Mike B (akamikeb)

Heather Monique - Garden Rose

Heather and I recently took a trip to a beach house out in Northern California and had a BLAST shooting a bunch of content! We did a handful of shoots one night, then followed it up with some early morning shoots the next morning. All in all, expect to see Heather content practically weekly for a lonngggg time.

This was actually the last scene we shot on the last day, and it started at 8AM! I had tracked the sunrise over the mountains the day before and relayed to Heather that we'd be ...

Fionna Day - Rodeo Bar

I've shot this bar before, but it was during the day and had a completely different vibe. Fionna brings the after-hours sexiness tho. For the most part I have technical notes for this shoot, as Fionna played her role perfectly. First off, I'm not a fan of the color I chose for the splash that's in the upper left of each shot. I tried to edit it in post, but it was nigh impossible to alter that color without also screwing with the teal backsplash on the shelves. Definitely should've gone more ...

Heather Monique - Ghosts - POV BTS

Heather Monique - Ghosts

Been toying around with this idea for a while, but knew that it was something that would only work on someone who 1. can execute artistic nude style poses and 2. has the curves to accentuate the shadow work that would be in play. That pretty much put Heather at the top of the list, by a friggin' longshot. Single backlit setups are something I enjoy tapping into every once in a while because it's like instant visual drama. The rest of the set was a beanbag and large white blanket that I had la...

Charle Jay - Angel

Dudes, I let this set with Charle Jay cook for a LONG time, and I apologize for that. You see, I had a vision of what I wanted when I first shot this, and I was already familiar with generative tools and thought the tech and my skill were where I needed them. Unfortunately, we weren't quite there yet. Fast forward literally 6 months - I've now got a wide variety of pure AI and hybrid generative projects under my belt, so I dust off last year's catalog, give it another shot and here w...

Paige - Stardust Dining

I've never met someone so eager to get naked as much as Paige, I swear this girl probably lives in some tucked away nudist camp with how quickly she disrobes. I'm told the next time I shoot here there will be a different overhead light fixture in place because the current one "looks retro but isn't a u t h e n t i c" loll. Kudos to Misty, tho, as she's starting to get small film gigs starting to book out her spot, so perhaps in the future you may see this table in some commercial and you'll b...

Amaya - Catalog

This set is just silly, honestly. I mean, I put together a collection of relatively period specific pieces of retro-style wardrobe and Amaya instantly makes it modern. She just has such a uniquely current look that I would struggle to make believable at, say, Misty's groovy house that I'm always shooting at. So I shot and edited the photos to be contrasty, poppy, and present more like, I guess, a catalog fashion shoot haha. I guess kudos to me that I can shoot this style if money is tight and...

Paige - Vanity

This set was a technical nightmare, if I'm being honest. Not to take away from the work that Paige did, as she actually saved the shoot from going in the trash haha. What it boils down to is fuck the god dang sun, man, because damn does it just INTRUDE on your scene when you're trying to balance interior lighting against it. I gotta say, some of the shots where I'm looking through the plastic shower curtain give sort of a double exposure effect, which is pretty dope. Next time I'm going outsi...

Fionna Day - Fur Wall Hall

Speaking of Misty's place - We busted out the medium-sized mirrorball for this hallway shoot with Fionna Day, but I do wish I would've brought my insano-mega-mirrorball for this tbh. That being said, this top that Misty sourced is just killer and perfect for this vibe.

On the technical side, I had Fionna's chaperone handhold my spotlight and kept it aimed right at the mirrorball the entire time to ensure that it would stay obnoxiously shiny. The key light was set at about half power so...

Heather Monique - Spotlight

Convincing Heather to come to the studio is probably one of the most successful campaigns I've ever launched. I've said it before, but this is our first time doing studio work together, and it's just so raw and focused on HER instead of it being about some weirdo airbnb location. I just love everything we shot this day. That being said, her and I are planning a trip to Tahoe for a shoot weekend at some weirdo airbnb very soon lmao. I'm currently scraping the hell out of airbnb/vrbo looking fo...

