Chris profile picture

Chris

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

I got the photography bug a couple of years ago when I bought myself a digital point-and-shoot for Christmas. The thrill wore off pretty quickly, but then I found I was really interested in taking good pictures, and I began reading everything I could find: old Time-Life books on photography, used photo books of all kinds, and newer ones with lighting diagrams. I got the photo bug real bad.
My eyes are always looking for subjects to shoot. On the train to and from work, I'm framing buildings, trees, the river, and making mental notes to go back to such-and-such place at this or that time when the light is good. I go to sleep at night thinking about lighting placement, flash ratios, and modeling poses. I wake up thinking about lenses, snoots, and honeycomb grids. The artistic urge never turns off.
Then I go to work and program database front-ends.
I have photographed a lot of live music, and it has been really fun, and I have produced some good shots, but I want to take it to the next level. I want more control over what I am shooting. I want practice taking good portraits of people. I want to experiment with directing a model, exchanging ideas, finding new poses and angles. I want to create great photos.
You can help. Trade your time for a CD full of pictures. Help me become a better photographer, and in return, you will get a bunch of pictures of yourself, some of which might be very good. (Portland, Oregon area, please.)
Now on ModelMayhem.com: #612754
I love music, but I'm not a musician. To make up for it, I go to a lot of live concerts by local bands, and try to take pictures of good musicians in moments of musical ecstasy. I also like photography generally, and I look for opportunities to take nice shots.
In addition, I like taking portraits, and I'm trying to meet up with subjects using various online communities.
Here are some of my favorites at the moment:
Here is Brittany, a model I met through Model Mayhem:
Here is Jennifer, one of the runway models at Alexsandra's Vintage Fashion Show held at the Dirty Little Secret salon:
Find all my pictures on Flickr .

My Interests

Eckankar, photography

Music:

Storm Large, Dahlia, Drumattica, Mortal Clay, Stalking Jane, Diva Destruction, Hungry Lucy

Books:

The Tiger's Fang, by Paul Twitchell.

Ain't nobody's business if you do, by Peter McWilliams

Anything by Dan Simmons, Neal Stephenson, Donald Westlake.

The Watchmen, by Alan Moore.

Guns, Germs, and Steele by Jared Diamond. Anything else by him is also good.

My Blog

Alexsandra’s Vintage Fashion Show at Dirty Little Secret Salon, June 1, 2008

Alexsandra held her monthly show at the Dirty Little Secret Salon on June 1, 2008. Here is one of her new models:Here's Kristin, after the show:There was another photographer there, a friend of Alexsa...
Posted by Chris on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:12:00 PST

Jen Folker at On Air

Jen Folker, singer for Dahlia, Solovox, Drumattica, and others, performs at On Air, a giant, grotty warehouse of a nightclub underneath the Fremont Bridge.Mark Farina was the headliner that night. I w...
Posted by Chris on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:33:00 PST

Ashleigh at the Rose Garden

Ashleigh Rasmussen modeled for me at Portland's Rose Garden.Her legs look a million miles long here:Here's a close-up:Find the rest of the pictures on Flickr.Ashleigh: ModelMayhem.com 179935MUA: Itze...
Posted by Chris on Sun, 25 May 2008 10:30:00 PST

Uwajimaya 10th Anniversary Celebration

Uwajimaya in Beaverton held their 10th anniversary celebration on May 17, 2008. They always have interesting and fun Asian music and dance. I especially like the taiko groups.Here is the Sheridan Japa...
Posted by Chris on Sat, 24 May 2008 11:14:00 PST

Alexsandra’s Vintage Fashion Show at Dirty Little Secret Salon, May 4, 2008

Alexsandra held her monthly vintage fashion show at Dirty Little Secret on May 4, 2008. I think this is one of her new models:Here's Alexsandra herself posing with her posse at the end of the show:Fin...
Posted by Chris on Thu, 08 May 2008 08:59:00 PST

Mode Macabre Fashion Show at the Fez

The Mode Macabre Fashion show at the Fez was great fun. Here is on of my pictures where the flash did not fire, so I converted it to black and white and cranked the contrast and brightness up as far a...
Posted by Chris on Wed, 07 May 2008 09:10:00 PST

Alexsandras Vintage Fashion Show at Tony Starlights on April 29, 2008

Alexsandra held April's Vintage Fashion Show on the 29th at Tony Starlight's:See the rest of the set, and my comments on the show, on Flickr....
Posted by Chris on Tue, 06 May 2008 09:37:00 PST

Kesha

Kesha posed for me a couple of weeks ago:See the rest of the pictures on Flickr....
Posted by Chris on Sat, 03 May 2008 11:17:00 PST

Aprils Vintage Fashion Show by Alexsandra at the Dirty Little Secret Salon

Alexsandra held a Vintage Fashion Show at the Dirty Little Secret Salon on April 4, 2008. Here is one of my favorite shots of one of her models showing off a little purse:For this shot, the flash unit...
Posted by Chris on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:11:00 PST

Mercury Fashion Show 2008

The Portland Mercury's Fashion Show for 2008 was a lot of fun. Here, designers had installations all along each side of the Wonder Ballroom before the runway show where you could get a closer look at ...
Posted by Chris on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:28:00 PST