My Television Taping with the TALENTED Designer, Mr. Witherspoon, Saturday, 2.18.12

I had the pleasure of working with Mr. William Witherspoon once again this past Saturday, 2/18/12 at the television studios of the Manhattan News Network in midtown Manhattan. I was one of the models modeling his couture and underwear line for a television broadcast.

Mr. Witherspoon is truly an amazing, talented designer and I was impressed with a lot of the new clothing he has designed. I love how he synthesizes African aesthetics with urban chic. He is one man who has always believed in me and helped support me in my journey as a model. I always love being associated with people who are doing their thing in a positive way and I am excited to see the continuing growth of Mr. Witherspoon and amazed at how he always seems to be able to take lemons and make lemonade.

It was truly a lot of fun being a part of the whole creative process this past Saturday.

Here's a link the pre-show preparation video where you can see the whole creative process. I can be seen starting at the 3:24 min. mark where the stylist, Marque Washington is working with me, and then periodically throughout until the 8:37 min mark where from there until the end of the video I'm featured in a bunch of group shots with other models, the designer, Mr. Witherspoon and the stylist, Marque Washington.

I must not also forgot the other models who are in the picture with me from left to right, Neno Bland - Model; Yann Geoffrey - Model, and Bertini - Actor, Model, Film Producer and Fitness Consultant.

MY PRE-SHOW GROOMING FOR RUNWAY SHOW TAPING

 

My Thoughts on Being a "Man of Style," at the 2012 PSCOTT Fashion Week Photo Exhibition

This past Thursday, February 2.16, I had the honour of being featured at the 2012 PSCOTT Fashion Week Photo Exhibition - "INDIVIDUALS OF STYLE," as one of the "men of style." (I confess that I actually should've written on my blog about this event BEFORE it took place and I promise to do better about keeping you updated going forward.)

It was honour because my participation signified to me how far I've come in my career as a model. PSCOTT, in a statement about the event, said, "My subjects are not interested so much in being fashionable as being themselves. They bring their own personal style in statements of being comfortable with whom they are. They cast themselves in my photos as PSCOTT LIFESTYLE BRAND REPRESENTATIVES by showing their unique beauty, grace and individuality."

In reference to his statement, it has been a LONG journey learning to become comfortable in my own skin, learning how to connect with my own unique essence, and subsequently learning how to express that in front of the camera and as a model as a whole. This event signified to me how far I've come and how my own brand is starting to come forth. Being in the company of other models at the event who had their own dynamism, beauty and uniqueness to contribute, and who were actively working on their own projects reminded me how beautifully unique we all are and made me grateful to God that I've come to a point that I can inspire the world with mine.

I give all thanks to God for broadening my path so my ankles do not turn, and for sustaining me with His right hand so that I was able to get this far.

Pics from Reception

Time to Change Things Up

I found out recently that I'm the heaviest I've ever been in six years: 175 lbs. I had a feeling for a while I had gained some weight because I just felt bigger. All I have to say about that is, "Not good."

Some of you may be thinking, "So what? 175 lbs is not heavy." Well, for me, I have a small frame, so any pound I gain is noticeable and since I'm not 6" or 6"1, 175 lbs. it also makes me start to look like a bodybuilder and not an underwear model. I don't want to be a bodybuilder. My goal is to get back to my "normal" weight, 165 lbs.

Six years ago, my weight had gone up to 177/178 lbs. Up until that point I had been lifting weights, doing low weight with high repetitions. That regimen kept me lean and cut but then all of a sudden I began putting on muscle after muscle after muscle until I was almost 180 lbs. That much weight isn't a good look for me, so I dropped using weights altogether for my upper body and started doing calisthenics and temporarily added cardio. This got me back down to 165 lbs. and kept me there for the past six years.

So, time to switch things up. I've taken off the gym for two weeks, I've decided to do just 20 minutes of cardio for the next couple of weeks and then when I resume calisthenics to lower the amount of reps I do. This should help me lost 10 lbs. I was initially bothered a lot by this weight gain, but I realize life's about stepping up to your challenges, and I'm up to the task!

It's on and Poppin' in 2012!!!