Juno LTK - Vinyl

When I look back on my body of work involving Juno, it's like 100% bangers. Even our podcast interview we did was certified fresh imo. The problem is going through the raws looking for rejects is hard as fuck because almost EVERY image is solid. It didn't help that I had the camera's burst cranked too high so for every push of the shutter I captured like ten photos ffs. Apparently this dress is crazy expensive, and was a surprise gift from one of her fans and she doesn't shoot much anymore so...

Amaya - Aqua

This one is gonna blow your guys collective minds, I swear.

So, I had this inspiration to use a sheet of mylar to create this wavy underwater effect and it worked, but it just looked only slightly better than some of the inspiration photos. Now, not every photoset is gonna be a smash hit, so I chalked it up to a failure in execution and I'll have to live with the result being good, but not GREAT. After I wrapped the original set and sent everything over to Amaya (who was lukewarm on th...

Heather AI - Cyberpunk Bathhouse

Crazy that my last AI post was christmas?! I've not stopped fucking with it, I've just been focused on refining my process and using AI as a tool to help clean up actual photos that I've taken. But now I'm back to report on some major progress I've made, this time with Heather! She's always been tech focused and is right here with me in wanting to explore more ways to utilize AI to create content with pictures, voice and, in the near near future, video. Just envision being able to ha...

Paige - Groove Quarters

Grainy, gritty, out of focus, lots of movement, I tried my best to capture this sort of "college girl you snuck into your room back in the 70s" vibe with Paige and I think it came out pretttty good. A lot of that grain is natural, as the only light coming in was a few standard bulbs in the two fixtures that are visible towards the end of the shot. The halation around the light fixtures is also an easy way to tell that I was using that old af off-brand wide angle lens I picked up when I shot w...

Amaya - Marilyn

Everytime I see Amaya she's got a new hair thing going, this time she went for a full bodied blonde look, and she looks fabulous in it. Naturally, I wanted to try and get some retro Marilyn Monroe vibes in so I busted out the massive pearl CHEST ARMOR and we shot in that and a wispy piece of material that didn't quite catch the wind from my fan like I'd wanted. Still got some amazing pieces from this shoot tho! Also, gotta give a nod to these dancing skills coming in handy when she just whips...

Fionna Day - Amber Lounge

This is a beautiful set featuring Fionna Day at Misty's crib. Some of these shots came out so cleaaannnn, too, just overall very happy with how these came out. The hardest part about shooting in this space is the damn window, tho; I've shot on this couch twice (Paige's set coming soon) and each time that window has been a struggle. I timed this set with the sunset because I knew the sun would beam through around this time (I use a sun tracking app called sunseeker, helps a ton) and I was hopi...

Ash Haze - Flamingo Pantry

I had to gap this set with Ash Haze and Fionna's kitchen set apart because they were so similar, despite using a completely different lens (check Fionna's kitchen set for the lens story). Ash comes in hot with everything, tho, hot pink attire, pink kitchen with no proper air flow (technically hot), wearing nothing but fishnets after quickly removing her panties, also very very hot.

Ash Haze - Flamingo Pantry

[Photoset]

2024-03-29 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Heather Monique - Acrylic (POV BTS)

Heather Monique - Acrylic

NEW HEATHER + BIKINI + OIL = !!!!!

Y'all.. Heather is unbelievably bangin'. This set was completely thrown together, too. She brought the bikini, I brought the oil, she put on some heels, I busted out the acrylic chair (which have been very popular on Twitch lately 👀) and voila!

I've been either travelling or camping or caring for the sick Mrs or caring for my own sick ass for almost this whole damn month, but I DO have some INCREDIBLE bts for this shoot that I will get edited ...

Paige - The Parlor

Step right up, folks, 'cause today we're serving a slice of Americana straight from Misty's retro abode, featuring the ever-so-versatile Paige. Kickin' back in a rodeo queen ensemble that screams vintage cool, Paige is right at home among a collection that could rival any roadside diner that's seen the soles of a thousand travelers.

I've gotten some great feedback about Paige from a number of y'all, probably goes to show what hiring a full time model can do eh? Or maybe its the big blue...

Fionna Day - Starlet

Queue the vintage vibes, 'cause we're throwin' it back with Fionna Day, looking like she stepped right out of a classic flick. This photoset? It's got more layers than my grandma's lasagna, and let me tell you, both are just as tasty.

