Wendy Rogriguez

Wendy came to me for a self-promotional shot. As the WIBA world champion (junior flyweight), her priority was an image she could sign and give to her fans. But shooting often involves a case of "whileyoureatititis". And while I was at it, Wendy allowed me to shoot her in a sexy outfit.

While she may choose to give her fans an image of herself looking sporty in her boxing garb, there's no reason she can't work a more feminine angle as well.

Marcus Kowal

This is my friend Marcus Kowal, an incredible boxer and a Krav Maga instructor here in Los Angeles. Marcus has trained everyone from Hilary Swank to the LAPD in the intense Israeli martial art. One day when Marcus and his lovely girlfriend, Reema were out for a drive, they were pulled over by an LAPD squad car. After the officers asked Marcus a few increasingly inflammatory questions, they dragged him out of the car, handcuffed him and pushed him to his knees. Then they asked Reema to stand outside the car. “Is this your boyfriend?” the officer asked Reema. “Do you love him?” “Would you do anything for him?” “Yes, of course,” Reema answered. Bewildered, Reema looked at Marcus, who was still on his knees on the side of the road. The officer stepped back and Marcus, handcuffed and surrounded by cop cars, asked for her hand in marriage. This is a tough guy, but with a fiercely romantic side, and I hope I captured that in this portrait. By the way, Reema said yes, and they’ve been happily married for the past year.

Life is Short, Trees are Tall

My 15 year old niece, Keats, is visiting from Idaho. In exchange for her plane ticket, I put her to work–both as an envelope stuffer for our current promo mailing and, naturally, as a model. She packed a variety of clothes to wear for our extemporaneous shoots during her stay. My goal is to make her visits entertaining while I stay productive.

Photography is not a desk job. I've often considered a multitude of ways I might meet my end while pursuing my craft. Perhaps stepping off a cliff while using my telephoto lens or falling off the back of a motorcycle. But yesterday while shooting at Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica I found another potential way to croak creatively.

I'm following my niece as she walks. She's to my side and I'm watching her through the viewfinder with my left eye. I thought I had surveyed a length of sidewalk before I put the camera to my eye to be sure my way was clear but before I knew it, I walked smack into the middle of a palm tree.

The absolute surprise of it hurt as much as anything. If anyone caught the mishap on video it might be a hit on YouTube. The good part is I'm OK, my niece is still here and my camera works. I've promised to do a shoot with her today. Maybe a shoot in the studio or her taking surfing lessons. Whatever we decide to do, I'll take the camera down from my face before I walk too far.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Google web analytics recently reported that an anonymous user surfing the web using keywords "moccasins" and "K-Mart" was directed to ericraptosh.com as the most relevant site. My site was deemed relevant because in my bio I happen to mention both moccasins and K-Mart. And now that I am mentioning both keywords again here in my blog, my site must surely be more relevant than ever to a user searching for moccasins at K-Mart. While this revelancy may seem erroneous, sometimes good connections are made serendipitously. Who knows, if I can get enough users to surf the web for moccasins at K-Mart, I'll get hired by K-Mart to shoot moccasins. Wish me luck!

Boxing Lessons

This is my boxing trainer Marcelo. I started training with him at Gold's Gym in Venice at the beginning of October. Since I've never boxed before I wasn't sure what to expect but I decided to make a three month commitment and see how I was feeling at the end.

This new year marked the end of my trial period and the beginning of something that I'm now really grooving on. Besides keeping me in shape (so I can carry heavy equipment and big lenses), it's a mental challenge.

I have learned that working this hard on a regular basis (two days a week) would never happen if I didn't have a trainer. And I happen to have a great trainer. He's a stickler for good technique and punishes me with ten pushups if I don't get the combinations he calls out right. He punches me when I'm working on my situps to make sure I'm tensing my abs. But it's effective. My abs are tighter, I lost my gut (or at least most of it) and my brain is happy.

In the end, I like the abuse. I meet interesting people. I feel more connected to my neighborhood. It's become a ritual from which I receive empowerment and a chocolate protein drink. How it affects my photography may take some time to evaluate but it gives me a fresh outlook on whatever I focus my attention on next.

Teaching Piano

Piano teacher to new student: "Can you play anything by ear?"
New student: "Never heard of him."