D. ALTZ Photography | Blog

Lil' Miss diva, Mami and me, Tatiana de Silva Runway Shows

2009-10-24T18:30:00.004-04:00

As Ft. Lauderdale's very first Fashion Week kicks off I was hired to shoot for three lines for two local designers. Imee Nefer Designs previewed its current Lil' Miss Diva line for toddlers to young ladies. Tatiana de Silva introduced two lines. Mami and Me is designed special for mothers and their kids and her woman's line designed for fashion conscious, active women. The show was sponsored by ftl Moda of Italy. I hope to be invited to more shows in the future. Enjoy!

G-Force MMA Fights in Miami

2009-09-26T00:03:00.005-04:00

Another top rate production of MMA here in South Florida. This was one of the bigger budget local events that I've seen. The card was stacked with great match-ups, about a dozen of SFL's local ring-girl talent, live music and dancers to introduce the fighters and even the Army and Marines showed up to kick off the festivities with a horn version of 'God Bless America'. Two of the best fights that night involved two of my good friends, Mike 'Bone Saw' Hyman and Yuri Villerfort. Yuri won fight of the night with an incredible flying knew knockout that had his opponents toes curled for a good five minutes. check out the shots on my website and let me know what you think.

Fashion Designers Expo Early Morning Beach Shoot

2009-09-12T23:22:00.003-04:00

I cant believe I actually got up and was on location in Miami for a 6 AM photo shoot. The hardest part was getting there after working a 10 hour shift. Putting the time aside, the day, models, weather and design wear was beautiful. You couldn't ask for anything better. Its always a pleasure working with Global Fashion Agency. They're so professional and always have their shit together. More images are available for review in the portfolio section of my website. Let me know what you think.

SHINE II - American Top Team goes 4-0 for the night

2009-09-04T23:22:00.006-04:00

For a new series, I was impressed with the SHINE II event and promoters. There was 8 top matched, well balanced fights on the card. Of course it was even better because all of the ATT fighters won. I even received a signed promotional poster just for finding someones cell phone. As for my images of the fights, I have to say they were incredible! I'm beginning to find my camera's sweet spot and am getting some remarkable photos. Take a look and let me know what you think.

HUE Salon Hair and Fashion Show - Boca Raton, FL

2009-08-29T23:13:00.004-04:00

Tonight was a pretty cool experience. I shot a Hair and Fashion Show put on by one of the local Salons. When I arrived the salon was packed and I didn't really have anywhere to set up for the headshots. Luckily the washing area was cut off from the rest of the place and I was able to set up and create a little makeshift studio. I even pinned up a black cloth on the wall as my backdrop. I think it worked out well, cant really tell we were cramped into a tiny room. After the headshots we moved over to a Thai Restaurant that had a art-nouveau style bar for the fashion show. After what seemed like an eternity getting everyone setup the show went off without a hitch. I'd like to do it again.

U.S. National Team Swimmer, Elle Weberg

2009-08-08T15:04:00.004-04:00

Today I shot a member of the US National swim team, Elle Weberg. The first thing I noticed about Elle was how tall she is. At 6' she the perfect height for her sport. Then immediately I noticed how down to earth she was. Basically she's just the typical Mid-West country girl who's all smiles. The shoot was hot as hell. We shot at noon in the middle of the summer in Florida. What were we thinking. The sun was burning me up and light was shit. And to top it off the make-up stylist was more than an hour late and had to leave early. Anyway, we managed to get some pretty good shots considering.

Ultimate MMA Magazine wants D. ALTZ

2009-08-05T15:14:00.002-04:00

A week or so ago I decided to call the Editor of Ultimate MMA magazine to see if he’d be interested in me shooting for him. I was fingering through the magazine when I thought that my images are better than anything that they had. So what could it hurt? Of course I had to leave a message. I really didn’t thing he would pick up the phone without knowing who it was. I probably wouldn’t either. Imagine my surprise when he called me a few hours later. He already had checked out my portfolio and was excited about me working with them as a freelance photographer/photo journalist. We through around a few ideas and are going to iron out some details this week then I start shooting. Things are starting to look way up for me. Persistence definitely pays.

