Meet the Photographer…
Over 40 years of shooting and still going…
Hello… my name is Michael. I’m the photographer behind the edm brand name . I am also the website developer for this website. It’s definitely a work of passion for me. I’ve been passionate about photography for well over 50 years now. I’ve been heavily involved in the model photography side of it for over 20 years. I pretty much pioneered the model photography workshop scene here in Reno, NV 20 years ago with a MeetUp group that had over 300 members and did several model workshops and “meetups” per month..
Some history about me…
I guess my passion for photography started at age 8 when my parents gave me my very first camera as a Christmas gift. It was a Polaroid Swinger model. I started out taking pictures of just about everything and everyone, including my younger sister. I guess that’s where the roots of the modeling photography interest started. She loved to play dress-up and I loved to shoot.
I got really serious about it in highschool and even more so in college. There’s something about college coeds and model photography that seems to go just right together. Interesting time for sure.
Gear-Head stuff…
As far as camera gear goes, my first 35mm “good” camera was a Minolta SRT201. By today’s standards it was a simple tank. I moved on to an X-700 and then to a film based autofocus SLR. When Minolta came out with thei first digital SLR I gave it a try and used it for a while. But when they sold their camera line to Sony, I took a left hand turn on Minolta brand cameras, remembering having been “bitten” by the Sony “Beta” experience. I just couldn’t see Sony staying on the camera business. Boy was I wrong on that one!
So from there on it was all Nikon for me. First a D700… then eventually on to a D4 professional flagship body when I wore out the D700 with 400,000 shutter clicks. And now finally a D-850 40 mega-pixel “pro-sumer” grade, having put over 500,000 shutter clicks on the D4. The 40 mega-pixel image size of the D-850 provides tons of flexibility in cropping and zooming in and I love it. It’s probably the last camera I’ll ever buy, given my “semi-retred” status these days. All of my “glass” is Nikkor gold band “pro” level glass. Nothing beats good glass. Good glass on a “so-so” camera body will beat “not so good” glass on a professional level, expensive camera body every day!
COVID changed everything…
No matter what your personal opinions and thoughts about the entire COVID-19 fiasco may be (hoax vs: dealy pandemic), you must admit one thing about it. COVID-19 and all that came with it (lock-downs… “shelter in place”… social distancing… wear your mask!, etc.) was the “barrier” or “dividing line” between “what was” and “what is”. I find this to be especially true in the model photogrphy world. Before COVID it was remarkable easier to get things done in a timely manner. Today, things are challenging to say the least, and this is what has helped me decide to take a “back seat” on the model photography bus, at least for a while. Besides, it can be extremely entertaining watching all of the “new” photographers trip all over one another trying to be the first one to get a TFP session organized with the newest UNR coed “hottie” on campus looking to make a few extra dollars being a model in between classes. Life can be entertaining in a lot of ways if you just sit back, be quiet, and watch the world go on.
Studio spaces…
I owned and operated a boudoir and glamour studio space in Reno for a number of years, photographing various clients there, and also using it as an office space for my overall photography business. I also conducted model workshops for area photographers at the studio. We enjoyed a good contingent of “house models” for the workshops and various projects that made it all work hicely for everyone. When the 2nd 3-year lease term for the studio was scheduled to expire in April 2020, COVID-19 had just landed and no one knew what was going on or what was on the horizon. The commercial building that housed the studio space and some other professional spaces was actually on lock-down at the time. So the decision was made to not renew the lease at that time and close down the studio.
Today, I lease/rent studio space as needed, utilizing Brick and Pine Studio in Carson City and MasterPeace Studio here in Reno. I also use an occasional “upscale” hotel suite for model photography sessions as needed for the projects at hand. I love the Jesse Hotel on East 4th Street in Reno for that purpose.
The influence of mentors & influencers…
I’ve really only had one true “mentor” in my journey within the world of model photography, and tht was Bill Lemon, an ex-Playboy photographer. Back in the early part of the new millenium I connected with him through social media and started following his work. It was awesome and inspiring. A few years went by, more watching and observing, and we connected by phone. Long story short… I decided to attend one of his glamour nudes outdoor workshops to see how he did what he did. The workshop went great over the several days of it, Bill and I hit it off, and I met a number of new models that I eventually worked with here in Reno. Bill and I went on to do a few workshops together here in Northern Nevada, using local models who we paid very well for their efforts. Over the years, Bill and I kept in touch, commenting on each other’s latest works, and occasionally getting together. I supplied him with several models from here in the Reno area for his coffee table book projects. Sadly, Bill passed a few years ago. I miss his telephone calls and his critiques of my work, but his influence on my work and how I do it will always remain.
