Welcome to the fourth edition of AQUILINE MAGAZINE! Glad you could join us! This is a great opportunity for some additional fabulous images. It’s true that images from a photoshoot are incredible but often the models go through a roller-coaster of emotions creating these images. Emotions in the cycle of a shoot are on my mind this week. Are all high emotions followed by low emotions? It’s certainly appears that way sometimes. One of the events that I never get used to is how a model will do a shoot with confidence and look tremendous. Then directly afterward they sometimes go into a spiral of self-doubt, depression, or questioning all they created. This is way more common than people think. I’ve seen models cut their hair off after a shoot in an emotional tantrum. They sometimes parade just the worst images imaginable on Instagram as if to say, “See how bad I can look also?” It’s probably no surprise models constantly compare themselves to other models and even other recent shoots done by peer models. We all know this can be unhealthy if one becomes obsessive or driven too hard.
“As an artist you do not have to constantly defeat your last artwork. That’s the job of your competitors.” It’s not that I don’t take these bouts seriously. It’s just that in some ways to a photographer this is a hiccup in an otherwise supernova-event. What I mean by that is if a model does her makeup just once that happens to be jaw-dropping she has scored eternally. If she creates that one image that is memorable she has achieved the ultimate. At that point, in the mind of men she has done it. She is exalted on a pedestal that lack of makeup images and even self-doubt cannot destroy. Men will talk about that successful image till their own girlfriends almost slap them in the face out of jealousy. Models are not expected to hold that moment for the rest of their lives, believe it or not.
As an artist you do not have to constantly defeat your last artwork. That’s the job of your competitors. You certainly can try and beat your last work and up the steaks if you like. However, it’s not required of an artist but more of an irresistible gravitational pull few can avoid. There you have it; I’ve said it out loud. There is no need to one-up yourself. This is the insanity that plagues most public figures and has been happening since the dawn of entertainment. Yes, we get it, people will approach you wanting to see the actual MonaLisa that was in the image. In my opinion what separates the amateurs from the professional models in one way is that the professionals know modeling is a temporary “role” they take on. In other words, it’s just one version of themselves. The very next day they are in the super market in their sweat pants with their hair pull up and they are virtually invisible to the men who ordinarily would have their mouths hanging open. Some models like being promoted and the emotions don’t flood inward till she is proceeded by the next model. It’s similarly unfortunate but models can feel like a “has been” by watching their images fade out in popularity. I remember a story where the band Metallica was saying how great it felt to be the main poster in the record-label manager’s office. Later they talked about the disappointment visiting him when the poster was no longer their band. So this rise and fall of your greatest work is inevitable. Much like a hit song, you probably cannot stay on the top of the charts forever. However, one way AQ tries to mitigate this is by bringing up and recycling older images with the current feed of brand new images. In this way no one really fades out if they did great work! Tracy Rose is a technologist, artist, photographer and general imagery aficionado from Colorado Springs, CO. His photography can be seen in numerous online publications and restaurants at the end of the universe. About the cover: Leilani Tibbits is a prolific model and artist. In fact, AQ watched and admired her portfolio for years as she lives in Texas. It was one of those surreal moments when I actually got to work with her in the flesh. We created images of many genres in one weekend with hopes of yet another follow-on shoot this year.
When AQ asked Michael Bradley to toss some words into our magazine it was an honor when he accepted. In Australia where Michael lives it comes off as a place about people and family. Images of his side in Australia always remind me of the farming communities here in the United States. When we in Colorado are covered in snow, Michael is out taking summer pictures of children. When it’s a blazing ninety-degree heat here, I see him taking images of ice and friends in snowy scenes. Despite these polar opposite worlds, his images are always captivating.
And when you can’t take photos of that then what do you take photos of?
Nikon D300s 18-55mm lens I find that my favorite genres of photography are landscapes and portraits. But if I can’t take those for whatever reason, then I’m wandering around the yard looking for some macro subjects. There is always something to take photos of, sometimes you just have to pick up the camera and go and find something.
