pretty pictures, adventures and confusing moments

materialism

2010-12-13T08:25:00.004-05:00

My parents never raised me to be materialistic. Somewhere along the lines, probably due to my grandparents on both sides, that changed and I'm far more materialistic than my parents like. They don't understand the desire for the dozens of pairs of shoes or my inability (lack of desire?) to stop myself from buying things that I have no need for. I am, in short, a product of a very materialistic generation. And you know what? I have no problem with that. I love my things.

I recently began a project, entitled The Bed Project, which has been an interesting

test in my knowledge of people so far. You think you know somebody but you don't really know them until they're in bed, and I do mean that in multiple ways not all of which are PG-13 or under. Basically, I've asked people to bring things that materialistically represent who they are and pose on my bed. I've given no limits other than no sex in my bed, and if you really want to bring a spare tire, please wash it first. I don't care if people are clothed or nude or somewhere in between. I want people to just be people.

Once upon a time, a photographer friend of mine challenged me to create a project and stick with it. I've never been good at this, unless you want to make a blanket statement of all the nude women I shoot and entitle it "The Naked Ladies Project" or something along those lines. Anyway, in the two weeks I've been shooting for my Bed Project, I've already had more than a handful in my bed, with more lined up to hop in. Obviously this amuses me to no end, but I digress. Herblish, aka Herbie Martin, challenged me to stick to whatever project I create and go with it. Now, if you're unfamiliar with Herblish, he is a local Orlando photographer known for The Pickle Suit. Google it. You'll laugh. But then you'll be like "wow, this guy is really dedicated to using this suit." The Bed Project is my pickle suit, metaphorically speaking.

I've been greatly amused at the things people bring over, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what other people bring. To follow the project, check out http://megschutz.deviantart.com/ or http://www.flickr.com/photos/megschutz/

Meg Schutz: The Rebirth

2010-08-21T22:52:00.004-04:00

I suppose I should catch you up before I begin from where things are right now.

At some point life drastically changed. It went down hill to a point where I didn't believe recovery was possible. I lost my inspiration, my drive for creativity, my willingness to even try. I've since learned that it was all a mental mindfuck to prepare me for something better. I didn't shoot for a while. To the point where I was even more upset that I wasn't shooting, which further drove me into a pit of lack of creativity. I forced my way through shoots, not enjoying them even with people who I *love* to work with.

And then things changed. I was offered a new job. I quit the old one. Things began to look better. About a month after beginning the new job, I had a run in with a model friend of mine who it turned out, was looking for a roommate. Having had such things fall through before recently, I was hesitant and tried not to get hopes up about something. Turns out, he really did need a roommate, and a few weeks later, I was finally sleeping in what is now my bedroom. I wasn't aware at the time, but the move was more than what I thought I needed or wanted.

Moving in with Jamesson has been not only emotionally fantastic but it has

brought a rebirth of my art. Inspiration seems to run freely in this house. The desire to create and make something beautiful has returned. I swore it was lost. I had gone out with a guy a couple times who had told me that having a career drained him of his creativity and I was terrified that it was happening to me as well. But this house and the energy that fills it....I've never felt so inspired to create and shoot. I've had multiple shoots recently, to the point where there were actually more shoots in the past couple weeks than I have had in months.

I feel this push to create something more, bigger, better than I have before. And I really feel as though that with each shoot I've done in the past couple weeks, my shoots have gradually pushed me to a new place and a new level. I'm finally starting to look at my work and be proud of what I've created. I want to show off what I've created. It's an amazing feeling. I don't know where the energy of this house comes from, but I love it. I've pushed myself. Maybe Jamesson has pushed me as well. But I'm in a place artistically that I do not wish to leave anytime soon.

yea, um. that? it doesn't inspire me.

2010-04-01T23:20:00.004-04:00

There are certain things as a photographer that just do not inspire me in the least bit because I'm just not that kind of photographer. Tonight I got asked by a model/photographer friend of mine to shoot on a beach. Yea. um. no. First off, the damage that does to my camera? eh, not so much. Second off, you want to shoot on a CROWDED beach? nope. not happening. Third. It's a goddamn Florida beach. It has nothing of interest to me. There are no cliffs, there are no spiffy rocks. It's a central florida beach, so there aren't any spiffy trees or anything. Here's my thing... I'm tired of it. I've done it before. It wasn't something I particularly liked then. It wasn't something I want to do again, even for a friend. To me, it's boring. And unless I'm getting paid, I don't want to do boring things. I don't care how hot someone is or how good of a friend they are... if it doesn't benefit me in anyway, what's the point? I know some people would call that selfish, but I don't need to add much to my portfolio. It's fairly solid. I'm select with what I shoot, and with whom.

That's where we get into the idea of what's boring to me isn't boring to another person and vice versa. A beautiful girl in a bed? I'll never get tired of it. It's so simple and so natural that I just love it. Other people? Bored with it.

