got a water bill for several hundred dollars before I switched the billing to my name on the day of the closing.

The new house is only a few blocks from a foresty area and there is an abandoned, unfinished house right down the street. It might be a nice location as the trees have completely overgrown the structure inside and out. There is no roof; just walls of bare concrete blocks. We are getting to the time of year when I might see some fog in the early morning and that always lends to good photos.

I finished a major project for the city: The utility department hired me to take photos of the electric crews so they could have some prints hanging in their offices and public lobby. I would follow or meet the crews at various locations and eventually took several hundred frames that I would eventually whittle down to just forty examples from which they could pick for prints. I ended up delivering eighteen prints in various sizes, but the lobby photos are the biggest I've made to date. As the manager and the city's cultural director were combing through the images, I encouraged them to order a little larger than they had planned. I felt the size they were thinking of would be a little small for the walls they would be displayed on, and the size I offered would make a nicer impression when people entered the lobby. In the end, they thanked me for nudging them toward the larger print sizes.

Here's what they look like in the lobby:


Sadly, no new models to choose from in recent months.

Speaking of photography, the purchase of the house precluded my participation in two major art shows in the past two months. I was selected to be in a show in Winter Park, FL, but had to back out as the booth fee was prohibitive. It would have been my first time in that show and it's one of the biggest in central Florida with over 300,000 visitors. I also had to decline the invite to the Ocala Arts Festival last weekend for the same reason. Had I been in the Ocala show, it would have been my third appearance and the weather was fantastic. Oh, well ... next year.

I'm scheduled for surgery on my right hand next month, followed by several months of occupational therapy. I'm hopeful this will go well and alleviate most of the restrictions I now have on these fingers. My right hand was badly damaged in the fire and suffers the worst skin adhesions that prevent me from using even the limited range of motion that I have. I told the surgeon that my objective with this surgery is to be able to point and shoot a pistol again; something I haven't been able to do since the accident.

Anyway, that's what going on for now. Thanks for your continued support!

The artwork looks great!

Good luck with the surgery and therapy!!

talikat said:

The artwork looks great!

Good luck with the surgery and therapy!!

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Thank you!

Thursday's surgery was a success. I'm currently nursing my wounds and starting occupational therapy tomorrow. My hand looks like I picked up an unexploded firework and it went off. Not pretty, but I'm already cutting back on the pain meds (Percoset) because the throbbing has pretty much subsided; it just hurts when I stretch the wounds.

Something from the other night's Super Moon coverage:

Rooting for you, Ekserb!

Happy New Year! (It's a little late. )

Nothing really new to report other than my hand is doing much better since surgery. For awhile I had an open wound on the index finger due to a severe loss of tissue. When the surgeon released the skin adhesion on the knuckle, the skin lost its blood supply and died, so there was a "dent" where the wound was open almost to the tendons. It was kind of gross. Just this week I was able for the first time to stop wearing some kind of bandage over the wound.

I've completed several weeks of occupational therapy and things are progressing. Unfortunately, they are not progressing as much as I (or the surgeon) had hoped. At this point, the range of motion is only equal to or slightly worse than pre-surgery. That's not good. But, the surgeon did as much as he was able to do, so I might be stuck with what I've got. Happily, it doesn't affect my ability to operate the camera and this has always been my primary concern. I don't know what I'd do if I was forced to stop making photos.

I sold a bunch of prints at the most recent First Friday ArtWalk in downtown Ocala. I had marked them "clearance" with a reduced price and people ate it up. I guess they will buy anything that's on sale, so I'm probably going to continue to have a set of prints that are marked down from their original price, just to help clear out the old inventory.

I also recently pissed off a few Literotica members with a post in another thread (that I will not link to). Ugh. Can't make anybody happy. LOL

Lastly, one of my dogs died late last year. Joey was suffering from a terrible cough for the last few months of his life and the vet diagnosed it as a buildup of fluid in his lungs. There was nothing to be done for it and the decision went from being one of the hardest I've had to make to the easiest. I couldn't stand the thought of him drowning in his own fluids, so I decided to end his suffering right then. Rest in peace, little guy:

So I finally got around to making some new selfies. These are really the first since the accident and I like how they came out. Taken at a state historical site here in north-central Florida right after sunrise.

First, an innocent shot:


And the hard-core:
"What was that sound?"

You can see some of the scars in the second shot. My thighs weren't damaged in the fire—those wounds are from skin graft donor sites where the doctor (or an intern) had the dermatome adjusted too deep or something and it took more than a thin layer of skin from my leg. It was so bad they had to put a graft on my donor site. Ugh.

Wow. Nine months since my last update. Lots to cover....

