A few weeks back I posted about jumping back into photography at full speed. Some things I needed to do were to work on my vision, get a makeup artist, new models, and repair my broken Speedlite flash.

Well, I'm still working on my vision but the whole idea is to experiment, so for that I will have to shoot, shoot, shoot. I have at least two MUAs on call for upcoming shoots (one pro, one semi-pro), and I just got a Metz flash today:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

I wanted something in the price range of the 420EX, and of comparable quality (at least), but with more control. After a little research I decided on the Metz. I've always wanted one anyway, lol. I shot a few test pics in my room and the lighting does seem to be quite even and natural with most subjects. I will probably call a very pretty friend of mine tomorrow to go somewhere and do a few real tests. By the way, I sold the Speedlite on eBay for almost exactly half the price I paid last year. (Yes, I made it clear it needed repair.) Gotta love eBay!

Now the hard part seems to be finding new models. I want a girl with experience, a knockout look, and personality. I've only been at it for a couple of days but it so far seems near hopeless. I can always approach a girl on the street, but that natural talent is very hard to find - and even harder to gauge without a portfolio to look at. I've had a bunch of girls contact me after seeing my post on florida-models.com, but so far none have fit the bill. I'm being picky as all hell this time around. I've contacted a few girls from some modeling forums - even paying $10 to join a very popular site, just to be able to e-mail this one gorgeous model - but I just sent out the messages so I will have to wait a bit for a reply. I'm looking to keep away from the Blonde-fest that is my portfolio right now.

Sometimes, I must admit, it's difficult to decide which girl not to shoot as the Man-Man part of my brain (or is it the brain, lol) insists she's hot and has a good look, but then the Photographer-Man steps in and says No

Hopefully I'll have some new shots in a couple of weeks. I know that rebuilidng my portfolio is not an overnight thing - my deadline for finishing it is the beginning of next year.