I shot Sarah the other day. It was the second time. The first time was when I shot the fight club shoot over Christmas break. I've got to say...Girl is beautiful. Goofy but beautiful. I love a girl who makes me laugh when I'm photographing them. When it comes down to it, personality is just as important to me as looks. However, a camera doesn't always pick up on a personality. Sometimes...but not always. In Sarah's case, it picked up on this hidden sensuality that I didn't see standing next to her. I think that's how cameras work though. They pick up things that not everyone can see. I love that about photographing people. You can fake who you are. You can let out a hidden part of yourself. You can let your true self shine through. So many options exist. As a photographer, it's exciting to find out who you capture when you photograph someone, even someone you know well. I love that mystery.

murderotica

2010-03-14T14:35:00.002-04:00

Art is supposed to be an expression of oneself right? Well, there you go. That's my expression for the time being. That's where I am mentally.

Last night as I stopped at Lowe's to pick up rope to shoot with Whitney, and the guy who cut the rope for me questioned me. Then the lady in line questioned me. Why does a pretty thing like me need rope? Well. Cause I had a bad fucking week. Cause I'm about to go kill my best friend for my photographic pleasure. Cause I'm an art major and I need to create something. Cause I have stuff to tie. Cause I'm utterly insane. Cause I want it. Cause I can. What reason do you want?? I'll continue to pull them out of my ass as I see fit. Thankyouverymuch.

Anyway, I'm actually fairly proud of how that came out. I couldn't have done it without my Wacom Tablet though. Seriously... a mouse would have just annoyed the crap out of me had I tried to do it with one. I <3 my tablet and pen though.

I'm off. Originally my shoot canceled today. Then one of the two girls texted me about still shooting, and well, I'm not going to turn down naked chicks in front of my camera.

ugh

2010-03-12T10:43:00.003-05:00

I've been sick on and off for a little over a month now. Seriously sick. Missed work for a week sick. Haven't shot for a month sick. Canceled multiple shoots sick. Because of all this, my depression has worsened. Not shooting is painful to me. It's my passion. But when you're so sick that all creativity flies out the window, that hurts. I've always been a creative person. Even now when I'm not sick (in theory), the sickness of my mental health has got me feeling so uncreative that I almost want to be sick just so I have an excuse.

So, what it comes down to is that Wednesday was my first time shooting in quite some time. Even then, I knew my heart wasn't fully there. What has happened to me? I used to devote all of my heart to photography. I used to be happy too though. Perhaps that is it...I'm not happy these days. It isn't that I want to stop with photography, I just need to find a place where I'm happy with it.

I keep coming back to the idea of needing a muse. Someone to get me back on track somehow. Ugh.

Inspiration

2010-01-31T13:46:00.000-05:00

I grew up with cameras. My grandpa on my dad's side was a hobbyist photographer and my grandparent's on my mom's side started me off young giving me cameras for Christmas or birthdays. They'd give my brother a camera too, but they never stuck with him the way they stuck with me. If I had a roll of film in my camera, I was a happy kid. Growing up, I always had cameras. I gradually got better and better cameras, and I took pictures of everything. Myself, my friends, my feet, my surroundings, animals, plants, anything I could find. If my life provides anything for the future, it will be a lot of pictures of what growing up in a solid middle class family was like. When I discovered the internet, I discovered I could look at other people's photography too, and thus continued the journey of what got me to where I am now. I know I'm not particularly very far along in my photography journey, but these are the people who inspired me once I discovered the internet and all it's marvels.

-Philippe Halsman. Jumping. Simple jumping up and down. So simple. "When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears." (http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/halsman/intro.htm)

-David LaChapelle. If you're going to be daring and ridiculous with art, you may as well do it as a true production. Vibrant, over the top, amazing. http://www.lachapellestudio.com/

-Chad Michael Ward. What my parents would have said if they saw me looking at his work when I was 13/14ish! Holy cow. They would have banned me from ever spending any time in front of a computer. Ha! http://digitalapocalypse.com/

-Helmut Newton. Androgyny anyone? Naked chicks in high fashion poses? You know I'm all over that. My high school photography teacher made the mistake of asking us to research him. I think this is where my true love of fashion began.

-Annie Leibovitz. I keep hearing how overrated her work is but have you looked at it? It's amazing. Her shots for the Disney Year of A Million Dreams? Amazing. Seriously.

That's pretty much my top handful. Whenever I'm feeling particularly uncreative, it's their work I look to.

hitting a wall

2010-01-23T08:59:00.003-05:00

So, I think I've hit a wall as a photographer, and I'm not sure if the wall is climbable yet or not. I suppose it really is not just my photography, but several other parts of my life. But for the sake of this being a photography blog, we're going to stick with the wall in front of me dealing with photography. At first, the wall was in it's building stages where I could just step over it, but it has since grown and now I've got a few issues that I need advice on.

First, I consider my art to be geared largely towards a female population. Yes, most of my work these days has consisted of artistic nudes of women, but there's a difference between a nude of a woman for a woman to get enjoy looking at vs a nude of a woman for a man to enjoy looking at. My instincts as a female photographer have largely been "go with natural" rather than "go with appealing". Well, I'm at a point here where I'm not sure I want to stay with just natural. Do I gear myself towards a male appreciating audience? Do I continue to gear myself towards a more broad art appreciating audience? I guess part of what got me to this part of the wall is that the other day when I was shooting Erica Dean, we both made a comment about how a male photographer would be much less likely to understand what she wanted to accomplish. A male would have asked for smoldering temptress Erica when Erica wanted a more natural, lounging around nude approach. There is a huge difference in how women view themselves as sexy vs how men view women as sexy. Which do I showcase? Do I learn how to bring both out in a shoot? What do I do??