First, my other dog had to be put to sleep a few months ago. Tigger was more "my dog" than any pet I've ever had; she would follow me around the house and sleep only in the same room I was in. She actually lived longer than my beagle and 16 years is a very long time. To this day, I still look across the room to see if she's sleeping there when I wake up. Now I'm without any pets for the first time in over 20 years. I miss the companionship, but I have to honestly admit that the freedom is nice: I can go out all night (or even for a weekend) and not have to worry about getting back to the house to feed or let out the dogs. I won't be getting another animal for a long time.

Health: Post-fire surgeries are pretty much done. My doctor and I decided that I needed a break from cutting open my hands (again), and there would be very little benefit to any more work, so for now, it looks like I'm done. I'll just contact him again if I feel like something feels worse or maybe I need surgery to alleviate an unforeseen problem.

I made a trip to Miami to see my brother and his family and get some new photos for my portfolio. In particular, I wanted to shoot the Everglades, downtown Miami, Miami Beach, and a place in Jupiter called Blowing Rocks Preserve. I timed the trip to coincide with low tide at sunrise in Jupiter so I could get the lowest water possible right as the sun was coming over the horizon. As a photo safari, this trip was very productive.

Island Gardens Deep Harbor Marina and downtown Miami


Ancient Spanish Monastery Museum & Gardens, North Miami Beach


Blowing Rocks Preserve, Jupiter. Had to wake at 4AM to drive from Miami in time to get these shots






South Pointe Park Fishing Pier, Miami Beach


Sunrise and palm tree, Miami Beach


Sunset and driftwood in Florida Bay, Flamingo. I'm particularly proud of this one, as I had to brave millions of mosquitoes to get this shot.


South Beach Art Deco architecture, Miami Beach

I'm terribly sorry about your dog, it's hard to lose a beloved animal. They really make a house a home.

Glad your surgeries are done, that must be a relief!

Gorgeous, gorgeous B&W photos, nice to see you back!!

News....

A quick announcement: I got married today. We've known each other for eight years and have been living together for almost two. We've never had a fight. This is, without a doubt, the best friendship I've ever had.

Having said that, we never planned to get married. We had talked it over, but only to discuss whether it would be worth it financially to do so. Wednesday morning, we decided to just go ahead and do it and Thursday we went into the county clerk's office and got the license. We found a notary who would do the paperwork for a very low fee and today, in front of a small group of family, we got married. The "ceremony" took about five minutes from the time we arrived.

As far as we're concerned, nothing will change except our status on tax forms and insurance policies. We've had an open relationship up to now and neither one of us wants that to change. (We sleep in separate beds in separate rooms and recommend this to everyone, married or not.) We enjoy our freedoms as much as we enjoy being together. There is no one with whom I would rather take a road trip or sit around all night watching movies.

Our families placed a lot more importance on this event than we did. Her mother and a friend and her daughter and her boyfriend drove into town on a moment's notice. My folks live in the next town, so they also attended. Her aunt and uncle live just a few miles away and we spend a lot of time with them anyway, so of course they showed up. Luckily, that was it. And that was just fine by us.

I've been busy! Over the past few weeks, I've worked with some new clients and some new models. One of those models has posed for me before and her name is Jasmine. I wanted to try a new location and she was game, so we headed over to Indian Lake State Forest near Ocala and shot for about an hour before sunset.

Jasmine at Indian Lake:




I also found a new and inexperienced model on Model Mayhem. Her portfolio was filled with what I consider garbage photos taken by other local "photographers." I messaged her with a few pointers and she replied by asking if we could work together. After talking for a bit, we decided that we could both benefit from a collaboration and I met her in downtown Ocala for a few quick shots. I didn't want to spend too much time as I had no idea if she was going to work out or not, but it turned out to be a productive shoot. This is Trixie Vixen:

Trixie at downtown Ocala parking garage:




She was totally ready to add some quality nudes to her portfolio, so we went to Indian Lake (now one of my favorite locations) and just a few minutes after we started shooting, my camera died. Hard. The focal plane shutter snapped. It was seven years old and had well over 100,000 actuations on the shutter, so this was not unexpected, but the timing was certainly not great. It put an immediate end to the photo session, but not before I got this:



Since then, I bought a new camera. I won't say what I spent, but it was a lot. I think the cost will be justified based on the initial results coming from this beast. My broken camera was 24 megapixels. The new one is 42 megapixels. It's kind of ridiculous, actually. The only benefit of these files is the ability to heavily crop and still retain a printable image. In the past, I never have deleted files, but that will have to change as the file sizes are just too large for me to keep everything and still backup everything onto my 3TB hard drive. Now I edit photos from a shoot and keep only the best and a few extra.

When the new camera arrived, Trixie and I got together again to finish what we started and here are some results:

Ocala parking garage:

A wonderful set, the third photo is stunning.

ohverbatum7 said:

Ocala parking garage:

A wonderful set, the third photo is stunning.

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Thank you!

A beautiful set of photos. You certainly seem to pick the models.