Bensko Bitz

Sometimes a wedding is about the guests, sometimes it's about the flowers....this time, it was about a tree. A large oak cradled the couple in its belly. Fingered shadows tapping their skin. As the ceremony blossomed from this tree, so did our post-wedding session in a secret, hidden area of Los Angeles I shall only reveal upon death and scripture...ok, it's near the beach...ok, it's a state park, but that's all I'm sayin'...
Enjoy the magic of Jason & Anya. My rock and roll bride and groom, who are currently sipping from coconuts and learning how to say Humnnukunukuapua'a under a different type of tree...

 I do believe I have stumbled upon a remedy for the Theatrical Major Headshot Trauma...

Texas State University recently invited me to photograph the graduating Seniors of their Musical Theater and BFA programs, providing the graduating students with professional headshots with which to begin their acting careers.

In a two-day period we completed twenty sessions. Each session included hair and makeup by celebrity Makeup artist Dean Jason Hampton.

Throughout the process, a series of instructional elements were implemented with information necessary to achieve a successful photo session in the future.

In addition to being photographed, the students also received support in the following areas:

1.    Aesthetic preparation of skin, hair, grooming, Camera-Ready preparation for session arrival

2.    Selection of clothing: solid hues, attire appropriate for professional imagery as well as audition

3.    Lighting, posture, composition, textures of backgrounds

4.    Breathing techniques, posing options

5.    Make up techniques

6.    Hair grooming and styling

7.    Clothing selection and preparation

8.    Understanding and respecting the essentials of personal presentation in the world of audition

9.    Reflecting their self with confidence and appreciating the value of their personal self expression with pure validation of the power each individual holds within

10.  Encouraging self esteem and creating a platform of confidence from which they will be able to securely reference upon entering the entertainment field

Kindly view the Texas State University portfolio at
http://www.benskophotography.com/slideshows/tsu09/iframe.html

Bumps are sexy. Perhaps it's the unexpected confidence some pregnant women find in the lack of desire or ability to suck in our tummies. The freedom of wearing elastic waistbands without judgment. It's a time when celebrating a bloated belly is the most natural and liberating feeling in the world of estrogen. Our DNA explodes with possibilities and our hormones collide in the euphoric wrath of orgasmic ashe from which diamonds emerge without flaws...
Ok, perhaps this is true for some, for others the experience is one of a uturine cataclysm resulting in esophygial eruptions with women begging for relief from the cast of the porceline gods.
Either way, there's an underlying feeling in some women to simply see themselves as the pregnant goddess they are. It's a time when their bodies could never be more naturally beautiful, when the life growing from within connects those around her like a web with sachrine threads collecting the energies of those yearning for a connection with all that is right and authentic in this world.
This blog is about celebrating not only life, but the beauty in its creation and the joy in embracing the process...of rockin' the bump...