Second, I need a project. Something that is an on going thing that I can pitch to galleries. Soon. I'm tired of being stuck in the particular rut I'm in. By the end of next month, I'll have been in two shows but I will have not had a solo show. I've been published locally and my photos have been used in ads in Seattle. A solo gallery show just seems like the next logical step for me, well...depending on the project. I've figured that artistic nudes would be where the project would be headed. I've already got prints started from being in the shows, I've got enough of a collection of nudes to at least make a pitch to galleries, and there is enough variety model wise in Orlando for me to continue on and get enough to easily have a 20-30 piece show by the end of the year. However, nudes would limit me to mainly bars/lounges since they're not child friendly. Do I go in a different direction and come up with a project that could be pitched to venues that aren't exclusively 18+? Do I stick with the 18+ stuff and work on giving it a bit more variety?

Third, where am I going as a photographer? I honestly have not shot anything out of the idea of pure fun in quite some time. I think it shows in my work. I've created works of art but not anything fun. Don't get me wrong, I think that my fun work can be art but I think there's a difference that shows between an art nude and coming up with concepts to execute. Do I continue down one road as an artist? Do I continue down one road as a concept photographer? Balancing the acts together is apparently not working too well for me. I think that shooting sets for Zivity has been partially to blame for this. It's made me learn how to create sets, usually of naked chicks doing things. And Zivity stuff has been mainly what I'm shooting these days anyway. Where do I go from here??

Right now, I'm focusing on the wall straight ahead of me. I haven't looked up to see how tall the wall is and if it's climbable. I just know I need to knock it down somehow and figure these things out. *sigh*

remembering

2010-01-09T17:25:00.000-05:00

It's been a few days over a year now, but never the less, this week was the one year anniversary of Joye's death. To say that Joye was just a model would be an extreme understatement and an insult to the person I knew her as. She was a friend and a muse. I had never had a real muse before until we met. She inspired me so much that without her brief appearance in the cast members of my life, she had more influence over my work than anyone else has managed. With Joye, I tried all sorts of new things and challenged myself to live to a potential that I hadn't thought possible for a much longer period.

What started as a project that I couldn't resist, my friendship with Joye quickly blossomed. We had the same creative ambitions, stifled by someone close and just wanted the creative freedom to do as we wished. After the first project we shot together, many more bigger better plans emerged. We shot other things as I wanted to try new things and find myself as an artist, but it was always Joye that inspired me. In the less than 8 months that I knew Joye, my work went from what I believe to be crap to much improved and prettier crap. We should have gotten into trouble for all the things we did, but somehow Joye and I kept out of trouble. I blame the camera around my neck and her cute little Asian self. It's amazing what you can get away with when you have boobs.

Anyway, Joye committed suicide on January 6th of 2009. At that time, it was the worst thing ever for me to handle, but of course 2009 continued and my death toll was up to 6 by the closing of the year. Joye had pushed me to try and display my work in galleries, something I thought I was not ready for. She had insisted that we would do it together. We would find a sponsor, print up medium/large prints of my work, and together we would sell them and take over the town. That never happened. But what did happen was that our first project together had inspired me so much that I knew I had to let the population of Orlando see it, and so I entered it into the annual Orlando Nude Nite art show. I would have never have done it if it hadn't been for Joye's constant pushing me and telling me that I was much better than a lot of the other "hack job photographers" in town. So I sent in the picture that still continues to inspire me today, which got into the show and got me a rather nice mention in the underground newspaper here in Orlando.
The point is, before I continue to ramble until my fingers fall off, is that a muse is a terribly important part of being an artist. Without Joye as my muse, I would have never grown as a photographer. Maybe I would have, but it would have taken a lot longer. Even though Joye is no longer here physically, I feel as though she still inspires me. I have projects in my head that I know only she would work for. I can't bring myself to use anyone else because I know they aren't as good as she is. Nobody inspires me quite the way she does. And damnit...I miss her.

Contenders for Nude Nite Orlando 2010 submission

2009-12-29T17:08:00.001-05:00

the first rule of fight club is...

2009-12-24T22:35:00.009-05:00

The first rule of fight club is nobody talks about fight club. That doesn't mean I can't take pictures though, right? So, Friday night, a friend of mine from out of town and I decide that while he's in town we should shoot. Ok, cool. Last minute, we decide that it needs to be big. Now, I haven't had a group shoot since the sleepover with London Andrews, so immediately, I know it's got to be something that kicks that shoot's ass. My first thought is it has to have ladies because well, I know Kyle. He likes the ladies just as much as I do. Eventually it evolves into a fight club themed photoshoot. We set a time and a place and spread the word. Monday arrives and I'm stoked. Sitting at work, bored out of my mind, and I realize I have 2 hours before I get off work and all of a sudden, my heart starts pumping. 2 hours until getting off work means 3 hours until Project Mayhem. Fantastic. I hadn't felt my heart pump so much about a shoot in ages. I literally could feel the excitement running through me. I ducked out of work a few minutes early so I could grab a bite and make sure I had everything together. 7pm rolls around and Project Mayhem is in swing. Roof top of a parking garage and cars start pulling up. Familiar faces, new faces, Miche's tits...it starts coming together. Nick let me use some of his lighting, which only made it better. Man, I really hadn't felt so pumped about a shoot in such a long time.

