The Woes of doing Model Testing

About a week or so ago I had the opportunity to meet Doda, a cocky young male model that asked me if I would be willing to do a test for him. He found me on modelmayhem.com. Normally, most of my tests go fairly smooth, so there isn’t much that can turn the scene into something uncomfortable, but I think this one really caught me in a bad way. And I was a bit upset by the fact that he ageed to do a shirtless shoot, but meanwhile I would provide a shot of him in a suit and some headshots. All came fine with the suit shots and headshots, but when it came to doing the shirtless shots, he suddenly said, ‘Oh, I don’t feel so well’. It ended there. He wasn’t about to go any further with the shoot, and I wasn’t going to coerce him to do so. It just really irked me that he was only wanting to do what he wanted for his own port. He then asked if I could provide him with all the RAW files to the shoot. I said no, explaining to him that I need to edit and retouch the images. He then said he was studying to be a graphic artist (really?), and that he could retouch them. I decided that I would offer him a set of medium resolution files on the spot of all the images taken. I didn’t feel exactly good about it, but it was the most I would offer at the time. I may not know what the perfect policy is behind this, but this was the first time I felt that this was not the way it should be. Regardless, I did pick out a few good images from the shoot.

To see the other shots from the shoot, please take a look at my new website as hosted on Photoshelter.

Special thanks to Patryk Chaou for bringing in the clothes, courtesy of Dunhill, Wil Wu for the makeup, and assistant Nathan Chan.

Reasons for shifting to Photoshelter and the future of The Asian Male website

A few weeks ago, I decided that it was about time for me to join back Photoshelter, and to give it another go. Photoshelter, a few years ago, was the platform that I used for my back of house work with clients, a place where I would upload images from a photo shoot, and have clients pick and choose which ones they liked for me to do final retouching. It worked really well back then, until times hit hard in 2008, with both a bad business decision and the coincidental meltdown of the world economy right during that time. I had to cut back on costs and I decided that Photoshelter had to be cut from my expenditures.

That time has passed luckily, and I’m glad to re-open an account with them, albeit my images had been purged (not a problem since I have internal backup). This time around, I decided too that I was going to make use of Photoshelter more, and to test it for use as a photographer’s website, besides using it only for back of house activities. Right now, the way it looks is like so: http://normyip.photoshelter.com, which is based on their Standard account using their Maui (only one available for this account). I believe it looks fairly good, although it’s not exactly the color/font that I like.

Some asked me why am I using Photoshelter’s platform for my website, when my old website (www.normyip.com) is already looking so good. The main reason is for flexibility and speed of changing and adding photos, plus there is the added advantage of SEO, which apparently more difficult to achieve on my old design, designed using basic html using frames. I am not an IT pro, but I do know that I my website is probably missed by most crawlers. Frames is out.

Right now, my Photoshelter website and normyip.com website are separate, but most likely, I will point my www.normyip.com to the photoshelter one in the days to come, or maybe buy a new domain completely. We’ll see how it goes.

Another thing that is in the works is the shift of my Asian male images into the Photoshelter account, so that all the photographs will be available for viewing and purchase there. So for those that know of my work and want to see more Asian males in front of my camera, please support by making a small purchase, when I complete the uploading and pricing. And for those that don’t know of my Asian male photography, here is the existing website as it stands: www.theasianmale.com.



I know, pretty old stuff isn’t it? And most of the images were done back on cheap monitor and I couldn’t see the differences or nuances in my retouching. I’m far better now at retouching and such, but my eyesight has deteriorated. I mean, I have to hold a menu farther back to see the text. Arrrgggh!

But the big question is what should I do with the Asian Male website. Maybe I can get some comments from you guys? and gals! Should I make theasianmale.com a collective website? whereby any photographer that photographs the Asian male in an artistic manner can submit images to me or a moderator for inclusion? If anyone has any thoughts on this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Layers and sepia toning to create cool multiple person images

I thought that for this particular log, that I would talk more on photography and a technique of how to create multiple images. I won’t be going into the specifics and tools, but I will mention the methodology behind how it was created.

Probably the main tool that you will need is a tripod, which must be firmly secured into place once you have found the ideal location in which to do the shoot. I am using a basic tripod by Manfrotto; nothing too heavy and cumbersome (as I don’t have a super heavy camera). My other equipment is the Nikon D200 and the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 lens (superb lens by the way) to gain a super wide angle to the entire shoot. I have set the camera quite low to the ground. If you notice, you’ll see that I am probably only about 2 feet off the ground, about eye level to the seat of the chair. Once all of this was set up, I then set up the lights, one of the left (with normal cover), then one on the right (with soft-box), just to create different shadow (and thereby mood).

Subsequently, I added the chairs. Three of them, with the farthest one away in the center of the view, the next closest on the left, then the closest on the right, so as to give the image some interesting depth when Kwunho, friend and willing model, was going around from location to location. I told him to use the area from left to right, front to back. I didn’t really need to tell him ‘how’ to pose, as I left it up to him. So it ended up that the just did his thing and so long as he occupied all areas of the viewfinder, then that was all that was necessary. For variety, we did some with just his tank top, then others with it off. I wanted him to take it all off, but he wasn’t quite ready. Shy perhaps.

Kwunho repeated several times ‘Norm, it’s gonna take ages to edit this.’ Well, not really, I guess for me it was a matter of sitting down with a concept of how I wanted it to look like. I took approximately 300 or so images (I’ll have to recheck), and edited it to about 40 images that I wanted to work with. How I chose them is hard to explain, but I knew that all had something that was usable in some way. In the end, I created 2 end products with 3 images in each.

