This is my first family shoot of 2010, and includes a most excellent family of three. They are good looking, laid back and a lot of fun. I can’t say enough nice things about them. Plus, they custom build some sweet longboards. Stay tuned for more photos with the longboard slant, and more info. Awesome people making awesome goods. You gotta dig it.
Gonna keep the monthly recap short.
We selected two winners for our photo shoot raffle. Congratulations to Rhonda Shifflett and Cheska Price! Stay tuned for the results of their photo shoots. Thanks to everyone who participated. You people friggin’ rock.
On the slide, we also decided to select three more raffle tickets – the three people chosen will receive a Lloyd Zeffler photo print in the mail. You will be hearing from us.
Lloyd Zeffler posts in January 2010:
- Instant Friend
- Monday Placeholder
- An Update on Fundraising Efforts
- LZ Photo: Downtown China
- Color Wheels
- The Clockwise Collective
- Break Free from Cubicle Prison
- A Few Random Thoughts for January 29, 2010
- LZ Photo: Massage Therapist for Hire
…and a few photos from this month. Can you match the shoot to the blog post?
February is going to be good.
We have started to organize our online auction fundraiser. One of the items up for auction is this guy. A recent graduate from the Arizona School of Massage Therapy. He has been so generous as to donate two massages for auction. He’s a laid back bloke who knows what he is doing. He is now taking appointments. Contact James Shreeve at 928-245-3348. He is located in Mesa, Arizona, but is available throughout Metro Phoenix and beyond.
The photos were taken to represent him for the auction.
I do not like it when I do not get to take photos. I start getting itchy. Between work and schoolwork, there has been very little time to play. With each day that passes and I do not get to shoot, I feel like I am going to lose it. Whatever it is.
Mercifully, I will have a few opportunities to take photos this weekend. It is even better because it is with people I like.
We will also select the winners of our photo shoot raffle. That is right. Winners. Plural. The fundraising results were so good we want to pick two winners.
Business is picking up, as the opportunities to shoot high school senior photos are piling up. I like shooting senior photos. I think it plays to my strengths. As much as it is good to try new things and push my own boundaries, it also feels good to do something I know I can do well.
I have requested a few new albums to review as well. I have hopes something will spark and I can get out of the music draught I have suffered through this winter.
On a side note, it is that time of year when an article I wrote at Associated Content earns a renewed rush of readership – mostly among 14-year-old girls. AC offers Calls for Content and I took them up on was Top 10 Prom Songs.
In my article, I went for some classic songs. Songs that stand the test of romantic, wind-swept time. I distinctly remember some of the crap that played when I was in high school. Kids these days…they still love crap. Most of the article comments chastise my choices and express love for the Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift.
I am sure in 10 years those kids will be embarrassed by their music, or still enjoy it with the air of tongue-in-cheek irony. But ironic hindsight does not make a song any better. Nor does it take away the embarrassment of lame articles you have written in the past.
Some people arrive on the Internets fully formed. I was not one of them.
As soon as we get everyone back on track, I decided it would be good to keep after the Clockwise Collective idea. I like the idea, and I love the potential to work with people who are more talented than I am.
I was also excited about the collective because it could provide the opportunity – and the kick in the pants – to work towards the kinds of photos that I want to be creating.
Andrew and I were talking about photos that are for more conceptual than anything I have ever done. They would require more consideration and creativity, as would also push my abilities farther.
This last year I had the opportunity to learn more about what I like to do, what I don’t like to do, as well as a few tough business and customer service lessons. Yes, this is an opportunity to make some extra money, but it is not about making money. It is about being excited about the possibilities of blowing my mind.
I work in a cubicle. Photography is my escape from this cubicle prison. I do not get much time outside the fence, so I have to make the most of it. My hope, and much of the impetus behind Clockwise Collective, is to break free from that cubicle for life. I have to go for it.
January has been a blue month in Zefflerland. It began with horrible news, and we just have not been able to shake it. We would rather not shake it, but take this and move forward as better people – ambitious in our dreams, inspired in our work and loving to each other.
Before Andrew passed, we were working on the Web site for our art collective. The following is his first post. It is an introduction of himself and the collective. Everything is true, except for when it is not.
An Introduction to all things Andrew…
This blog post was supposed to be lovingly crafted over a week or two so that I could make sure it would be eloquent, well-ordered, and complete. You’ll have to forgive me if it’s a little less than that; instead of me waiting a week or two, I’ve decided to push my own deadline for it up to… today! The reason why? Well, because I need fodder for testing to complete this site to my satisfaction.