Mamiya RZ 67 110 2.8 lens Fuji Pro NS film
I was born in Manly, Sydney Australia in 1977. Shortly after that I moved to the snowy mountainous region of New South Wales (NSW) and it was there I spent a lot of my childhood. I remember having interactions with very basic 35mm cameras from about the age of 5 or 6 years old. It wasn’t until many years later that I truly understood how all this “film” stuff works. I am writing this article with the intention of asking you, the reader some questions. What is it about photography and image making that has captured your heart? What do you like to take photos of mostly?
“To me it’s about allowing the person to feel like they are actually there beside you when you took the photo. It’s about a person having an emotional connection to your photo, be it of a place, person or object. “ What is it about photography that really drives you? Is it the sense of serenity out in the wilderness that keeps you coming back?
Nikon D300s 18-55 lens D7100 and 25-70 lens
Is it the priceless look of adoration on a new mother’s face when she sees the photos from a shoot you’ve done with her and her new born baby? Is it a young girl getting compliments or her photo’s that you took
them and what they want from today and what will it feel like for them seeing the image that they had come here seeking. The introduction to AQ-magazine highlights these aspects. It’s only when you look back and see all the people that have been along for the ride so far can you really see how deep this photography thing goes. Who sticks with you and who is cheering you on? It’s pleasing to me how many people I’ve come across that have given hours of their time to me to further develop my ideas and photography portfolio. It’s not just about having big brand cameras and lenses and blazing away without making a connection with your subject. Get to know what or who you are shooting and it will come through in your final photographs. Photography touches the soul of every one of us in some way.
Nikon D7100 70-300 lens when she’s told you she has low self-esteem about her looks? Whatever it is that drives you, keep on going. It’s not just about producing a landscape that wins all the awards at the local show or a portrait that has perfect lighting and a lovely pose. I want the person looking at my landscape photos to say “wow ok I’ve never been there but I feel like I have now” or “I’ve never thought of that place looking like that” or “I really want to go there now”. To me it’s about allowing the person to feel like they are actually there beside you when you took the photo. It’s about a person having an emotional connection to your photo, be it of a place, person or object. To me it’s about connection. For someone looking at a portrait I’ve taken I want them to get a sense of who the person is just by looking at the photo. To me that can only be truly discovered once the photographer has gotten to know who the person is that they’re taking the photos of. It comes through sharing stories and finding commonalities along the way. When I am doing a shoot I don’t generally even pick up a camera for the first 20 minutes or half an hour. I want to get to know
Nikon D300s 50 1.8 lens Michael Bradley is a photographer from NSW Australia. He loves 120 & 35mm film. More of his work can be seen at:
https:/ /www.facebook.com/ImakenImages/ https://www.instagram.com/imakenimages/
The Pointillism of David Duerson
pointillism for over 8 years now. My cousin Professor Kevin E. Taylor (Master in Fine Arts) at Ohio State University introduced this art form to me and I have been running with it ever since.
It was marvelous to get David Duerson to do an interview with AQ-Magazine given his hand-created artistic talents. He uses pointillism to create images for his clients. Pointillism is an interesting art form where dots create the shading and implied lines. Some see it similar to impressionism done by the famous painter Monet. Only in this form he uses many dots laid down on paper instead of wispy paint strokes. In some ways we all enjoy dots making up images with our computer monitors every day, so dots making up images is hardly a foreign idea. However, the art of pointillism using ink or pen and done by a professional is rare. This is why David Duerson got the attention of AQ magazine. In art class you may hear of this type of art referred to as stippling.