And then it hit me. That's because I haven't done something so fun in...well...I don't know how long. Don't get me wrong, I have fun when I shoot, but it isn't the same as having a really fun idea and just running with it. I could photograph all the beautiful people in the world, but if they aren't doing something fun, then I'm going to be bored silly. And because of this, my goal for 2010 is to take my photography to the next level in every aspect. I want to create works of art. I want to do fun projects. I want to see a project through from start to finish, but only if it is fun enough to be worth doing. I don't want to be doing things that I don't find fun anymore, and you know what? I'm not going to! I'm grabbing the bull by the horns and taking control here. And it's going to be a fun ride.

A little over a year ago, I got a camera tattooed on my back. I got it because of what photography means to me. It is a passion, it is a hobby, it is a job, but it is who I am. What terrifies me most about growing up and entering into a corporate world or whatever is losing that.

Determination

2009-12-17T16:30:00.002-05:00

Today I remembered that I am my biggest enemy. When I don't want to do things, it is usually for petty reasons. So, today I also remembered that I am truly the only person holding myself back. So, today I also decided that I am going to get my butt off the ground and get shit going. I mean it. I downloaded my coupons from Borders, I sold my books back to Rollins, then went to the bank. Then I went to Borders and found the book I needed to help me start on my projects for the next few months. I am going to build my own damn websites. I've been looking through this stuff, and you know what? I don't think it is really going to be that difficult. I know I can do this. My goal for myself is to have my first site up and running by Valentines Day. And you know what? I'm damn sure I can do it because my biggest set back is content, and not even that is going to be too difficult for me.

...I also went to Ulta because nothing starts off my girl powered revolutions like some new lipstick and nail polish. Sparkles! :D

selling prints

2009-12-16T20:10:00.002-05:00

I've officially opened up a print store for selling prints. I suppose it's about time that I've done this. I need extra income. Good god do I need extra income. Anyway, for any of you following my blog who may like to order prints of my photography, you may do so at www.Backprint.com/MegSchutz

That is all today.

And so it is

2009-12-13T18:15:00.005-05:00

What a week. What a week indeed. Where do I start? I spent last weekend sick as who knows what. I had a respiratory infection. It was not fun. I had to cancel shoots. It sucked. I stayed in bed and whined. And reread all of the Twilight books only to realize that the second time around they really do suck just as much as my original judgment before reading them had been. *sigh* I blame Sookie Stackhouse and her adorableness. How can you say no to Sookie? I mean, really? But anyway, that's besides the point.

After getting over my illness, I got to shoot two fairly well known out of town models. It's always nice getting to shoot talented, beautiful models. One of them, Engel Schrei, I had shot before and although I wouldn't exactly call Engel and I good friends, I would call us good enough friends that it took us most all day of hanging out before we even got around to shooting. See, that's the problem with shooting people who I don't get to see often... there's always a period of catch up. Who am I to complain about Engel though? Even in the 30-45 minutes of shooting we actually did squeeze into the 8 hours of hanging out, she nailed every frame I got. That is what I love about a model on Engel's level. I don't have to worry about how long we're going to be shooting for because I know that no matter what, I'm going to have good images. And I'm going to have fun getting them. Now, had I been a paying customer/photographer on the other hand, it taking 8 hours of hanging out to finally get 100 frames would have probably pissed me off. But I'm not. I wasn't. I didn't pay, even though I offered to do so. I'm glad she didn't ask me to do so, because frankly I can't afford to do so, but still I would have dished out the money to shoot with her because she has talent. And it shows. A girl as gorgeous and talented as she is deserves to get paid for what she does.

Anyway, my other shoot was with Laura T, a completely different type of model. It's funny how two models can basically be doing the same thing (nude art modeling) and have two completely different styles. That's what I love though. If all models did the same thing (which some do, and it annoys me to no end what so ever), I'd be bored. I'd probably go back to shooting landscapes and animals. I think, if I really had to define the difference between Engel and Laura, I would define Engel as a fashion model and Laura as a figure model. There is nothing wrong with either, but Engel strikes poses that do well for fashion, where Laura strikes poses that do well for figure studies. I love seeing the differences in poses. Where Engel and I shot for less than an hour, Laura and I shot for about 2, not including travel time. Laura and I shot for Zivity, a grand total of what will end up being split into 4 sets rather than the 3 I had at first intended. Two at Mead Gardens and two at Little Fish Huge Pond, where I shot Mandy Murphy wearing designs by Evil Needles a few months back. It was fun, but not in the same way. Laura has a more fluid way of moving her body from pose to pose, and so it was almost like watching a peep show for lack of a better term. It was very interesting watching both Engel and Laura get into their poses. I wonder if I'm the only photographer who notices how models move. hmmm...