I’ll let you know when the pics are viewable.

SHINE II – American Top Team vs. the World

2009-08-01T15:04:00.001-04:00

I just got the news that I’m going to be shooting another MMA event, SHINE II - American Top Team vs. The World on Friday, September 4th. SHINE events are a new concept in MMA. The promoters are combining MMA and music in an effort to attract a wide audience. This is going to be a lot of fun for me because every fight on the card features an ATT fighter that I know. Plus I’ve got to represent since I’m ATT. It should be interesting.

Images will be posted after the fight.

New Model Shoot

2009-07-18T14:23:00.006-04:00

It took me way too long to post these pics of model Terry Fogelman. We got together a few weeks back and headed down to South Beach for a swimwear fashion shoot/her shoot. Since she wants to get into the local modeling scene I thought it would be cool if she went with me as my assistant to shoot the A. Z. Araujo swimwear show. On our way back we stopped off at Haulover Beach, South Florida’s only nude beach for a sexy implied photoshoot. It was our first time at Haulover. Much to our surprise, the beach was packed with mostly men swinging there dicks around. Making the best of the odd circumstances we spent the next two hours getting some really great images. Terry was a lot of fun to work with and extremely comfortable in her skin. Hopefully we’ll work together again. Checkout more pics of Terry in my portfolio @ www.daltzphoto.com/portfolio.html.

A.Z. Araujo Miami Swim Collection 2010

2009-07-17T17:00:00.004-04:00

Today I shot a fashion show for the A. Z. Araujo 2010 swim collection @ Nikki Beach in South Beach Miami. A.Z. is a fantastic NYC designer who combines Brazilian sexiness with the edginess of New York chic. I was impressed with the elegance of the designs. A.Z. and his team were so warm and friendly. Despite the all the pre-event chaos, they took time away from prepping to talk with me, share a few stories, and laugh. We talked about me working with them again in the Autumn. Cant wait to see what is released next.

July 4th, 2009!! Good Times!!

2009-07-05T13:39:00.004-04:00

My buddy Dave invited me over to his boss’s house for a 4th of July fireworks extravaganza. I was planning on going down to Delray Beach to watch and take pictures but this seemed like a perfect way to avoid the crowds and traffic. I showed up around 7:30 and there were about 20 people hanging out on a huge back yard with a lake. I thought “How perfect”, a nice intimate party where I can set up my equipment and not worry about some asshole knocking everything over. I’ve wanted to play around a get some long exposure images for a while and this seemed like the perfect time. It was now dark and off we went. The first half hour was great until the relentless mosquitoes came out. Go figure there would be mosquitoes in Florida at night near a lake. No matter what we tried we couldn’t stop the attack and people started heading for the house, which left a group of man-children in charge of about $1000 worth of fireworks. It’s a good thing too because they got bored and wanted to see what would happen if several were tired together and set aflame. The night ended when a “home-made bomb” almost took of the rear of the house. Good times!!

Cover Shot Released

2009-07-02T21:05:00.004-04:00

I just received the final cover shot image from Mode Lifestyle Magazine. I'm totally stoked that I got it on my first try. i can wait to see the other editorial photos in the issue release. I'll let everyone know when the magazine is on the newsstands. Let me know what you all think.

COVER SHOT BABY!!

2009-06-29T14:06:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-27T16:14:00.004-04:00

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!!

2009-06-20T03:25:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-18T20:00:00.006-04:00

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

2009-06-16T18:39:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-14T18:13:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-12T14:51:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-11T17:38:00.006-04:00

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

2009-06-06T14:24:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-04T15:29:00.002-04:00

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.