Artwork Title: Chief Red Cloud This form of art was invented by artist Georges Seurat and Paul Signac back in the 1800's. My first pointillism piece was James Brown and I have made
Artwork Title: Coltrane Hi my name is David Duerson and I have been doing art since I was 3 years of age. My late aunt Tuttie saw it in me, she was a fashion designer and my first art lesson was a Bugs Bunny coloring book and we had to color in-between the lines or lose the privilege of using the book. My art life started from there. I had several teachers thru out my life, such as my high school teachers Mrs. Cox and Mrs. Janokowski, but the teacher who stood out the most is my 8th grade teacher Mr. Ingram. He taught me more about art than anyone. He saw that if he gave me an assignment that I would run with it until the end. He was teaching me art at a college level. I still use these techniques and skills to this day. I've been doing
close to about 200 of these pointillism artworks since then and many more to come.
and so on. I'm thinking of getting my license plate made with Dotman. [laughs] My artistic achievement is that I turned my hobby into now a semi-business. That has landed me in several magazines and received a few awards. It’s mostly the over whelming love of my work that everyone gives me and also the love I get from my customers, when I do a personal drawing or painting for them, that is more rewarding than the money I receive from them.
Artwork Title: Rihanna I have several nicknames from doing this type of art such as Dotman, KOD (king of dots), Master of Dots
Artwork Title: Furious The best thing I get out of doing pointillism is that it relaxes me and its challenging and therapeutic and you have to have a tremendous amount of patience and dedication with this type of art. I love seeing the development of each one and the feedback I get from my fans and followers. At the end of the day I would like to be mention among some of the great artists during the presents and after I am gone. One of my sayings is buy art from living artist because the dead ones don't need the money. [laughs] David’s artwork can be seen online at: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thunder258/ https://www.facebook.com/david.duerson.7?fref=ts Artwork Title: Cattle Boy
Photographer: Aquiline Model: Lo_Suicide
My Very First Modeling Shoot By Brookey Evans
“Hello, someone posted that you’re doing modelling portfolios, I was wondering if this was true?”. These were the first words I sent to a page titled Imaken Images, that’s when I decided to give modeling ago.
the wind and making me look like a super hero which was really fun. I got more and more comfortable by the minute. The hardest part was to stop my eyes from watering-up from holding the position and looking up in the sun but got the hang of it. I was actually really enjoying myself and had a lot of laughs. I had a few more shots on the bridge, by the trees, and sitting by the rocks. They were lovely and simple spots as they were really amazing. The shoot went so quick I did not notice an hour went by. I was having so much fun. While I was doing the shoot, my mind traveled to a different place. I felt I could be myself and felt really relaxed and not having to worry about anything around me. I was really happy and really glad that I did the modelling shoot. I also got to meet an amazing photographer. This is something I would do again.
The day of my first modeling shoot, it was a beautiful day with the sun was shining and no clouds in sight. We arrange to have the shoot at this beautiful park with an amazing waterfall. I walked along the bridge so nervous thinking, “Am I actually doing this?” I thought that until Michael (the photographer) walked up to me and introduced himself. I was shy at first. I’m always shy meeting new people. Michael was really nice and knew exactly what to do. The first photo we took was near the beautiful water. I did a simple pose and smile because I was still really nervous and had no idea what to really do. After a few photo-shots I started to smile a bit more and started doing more poses, then forgot about being shy and felt better. There was a slight wind blowing through my hair and the warm sun beaming on my face, it was perfect. We did some photos with a hat prop and a ribbon wrapped around me blowing with
The reason I would like to do modelling is that I was into fashion since I was little and wanted to get into modelling clothes. I got inspired by my favorite actors and models. Modelling is something I would like to do when I leave school, but in the meantime, I would like to get more and more experience and do more photoshoots and build my self-esteem up. I really enjoyed my first shoot. I had so much fun and it made me feel better about myself. I would like to thank Michael Bradley for taking the time to take beautiful photos of me.
Posing Practice By Leilani Tibbitts
If Anyone watches you, they may wonder about you [laughs] but it will still be fun and worth it.
As a model the moment I sense a camera I'm in pose mode. Habit. Can't help it. But as you shoot repeatedly you can easily fall into the same pattern and poses. How do you change it up? How do you Make it unique and different? One way is to practice in front of a mirror. Do the poses you know you love but then tweak them. Different angle or facial expressions. Pay attention to how the light falls on you and how to utilize it to the fullest advantage.
Also look through magazines, art, online in different venues and find pictures and poses you love and keep a portfolio for your portfolio.
