LV Glam Helps Make Downtown A Fashionable Place

Whitney

This year, with the encouragement of friends and mentors who are already professionals in the photography field, I ventured forth into the world of professional photography. I had my first professional photo shoot in February. I hired a male model and had a photo shoot with him in the L.A. area, which was very successful, considering I have a long way to go in accomplishing my goals of becoming more knowledgeable and skilled as a photographer. Events like LV Glam help me to become more skilled and confident in that pursuit.

I attended LV Glam at the end of April with my friend and fellow photographer Andrew Kirchner. Andrew introduced me to the organizer and producer of the monthly event, Adam Martinez. Adam Martinez is a Las Vegas based production, feature film, fashion, talent, commercial & event photographer with 27+ years of experience. Adam works with "state of the art" digital cameras & laptops or traditional film photography. He has been listed in the Nevada Production Directory since 1993 (see www.nevadafilm.com), has been a University of Las Vegas Nevada fashion photography instructor since 2000, has a degree in Commercial Photography, is an award winning photographer and has10,000+ Nationally published images.

On June 7th, 1992, Martinez created the Las Vegas Strip Bikini Photo-Shoot, a photo day event that was for aspiring models and photographers. It was held every Sunday at the Glass Pool Motel on the Las Vegas Strip till August 1999. From 1992 –2004 he’s produced photo images for 15 national magazines, two which he has owned since 1996 -- Vegas Music and Film Magazine and Ring Sports.

LV Glam is promoted online on Model Mayhem, a social networking site for models, photographers, Photoshop “wizards,” make-up artists, and other artistic professionals. It is also promoted on other online websites. Photographers pay a fee of $25; models do not pay a fee to attend. It’s a networking event that brings together creative professionals: models, photographers, make-up artists (or MUA’s), clothing designers, hair stylists, and body painters for a glamour photo shoot.

An artist’s studio and property is the current monthly location of LV Glam. With the weather warming up, LV Glam will be held the last Sunday of every month, from 4-8 p.m., at 1302 S. 3rd Street @ Colorado (across from Williams Costume Company). It is usually held earlier in the day, but the hotter weather dictates that the event start later and end later, so that models and photographers won’t wilt so much in the heat of summer.

I was the only female photographer out of six photographers. There were five female models. Sometimes there are male models that attend as well. The number of attendees fluctuates from month-to-month. I will be attempting to bring male models to future shootouts, because my photography emphasis will be on male models. But for now, any experience is good experience for me. All the models were patient, professional, and very attractive. They change outfits at least once an hour, and pose for the photographers both inside in the artist’s studio, and out in the yard for exterior shots. Other nearby Downtown locales are used, like a graffiti wall down the street from the studio, and during the time I was at the photo shoot, we took one model out in the middle of the street, much to the entertainment and curiosity of the passersby and the public bus riders.

The next LV Glam will be Memorial Day weekend, on Sunday, May 30th. I will be taking time off from my day job to attend. I really enjoyed meeting the models, fashion designer, and photographers that were there at my first Glam. I know future Glams will be just as fun and exciting for me and for others as well. For aspiring photographers and models, it’s a great place to be for networking and using your creative skills.

Photos By Julie Kasperson

Cassie


Princess
All photo credits: Julie Kasperson

-VegasJules ( Julie Kasperson ) can be contacted through her facebook page.

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