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Exquisite Fitness Fashion Show

Bring outthe artist

Dreaming Reality

The Artwork ofEleanor Leonne Bennett

AgenciesPart 1

Photography by Mark Gunter

DREAMSGlass Hat

Aug 2012, Issue #2

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Nickoli JeanLetter from the editor -in-Chief www.glasshatmag.com

Dearest Reader,

Welcome to our second issue of the Glass Hat Magazine! We are elated to present you with new faces and new talent. We have been so excited to see all the talent pouring in to be a part of the magic.

This month, we are all about dreams coming true; dreams just starting to unfold for some and how to show your true talent. Young artists paving a new way for themselves and those already on the path and still discovering themselves, all dream big.

Dreams help to inspire and motivate you, giving you something to push for and even challenge yourself.

We hope to help inspire you with the content of our pages the way these artists have inspired us.

Dream big,Nickoli

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Editor Nickoli Jean

Contributing Writers

Nathaniel Goodwin (http://www.nathanielraygoodwin.com/)Traci Lacek (http://elizabethlacek.wix.com/tracilacek)

Michael Franks (http://www.facebook.com/EPIPHANY.MEDIA.PHOTO)

Contributing Photographers

Allan Cich (www.subtle-shades.com)Mark Gunter (www.markgunterphoto.com)

Eleanor Leonne Bennett (www.eleanorleonnebennett.zenfolio.com)Cory Hughes (www.reeltimeproductions.com)

Michael Schofield Studio (www.schofieldphotos.com)

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FeaturesBring out the artist within 06By Traci Lacek

Dreaming Reality 08By Michael Franks

Esquisite Fitness Fashion Show 10

The Artwork of Eleanor Leonne Bennet 14Falling Away From Grace

Dreams with Jaimie Arnold & Mark Gunter 10Featured Spotlight

When to approach an agency 36By Nathaniel Goodwin

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Ever have a dream and think its too far out of reach? I have felt that way on numerous occasions myself, but truth is nothing is ever out of reach unless you make it that way yourself. This doesnt mean that it will be easy to reach the goals you set for yourself, it simply means that you have to try harder and put forth 100% effort when shooting for the stars. No one reaches their dreams by taking the easy way out or simply giving up on themselves

thinking its just not for them.

It takes alot of strength and backbone to get to the next level, no matter what you do in the arts and e n t e r t a i n m e n t industry. Each person will have their good days and their bad days. There is a saying that I love, when it looks like my day is going bad and nothing seems to be working the way I think it should.

“When life gives me lemons I take them and make lemonade,”

A u t h o r U n k n o w n .

That saying cuts deep and snaps my head back into reality as I sit down and analyze what it is I need to do, and what I need to learn from the situation placed before me, in order to have that nice cool lemonade ease my dry throat on that hot day.

Imagine a world without artists and dreamers of any kind. No color, no imagination. No pencils, pens,

paint brushes, cameras, music, dancing, or movies. The simple day to day life would drag on without the creative side of nature itself. Every artists started out with a dream that stirred deep within t h e m s e l v e s , the calling to create something special and u n i q u e .

An Italian painter starts out by seeing the beauty in an object or person and dreams of what masterpiece

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A little about myself as the author. I am a 34 year old mother of 5 beautiful angels. I have been married to the love of my life going on 14 years this July. When I started out in mod-eling, I thought all the odds were against me. Age, body shape and my confidence level were, I thought, major downfalls to making it in the glamor modeling industry. I never thought I would make it as a model, until I made the choice to simply follow my passion, regardless of the obstacles. That is what brought me to the where I am today.

Traci LacekMother, married, professional model

he could create before taking the first stroke of the brush to the blank canvas. But what if he decided that he wasn’t the person for the job? The Mona Lisa wouldnt be hanging in the museum as a famous painting if Leonardo da Vinci had given up.

A director has a dream that he can showcase the story of a giant ship going down on a voyage with hundreds of

people in such a way that it grasps the attention of the audience and makes them feel as if they were there, and brings tears as their hearts go out to the people that were truly involved in this true story. If James Cameron gave up before it all started then we wouldnt know the story of the Titanic in the way it was shown with such a heartfelt way.

