Good evening, Steemians! It’s Saturday, April 8th and I’m being put through my paces with stress management. The world, first and foremost […that probably doesn’t need any additional commentary]. Personally, I’m staring down he barrel of the biggest work trips of my year. Viva Las Vegas. If you’ve stayed up with my blog, I’ve talked about it a lot. 20 - 30 shoots over a two week period, beginning in Las Vegas, ending in LA. It is physically, mentally, emotionally and creatively taxing. It pushes me to areas outside of my typical creative comfort zone; it’s always a sobering reminder that I chose to be an artist for a living. It brings the best out of me, but usually at quite the high cost.
I hope I’ve set the stage for what’s at stake. If you need further convincing, I make more than 1/3 of my annual income during VLV. More or less, I live off of the deposits for the shoots I book during Viva for an entire year. This all makes for a terrifying scenario when I pulled or tore a muscle in my lower back at the end of February. February is weeks and weeks away from mid-April, so who cares, right? That’s exactly what I thought. Here I am, still in agonizing pain wondering how I’m going to pull off a trip of this magnitude.
Friday morning, I woke up with a tickle in the back of my throat, which coincided with 
I’m going to fast forward through 48 hours of sniffling, whiny dramatics. It was a bad weekend, and hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles is the reality that I’ll be on a plane Monday night. I’ve been especially proactive to right this listing ship. I’ve made arrangements for my son to spend time with friends so I could sleep […something I never do, even when I know I need it]. Two giant bottles of fresh, cold-pressed juices high in vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables, and exercise. I don’t “love” exercise, but I know the reason I keep hurting my back is that my core muscles are weak. A few days filling those rings has helped. Even as I sit here writing, this would have grown to an insurmountable pain within 30 minutes. I’m on the mend. I’m confident I’ll be at 100% come Monday. Errr. Maybe 90%. Definitely a solid 83%.
So, what can you expect post VLV? Like I mentioned, this is the trip I turn out the best work of the year. Shooting every day taps in to creative reserves you can’t always access. In fact, I managed to schedule two days off between Vegas and LA, so rather than disappearing from Steemit for two weeks, I’ll be able to make an update right in the middle with new photos, insights and behind the scenes content. There are some big ones coming up on this trip, too!
I’ll be shooting Masuimi Max again the day after I arrive! This’ll make the fourth or fifth time we’ve shot together. An absolute privilege for a model that was every where when I was in my 20’s! Covers of magazines, even a contestant on Fear Factor. I value our friendship so much, and we’ll have the entire day and evening to hang out […she wants me to teach her to play Magic: The Gathering], and I’ll definitely be introducing her to Steemit. There are so many calls to bring celebrities to the community, and she is! It’s a little known fact that Masuimi is a brilliant web developer in addition to her many other talents, so I can’t wait to introduce her to the blockchain!
I’ll also be shooting a look book for Micheline Pitt’s new designer line, Vixen, and I can’t wait to work with her again. Mich and I lost touch over the last couple years and just recently reconnected. She’s such a dream to photograph. I’ll also be photographing Holly Madison for the first time. I haven’t had cable for the last 15 years but she made a household name for herself in the reality show “Girl Next Door”. We’ve been talking about doing this for a couple years, so I’m really excited that it’s finally coming to fruition!
There are several more shoots booked on this trip including another with my friend Berrit seen in my last post “German cinema starlet, reincarnate!”. The one I’m thinking about the most, however, is a project with my friend Cora of The Lingerie Addict. We’ve shot twice before and they’ve been stellar each time. You can read about them and see photos in my previous two part series “Shooting w/ The Lingerie Addict - Part 1 and Part 2”. Cora is bringing me on to shoot a look book with pinup model, Ashleeta. I worked with Ashleeta at VLV in 2015 and I can’t wait for this project. Cora has booked a jaw dropping location and we’ll be creating vintage inspired photos for a magazine style publication she’s launching this year.
I can go on and one about how I make so little money I have to travel with 60lbs book bags that injury my back. I can complain about long hours, sleeping on couches […and sometimes floors], but this really is the best job in the world, and I’m blessed beyond belief to work with the best people. With that, I’ll leave you with photos from my last shoot with Ashleeta from Viva Las Vegas a couple years ago. If you absolutely love them, consider picking up a copy of “Chocolate Cheesecake 2: A Second Helping of Modern Black Pin-ups” by Earnest L. Cox. Several of our photos from this shoot made it in to the publication.
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