COVER SHOT BABY!!

I just found out the I landed the Cover Shot for the next issue of Mode Lifestyle Magazine. I'm so freakin' excited. I also got a few of the editorials. As always, I doubted myself. I've gotta stop doing that. I think its the artist side of me. Whatever it is its got to stop. I need to find, and keep, the confident, powerful side and have faith in myself. I guess I'm afraid that someone is going to hate my work, or worse, hate me. Maybe someone will, and maybe they wont. That's life and I need to remember that i cant please everyone, so its time to let that shit go. And besides, so far no one has been the least bit negative. I need to keep reminding myself that everyone I shoot and shoot for are always blown away with my work. In fact, in the past two weeks I have landed regular gigs with Mode and the MMA website.

I cant wait to show you the images that were chosen once they're edited. Did I mention that I'm so freakin' excited?!!

Mode Magazine South Beach National Hotel

I'm finally getting around to posting my favorite images from the Mode Lifestyle Magazine shoot from Miami Beach. I've been getting busier over the past few months that a few shoots completely skipped my mind. There's two things I remember from this shoot. First, how fuckin' hot it was. Go figure South Beach in the summer being hot. And second, how easy it was to work with this team of models and stylists. And I got the cover to boot. Hope you like what you see. More of these shots are in the editorial section of my online portfolio.

Fight Time for Bellator XII!!

WOW!! Ringside at ESPN's main MMA event with an all access pass. My seat was right behind the blue corner sitting next to one of the officials. It was a great night. I had perfect seats and I didn't have to spend a dime. In fact, I was actually getting paid to do what I love the most. It was really busy where I was located. I had to watch for camera crews jumping over me, ring girls almost stepping on my equipment, corner men jumping up in between rounds, sharp metal grates cutting into my elbows and I almost knocked over the judge, not to mention the hand crush, neck and back pains from trying to dodge everything and everyone. Taking everything into account, I would do it again in a heartbeat. The website I shot for absolutely loved the images and want to use me for all of their events in the future. I cant wait. On a side note, all four of the American Top Team fighters won by either TKO or submission.

Bellator XII Weigh-Ins

Today was the weight-ins for the Bellator fight. Everything went pretty smooth considering the room was filled with grumpy cage fighters. They had been cutting weight for the past few weeks and everyone was on edge. It started about 90 minutes late, which I'm told is quite typical. I got all the shots of the fighters and did a few pre-fight video interviews. This was my first time with the video. I was nervous at first but was totally relaxed by interview #3. Tomorrow is the big fight and I cant wait.

My Images Featured for "In The Mode" Movie Promo

How cool is this? A few of the images I took from the last fashion show I shot are featured on the promo print for the feature film "In The Mode", due out this winter. This is really cool because the Mode execs chose my images over their own photographers shots. The only reason I took any shots was to help out a photog who never shot a live event before and was visibly nervous. I helped out for two main reasons. The first was because it was a charity event and I wanted to make sure they had good shots for their marketing reports. The other reason was to network, hoping that there were some jobs down the line for me. The end result is that I did a good deed by helping out the charity with an extra bonus of helping out myself. This weekend I'm involved in a two day editorial photo shoot for the magazine down in Miami. They also want me to be involved with the filming on set in July. And this is only the beginning.

Today I shot some head shots and portraits for Jaclynn Brennan and Kathleen Ross from Global Fashion Agency located in Ft. Lauderdale. GFA is a full service Fashion Representation/Public Relations firm. The handle everything from event planning, marketing, information management, public relations, model representation, graphic design to whatever is needed to plan and pull off a great event. I placed a banner for GFA on the link page of my website.

Tattoo or not Tattoo

Sometimes I wonder if its worth all the pain. I've been working on a full sleeve for the good part of a year and after almost 100 hours under the needle I begin to question myself. Last night I had another three hour sitting. Normally I have no issue with the pain. I can always find a happy place, at least I thought so, until we got to my elbow. My tattoo artist and friend Dave (dwitz.com) told me I was making noises like a gay pirate. I was a little shocked to hear the yelps that came out of my mouth. well now its the day after and my elbow is a little tender, glad that's in the past. I look in the mirror to check out the latest update and the answer is a definite YES! It's all worth it. This piece is going to be amazing when its finished. We're working on completing it for the South Florida Tattoo convention this August. I want to enter it in both the Japanese and full sleeve competitions. We're almost there.

Bellator XII Ringside for BrokeYou.com

As luck would have it I was just hired by BrokeYou.com to shoot the Bellator XII Championships at the Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, FL. I'll be sitting ringside among the announcer and officials. This is my first gig at the hard rock and I can’t wait. I'll also be doing the pre and post fight interviews with the fighters. My gym, American Top Team, has three fighters on the card, Hector Lombard, Jessica Aguilar and Jorge Masvidal. Hector in the middleweight finals. I'll let you know how it goes. Go ATT!

Mode Lifestyle Magazine Fashion Show

This past Saturday I was invited to shoot a Mode Lifestyle Magazine fashion show @ the Windisch-Hunt Art Gallery in Coconut Grove. It was a blast and I made tons of new contacts. It was more of like an art extravaganza. There were several clothing and accessory designers, painters, sculptors and poets. at one point the Hare Krishna's stopped by to sing and hand out flowers. I've gotten approval that some of my photos with be featured in the magazine next month. I'll let you know when it comes out.

New Photos Posted - Model Oksana Pauliyna Pilat

Finally, I just finished editing the images from my latest photo shoot. I have to say they came out GREAT! It was the first time I worked with this model and she was awesome. Her name is Oksana Pauliyna Pila, a petite young woman born in Astonia. Usually first shoots can be a little stiff but she was totally professional and allot of fun. Like me, she has all these ideas that she wants to make happen, everything from glamour to beauty to funky to sexy. I'm looking forward to our next session.