So my name is Andrew Press. This, the Clockwise Collection, is actually the idea of my friend and fellow artist Zane Ewton, a brilliant photographer and blogger. The story goes like this; one night, while enjoying sips of our favorite Strawberry Colada wine coolers, Zane proposed to me that perhaps it was no small coincidence that so many of our friends here in the great, flat expanse that is known as Phoenix, Arizona are also artists. Now, when I say artist, please understand that I’m using that word to blanket anyone who creates things out of their own passion TO create; musicians, photographers, silversmiths, and graphic designers, as well as painters, sculptors, and writers. Zane put forth the idea that perhaps, by working together, the whole could be greater than the sum of it’s parts.
Of course, I responded the only way I knew how; I removed my shirt and challenged Zane to a fight. He knew better than to start talking about math to me, especially when I’m riding a Colada-high three deep. Zane immediately silenced my profanity-laden rants with quick thinking and a Vulcan nerve-pinch unlike any I had suffered previously. He explained to me that possibly, by gathering together all of the extremely talented people we know and forcing them with either threats of physical violence or blackmail, we could get them to start chronicling the things they were doing in each of their lives to further their dreams when it came to the art they created. Seeing as I was face down on the floor and unable to feel anything from the chest down, I was forced to agree with Zane. It was a good idea.
Fast forward to now, almost two weeks ago. Armed with at least five friends who were interested in the possibilities, we decided to name our new project the Clockwise Collective, as you could have probably guessed by the name of the website. Our intentions, besides that of updating this blog with the latest news, events, and works from each of us was also to find new and innovative ways of working together. Photographers taking pictures of musicians, then passing it along to graphic designers to see what they can come up with. Artists collaborating on pieces together to create something that they alone possibly could not. In the end, a chance to show all of our work created alone or together… together. For those not in the know, Phoenix, Arizona is not quite the epicenter of the arts world, but perhaps, by working together and becoming successful, along with the accumulation of more artists interested in the possibilities that working together might provide, we can change that.
So now I come to what I meant to speak of anyways; myself. I, Andrew Press, am a blogger, an artist, and a graphic designer. I’ve had a passion for drawing and writing for as long as I can remember. Born in Los Angeles, transported to the impossibly tiny town of Pinetop, Arizona at a young age to be raised by wolves, and finally now, residing in the valley of the sun, I work as a cubical monkey. I’ve had several shows in galleries along with events at First Friday, but in all honesty, I haven’t drawn anything now in over a year. I’ve stalled on several fronts that I was formerly pursuing ; making t-shirts, doing graphic designs for local musicians, and just, well, putting a pencil to paper.
Thus the Clockwise Collective for me. For the first time in a long time, the desire to create and collaborate with others is strong, and the possibility that I might not forever be slave to the lunch break once again glimmers, twinkles I dare say, in the back of my mind. Amongst the collective are some of the most talented people it’s ever been my good fortune to meet, and if I’m to cast my lot then I would prefer it be with them. Given that they too will be writing soon to share their stories, I won’t take up anymore of the front page. I just want to say hello and that I look forward to bedazzling you with some of the nicest Southwestern art EVER.
(I’m just kidding. I HATE Southwestern art. I’ll just have to bedazzle you with something else.)
- Andrew
I have had a few people ask if we were going to continue with the idea behind Clockwise Collective. I have not spoken with any of the artists who were going to be involved, so I am not sure how they feel. As much interest as there was, I am not sure everyone was as crazy to get this rolling as Andrew and I were. I know it is a good idea, but in many ways, it would not work without Andrew – at least not in the ways I hoped it would.
I hate Southwestern art too.
You may begin to see a few photos around. It’s just me tinkering with an idea. A definite work in progress.
There’s a lotta smokers in Chinatown. We were conspicuous in our non-smoking ways. And our height.
We are right on the precipice of raising enough funds to pay our deposits for this summer’s trip with Heart for Africa. I wanted to share a few quick notes on our fundraising efforts, and implore your potential involvement.
- The donation-only shoots are rolling nicely and will continue well past our trip to Africa. I have enjoyed it so much that it will be a monthly tradition until I have a better idea.
- This month we are selling tickets for a photo shoot raffle – Arizona residents only I am afraid. Tickets are $3 each or two-for-$5. We will draw a winner January 30. Email me at zane@lloydzeffler.com if you would like to enter or need more information.
- Stay tuned for the last week in February as we host an online auction. We have approached friends, family and local small businesses to feature a range of items that cover many personal budgets and interests. We are most interested in working with anyone who is establishing a business of their own, using their talents and skills. We hope to feature items with links to more information, contact info. A little promotion to help pay back your donation.
On a quick side note, anyone who is not comfortable with a straight donation can talk to me about a possible trade for photo or copywriting services.
If you would like to follow our fundraising efforts or communicate beyond the blog, visit me on Facebook and Twitter. You might even catch a few surprises that nobody else gets.
I always feel like a neglectful parent when my latchkey kid of a blog goes unattended for lengths of time. I am working behind the scenes. Just bad at updating the blog. There will be plenty of news and such coming soon. In the meantime, here is a recent photo – just for fun.
Zane Ewton
