May 3, 2016

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about my past.

The following story takes place in a bar (imagine that) in New York City, around the late '90's.

So imagine this, I was at a Christmas party, a modeling agency Christmas party in New York City. It was in a cool bar in New York City. Anyway, I was sitting around a table talking to some of the models I work with when I felt some person pushing in on me, trying to get in on the conversation. Let me tell you, this person on my left was really pushy, so I pushed back. I gave whoever was there a stiff elbow jab to my left. I then turned to my left and it was The Donald. He wasn't happy. That guy's a big dude. Anyway, I apologized. He still looked unhappy, so I got up to leave. When I turned around there was the largest man I've ever seen. He was helping me move my chair. It was The Donald's body guard. The guy looked like a defensive lineman for the New York Giants. I was happy I didn't pursue the matter and just left to get a beer. It was a good party though.

That reminds me of another story, I think I told you, but I'll tell it again anyway. I was, once again at a Christmas modeling agency party when I didn't feel good, so I decided to leave. I told my roommate I was going and climbed the stairs to make a quick exit. I was on Madison Avenue, so I decided to get a cab. When I saw a cab, I raised my arm and it threw me off balance. I started to fall backwards and looked down I saw the word Police on the car I was about to land on. I thought, "Well, I should probably remove my body from a police car," so I ended up on the ground. Next thing you know, I'm surrounded by police. My friend came out of the party and yelled, "Oh my God! Help him, help him" And no one did anything. My friend is French so he said, in a very thick French accent, "Why don't you guys help him? He does a River Phoenix in front of you and you don't even help him." One of the policemen said, "Shut up Cousteau, and get him out of the street." And we wonder why my head exploded.

That's all for the week. Remember, it's Mother's Day coming up. Here's a link to my other blog.

April 5, 2016

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the past. I used to lie in bed at the hospital and think about the past.

I'd like to dedicate this blog to someone I worked for a long time ago.  He sublet his apartment to me, and the apartment was in Paris. It was in a great neighborhood. Central to everything. You could walk to anything you wanted to go to.

I think I told you this before, but being a fashion photographer is definitely a young person's game. It's pretty wild. You peak for a short time, and then it seems to be all over. Just like everyone else in the fashion business. Like I said before, it's probably why my head exploded. Anyway, enjoy it while it lasts, if you're involved in the business. My friend here said, I seemed to enjoy it. And I did. You can look back at some of the stories I had. I mentioned it before, but I would go to school for two years, and then I would assist for at least 4 or 6 years. You learn so much assisting. It's amazing. I assisted full time for some people and then I went freelance, assisting many other people. It was a great learning experience, and I still have the scars to prove it! Anyway, take time and look back at previous blogs. There are some good stories. There's many I can't tell you and never will. Ha ha ha. It's my secret. Hey, everyone's got secrets, right?

In the meantime, check out my other blog and then come see the film we did. Check it out. It's April 29th. No need for a car from NYC. Metro North from Grand Central Station. The Depot, where the film's being shown in right there at the train stop in Garrison.

Have a good one. Love, B. Nice

March 29, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the past. When I was in hospital so long, I would think about things from the past.

When I was living in Australia, I wanted to get portfolios made up. I brought a portfolio from New York to a book binder in Australia, Sydney. Australia. The bookbinder said, "Well, the first thing you have to do is pick out a skin." I didn't know what the hell he was talking about until he brought out various animal skins. I felt like a neanderthal picking out my dinner. It was unreal. He had ostrich skins, kangaroo skins, snake skins. I finally chose water buffalo to make my portfolios. It was a nice leather. Apparently they had to cull the water buffalo population because their hard hoofs damage the natural vegetation. So, I guess I was helping out in a way. I still have the books. They're pretty nice. I also made some books out of kangaroo hide. Nice leather.

The cool thing about being a photographer was it brought you to some wild places. The bookbinder above brought me to a real dodgey area of Sydney, Australia. It was right by my lab where I processed all my film. The guy at the lab had an AK-47 behind the counter (you know, for job security).

You know, that's why I liked living in Australia, cause it brought you to places you would never normally visit if you lived in New York. My friend here says, there are some pretty dodgey places in New York as well, and I agree. But, I did go to some amazing locations, locations you would never go to if you lived in New York. It was a cool experience. I could go on and on about it. Actually, look at some older blogs. There are some locations there. Check out my other blog where I talk about the present. Here's the link.

And, oh yeah! Don't forget about my movie I did with Team Hall and my friends. Here's the link for that!

March 15, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the past.

I lay in bed for months, always thinking about things I did. This one time I was in the studio, on an editorial shoot. Digital photography just came out. I had an operator, you know, doing all the digital stuff. And a new digital camera. It was all brand new. I didn't know what to expect. It was pretty wild though, going from analog to digital. Way different though, I'll tell you. Everything I knew went out the window. For example, I used to meter the subject right down to the tenth of a second. I also used different light sources, like tungsten light, to create a sunlight look. Now, with digital, they just readjusted everything in post production. It was quite the adjustment. I was shooting for something like Seventeen or Cosmo. I can't remember. But, it was a bit annoying because the art director kept telling me to do this and that. The art director was looking at a monitor. She can see exactly what I was shooting. I felt like handing the freaking camera to her. I guess I'm just "Old School." I do miss those days though. It was cool getting the film back a day later. The only way you knew what you were getting was through polaroids. Like my friend said here, those were the good old days.

I'm feeling kind of sentimental so I'm gonna stop it there. I'll talk to you guys next week, Love, B. Nice

P.S. Here's my link to my other blog. Hope you had a good Pi day yesterday. Figure that one out. It was 3.14. And don't worry if you don't get it. I won't hold it against you.

March 8, 2015

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the past. When I lived in Australia, a makeup artist friend of mine introduced me to a French photographer. The makeup artist asked me if I wouldn't mind showing the French photographer around. I said, "Sure, no problem. Have the French guy meet me at a certain cafe on the beach at Bondi." Well, I went to the cafe thinking, how'm I gonna pick this guy out? I didn't ask what he looked like. You know, I think I told you guys this story before, but I love it. I walked into the cafe. It was packed. There were people with board shorts on from surfing, girls in their bathing suits and sarongs. You know, real beachy. Then I look in the corner and there was this guy in the corner drinking an espresso at 4 pm. He had on a black t-shirt, black pants, black boots, a pony tail and black sunglasses. I was like, ah ha! French photographer, and ever since then, we've been great friends.

That's all I'm gonna talk about for this week. Check out my other blog. It'll direct you to the documentary I made with Team Hall, that's showing on April 29th. Hope to see you there.

P.S. The reason why I told the above story is because my makeup artist friend is meeting my photographer friend in Paris right now. My photographer friend opened up a new hotel called Les Bains. I'll put the link in here. It's pretty cool.