Friday, September 26, 2014

Hi everybody. So I'm gonna dedicate this blog to a friend of mine who I was going to visit tomorrow. But it turns out she was really sick and she's no longer with us. It's sad because she was really cool. But, I've a good story to tell you. You know, we were like brother and sister. It was kind of a love/argument relationship. Anyway, one day we were out location scouting on a photo shoot. She would always get lost. She insisted on not having a GPS, but she would always get lost. I would tease her all the time. Anyway, we were driving around. She looked lost. I said, "What's going on?" She mumbled something. I said, "Are we lost again?" She said, "Yeah." I said, "How far are we from the hotel?" She replied, "Well maybe like 2 1/2, 3 hours." I said, "All right. I folded down the middle seat, mind you we're in a mini van. I said, "Pull over here next to this gas station convenience store." I went inside, got a six pack of beer and a bag of chips. I sat in the back. I told the client who was in the back with me to have a beer. And my friend said, "What am I? a chauffeur?" and I replied, "You are now." It was a good trip back to the hotel. Another time I put a big snake behind the toilet. A fake snake. I tied some very fine fishing line around the neck. My friend sat down to use the toilet and when she sat down I pulled the snake out. Have you ever heard someone scream "Oh Shit!" really loud? It's really funny. I paid for that one though.  That's a whole nother story. She got even in her own way, believe me. I think I heard her yell, "Brian, you little brat." Anyway, there are endless stories like this. She and I used to tease each other all the time. I'll miss her.

You know, I started getting nostalgic for some of our trips. I worked with this one client who seemed to think the best light was in Hawaii. And a specific nice hotel in Hawaii. Those were great trips. Good fresh fish as well. We came back with good shots all the time. It didn't hurt to be in Hawaii. The other cool thing was we shot in the morning and late afternoon. I had the midday to myself. I of course would go surfing every day. We were right next door to a great break. Those were great trips. My friend here asked me, "What's better? Having memories of those trips or not doing those trips at all?" I just stared at her blankly.

You know, that's about it for the past. I don't feel like talking about the past so much. One other thing I do remember about my friend. We would always go to Harbor Island to shoot. Harbor Island is in the Bahamas. Great place to visit. If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend it. Talk to you next week. I'm gonna include a photo of a heart I was gonna bring tomorrow. Talk to  you next week. Love, B. Nice

September 19, 2014

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the past. You know, when I was on a photo shoot on location, I would always look around, you know, what was around me. For example, once I was in Mexico shooting and I saw a really cool looking guy standing in a bar. I stopped shooting and I walked over to talk to the guy, you know, to get a portrait. There was no one else in the bar, just him. It turns out he owns the bar and he used to be a professional bull fighter. He showed me posters of him when he was young. They were all over the place. He had promised himself when he was done bull fighting, and if he was still alive, he would open up a small bar. Well, he did. So I stopped the whole shoot and I made everyone come to the bar and order a drink. I forgot it was 10 am. But he had the appropriate drink for our mid morning drink. It was a great day. I often met people like this bull fighter I was talking about. I met many creative people. It was fun. I met a boot maker, a furniture maker, a money maker, a painter, a sculptor. You get the idea. Many creative people. It was never a dull moment. I kind of miss the good old days. I know it makes me sound like an old fart, but I have to admit I miss the trips. I'm gonna leave it at that 'cause I'm tired and I'm sure my friend here is tired of listening to my stories. Wait, I'm going to leave you with one joke:

There was a snail. He was at an ATM machine. As he was getting his money he was mugged. He had to fill out a police report because he called the cops. The police officer said to the snail, "Mr. Snail, tell me exactly what happened." The snail replied, "Oh man, I don't know, it all happened so fast." Have a good week. Love you, B. Nice

September 3, 2014

You know, I've met a couple cougars in my life, especially on this job. The first time I met a cougar I was in New York showing my book around. I guess that dates me, showing my book around. Anyway, I was showing my book and the woman, the art director, looked through my portfolio and she closed the book and looked at me like I was fresh meat and she started describing the job and she said, at the end, I'm sure we're going to get along just great, and she grabbed my knee and said, "Right?" Well, I never got the job because she must have seen the terrified look on my face.

Another time I happened to meet two cougars in one go. I was at a bar in Florida waiting for my assistant. An older woman sat down next to me and started chatting. She bought me a beer. We were talking. And then another woman came and sat next to me. Apparently they knew each other. I was being double teamed by a bunch of cougars. I asked for help from the bartender. He just smiled shook his head and walked away. Thank God my assistant showed up. I gave him a hug and grabbed his hand and walked into the restaurant. They never talked to me again.