I just wanted to take the time to wish every one of my fans a blessed and prosperous 2012! Last year was a banner year for me as I was able to branch out and go to South Beach, Miami for a month, I shot with over 18 photographers, I faced my fears, I saw myself grow as a model, and one of the most important: I inspired an increasing amount of people with my image, which is why I'm in this whole thing to begin with. I give God all the glory.

This year I'm settling for nothing less than an AWESOME year where I go to a whole other level with my career. I promise this to myself, my fans, and the world, and I'm believing God to empower me to make this happen.

I encourage all of you all to NEVER, EVER settle in life. Decide what you want, and go all out for it. You only live once!

Details of Video Shoot 11.20.11

I've wanted to write about the details of my video shoot from the day I took it, but I didn't have the pictures that were taken of the activities and preparation that took place during the shoot, and I wanted to include them in this blog, so I had to wait for the photographer to have them ready and arrange to pick them up.

Well folks, it's all here! So let's go.....

First off, I had a BLAST doing the whole thing. It's truly an inspiration when you see and experience everything you've planned and envisioned for several weeks in advance being brought to creative fruition at the execution stage.

Secondly, A LOT more went into prepping and then doing the actual shoot then I could've ever imagined. I know in a previous blog I had written that whenever you make plans to accomplish something it usually winds up costing more and takes more time than you planned, and this shoot was no exception. Shooting video is a lot of work. Even shooting a 30 second to a 1 minute video takes hours and hours of work. When we see these short, crisp videos, most of us have no idea what went into shooting them. My hat goes off to actors, directors, camera people, etc who are involved in the film making process. It's no joke.

I first had to come to terms that I needed a groomer/makeup artist. Since I'm used to shooting print, I usually don't need a makeup artist. A lot of photographers have commented how my skin is good enough that I don't need makeup, and also, Photoshop can be used to get rid of blemishes, scars, lines etc. Video however is a WHOLE different ball game because the camera picks up EVERYTHING, and with the lights on your face actually enhances things. So, though I didn't realize at first, a make up artist is essential if you want your video to be perceived as professional.

As I was going to be wearing plain white and grey t-shirts, I had to buy a couple of extra ones just in case makeup got on the one I was wearing. I put a lot of preparation and investment into this shoot and I wanted it to go off without a hitch, so I came extra prepared. Imagine seeing the final video and you see makeup marks and spots on a t-shirt? (unless of course it was meant to be there.

I had written up a storyboard for the shoot at my initial meeting with the videographer several weeks earlier, and had sent him my revised version several days before the shoot so he could get my vision and could plan accordingly. Though the storyboard flowed in one particular direction, the shoot had to be broken up into several "scenes" that would be shot in the particular order that was convenient for the shoot. Funny there's a flow for the storyboard, and then a completely different flow for the shoot. Never ever really considered that before.

Dialogue was also a another challenge as we had rented a wireless microphone to speak into and had a recorder to record my voice. The challenge was that when I was wearing clothes and the mic was attached to me, I had to be careful not to move around because the mic was very sensitive and picked up the slightest sound. When I was in my underwear, I couldn't wear the wireless mic and it had to be carefully positioned near me so as not to appear in the camera shot, and I also had to project my voice so it could be picked up. Not to mention, I had to be on point with my lines because I was limited with the amount of space on the video card that I had to shoot with.

All in all, like I said, the shoot was a lot of fun. I saw how tantamount it is to have a creative team that is not only competent, but easy to work with and work well together. It adds to the creative flow of the shoot and inspires you to express your own creativity. I don't come from a creative background, so it always inspires me when artistically talented and creative people bring their energies together towards a particular creative end. I just like to watch and soak it all in.

Shot from video

What was particularly inspiring about this project was just being proactive in making my dreams come true. Here, I conceived an idea to promote myself, and by the grace of God, was able to bring the necessary funds, talent, energy and tools together to manifest it into reality. There's such a feeling of personal power and responsibility that you feel when you get up off the sidelines, climb off the fence, and go and make things happen for yourself. Why deny yourself of such pleasure by simply just sitting and watching while others make things happen?

