All The Young Dudes...Again

A female photographer commented a month ago that although she likes my work, she wondered why I only photographed women.  Time for some introspection.  Hmm....I have photographed men before and even blogged about it last June.  The biggest mental block I have is posing male models, what works for posing women doesn't apply to men; most of the time.  However, I am just as critical about the male models as I am about the female models I decide to photograph; they have to have a certain look and also be in good shape.

The registered male models on Model Mayhem, that live in Bakersfield, are pretty sparse and don't measure up to what I'm looking for in a male model.  Wow, did I just write "what I'm looking for in a male model."

Earlier this year my buddy Rob photographed male model Josh.  After reviewing some of Josh's work, he has a certain look that reminds me of the actors from the 40's and 50's.  I messaged him and asked if he'd be interested in working with me on a simple black and white themed shoot.

Within a week we met downtown and shot against a white, east-facing, wall in an alley.  Simple lighting, all sun and a scrim.  His girlfriend borrowed some old tires from a tire shop that we used as props.  We shot from 10:00 until 12:00 and I used my D700, Mamiya (loaded with Tri-X) and my new Fuji Instax 200.

What Did I Learn?

• Find a smooth White Wall - Although I do like the texture from the wall, I really wanted a less distracting background.  Brian suggested that I bring some white seamless and tape it to a wall.
• Develop my Black and White Film - I purchased a Day Tank for my 120mm film, but lost a washer after the first roll was developed.  A FLICKR friend mentioned that it looked as if my images were developed to rapidly.
• Work with more Male Models - If I find the one that meets my criteria, no problem.  I just won't go out of my way to work with them, but I do want to shoot more artistic looking images.

Having shot with Josh before a fun time was had by all, albeit by the time we wrapped it was 102 degrees.  Summer sucks in Bakersfield.