And now for what I would call my “influencer; photographers and other entities whose “style” has caught my eye over the years more than others. It really boils down to two. I’ve always been a fan of Peter Hegre’s work. It actually dovetails well with the Hustler Magazine work that I still occasionally do. Peter’s work is not for everyone, but in my opinion we can all learn something from just about anyone else. Secondly, it’s the work done behind the Brinic Modeling Agency in California. There’s some real eye-catching photography work there, and I have highly recommended studying the collective of it to many of the models that I work with.
The Bunnyranch connection…
In early 2014 I received an email form someone claiming to be the personal assistant to Dennis Hof, owner of a good number of the Nevada brothels, with 4 of them being located in Moundhouse, NV, situated in Story County between Carson City and Dayton. The message indicated that they had been studying the online work of several regional photographers regrding their needs for a photographer, and they were ipressed enough with what thy had seen of my work to want to set up a meeting to discuss a contractual relationship. My initial take on it…. rrriiiggghhhttt!
But, I answered the email anyway just to see what would happen, took a ride down to Carson City and Mooundhouse the next week as a result of that conversation, and there was Dennis Hof waiting for me in his bungalo behind the main building at the Moonlight Bunnyranch. We had a great meeting. Dennis explained his difficulty in finding long-term photographers that would stay focused an not want to “play” on the job. Therest is history. We agreed on specific and details and from 2014 through early 2020 we both go what we wanted out of the arrangement.
The Hustler Magazine connection…
I was drawn into the Hustler (and Penthouse to a lesser degree) publishing world through my extensive work with Dennis Hof at his brothels throughout Nevada. Most of my work for him was done at the 4 properties in Moundhouse,NV (the Moonlight Bunnyranch, KitKat Randh, Loveranch North and Sagebrush Ranch). Between early 2014 and early 2020 (haulted by the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020) I did almost 100 sessions for Dennis and his lovely ladies, and was published in both Hustler Magazine and Penthouse Magazine under a variety of pseudonyms. Today I still occasionally do a session forHustler with someone looking to be published in the magazine, but my activity level in this area is much lower than when I was affiliated with Dennis and the brothels. It was a good run whileit lasted, mad a lot of money doing it, and have memories of the experience that will certaily NEVER go away.
Competing with no-one but myself…
Still having fun and competing with no one else but myself as always. Life is too short to try and be anyone else or be better than they are. The only person I’ve ever tried to beat is myself as I was yesterday. I always try to be better today than I was yesteray. That’s my life’s philosophy.
Studio vs: Outdoor Location Sessions…
I do most sessions these days in studio due to some physical issues that generally come with the “golden years” as they call them. Whoever thought up that terminology had a great sense of humor. Spinal stenosis and neutopathy are no fun and walking up the side of a mountain or across a field of boulders for me these days is just asking for trouble. So I generally stick to the level ground and easy access of the studios I work in, unless I give it a whirl somewhere not too challenging as far as locations go. The “golden years”… right….
The social media circus…
Reno, NV can be a cesspool of drama on social media platforms, mainly Facebook, when it comes to model photorgaphy. Facebook model photography closed groups that trash-talk individual models or photographers that don’t fit the mold of the member “clique” is all too common, especially when those models or photographers are locked out of the group and have no idea what’s being talked about inside. The Reno “self-annointed ones” are simply fun to watch. I see late-arrivals and newbie photographers tripping oer one another and trash talking each other in their quest to get a TFP session going with the latest “just turned 18” pretty face model. It’s enteraining to say the least. There’s one photographer in Reno that has actually taken the time to write a detailed “epose’” on another photographer that kicked him out of the “exposed” potographer’s studio for model impropriety. I find it all entertaining but refuse to engage with it all. As soon as I see any drama, I’m gone!
Today…
Today, I call myself “semi-retired” form the mainstream of business. What I do these days I do for fun and only beause i want to do it. I still shoot and publish, but I am very “discerning” (some woulld call it “picky”) who I work with these days. Absolutely no drama. No drugs. No problems. I still enjoy getting new individuals started but I also like working with “seasoned” individuals. I just try to keep it light and fun for everyone.