P h o t o g r a p h e r and writer Robert Capa had a dream of making it big one day and started out small, eventually setting the standards for war photog raphers . Sculptor Michel Angelo createed a masterpiece of a Renaissance sculpture of David. Singer Pink continues to follow her dreams and is well known for her song “Perfect”.

All of these people have something

in common, they all started out as a dreamer and then built on that dream through hard work, faith and p e r s e r ve r e n c e . Remember none of these dreamers reached their dreams in just one day. What will you do with your dreams in the industry? Strive to be the best at who you are and watch as your dreams take root one step at a time.

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Dreaming Reality By Michael Franks

The passion for expression th roug h art is i ng rai ned i nto the hu man psyche. From man’s earl iest beg i n n i ngs to the modern era it is ou r abi l ity to create art that i nspi res ou r i mag i nation and appeals to ou r sense for the need to create someth i ng that w i l l l ive beyond ou r mortal years. Th is drive to create someth i ng from noth i ng g ives each artist a chance to leave thei r mark upon h istory.

For each artist, the road to thei r chosen path of sel f-expression often beg i ns w ith a dream that, th roug h experi mentation, w i l l often

lead them to a place that they never cou ld have i mag i ned. For many, the road can beg i n i n one di rection, and often changes i nto someth i ng even they cou ld not have foreseen. But, it’s the rewards of creati ng a work that i nspi res awe w ith i n others that becomes the holy g rai l.

Whether it’s music, fash ion desig n, photog raphy, scu lpti ng, or any of the mu ltitude of forms of sel f expression, it always beg i ns w ith a dream. A dream is a yearn i ng for someth i ng more than what we have, or to become someth i ng more than what we are. Th is i n ner passion, i f nu rtu red, can be the driv i ng force of ou r l ives. The catch is that a dream is on ly a dream i f you’re

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w i l l i ng to put forth the effort, education, and ti me to make it i nto real ity.

I n l i fe, there are so many obstacles that we must overcome i n order to see ou r dreams to fru ition. There are those who w i l l attempt to discou rage you out of jealousy, or for sel fish reasons, but we must hold ou r cou rse no matter what may come ou r way. I n ancient days th is was often expressed as ‘testi ng you r mettle’, wh ich was orig i nal ly meant as a reference to a sword, but has come to be related more closely to show i ng you r strength th roug h a fortitude of w i l l.

I t’s often said that i f you’re goi ng to dream, then dream big, because it won’t cost you any more. But for every art, you must su ffer and sacri fice. Let’s face it...i f it was easy everyone wou ld be doi ng it, and therei n l ies the di fference between those who succeed and those who fal l by the wayside. How much sweeter is the success after the sacri fice and when that day comes, when you are l isten i ng to the applause or readi ng that g reat rev iew, you w i l l appreciate the jou rney that took you to that moment.

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Exquisite Fitness Fashion Show

Hosted by Darrell Terrell

Oklahoma Childhood Obesity Foundation, “To-gether, let’s empower our children to eat healthier and be more active,” therefore building stronger bodies and stronger minds.

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Darrell Terrell, a professional fitness Trainer out of Oklahoma City takes mere humans and makes them into healtier superhumans.

Just check out his website at (http://www.DTfitnessphysiquez.com) for examples.

This fitness trainer and his team of professionals paired up with the Childhood Obesity Foundation and took to the runway to help fight against overweight children.

Runway Vendors * Trixie South - (http://www.trixieslingerieokc.com/) * Royce Clothing - (http://royceclothing.com/) * Rock Louie Co. - (http://www.rocklouie.com/) * Raw Talent/ Fling Clothing - (http://www.rawtalentclothing.net/) * Red Coyote Running and Fitness - (http://www.redcoyoterunning.com/) * Extreme Athletic Wear - (http://www.extremeathleticwear.com/) * Run OKC

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Eleanor Leonne Bennett

www.eleanorleonnebennett.zenfolio.com

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Eleanor Leonne Bennett“The Environmental Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011)”

“The only person from the UK to have her work displayed in the National Geographic and Airbus run See The Bigger Pic-ture global exhibition tour with the United Nations International Year Of Bio-

diversity 2010.”

eleanor.ellieonline@gmail.com

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Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a 16 year old internationally award winning photographer and artist who has won first place awards with:

National Geographic The World Photography Organisation Nature’s Best Photography Papworth Trust Mencap The Woodland trust Postal Heritage.