I took these shots and gave 'em the old razzle-dazzle—printed 'em out, scuffed 'em up with a good ol' carpet rub, then zapped them back into the ol' computer box. The result? Photos that have a ton of visual character. To give some of these shots that fl...

Amaya - Green and Gold

Amaya's journey through my lens has been nothing short of spectacular, and we've just started working together this year! My spotlight attachment? Yeah, I've been workin' that bad boy overtime, carving out these dramatic vignettes that put models front and center.

Tapping into the arcane arts of AI and those content-aware tools in Adobe, I've conjured up some trippy visuals that might just make you do a double-take. And Amaya? She rocks this electrifying gold ensemble like it's nobody's...

Juno LTK - Boho Sunset

Guess who's back? JUNO LTK has graced us with her presence once again! Can you believe it's been since 2018 since we last teamed up? I'm half-convinced there's a rogue folder hiding out there with a lost shoot of ours. Or maybe time's just playing tricks on us. Wild, right? She was a Bay Area staple before drifting back to the serene vibes of rural California around the time the world turned upside down. She's the kind of soul who vibes away from the digital chaos, barely any internet, reads ...

Fionna Day - Flamingo Pantry

OOooh okay this one has an interesting story. This airbnb happened to be really close to a camera story, like walking distance, and I had a callout for the morning/afternoon so I had time, and apparently money, to kill so I swung by to see what they had. I browsed for a bit, mostly looking at knickknacky things like camera straps and sensor cleaners and such. On my way out, tho, I notice one of the employees had a Canon AE-1 strapped to her neck and I asked her if they had any used FD mount l...

Heather Monique - Burgundy

Heather is BACK! And I can't believe it's been over a year since we shot at the circle house together! Another exclamation worthy statement is that this is the first set we've shot in an actual studio! Most of you guys know how we typically operate, I get an airbnb, build out a theme park of scenes around the place, Heather comes down and works with all the contextual pieces, I take pics, and we both go home happy. In the studio it's hyper minimal, very model focused and carried. I had zero w...

Paige - Wicker

Paige is so comfortable in her skin, she's just laughing and giggling and cracking jokes, meanwhile she's butt naked with her legs spread like ???? I have no complaints. This wicker corner was a challenge because I didn't really like how the light was flooding this room, making it difficult to get any dramatic lighting going. Next time I think I might bring some blackout to block some of the light coming in from her right side, camera's left. I used my beauty dish on the strongest light I had...

Fionna Day - Groove Quarters

🚨FIONNA FRIDAY🚨 lmao

But seriously, I have the content for it, as long as I keep everything on schedule we can make this happen 🤔 I legit love this set tho, Misty adorned Fionna Day in this cute little french exchange student outfit and we shot in this groovy little backroom. I'm loving working with Fionna, her skin is so clean and her body is proportioned so well AND she knows how to hit her angles so, like, I never have to do any retouching or cleaning up!  2024-03-08 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Amaya - Red Spot

PHOTOGRAPHER RANT: Okay so I kinda bungled this light setup with Amaya. She's big on linking me other photographer's work as inspiration for shoots and I'm big on not wanting to bite another photographer's style. That being said, this came out absolutely nothing like the inspiration image, so I'm happy with that. BUT I don't feel like I balanced the light very well. There's two lights in this scene, the red has a spotlight adapter, and the tan/beige light has a basic snoot. I wanted to be abl...

Paige - Bistro

Turn 180 degrees from the last scene that I shot with Fionna and you have this beautiful dark wood kitchen with a half naked 90lb blue eyed brunette Paige sitting on the counter with her legs up and no panties making this quite the prompt for an erotic fanfic haha.  You can see halfway through the set where we switch from countertop to the floor that the light changes dramatically, this made unifying these looks a huge pain in the ass, but it ended up aight in the end! Definitely going t...

Fionna Day - Stardust Dining

Fionna Day is a classy gal who is into classy retro things and Misty's place is FULL of those things so Miss Day fit right on in. Check the giant Ziggy Stardust painting in the back, some may remember it from a shoot I did with Bria a couple year back when this was centered in Misty's living room at the old Lucky location. Fionna tripped out over it. She said, at the end of this scene, "take some pics of me with David, I need to pay the man my respects" haha. 

Fionna Day...