And now for a ranty mc rant rant. Actually two rants/pet peeves.
#1-Models who do not answer questions when they are the ones who initiated conversation. A model who paid a local photographer who I know a good deal of money to do portfolio development contacted me last week asking if I was available to do TFCD (time for CD) work. I responded telling her that although she was pretty but I'm picky about who I do trade work with and asked if she had any ideas (I'm open to trades if someone has an idea that actually catches my attention). She ignores my question and instead tells me that if I have any TF work to keep her in mind because she'd like to work with me. What the hell? Did I miss something? Anyway, I've decided that because of this, I will not work with her. It's pretty simple if you ask me. If I ask you a question, answer it, even if your response is "no, I don't have any ideas at this time." Don't tell me what I already know, because I told you the first time that even though you're pretty, I'm picky. I didn't offer you anything the first time. Persistence is kind of actually really annoying in this case.
#2-Photographers who do not read and answer questions. If you're in Canada and you email me wanting to shoot, please read that I do not live in Canada if you are going to point out other things that you read from my portfolio. Then, when I point out that I do not live in Canada, do not go off on a long winded description of what your shoots entail. I will not be shooting with you. I do not live in Canada. Thank you.
Wait, I lied, I have a #3-Escorts. If you're going to bring a friend to a shoot, make it a friend who isn't going to distract you to the point of being unable to shoot for an entire day and therefore ruin my evening plans. mmmmk? thanks.

It's been a long long time

2009-11-30T22:22:00.004-05:00

School sucks. I'm glad the semester is almost over. I've barely been shooting since it started. I can't wait for this all to be done. I'm ready to graduate and just be done, but I'm a year behind on credits so I know it won't be until about 2011 that I graduate. Super. I wish I could just give all this up sometimes, but I know my future will be better with school than without.

But anyway, I have been shooting. A little here and there. Not nearly what I'd like to be at. I'm getting bored. I'm getting tired of the same faces doing the same poses. The same people. The same locations. I need variety. I need change. I've been trying to shoot in new places. Trying to shoot with new models. It's just so difficult. Some of these girls just aren't as dedicated or as good. When it comes down to it, I'd rather shoot the same talented girl over and over again than some of these girls.

I realized that I am tired of not having a muse. I used to have one. I miss her so much. I still find myself coming up with ideas that I know only she could do. I can't bring myself to delete her number in my phone. I wish I could find someone that inspires nearly as much as she continues to do so. Nobody does though. Maybe I'm just holding people to such high standards or maybe I'm just a little bit crazy and trying a bit too hard, but regardless, I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I need that spunk, that attitude, creativity, commitment, passion, sense of adventure and that beauty. I find more and more that I guess Whitney would be the closest thing I have to a muse anymore. She's close, but not quite what I want. Whitney is gorgeous, and I love her personality and her dedication, but there's just something lacking in the process of it all.

What I need is an adventure. And so I've decided that this summer I am going to go somewhere. When it comes down to it, I know I won't be picky since I figure money will be an issue. I just need to get away. I need to find my inspiration somewhere. I think Amsterdam and somewhere in Germany are going to be my places. If not Europe, then either Canada or somewhere tropical. I just need to get out of here. That trapped feeling has been setting in all around me. I can feel the walls closing in again. It's that time after all. My relationship has finally hit that plateau of being good but not really getting any better or worse. School is there. Work is there although I'm really looking for a new job/career. My life is on a plateau. And I don't want it there. It sucks out my creativity and my passion. I need those back. I need to feel my art again.

beautiful people

2009-09-02T17:40:00.003-04:00

Classes have started for me again this semester, which means back to shooting less, studying more. I think this semester it'll be ok though. I feel as though this semester is going to bring wonderful things and thoughts and people into my life. I'm feeling pretty positive about it all.

In my public speaking class, we were asked to do a short speech about someone who inspires/ed us. I don't have one person. That's the thing about being a photographer, everyone is inspiring. Everyone who is capable of emotion and facial expressions is inspiring. I love that about being a photographer. The whole world is full of such beauty and I'm lucky enough to get to capture it on a regular basis.

I don't really have anything else to say. I just wanted to remind myself and whoever actually reads this thing of the fact that everyone in this world is beautiful some how. I know sometimes I forget that fact even when I'm surrounded by said beauty.

that is all.
xoxox

Coming into my own

2009-08-22T19:08:00.004-04:00

I know it has been a while since I updated, but that doesn't really matter too much at this point. Life has been crazed. I'm shooting frequently again despite the killer headaches that seem to make it impossible for me to function as a normal human being. Things are good for the most part photographically speaking. I'm adjusting and learning and pushing myself. Slowly, I keep finding myself on shoots aimed at fashion, and I must say, I'm enjoying them very much. I didn't ever think fashion would be where I'd end up. I always assumed pin ups would be where I'd sit comfortably, but this is not the case. I still very much so enjoy shooting pin ups, however I've been trying to branch out and discover new areas to let myself grow in as a photographer. Most recently, I worked with clothing designer Evilneedles and model Mandy Murphy at Little Fish Huge Pond in Sanford, FL, shown at the right here. Fashion is different then pin ups. Pin ups it's like you're selling the girl, whereas fashion you're selling the clothes. I know, I know, selling the girl doesn't sound very nice, but I don't really know how else to put it. Pin up needs to be sexy, classy, and sassy. It isn't very easy. And you definitely need a good team to work with to do pin up.

