+ Received a DD today for Nyssa Carving a Pumpkin III - very unexpected as I was planning on deleting it after Halloween! Life is funny. While it stays true to the New Candid Nude series, it was a "just for fun" thing she and I did and not part of the actual series. I appreciate the the vote by wynnesome.

[I deleted this entry because it's just me being whiny and depressed]

+ Anyway, on to more interesting things - my next project is a colorful stylized fashion editorial series called Gegenreaktion. I absolutely LOVE dressing women up and even enjoy designing clothes. When I had my studio I shot a lot of fashion for small catalogs and store posters before I did the art nude thing. I’m not doing this for the heck of it – I’m interested in starting a clothing company and I’m hoping to use my photography to increase sales. Even though these are basically ads, I hope you appreciate the artistry everyone puts in to it. Hopefully I can employ my friends who are make-up artists, hair stylists, models, etc. through this work too.

+ I am working on some deviantArt exclusive photos to sell here for an affordable price. Unlike the other photos, the profit will not go to charity. Instead, it will be used to raise money for a New Candid Nude photo book. Which segues to the next topic:

+ I've had extreme difficulty in negotiating with publishers to print and sell my book of the New Candid Nude photos. To that end I've decided to self publish a book for fans, but not the images you see here. I am going to choose a real life couple to photograph for the entire book. The plan is to follow them around for the entire week. Of course, I need to guage how people will buy a book with both a man and women as opposed to just a woman. Sigh. The economic realities of art is a bitch sometimes.

+ Soon there will be an online store to buy prints along with archival framed prints. I usually sell prints at the size of 20x20, though now I’m cropping some shots to 16x20 as you can see by recent upload. I am working on making a limited edition of certain images at a size of 40x40, which was requested by interior designers and a few art collectors who had money to burn. As always, at least $25 from each purchase goes to HIV/AIDS charities - I haven't forgotten the reason I started this series in the first place!

+ I accidentally deleted the last journal entry trying to re-arrange my page. To recap, during the New Candid Nude shoots there were some clear failures of concept where the girls clearly posed and I accommodated their actions by shooting them. This happened often in the early part of the series, where I was still trying to figure things out. I've decided to show these photos, but wanted to separate them from the main series and asked what it should be called. There were a lot of very good suggestions and the conversation helped me a lot. I've decided on the series name The Artifice of Nude. What do you think?

+ I have been accused lately of being gender biased in the New Candid Nude series. As long time followers of my work will attest to, I have photographed plenty of men. The original concept for the series was to shot 25 men and 25 women (which I did) but the harsh reality is that nudes of men are undesirable. They do not sell at all. You’d think gay men and hetero women would be interested – and maybe they are, but they don’t show it to me with their wallets. As a former nude male model myself, I would love to continue shooting men and sell their photos but it isn't financially feasible. So I ended up extending the series and shooting 25 MORE women in order to get the 50 people I needed for the planned book release (which is another story entirely). The photos of the original 25 men will be uploaded once I'm done with the women.

+ Thanks for your support and kind words and your constructive criticisms. I love all of you and I'm sorry I am often late commenting or viewing the artwork of all my friends here. I am doing my best to keep up with all your wonderful work.