Using Lightroom, I first edited the selected images to basic black and white. I created a ‘master file’ in which I was going to copy and paste all the images that I wanted to use in the shot. Mind you, I don’t know which images work or don’t work, so it’s working back and forth using transparency to see what looks good to eye. Once I have finalized my three guys (Kwunhos’), then I go ahead and start the process of layering the images. The way I do this is more a substractive process, rather than an additive process (which I used to do a long time ago). This means that when I add another Kwunho to a ‘base image’, I add the layer, and then erase all the stuff around him, so that only he is in that layer. I find it a much simpler methodology. Then once that is done, I add another image/layer. And since all the images were taken on an tripod, there should be very little discrepancy from one image to the next. It works for me.

In the end, I merged all the layers together and then added some color toning using the gradient tool. A wonderful way to add a tone to the image. Normally, when I hit upon a gradient that I like, I save it, so I can use it again in the future.

Nelson and the male ego as expressed through the body physique

Through my years of photographing the male human body form that there lies an immense need and desire for men love themselves in a very narcissistic way. We are lucky in this day and age that we have found the simple methods in which to create and sculpt the body to whatever means we see fit, and that the only thing that really determines if we can achieve this goal is our sheer determination, will-power and desire to make it happen. With the right combination of physical exercise, supplements, nutrition, and mental stamina to just do it, it can all be achieved. Many of the guys that I photograph with really muscular physiques have this mental ability and perhaps some plain old good genetics that allow them to look the way they do. But I know that there is more, and that in lies the question: Why? I believe it has to do with a combination of sexual desire (attraction from others), vanity (attraction of themselves), and ego (self-centered, self-absorbed). The male physique (whether it be Asia, Caucasian or otherwise), when molded and shaped into what they believe makes them look better, sexier and hotter, is something that completely self-absorbed and ego-driven. I have been there. Done that. I remember the first time during my teenage years seeing my arms ‘grow’ bigger from doing simple push-ups. Rush. Cool. I was so excited by it, that I bought mail order workout manuals with drawings of Arnold Schwarzenegger doing different exercises. My brothers must have thought I was some freak. It was all ego.

Portraiture and Kwunho revisited

What is portraiture? Before taking photography seriously, I never would have used this word. And even during the time when I was photographing the male nude, I would have only said that I shoot people photography. Maybe it was simply because portraiture demanded more from the photographer and I wasn’t going to be pinned to the term. Or maybe because the nude photography that I was doing was not what I considered to be portraiture. I never categorized my work to such detail. I was shooting the male nude and I was interested in form, texture, and of how light fell onto the body and face. The face, if it was to be in the photograph, must be natural, and the expression had to come from the heart, not the head. It makes a lot of difference in the end and I can see through an image for what it is, and for what it’s not. I think now, after shooting as much as I have on the face and body, I have a better idea of what the word portraiture is about, and it has to do with a realm of photography that I find very challenging, yet exciting. It is not easy, but for some reason, I find it very natural.

Every person I photograph is different in how I approach a shoot. Some need time and a great deal of patience. And others, I just need a moment or two. Photographing the essence of a person requires trust and vulnerability. Trust because this person who holds the camera up to you might be then asking you to take off your clothes, or photograph a side of you that might you might not consider flattering, or maybe it’s because I am asking you to be yourself, and many people, haven’t a clue as to who they are. And vulnerability because there has to be something there fragile in that giving of one’s self the scrutiny of the camera, to the person on the other side, may it be me, or you, the blog viewer. Vulnerability is a desired trait in the shooting session, as only then, that we can get inside the person.

Developing ’style’ to your photography and Rick in the flesh…

Looking at photographs of Rick, a young energetic dancer I had the pleasure to photograph, I was happy to find several shots that caught my attention. This is one of them. Many people ask if they can come to my photography sessions to learn, to see what I do. And how is that I can capture the human body the way I do. Frankly, I don’t do much, except set up the lighting, put some music on, and shoot. I pretty well leave most of the work to the model, which in this case, is a dancer. I let the model decide what they want to project to me. Tell me what you want to say! And I’ll try to photograph it.

What most people then don’t have a clue about, is in editing and deciding what to do with the photographs after a shoot. I have told my students to take many photographs of whoever it is, and decide later when editing, what is a good photograph, or a bad one. Forget about the photo-shop manipulation. Just pick out the ones that strike your eye as good. I used to do this with a grease pen (back in the days of film), but now, we have a thing called a computer and software that makes it all so easy for us. Then go back and re-edit!

Of course, I am talking about photographs that are meant for personal usage, when you have control over what you think looks good, and you have to please no one else. Only then, will you have developed a ’style’ to what you do. Not everyone will agree or like what you do, but be open to honest, good criticism.

Well, there you go. I didn’t expect to write about editing when I decided to post this photograph of Rick up, but oh, what the heck!

Kevin & Madonna’s Erotica get it on…

This is what I wrote about Kevin in my book, The Asian Male – 2.AM: “I met Kevin many years ago while partying and finally mustered the nerve to ask if he was interested in modeling for me. He was shocked that I asked and I was surprised that he agreed. After a few initial meetings to discuss what he was comfortable with, we did the shoot one day in the heat of summer. What I enjoyed about photographing Kevin was that he was not at all shy about showing off his more erotic side to the sounds of Madonna’s Erotica.”

That was many years ago, back in 2007. I look back at this photograph and I feel that the energy is still there. Kevin’s body is lean, almost boney. What I like about this photograph is that it’s compositionally very pleasing to my eye, the body structure and line ziggurats up and down across the page. I like how we don’t get to see Kevin’s full face, but instead we see his erotic lips and I can sense his eyes, in deep sensuality. His jeans slip down, and past his hip bone… just enough for our eyes to slip down with him. Am I right? Of course I am. This is why this photograph reveals and excites, without having to give it away. When we communicate photograph effectively, it is all in the mind.