Speaking of pin up, I recently discovered I have an enemy when it comes to pin up photography! It amuses me and angers me at once! Angers because he has told models whom I'm friends with not to work with me, which means he has probably told other girls not to work with me, and amuses me because I mean, really... Seriously? We shoot different styles of pin up, even when I'm aiming for retro/original pin up, we still have such different styles that why does it even matter?? The weird thing is, I love his work. It's gorgeous! To have him call me competition is a compliment! But the way he is going around it is petty and uncalled for. I'm not out there to be anyone's competition, but if that's what he's going to call me, then you better believe I'm going to actually BE competition. When I first joined modelmayhem.com, he was definitely a source of inspiration, but now I hear horror stories about him being late, rude, never calling/showing, etc and I can't help but wonder how he has so many girls begging to work with him. I guess reputations like that seem to stay local. I don't know. I wonder if I have a reputation. I'd like to think not. I get people a bunch of pics normally, and in much less time than I hear other photographers do. I rarely cancel last minute and have worked through migraines that make me want to scream, deaths of people I know/love, and try to be fairly helpful with sharing what I know with others. Hm...I don't know. I guess it is one of those things I'll probably never actually know either. Oh welllllll!

back to work!

2009-08-03T09:04:00.004-04:00

So after spending most of summer shooting about a third as often as I usually do, sometimes even less, I finally seem to be back on my feet shooting. This is good. This is very good actually. I guess that sometimes, to really motivate me, I need inspiration, less rain, lower temperatures, and the prospect of making money off what I do. When a day of shooting ToriBell became an option, of course I was going to hop on that train back to the land of motivation, inspiration, and shooting. Previously, when we've worked together, it had been with other models involved or for only a couple hours out of a day. Well, Saturday came along and she got here at about 2pm and we proceeded to shoot 6 sets/looks pausing only to figure out wardrobe and to go to Tijuana Flats for dinner. The sets will all be submitted to www.Zivity.com which is perhaps the most awesomest website I'm a member of. But anyway, I had known in my previous experience that ToriBell was one of my favorite people to work with, however, it wasn't until this weekend that I really realized just how well we work together. Some models are fun to work with, some aren't. ToriBell however is not only fun to work with, but we seem to really mesh well together personality wise.

Saturday morning before ToriBell got here, I was cleaning up my harddrive and after 3 years of having it, I finally filled up my first external harddrive. It's filled with hot girls, good memories, bad memories, family, friends, and the life of Meg Schutz in general. So, naturally, I went to Office Depot yesterday and bought a new one. It's sparkley blue and matches my bedroom. Oh yea.

Anyway, since my last update I have managed to talk my dad into going halvsies on a P&S underwater camera that Olympus came out with. It has been a blast to use, whether taking pics of myself or other people. It did however further prove to me that I seem to really be able to pursuade people into things. Or at least pursuade my dad into things. I should use this to my advantage more often somehow.

Now that I'm back up to my ears in photos to edit, I feel oddly comfortable and back at ease. Not shooting was weird. I didn't quite feel like myself. I know I have a lot to do and you know what? I love having that pressure to edit. If I don't edit, I can't submit sets to Zivity. If I don't submit sets to Zivity, I can't make any money. If I can't make any money, well, then...I'll be poorer. Ha! On the plus side, I'm launching a paysite hopefully this month as well as my photography business site. The paysite will mainly feature the whole foot fetish thing since that seems to be such a hit and a fairly easy way to make money. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I suppose that is all for now. Hopefully now that I'm motivated and inspired enough to shoot, I'll be motivated enough to update this journal as well since it'll be integrated into my website :)

Motivation strikes back!

2009-07-04T14:01:00.005-04:00

So far today I have done the following:
Grocery shopped
Baked Pillsbury American Flag Cookies
Made pasta salad
Made vegan chocolate chip cookies from scratch
Realized that my parents are meeting Trevor's Dad for the first time. Shit.
Edited pictures.

Yup! Finally edited pictures! So last weekend, I got a chance to shoot with a girl who has an airplane in her garage/hangar. Not only was the girl cute as a button, but fire red hair, cute boobs and fucking airplane. Yea. I said it. An airplane. I mean, how many chances am I going to get to shoot with an airplane?! We only shot one "look" with the plane and you know what? I'm totally ok with that. The pics came out flipping awesome and you know what? I like shooting fashion. yea. I said it. Fashion. I like it. It's fun! I love clothes! Of course I want to shoot pretty girls wearing them! Or not wearing them works too, but hey, if a girl can rock something, so be it! But anyway, the girl was freaking awesome. After we were done shooting, we went swimming. She has a saline pool, so it felt great on my skin and I could open my eyes underwater! sweet! I'm definitely glad we got to shoot together cause she definitely has talent as a model and she was just a really fun and goofy girl, which is awesome.

I don't like shooting people with no personality. It's boring. I mean, really? What's the point? I do this not only for a bit of extra money on occasion, but also to have fun!! And if the person I'm shooting isn't fun, then I'm not going to have fun and them I'm going to be even less motivated to edit and blah! It's just a big clusterfuck. And nobody likes clusterfucks. Right?

Yesterday when I got home from work I decided to make a "Lollipop Lickers" clip for my store. I had bought myself a watermelon flavored ring pop and decided I was going to go to town on it and sell the clip. So, I sat there staring at my webcam, licking and sucking on my lollipop. You want to know how long it took? 20 minutes. Yea. 20 minutes of yours truly staring at my webcam, smiling, giggling and making provacative gestures with my tongue on the ring pop. Yea. How much is it priced for in my store? $20. Yea. Sweet! Some guy contacted me with a request which is by far the most amusing request I've ever gotten. He wants me to wear shoes that slide easily and then move furniture so I'm slipping and sliding around. yea. wtf?! I mean ok, cool yea, I'll do it and then sell it for a good amount of money...but reallllly?! Yea...

