July 8, 2014

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the past.  Oh man, one time I was on a photoshoot in Quebec Canada. We used to shoot in Quebec a lot because it looked a lot like Europe without the distance. Anyway, there was a big concert there. The model I was working with knew the performer so we all went to the concert together. I got separated from my crew and in the sea of humanity I wondered how I would find them. I looked up at a video screen and there was my crew dancing on the stage. Well, I knew where to go at least. I battled my way to the front, you know, to the stage and there they all were dancing. It was a fun night. I'll tell you, one of my friends can't dance worth shit. That reminds me, I just saw my model friend in an ad. It was an ad where you were looking down at three girls. It reminded me of a shoot I did for a magazine, you know, a men's magazine. You know, one of those magazines they have girls, trucks, food, and all that highly intellectual stuff. Anyway, I had to photograph three girls in bed wearing nothing but their birthday suits. I thought it would be funny to put my assistant in the bed with the girls. My assistant was a little Mexican guy with a comb over. It was funny. He looked like an elf with three Amazon women. He had a shit eating smile on his face. It was great. It was all fun and games until my conservative client showed up from the studio next door. There I was at the top of this ladder laughing. My assistant was in the bed with these naked girls. We were all laughing and then my conservative client said, "Brian, I was just next door shooting and I saw your name listed on the wall. Did I break something up? I'm sorry." And she left. Funny. I never did work with that client again.

You know, I love cooking. I picked it up from a photographer I worked for in the '80's. He used to give me his credit card and a shopping list. Oh yeah, money for a cab. I would go to the store and buy the best of the best. We would then cook a great meal. The other thing I used to do was watch my mom cook. She would open the fridge and a cabinet and cook an amazing meal based on what she had. So now I combine them both and make a great meal. At least my health assistant does for me. I can't quite cook yet, but I sure can watch - and yell.

I'm sharing with you some random stories. Someone wrote in, "More assistant stories please." So I'll tell this one story about an assistant. One of my favorites. I was doing a photo shoot in South Beach Miami. Actually, it was way down in the keys. Anyway, I'd been partying with another crew. I went back to my room because we had to start early. My assistant stayed behind and partied on. Anyway, he stayed out pretty late I guess. So late that he couldn't find his way back to the room. He ended up in the woods covered in spider webs so he decided he would do the intelligent thing: lie down. Well, I saw him the next day and he looked like Hell. He described what happened and he said he woke up when it got light, saw where he was and worked his way back to his room just in time to change and come to the shoot. The guy looked like he'd been in war. He lasted about an hour.

You know, it was the 4th of July this past weekend. I once caught an evening flight on the 4th of July. I had a window seat. I saw fireworks all the way from New York to LA. Quite a trip. Anyway, hope you have a good week. I'm gonna share a couple of images from my road trip. Hope you enjoy them. Love, B. Nice

July 1, 2014

I had someone read my previous blog for me and I'd like to say one thing. I want my damn house back. I just had to get that out of my systems. Bitter, party of One. Anyway, let's talk about photography.

I can't imagine starting out now. It's so different from when I was starting. Listen to me. I sound like an old fart. I don't know if it's the same, but when I was starting we had to go somewhere new like Europe or Australia. You know, somewhere different. If you worked hard enough and long enough someone eventually gives you a break. I still remember my break and the woman that gave me a break. It all built up from there. It all built up until my brain exploded. Ha! Anyway, now I deal with a new reality.

Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent here. I'll go back to starting out. I started out in Australia and then to moved to Paris. I thought, "Great, here I am in Paris. This is fantastic. Only one problem. I don't know any bloody french and my fridge doesn't work." Now, I learned all my french from watching Magnum PI and getting the fridge repaired was a whole other story. I had to look in the french/english dictionary and try and get a repairman. It was a joke. Eventually I just went out and bought a new fridge. The old one, the broken one, they wouldn't take it away so I used it to store my clothes. I felt like I was back in college.

I'm gonna have my friend here pick out a journal. I used to keep all my journals in cartoon form. I'll be right back.

