Help support my photography a lot! ($12.70)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

I've changed my web world around to make this my homepage...

The why is simple enough - cash flow.

Oh, and there was that little matter of customer ease too.

The site formerly known as mikasiphotography.com was geared towards photographers who have a lot more commercial oomph than yours truly. After a year of having the site I had generated less in sales than needed to make it worthwhile. And nowhere near enough to earn the minimum payout.

Also, what I learned is that the people I sell to overwhelmingly want one of two things - digital downloads and speed and convenience when they do want hard copies of their pictures. With my new site you can still get digital downloads (in different sizes as needed).

An added bonus is that I am able to have any hard prints you need sent to the local lab of your choice - if you need the shots sent promptly to the Walgreens in your neighborhood (or the Target, or any other lab) I can now do it. No more waiting two weeks for prints from the lab in California.

The homepage change might be a little confusing at first but know that it was all for the best - for your best and for mine!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Be Exposed Kenosha


If you enjoy the Kenosha arts scene, then you are likely aware of Be Exposed. Organized (at least in part) by Francisco Loyola and hosted monthly at Carolyn's Coffee Connection, Be Exposed is a monthly arts event that gives artists and performers a stage in the Kenosha area.

If you were one of the evening's performers and want to download any of the images for personal use, you are more than welcome to do so. If you need any of them for commercial use please email me for permission and a clean copy of the shot.

Here are links to all of the performer's web sites. Check them out. Give their work a look/listen - my guess is that you will really enjoy it. If you don't see a link or their is a link to a social networking site, then it means the slackers need to set up a site. 






Jerome Garrett Hunter and Friends

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Gypsy Heart: belly dance at Barba Yianni

all pictures are available for purchase

Ladies, I want to apologize for taking so long to get these photos up. Nine days is too long. But I took way too many shots (over 700) and sorting through and editing them took a while. Then there is the matter of that pesky day job. Photography is my “night job” - I have to work my love into those hours not seized by my drudge.

Anyhow, here they are – over 160 photos of your performance. May they capture the beauty of what you do.

For those of you who were not able to attend here's what you missed.


The performance (not hafla in this case) was The Gypsy Heart: BellyDance Meanderings. The show took place in the early evening on May 2nd at Barba Yianni, a chichi Greek/Mediterranean restaurant in Lincoln Square. (BTW the menu is fantastic and I definitely recommend it for a nice night out!)

Barba's dance floor, surrounded on three sides by dining tables, made for an wonderful venue. The dancers were close to the patrons with no stage to separate a grateful audience from vibrant dancers. The energy flowed from dancer to viewer beautifully.


The evening's featured performer was Paola Blanton, a fantastically talented Brazilian dancer. The show was the culmination of her Balkan / Turkish Gypsy Workshops held that Saturday and Sunday. But the scope of the classes didn't limit the style of performance. Gypsy Heart featured a wide assortment of styles – from Turkish to Saidi, Egyptian Oriental to Tribal, Cabaret to Fusion.

Event organizer Laila Aziz set the event up as a fundraiser. Fifty percent of the proceeds were given to the Voice of Roma a group that promotes, presents and develops appreciation for the Romani cultural arts and traditions. (You can find out more about them by clicking on the link.)


In addition to giving me a chance to see and photograph a fantastic show, The Gypsy Heart allowed me to meet two Facebook friends, dancers who I got to see perform for the first time. With luck, these pictures convey the beauty and grace of their dance.


Of all the belly dance performances I've attended this was the one of the best. The depth of talent was fantastic and there was a wide range of dancing to enjoy. The dancers looked to be enjoying themselves on stage. And the joy of a dancer is quick to communicate itself to an audience.

Ladies, thanks for for your beauteous and heartfelt performances!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

MudQueens in the Hood...

See the whole set by clicking here or on a picture.
(Digital Download's of these pictures are available for purchase.
50% of the net on these sales will go to the MudQueens's favorite charities.)

What an odd evening. The weather, which had a chill bite just the evening before, had warmed, warmed to the point where all the women wearing miniskirts, halter tops and other assorted non-clothing were totally comfy. 

There was nary a goose-bump in sight.

I don't know how often – if ever - the MudQueens wrestle out of doors. The only other time I had ever seen them was at a rock/punk type club called Reggies on South State. And they seemed to enjoy the hell out of that. If facial expressions are a good indicator, you would be hard-pressed to find any group of performers of any type that enjoy plying their trades as much.

My guess is that dental floss sales spike on before those shows – it must take a load of wax coating to drag the goop out of a mouth that went smile first through a good foot and a half of muck.

Presumably, my attraction to mud wrasslin' is the same that most men have – we are stoopid, horny brutes who are more than eager to drop an hour's wage on a door charge and $4 a PBR just for the chance to glimpse a “wardrobe malfunction” on any good looking girl who's coated a ¼ inch deep in a form-fitting veneer of mud.

We are positively moronic in such cases.

But tonight is not a paid event. Tonight is a free bout, in the hood – and a rather nice hood at that. The backyard patio has the mud ring set up in it. Crowding around it, as well as stopping in the alley and hanging over the neighboring fences are patrons. They've come via Facebook postings and mailing lists, friendly invites or just because they happened to be passing by the alley and opted to stay.

Exploiting our hormonal gullibility is the beauty of what might be termed the MudQueens' business model. While it's true the ladies do this for fun, they have also taken it up a level by doing it for charity. A part of the proceeds from every vended bout goes to two charities in Chicago – the Young Women's Empowerment Project and the Chicago Women's Health Center.

And how many men would donate to those if mud, struggle and the hope of flesh were not somewhere in the equation?

Let's face it, where simple charity fails, hormonally charged philanthropy prevails.