Anyway, last weekend I also shot with Whitney again. I have to say, Whitney is probably the coolest bitch I've met. No, seriously, she's a bitch. But she's damn cool, which is the real important part. We seem to be able to put up with each other's bitchiness really well...well actually, I guess we probably aren't as bitchy to each other as we are to other people, but whatever. The good thing is, girl looks damn good in pictures and we blew bubbles together for the whole webcam girl thing, and painted each other's toenails and fingernails. Ok, wow, that probably sounds like the girliest thing ever. hm. oops? Oh well. The point is, she's crazy fun and seems to be totally ok with matching me on my ridiculous bitchyness. Oh, and we spent all day drinking strawberry mimosas. You really can't go wrong by me when you give me a giant glass of girly alcoholic tastiness.

Anyhow, I've got more prepping to do on today's Fourth of July bbq extravagana soooo, I hope you have a safe and lovely holiday. Don't drink and drive. Don't drink and light yourself on fire with fireworks either.

help?

2009-07-03T11:39:00.002-04:00

I need help. I have no motivation at all. Yesterday I sat around watching porn for most of the day. Yea. Porn. All day. I have so much editing to do, and what do I do instead?! Watch porn.

Motivate me. Inspire me. Do something damnit!

Apparently I'm a major fail at updating this damn thing.

2009-07-01T18:40:00.004-04:00

Ok. so. I fail at remembering to write in this. Well, I guess I've been failing at everything recently. I'm so behind on edits, I could probably choke a horse with all the stuff that needs editing. I shot 3 times last week and have only edited 2 pics thus far. Crap! I owe Manda pics first. And Whitney, but I told her I wouldn't edit anymore til next week cause I have to work on other edits. And then...crap who'd I shoot Sunday?? Oh! Lil Red! Right. Ok. hm. I owe edits to ToriBell from way back. I have another set of TaraRyze to edit. Gah! I'm soooo freaking behind! :(

On the plus side, I caught up on the 2nd set of Rictus we shot back in April. Naked trainspotting set for Zivity. Except, I named it "Crap Megan! It's a passenger train!" cause she definitely flashed the whole damn train. Luckily, she has cute boobs and really? Who rides trains anymore??

I have officially built myself a modeling "alter ego". Her name is Sydney Screams. And for some reason, I've decided she has a southern accent. I think it's all the True Blood I've been watching and my absolutely love for Sookie's boobs. Yea. I said it. I love Sookie's boobs. Have you seen them?! They're fucking adorable! I want my boobs to be that cute. But yes, anyway. Alter ego. My alter ego likes feet cause apparently feet are the real money makers in the fetish industry. Hey, that's cool. I keep good care of mine anyway, so it's not too hard to show them off. The funniest thing though? Who knew laughing about tiny penis's could be a fetish?? Shit. I remember a conversation YEARS ago Jessie and I had about her not knowing what to do with someone's penis that was smaller than her cell phone. Yea. True story there. People BUY videos of girls laughing at little penis's. Dead serious. I made a video and it's on my top selling list on my clips4sale store. Yea. Small penis humilation for the win!

I bought Tae Bo work out videos. I'm really stoked to start doing them. I bought 3, and 2 of them have multiple work outs. Nice! Apparently exercise is a fetish too. I'm going to webcam myself working out to Billy Banks. Oh yea. And people buy that shit?! wtf man?! I don't get it. But whatever. Where ever there are pervs, I will have money.

stormy weather and feet

2009-06-20T10:16:00.004-04:00

So. Thursday I had a shoot with Ari. Unfortunately, Florida has the lamest weather ever and we only got to shoot outdoors for about 15 or 20 minutes, which is technically enough time to make pretty things happen, but it was still super annoying. We did get at least one good image though, which is all that really matters in the long run. So then, right as I decided to wrap up the shoot because the storm was getting closer, a huge gust of wind came and knocked my light over. Now, what really bugged me was that Ari's friend was supposed to be holding the light for this very reason. Where was she? Sitting 2 feet away from the light. So, my light fell. I almost screamed and took a blunt object to Ari's friend's head. I didn't obviously. Luckily for me, I have AB lighting which seems to be virtually indestructible. The bad part is, the cords aren't, and that's what got the damage. Luckily they still hook up and my lighting still works and all, but the cords are messed up and that in itself could prove to be potentially hazardous. Anyone want to buy me new cords? Or better yet, just a power cord and then a wireless sync system? Anyone? hm. Silence. Damn.

Anyway, the good news is, the storm behind Ari's head is real rather than photoshopped. In case you're wondering, Yes, I can photoshop in a storm behind someone's head. See Carrie K for proof.

I think that I need to start working on putting together my own "stock" images to use for when I'm manipulating images to do fun things, like adding weather or a pirate ship or whatever to a picture. Hm. Project time.