Little Liam - My Youngest Model Yet

2009-05-30T15:46:00.005-04:00

Today I met one of the cutest kids I've seen in years, Little Liam. His mother told me he was the cutest kid and that she thought she might want to get him into modeling. Now when mothers tell me that there kid is the cutest I usually prepare for what my mother used to refer to as "mieskeit". Let's just say it doesn't mean beautiful. What makes Liam stand out is how he photographs. When the camera is away he's just another little kid looking for his fruit loops bowl. But when the camera is in front of him, he turns on. Just about everything I shot was GOLD. The hardest part for me was picking the images for editing. Out of 200 images shot, I first narrowed down to 100, then down to 50 really good images, then finally 20.

Kids at Colee Park - Ft. Lauderdale

2009-05-17T13:09:00.005-04:00

I was anticipating the worst when I was first told about an outdoor photo shoot with up to a dozen kid models. I just imagined complete chaos and mayhem. To my surprise I was greeted by half a dozen sweet mothers and their children. We chose an outdoor venue so we could capture a more organic feeling. For the most part everything was great until a mid afternoon storm rolled through sending most home. I got some great shots before and after the rain. Too bad everyone left because the weather was absolutely beautiful later in the day. Here are a few shots of Dylan, McKenna and Gia. you'd never know it was Gia's first shoot.

Happy Days The Musical

2009-04-28T04:41:00.008-04:00

I guess they'll make a musical out of anything these days. What I thought was going to be a light hearted, cute musical was just that, and allot of fun. To set the scene, one of my good friends, Ralph Agresta is playing guitar in the orchestra of the show (On a side note, Ralph is one of the greatest guitarists on the planet even though he'd never say it, I will). I decided to call him and see what's new and he told me that he was going to be in Florida with the show a few days later. What luck! I haven't seen him in a few years so it was perfect. I asked if he could get me a ticket and he offered one better, a seat in the pit with all the musicians. I have seen tons of shows over the years but never from the pit. I was stoked! Cutting to the chase, the show was tons of fun and it was GREAT seeing an old friend again. As luck would have it, after the show Ralph and some of his cast mates were going to a local recording studio to lay down a track for the YouTube sensation "The Batteries Down". Its a fantastic, ongoing online musical that a new friend, Adam Wachter, also the shows conductor, is scoring. That was an unexpected blast. Its been so long since I was in a studio. Two words, GREAT TIMES!

Bury The Broken - Heavy Metal

2009-03-30T00:24:00.001-04:00

I was invited by a local, West Palm Beach heavy metal band to come to one of their rehearsals and see if I could take any decent shots for their website. during one of their breaks I set up my gear and started shooting. I also wanted to emphasis their mood with the editing. After seeing the images the band asked me if I'd be their official photographer for all their promo schwag. I guess they liked what they saw.

UFC Fighter - Gleison Tibau

2009-03-21T20:31:00.000-04:00

I figure since I have access to over 50 major MMA fighters @ American Top Team, I asked Glieson Tibau (through a translator) if he would be down for a private photo shoot at my place. If you don't know, Gleison is ranked as one of the best lightweights in the UFC. I was actually surprised how quickly he said "Yes". Thank god his girlfriend was with us because Gleison barely speaks any English and I only know enough Portuguese to get me in real trouble. He was a natural and the shots came out great. I've had tons of positive comments from my gay friends, which is extremely high praise considering how picky bitches they are!

Worm Carnevale & D. ALTZ Collaboration

2008-12-13T22:13:00.000-05:00

D. ALTZ is so proud to have worked with and to announce the collaboration with one of NYC’s top fashion and glamour photographer and film artist, Worm Carnevale. The night began with us working on black & white images using a polar lighting technique. After a while, I started shooting Worm for a collage print project showing light from three different angles. When it was Worm’s turn, he brought out a pitcher of green liquid and retro green straw glasses. Much to his truly unique style, Worm created a collage of bright lights and green funk. Both projects can be seen on our websites. This is the first collaboration between the two of us, with hopefully many to follow. To access the Worm Carnevale website go to www.wormc.com.