I found an old book. Hope you enjoy it. Check out my other blog. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

June 27, 2014

Hi everybody. Welcome to the past.  Those are things I talk about, things I thought about when I was lying on my back for years.  I just wanted to make a brief comment. I guess I'm talking shop a little bit. So if you want to click off, feel free to close this or stop here. Anyway, you know, I was thinking of the first photo I ever too. It was a photo of a fire alarm. Pretty exciting huh? But you see, my father was an artist and came out of the pop art generation so I grew up around him painting objects. You know, like a pack of cigarettes, or a beer can, or a cowboy boot. So that was always in my mind. So when I started taking photos I would just do what I know. I would take pictures of objects. Like a fire alarm. I would show the image to my teach and my teacher would just look at me blankly and say, "Well, that's a fire alarm." I guess people just didn't understand what I was trying to do. I would treat people as iconic images. You know, separate them from the background. Make them stand out alone. It was the 80's. Everyone was shooting with long lenses. The backgrounds were all fuzzy and the model would stand out. So that timing was perfect. I worked all the time. Maybe they gave me too much medication when I was in hospital, but those are the kind of things I would think about. Anyway, that was just one of the many things I would think about. You know, I'm really tired because my daughter was here for a visit. We had a great time. If you want to hear more about the present, go my other blog which is right here. In the meantime, if you want to see more, go to www.briannice.com. Have a good weekend. Love, B. Nice

June 17, 2014

Hi everybody. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the past. You know, I said it before but I really believe all the stuff I have gone through has gotten me ready for what I'm going through now. Although, some things I believe have nothing to do with what I'm going through right now. For example, my assistants used to chat up the models and didn't pay attention to what was going on. One time this guy was chatting up a model and I fell into a giant orchestra pit. I was walking backwards following the model and I fell all the way down into a pit. Man, that hurt. My first instinct was to protect the camera. Maybe that's why I am the way I am right now.

Another time, we were in the Bahamas. I was shooting a job on a sandbar. We were heading home. My assistant said to me, "Can you please stop the boat. I'm going to get off here." We were in the middle of the freaking ocean. I said, "What are you talking about?" He said, "I'm gonna do some spear fishing," and he pulled out a spear gun, fins, a weight belt, a snorkel and mask, and then jumped overboard. My friend here said, "And you never saw him again." We laughed, but I did see him at the bar. He had a good story to tell. But you know what? I'm not going to tell anymore stories because my daughter is here and I'm gonna keep it short. I'm gonna include some pictures from the present. They are photos from my road trip. I hope you enjoy them.

Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice

Chapter 137 - June 3, 2014

Welcome to the past. This is the blog where I talk about the past. I kind of fixed things up. I put in pictures from the past and I took the past blog and put in pictures from the present. Am I making sense? Anyway, I messed things up. But I'll go on. I'll talk about the past. Speaking of Past, I want to say hi to my friend Bugs and his wife and family. They're in Australia.

You know, when I was shooting in the past I used to pay close attention to light. It's so important to look at your subject. I mean take a step back and really look. Lighting is so important. So many people just go on shooting without really looking. Anyway, that's my opinion. I used to do that all the time, look at the light and the subject. I guess I still do. It's automatic. I remember, I used to get up really early to get sunrise then I'd take a long break in the middle of the day (which used to piss off the client) and then I'd go back to work in the evening to get the good light. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I would sometimes go windsurfing in the middle of the day. But we won't talk about that. (That would really really piss off the client.) The point I'm getting at is, you've got to shoot with really good light if you want to make a really good picture. It adds another element to the photograph.

The other thing I used to think about was location. Remember, location, location, location. It's actually really important. It sets the mood for the whole photo. At least that was my excuse to go to the Bahamas. But really, it's important to shoot in a magical place where everyone is happy. A place where someone looks at the photo and wishes they were there. You sure as hell can't get that from a studio shot.

My friend here was reading back to me what I wrote, and I forgot to mention something. I was in New Mexico shooting a commercial job. We got up at 4 am to drive an hour and a half to the location for sunrise. I got the feeling I was a bit extreme when the creative director came out and said to me, "This is insane! What are we doing here?" We kept doing that for about a week. We even called room service on the way back after sunset. Maybe it was extreme. Good photos though.

I feel like an old fart talking about the past. But one other thing that's so important about creating a good photo. You have to pay attention to hair and makeup. It can make or break a fashion photo. Especially hair. You have to have a good hair dresser. But you know what? keep it simple. Anyway, I'm gonna leave it there. I'm gonna include some pictures on my trip I did across America. They are recent photos. I don't do fashion anymore. I don't think anyone would understand me right now. I could do comedy shoots. Anyway, here are some photos and here's a link to my blog where I talk about the present. The drawings are from the past. Everything is mixed up, but you know what? What isn't these days. Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice