Mel

Once upon a time I was just a grad student/skydiver trying to find my way and trying not to eat Raman Noodles. I soon found that the best way to make extra money skydiving was to buy a video camera and a still camera and strap them to my head. After all, Jumpmaster jumps paid 25 bucks a pop, and Video/Stills jumps paid $45. That was when I bought my first “real” camera and started learning how to take pictures from old camera heads like Flabby. Anyway, at that point my photography was pretty well limited to skydiving and trying to shoot long exposures and landscapes. Enter Mel. Mel was my lunch buddy back in Denton. We used to hang out and went to lunch once a week or so, and I will never forget the day she asked me if I would take her photo. She was is my friend and is stunning…so even though I didn’t really know what i was doing back then…how could I say no? I need to find those old pics and scan them in (shot on film), but Mel was my first model and one of the keys to me wanting to learn more and more about photography. The photos I got of her really helped me develop my style. *12-2009 Update, below is a scan from the first shoot

I only get to see Mel once every few years now. She is working on her career and education in a land far far away. Ok…She’s still in Texas, but a land far far away sounds more dramatic. ANYWAY, now I only see her when she is in town for Christmas or a family event; last night was the first time I have seen her in 3 years or so. For me it was really cool to get the chance to take pictures with her again, since she was the one who, in a lot of ways, started all of this. I still haven’t gone through all of the pics, but these are some of the ones I’ve finished thus far.

More pics in Mel Part two here