Either way, this project is far from finished. I'm still waiting for one of the two photographers I shot with to send me the pics from the shoot we did, and from the shots that I did receive, I have to sit down with my mentor, PSCOTT, and go over which pics would be the best match to fit into the flow of the existing video footage. And of course, the video still needs to be edited, after which, I need to get someone to compose a musical score for the footage.

No biggie, I realize that every great journey is composed of many individual steps, so I'm prepared to do what I gotta do...

The Cost Usually Winds up Being More

So, this evening, or night rather, I went online to Adorama's web site to reserve some equipment to rent for my upcoming shoot, this Sunday, November 20.

The videographer who's shooting had emailed me earlier on this week giving me a list of items I needed to bring to the shoot in order to get the results I wanted: 1) A wireless mic so that the recorder could pic up my voice; 2) A recorder for the audio portion of my video 3) A light kit including a 1,000 W light bulb for lighting.

I had no idea that this was required for the shoot and I also assumed that he would "naturally" have all these things.

Turns out I was wrong.

When I went to reserve the equipment, I was pretty ecstatic to find out that the price of the rental was a lot less than I expected. However, there was one "minor" snafu, I needed a major credit card or a certificate of insurance to hold the full replacement value of the equipment in case it got damaged, lost or stolen.

Didn't have neither, so I had to go another route. The details of the other route aren't important, let's just say that it cost me more than I wanted to spend (not much much more, but more all in all).

My experience here displays a valuable lesson that I learned a while back when I started taking action towards my goals and has once more been drilled into me: whenever you make plans or goals in life, expect that they may take longer or cost more than what you initially planned for.

You may make plans or set an initial goal to be done by a certain time frame and to cost a certain dollar amount, but in life, because you cannot foresee all that may happen, "unseen" costs may pop up, and unseen events may occur all serving to derail your initial plans to spend a certain amount of money and to have your goal completed within a specific time.

You may have control of yourself, and be the type of person who does things when you say you're going to do them, but there are other many other variable out of your control, one of them namely being people. Invariably, if you embark on any goal, you're going to one way or another wind up working with someone who you depend on to a certain degree to get something done that you can't do yourself. And of course, you have no control over people and the things that happen in their lives which may ultimately wind up affecting how they help you with what you're working.

Such is the thing called life. Rather than get frustrated and shake our fist at the gods, we should just accept this as a part of life, knowing that eventually, in one way or another, what we want will get done if we persist, just maybe not within the time period we had hoped or without us spending more that we had expected.

Second Photo Shoot w/ Alex Ogundiran for Upcoming Video Project Completed

Photo by Kemuel Valdez

So, this past Wednesday, November 9, I did my second shoot for my upcoming video project with the diversely talented Alex Ogundiran. Hopefully, this is the last photo shoot needed for this project, though, as you know when you embark on any endeavour, you may have to make changes down the line.

Alex Ade Ogundiran is a Celebrity BEAUTY and FASHION Photographer of South African and Nigerian heritage making waves in the world of fashion. This successful former model-turned photographer has worked with the best of the best and is passionate about redefining BEAUTY with one click of the camera. With creative vision and edge unlike any other and an out-of–the-box approach, Alex highlights his subjects’ strongest features with a unique lighting technique to create the PERFECT image.

I also might add that he publishes and edits his own magazine called TDM, creates websites for talent/companies, and also helps people with branding. For a full read on Alex and his work, click here.

I met Alex on Model Mayhem, where he had initially reached out to me after seeing my profile in order to set up a shoot. Initially, when I saw his online portfolio, I saw he had an incredible eye but thought he only did high fashion and though I usually don't shoot high fashion, something told me to call him and talk with him, and when I did, I found out he also did underwear, fitness, body shots, etc.

Cool! Exactly what I needed for my project, an underwear photographer.

When I met with him a few days later at the Barnes and Noble Cafe in Union Square, he showed me his underwear and fine art shots and I saw he had as great an eye for the male form as he did for high fashion.

BAM.....decided to hire him for the project.

The shoot took place a few weeks later in "Do or Die Bed Stuy" after we were able to find a suitable time for the two of us. It went off without a hitch. Alex was totally chill and cool to work with. We shot underwear for my project, did some fine art, and a live video.

Can't wait until I see the pics. He told me to expect a two week time frame.