Another way is set a camera up with timed delay or a video and Practice moving through poses. If you choose to do video, stop it at certain points and look for perfect stop moments. When you see, the imperfect parts figure out why and try to redo it with less flaws. Just as in dance I want to move gracefully so that anytime the camera stops I still have perfect lines. Same with modeling.
And lastly make sure to change it up. For example, I love to smile and be pretty but I loved doing an intense dark angel ghost shoot once. It required me to be dark and imposing and not smile at all the whole time. I had to put my body movements and poise to fit the persona and it came out amazing! When you look into a lens be the character you're portraying. The camera doesn't lie. If you're not fully committed it will come out dry...bland...just another pretty face. Make it count. In that moment BE what is necessary to create a masterpiece. Leilani Tibbitts is a model and one of the founding members of Fitnessmodelsdotcom. She is a dancer of many styles and an aerialist, singer and songwriter
Model Release By Tracy Rose
Did you know that a model release doesn’t give the photographer the copyright to the image? Actually the model release is about giving-up privacy as a model. The copyright already is given to the photographer the minute he takes the photograph. I mean he can prove he took it. If he wanted to get all formal, he could send away to get the governments actual acknowledgement he has copyright. Either way he has this. Every time a model is involved in a photoshoot a written model release is usually signed. This “model release” is generated to protect the photographer so that later the model does not render lawsuits or claim defamation when he uses the images. By having a model release it shows that the model gave willing consent to be photographed and there was no invasion of privacy when the photograph was taken. Usually the date is automatically saved inside the image file itself called the EXIF-data. The model release should have the same date written on it. With any luck there are even more links from image to the model-releases done during filing time in case the photographer has to go to court about the image. As far as I know going to court is pretty rare. A model release helps the model in the ability to show her ownership too. It helps the model print the high-resolution version of the image onto hardcopy gloss prints because it is signed by the photographer showing those rights. When everything goes well in a photo-shoot then years afterward the model release sits worthlessly. It is when things go horribly wrong that this becomes a valuable protection. One often sees many of these boudoir images with heads cut off and bodies cropped. Obviously this model did not give full consent. Now into the grey murky area. If someone on Instagram takes your image without permission is it against the law? The answer is technically, yes. On the other hand, how many thousands of dollars are you willing to spend to get back that mediocre-quality and small sized image stolen on social media. Does it matter that much to you? Probably not. Many times if your work is good enough people will come to you and tattle that someone is using your image. If your style is unique enough they will find you to report
who has taken your work. At that point you can contact the moderator of the social media to report the problem and hope they fix the situation. Legally though it’s only worth so much monetary value right? Now that a reality check is discussed let’s go a bit further with it. I get models coming to me frightened about using their own model images for advertising or different artwork. First, most model releases provide for this use, so there is no problem. It’s true your model release might be different. Let’s go back to that earlier point though. What is it worth to the photographer to really fight you in court? Probably not much and the point is that just because a photographer is a total jerk doesn’t mean he can stop you from using your own images in different capacities. As a model you will have to weigh how reasonable a photographer is in the event you sign a model release too strict. In general, though model releases are about the same. They let you do whatever you want with it except you can’t sell the copyrights to the image.
“The point is that just because a photographer is a total jerk doesn’t mean he can stop you from using your own images in different capacities” Many years later a court battle could erupt and the rights to the images would still come down to the model release. There is a true story of a photographer who worked for an adult magazine. Years later he realized he did not get model releases for his many years of photography sessions. At that point he was legally advised that none of the thousands of images he took were really his to publish. They were his by copyright but not to publish. He ended up making a website with the images he had done as a hobby on the side due to the fact he had those particular model images. In this case even the most well paid photographers obviously need those releases. As a side note, you can take images of people in public. People cannot expect privacy if they are in public when photographed. However, how you use these publicly taken images is limited. You couldn’t use a public image to advertise your business for instance. I have seen several creepy instances where people shout at photographers taking pictures at the beach or whatever telling the photographer they can’t do that. Again, this is totally legal and by being in public you give up the right to be private. The law makes sense and you shouldn’t see your image on someone’s website. They can’t use images like that other than generic display.