The boys (and girls unseen) on the bus!

dpbus2
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

...with members of popular local band Deconstruct and Drowning Pool bassist Steve Benton, handing out shots on the tour bus after a great show. So I take the shot and drink it down after the toast along with everyone else and I'm saying-- out loud-- "Wow, this Jagermeister is good! I had no idea it would be this good! Yum!" "Because It's vodka!" someone corrected with a sweet laugh... oh. ;)
Deconstruct opened up the show that night and according to K they tore it up.

Wassssup with that?

Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

Jahred, vocalist for (Hed) Planet Earth, autographs a bare-bottomed fan at The Boardwalk. He gave her a spank on the way out too! She didn't complain a bit. I suppose if I were an exhibitionist I might have a different opinion on this but I am far too pracical. Pen on flesh washes off! But from the point of view of the voyeur in me-- You go girl! Just let me get the picture! The group hails from Orange County and is kind of a cross between funk, hip hop and punk. It was a great set with Jahred pacing from side to side, posing, smirking, giving all kinds of attitude and the fans were eating it up. I was shooting like crazy until the tour manager came over to stop me. He'd seen my big lens from far away and knew I wasn't the average show-goer. We got the go ahead from Drowning Pool though so the rest of the night was smooth as silk.

DROWNING POOL

dp2
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

C.J. Pierce of Drowning Pool gets fierce on guitar during their recent show at The Boardwalk. He has a beautiful redheaded girlfriend too, who's birthday it was so they had everyone in the club wish her a happy birthday so he could get lucky... ;)
Last time I saw Drowning Pool was at The Empire-- and I did a fun set of self-portraits with each one of the guys-- so I just had to go and get them to sign one for me!
A very down to earth group of guys. The next day was Thanksgiving and they had the day off but had to be in Los Angeles, far too far from family, despite lot's of effort on one band members part to get back home if only for the day. The new plan would be food and football. I guess that's one consistent thing about the holiday. "Go Cowboy's" said bassist Steve Benton repeatedly.

Top Ten... IN THE WORLD!

riverdiva
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

Congratulations go out to one of my dear friends Sasha Monet, fetish model extraordinaire, who just placed tenth internationally in The VI. Bondage Awards 2004!
Sasha has worked with some of the best in the business. Some of my most artistic work has been with her as my model and her picture can be found over and over again in my portfolio. She is a bit of a chameleon too, in that she can look very different from shoot to shoot. For me working with Sasha is a lot about teamwork. She gives so much and has an innate understanding of what she looks like through the lens, a rare quality. She is also fearless about trying new things, totally fun and playful as a model too! Congratulations again Sasha, you deserve the highest honors for all your hard work!

Beware the Lion Fish

Lion Fish
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

Another divinely lovely fish at the Sheraton is the Lion fish, who belongs to the Scorpion fish family. This is a very dangerous, poisonous and potentially lethal fish. They have venomous fin spines that can produce painful puncture wounds. A person punctured by one of the sharp spines will immediately feel strong pain and experience rapid swelling of the affected body area, rendering movement of limbs very difficult. Yow. The venom in the spines remains active for days, so even discarded spines should be treated with caution. Thankfully, fatalities are rare. Examine this fish carefully and keep your fingers out of the tank!! The only question I have after admitting my own personal fascination with the beauty of the fish... if it's so dangerous why do we keep it so near? But then again, I never understand why people keep dangerous animals as family pets either. Of course who am I to talk? I have Toby, a lusciously plush feline who bites and scratches like a demon. Visitors be warned!