One other time I met a cougar I was in southern New Mexico. We were looking for a location. I was in a dry riverbed. We went around a corner and right in front of me was a giant cougar or mountain lion. Who knows what you call it. All I know is it was big. Anyway, it seemed more scared than I was. Although, he had no pants to wet. He took off.

You know, when I was a photo assistant, I probably was the worst assistant in the world. One time we were in a brand we had all the film with us. We had been on a big commercial job for a cigarette campaign. We had like, I don't know, 3000 rolls of film on us. They were in a giant bag. Anyway, in our infinite wisdom we put the bag behind the bar. I thought that would be the safest place. Anyway, after a night of partying we got in the van and drove back to the hotel. Halfway through the trip to the hotel I said, "John, do you have the film?" He said, "No, Frank do you have the film." Frank said no. Frank then said, "Don, do you have the film?" And then we all looked at each other and screamed "Oh my God!" We did a high powered U turn in the middle of the road. We got back to the bar and the place was shut closed. We ran around to the back and the janitor was cleaning the bar mats. I ran inside. Thank God the bag was still behind the bar. I snuck out with that bag and threw it in the car. It was another moment I averted death.

I'll tell you one more story. I have many more, but I'll tell you one more. We were shooting a cigarette campaign in helicopters. I was with a photographer in one helicopter and we were photographing the models in another helicopter. Oh yeah, we were over the Grand Canyon. Anyway, the photographer I was working for shouted at me, "Give me the 85mm lens." Well, I reached into the bag and, well, it's not quite clear to me what happened next. I either a.) dropped the lens into the Grand Canyon or b.) I simply forgot the lens back at the studio. Either way, I was in deep shit. I'll never tell you what really happened. But, anyway, he said to the pilot, "Great! I have to use a shorter lens and get closer to the helicopter where the models are." He looked at me and said, "Great, see, we have to get closer and we all might die." And sure enough, we moved closer to the other helicopter. The other pilot was looking at us like we were crazy. Anyway, we got the shot and I lived another day.

That's all for now. To see my other blog, mypointofview, you have to go to my website. You go in from there. www.briannice.com. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

August 26, 2014

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the past.  You know, I was here with a friend of mine and we were reminiscing about the good old days. I sound like an old fart, but it's true the good old days were great, and we made good money too. We had great trips. For example, I went to Antigua with my friend. We went to a Reggae Sunday night on top of a mountain. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went to a local bar where all the ships crews went. I think I told you this before, but I had an all female crew with me and this one guy said to me, "Man! What boat are you from?" I said, "Not a boat, a ship. The SS Nice" and he said, "Whoa, how do I get on that ship?!" It was a fun night.

I'm gonna leave it at that. It's a short one, but my friend here has to go. I'll talk to you guys next week. Maybe I'll even tell you something I'm not supposed to tell you. Love, B. Nice

August 5, 2014

Hi everybody. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the past. You know, I was on my back for so long, I used to think about things that happened in the past.

You know, one of the most difficult transitions to make is from Photo Assistant to Photographer, and Photographer to Drag Queen - NO! I'm just kidding. From Photographer to whatever else you want to do in life. You know, the midlife crisis thing. Anyway, I remember I left New York City as a Photo Assistant and arrived in Australia as a Photographer. You see, I never looked back. I just pursued life as a photographer. It was difficult at first, but I finally got a break. I started shooting on my own. Life was pretty crazy, but the cool thing about Australia is I went to places you would never normally go to. You see, the magazines often made a deal with the airlines and hotels to get tickets and lodging in exchange for advertising in the magazine. It was often low budget stuff. For example, I had to do a shoot in Mexico. You would think it would be easy, but it took me like 3 days to get there. I had to fly from Sydney to Hawaii, long wait, and then from Hawaii to L.A. Another long wait. And then L.A. to Dallas. Overnight stay in Dallas, and then Dallas to Mexico City. A real long wait. And then Mexico City to Oaxaca. See what I mean?

Oftentimes the country you were going to would require you to go to a meeting at their embassy. For example, I had to do a shoot in New Guinea. The New Guinea embassy wanted me to come over for a meeting. I thought it was a little over the top, but after I met with them, I saw what they were talking about. They wanted to see what I was going to do. They showed me an example of what they didn't want me to do. Apparently a German magazine went to New Guinea to do a soft porn shoot. They showed me the tear sheet. There were some topless girls in a black cauldron, and there was a local native stirring the cauldron, and in the background there were some guys waiting with forks. And another shot there were some naked girls running through a grass field with some guys chasing the girls with spears. I assured them my work was not like that. They were just being safe. I got the picture. Anyway, I'll tell you about that shoot later. It was quite the adventure.

Speaking of adventures, I'm gonna stop right here because I'm here with my friend and we're going to plan our next adventure. Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Here's the link to my other blog