Now for the fun news. I'm poor. And in debt (ok, not nearly as bad as Jessie's...yet). Because of my poor and in debtness, I have decided to start taking on "side projects". Zivity isn't so much a side project as much as it is just a way of getting my name out there and hopefully making some money on the side, but it isn't enough. So, I decided to start up a clips4sale/images4sale store. Talk about fetishes! I went looking through the list of categories of what you can shoot, and man...I feel a little bit more educated on that front even without looking at pictures. I don't want to see pictures. lol. Anyway, since I'm so broke and what not, I've decided to start selling images on there and eventually clips when I get a webcam or video cam or whatever. I'm mainly sticking with stuff that I don't mind shooting...foot fetishs, kissing, stockings, etc. It's so weird. I don't think I've fallen into shooting porn...yet...but I'm definitely getting close. Why am I so broke?! Gahhh. I need a sugar daddy.

Tampa adventure

2009-06-16T12:25:00.003-04:00

So, I spent Saturday out in Tampa. Good fun. Shot with AJ Flame and despite the limited amount of frames I took, we really did get great images. It was her anniversary with her fiance, so our shoot unfortunately got cut a little short. lame. Oh well, good enough excuse.

Anyway, after the shoot got cut short, I wandered aimlessly around Tampa/Ybor City. Went to the aquarium, got myself lost (only to find myself again later), and of course Tampa's new Ikea store! Now, my biggest issue with myself is that I'm really freaking unorganized. It's something I've worked on hardcore this past year...I got a powerbook type thing to schedule shoots which has been super helpful. Well anyway, at Ikea I decided to do some organizational shopping. I bought 2 sets of storage boxes...1 set will fit under my bed, the other set in my closet. I have stuff that I don't really want to get rid of because I still use it but not often enough for it to be just kept out. I keep trying to tell models I'll trade shoots for organizational skills, but nobody seems to be up for it. Rightly so I'm sure.

I've decided this year I'm actually going to make it out to FetCon. Haven't gone before but it looks like Herblish is letting me crash in his room and I definitely need to go and actually meet Richard of GirdleBound.com so he's more likely to let me use his stuff to put on pretty models.

Anyway, my day looks like it is going to include working on that whole organization thingy, watching I Love Lucy reruns, and then shooting at 6pm with Ari for Zivity. good times.

Exciting news!

2009-06-11T10:11:00.002-04:00

This past Sunday, I had an awesome shoot with Minnie Vicious and Lexi Katt for www.girdlebound.com. We had Lena's Hair Doos doing the hair, and Heather Schnell doing makeup. We got some amazing shots right? Well, turns out better than we thought!!

We caught the attention of www.bachelorpadmagazine.com who wants us to save the rest of the pics to put up in his magazine! Minnie emailed me to tell me that and to see if I wanted to set something else up for his magazine. well duh! So then, last night I was on the phone with Lena, and she had the great idea of having GirdleBound maybe sending us wardrobe for the shoot so it could be one big collaboration!

Ok, so not only will I have work published on GirdleBound soon, but hopefully also in BachelorPadMagazine and Prick (TaraRyze and I shot for them yesterday)! :)

The other great news is that Lena is putting on a fashion show next month and wants me to of course be a part of it! Not modeling of course, but rather shooting the show and having my own little booth set up advertising my work! wooo!

It's going to be an exciting month. Keep your eyes open for more details!

TaraRyze shoot

2009-06-09T23:35:00.006-04:00

So I finally shot with TaraRyze again today. Hadn't seen her since Catwalk Tragedy Tour last year, so it was good fun to see her and shoot again.

We shot 3 different looks, 2 for Zivity.com, and 1 for a tattoo magazine. It was good fun and we definitely got some good stuff.

My biggest issue is, for our first set I can't figure out whether I want the set to be in color or black and white. I feel like the color is really pretty, but the black and white seems to add a certain element of drama. Gah I don't know!!

Sometimes I wonder if I have an editing problem/addiction. Seriously, I get bored and instead of going out and enjoying the pool or going to the gym, I sit around editing. I'll pop on a movie for background noise and just go to town. Seriously, I could edit all day if I pop in movies one after another.

Anyway, Minnie Vicious, Lena, Heather and I are talking about having a Pin Up Workshop after FetCon this year. I wish I had money to go to FetCon, but that's a whole different complaint. ugh. Anyway, Pin Up Workshop. Minnie's a super pin up model, Lena does amazing hair, and Heather, well, Heather is just the best damn makeup artist in Florida. It'd be a great time and there's definitely a market here in Central Florida for pin up girls, but a lot don't really know how to do the hair/makeup/posing required. Hm. We need to work on details and figure things out but I think it's a great idea. We could definitely make some pretty pictures and hopefully some money.

hm. boobs.
night folks
xoxox

And then, Megan created a blog.

2009-06-09T10:15:00.001-04:00

I guess it's a good time to introduce myself onto blogger or blogspot or whatever you call this spiffy device.

I'm Megan. And I'm addicted to photography, especially photographing people.

I've created this blog as a way to update frequently with new work, upcoming project announcements, general ramblings, shoot adventure stories, and my frequent confusion over pretty much any and every thing.

So, this is me. Megan Schutz, or Meg Schutz, or Megalicious, or whatever you wish to call me. I play on both sides of the camera, which I believe gives me a better chance to learn and to adapt and to teach.

And now, my photographic journey will continue. Ha, I can't say begins because I've been doing this for a few years now. But, I guess this thing is new and exciting, so that's a beginning. Whatever.