Here's looking at you squid

orangefish
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

I just love this fish! He lives in the aquarium at The Sheraton in San Diego and was unbelievably friendly! Whenever I brought the camera up to the glass he swam right over. I think I'll pay him another visit!
I was there for a huge meeting for one of my big clients. Hundreds of people in attendance, some at the podium but mainly people in chairs at tables in one GIANT dimly lit room talking about resolutions and amendments and two-word changes in policy documents. What a challenge making interesting pictures out of that! But there were some gems along the way... ;) The hard part was barely seeing the light of day for days. Each morning I could look out my hotel room window and see the seagulls and the morning fog surrounding the palm trees, breathe in the fresh sea air. But then it's off again to the GIANT dimly lit room... That's when I could most appreciate the life of this fish in his fish tank... in a box, on display, wandering the environment. That was me with my cameras, vividly on display, walking the room to and fro snapping and flashing away at everyone who spoke, trying to get that telling shot that would make the client happy.

"Kamikaze Paparrazzi"

kamikaze
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

I blurted out the words "I'm a Kamikaze Paparrazi!" while out on this photo shoot. In hindsight I think it's quite appropriate for the style of shooting I did recently with one of my girlfriends who loves to pose for the more artsy and avant garde stuff I love to do. It has a lyrical flow, yes? We were talking a mile a minute while driving around town looking for good public places to shoot nudes and the words tumbled out.
I called it Kamikaze Paparrazzi because it's one of those in your face flash on camera kind of deals and we drive around, find the location, set the pose, she drops the robe, I shoot the photos and then we run like mad laughing all the way back to the car. I was surprised to note that mostly people ignored us. We only ran into one snag the whole evening-- at Pavillions a security guard came by and asked us to stop, which we did of course, but not before getting some very lovely pics with the twinkly lit trees.

The girl is flexible!

juliettebackbend
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

Juliette wore a white t-shirt with the words Public Servant on the front and a pair of low cut white pants-- if you can call them that-- they were as form-fitting as a pair of nylon panythose. At one point she even sang while positioned in a full on back bend! Quite an unexpected visual on top of the intense music backed by the powerful drumming of Patty who used to be with Hole. The whole band is an impressive gathering of talent. Her lead guitarist, Kemble Walters, is also the lead singer for their opening band Vice Versa.
See more show pics here... and see the review and pics here.

More Juliette

juliette
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

She jumped and strutted and used every ounce of sex appeal she has in her body while belting out song after song with a big gutsy voice and a fearless command of the stage. I guess because her Hollywood fame preceeds her it's easy to think she's just going to be an actress with a so so voice who thinks she can be a
rock star. She thinks it for a damn good reason-- she IS one.

Oh, and they were selling band stuff too-- at very reasonable prices... ;)
Teez........$10
CD's.........$5
Posters.....$3
KISSES......$Dr. Pepper

Juliette Lewis and the Licks rock Orangevale

julietteandcharr
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

Juliette Lewis, the wonderful and slightly quirky actress, made a decision to create a rock and roll band with herself as the frontman. Wowie! Juliette and the Licks performed at The Boardwalk a few nights ago and it was great fun fun fun, intensely rocking and a gigantic surprise just how great a band it is-- and the songs are great too, all originals. After the show Juliette came out to meet people, sign CD's and posters and hammed it up with one person after another till the bus was nearly ready to take off without her! When I finally got to talk to her she mentioned my "fabulous Pucci" top, having noticed it while she was on stage. How cool is that?
One thing that impressed me about her as a person is how she made a clear attempt to connect with each person she met in a very personal and one on one way,
On a slightly different note-- Oh, the amazing power of beauty and celebrity-- I was hanging out with a cool (and very hot) guy I know from around town and he's standing there, beer in hand, and leans close to my ear and whispers "Do you think she would spit into my beer if I asked her to? Because you know, if she did, I would drink it. That's nasty huh? I would, I'd do it! Do you think I'm nasty? "
Uh, yeah... ;)

zsports

A_MG_9680
Originally uploaded by Charrmer.

This is a test, This is only a test, for the next few lines you will read that this picture is to be used as a test... even if it was shot on assignment to create a holiday card for a lively company in Gold River called ZSports that designs and manufactures all kinds of interesting ski and surf accessories like rugs and towels, ski boot drying racks and water proof containers. Still, this is a test...