Publications Telegraph The Guardian BBC News Website Cover of books and magazines in the US & Canada.

Her art is globally exhibited, having shown work in London, Paris, Indonesia, Los Angeles, Florida, Washington, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, Spain, Germany, Japan, Australia and The Environmental Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011) amongst many other locations.

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Modeling

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Jaimie Arnold

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Jaimie Arnold is a 19 year old model with only a year of modeling experience. Several years of soccer, since age 4, kept her fit for the modeling industry. She can count on one hand the number of times she wore a bikini in public.

She considered herself a tomboy until college, a biology pre-med major. Her dream is to set up clinics in third World countries.

One of 11 kids, she is goofy (just ask any of the photographers she has worked with). But she really enjoys modeling!

“It is amazing to me how photographers can ask you to get in the most awkward position and it always turns out to be a very beautiful photograph!”

Photography by: Mark Gunter

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When Glass Hat Magazine asked me to write about myself, I was not quite sure what to say. Then I realized that my story touches on this month’s theme.

First a brief introduction. When not working full-time, I am a photographer. Shooting as Mark Gunter Photography, I primarily offer portrait services. My main focus is on contemporary glamour, aimed at making the average woman feel beautiful.

I shoot creative work under the name QuestionMark Photography. Currently, I am shooting models for my “In The Logo” project. Each month, I introduce a new image with a model interacting with the QuestionMark logo. I also have a collection of other works floating around in my head, screaming to be created.

I have always been intrigued by photography, but the opportunity to pursue my interest took some time to manifest. While attending college and borrowing my father’s camera, I realized two

things: I really enjoyed shooting and I couldn’t afford to shoot.

My family sat right in that sweet spot of having too little money and not quite enough. While most of my friends were taking student loans or getting other forms of financial aid, I did good to get a scholarship that covered my first year at a community college. To graduate college, I would work jobs that would allow me to continue school while living with my parents. Buying and developing film were not options, so I left the camera behind.

After college, life continued to keep me occupied. As often as I could, I would take pictures. Rarely would I develop the film and various life events led to the loss of several undeveloped rolls. For a few years, I played with a digital point and shoot camera. I still keep the old 32mb CF card I bought for it in my desk drawer.

In 2002, things began to fall apart. The details would likely bore many to tears, but I was as broken as I expect I can be. Still, I had a roof over my head, I was well fed, my friends helped where they could, and a job until I was suddenly laid off. Unemployed for

six months, I had no idea how to turn things around. I eventually found a job that helped renew my lost confidence, and put my life back on track.

I had traction. I knocked out the debts left over from ‘the dark time’ and found myself pursuing a Master’s degree. By the time I walked across the stage, I was happily married, had a newborn son and we would be in our brand new home by the end of the year.

Somewhere along the way, my love for photography was rekindled. My (then future) father-in-law saw my interest and gave me my first ‘real’ camera that Christmas. I cut my teeth on landscapes and wildlife for the first few years. Occasionally, I would cajole someone into stepping in front of my lens. I am not a terribly outgoing person, so it was a slow painful process to get to a point where I would photograph people on a regular basis. I often joke that it is difficult to photograph people when you are used to bison and bears. They typically don’t respond to requests to turn this way or that, lift you right hoof, bend the back leg, etc. Working with a subject that actually does

On the Edge of a Dream

by Mark Gunter

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react is still something I am not completely comfortable with, but I am getting there.

As I pursued one hobby, I also was enjoying others. Chief among those other hobbies was miniature war gaming, in particular, playing the World War II miniatures game Flames of War. The 15mm miniatures actually went hand in hand with my photography, giving me something new to shoot. Thus, I started tinkering in product photography, but not nearly enough to consider myself good at it. Learning about a semi-annual tournament held in Kansas City, I made the trek to see what it was all about. Meeting many people I only knew from internet forums, I was intrigued enough to return the following Spring and play in a tournament. Between rounds, I was photographing the games in progress, eventually to post them for others to see. Future events found me continuing to shoot. Photography, war-gaming, and building new relationships led in a direction I did not foresee.I was approached by a fellow gamer who had seen my personal website, knew that I had an eye for graphic design, and a love of gaming. Well respected in the gaming community,

it was an honor when he asked for my assistance with putting together materials for an upcoming event. Over the next few months, I settled into my desk chair and started creating documents that helped cause a bit of a stir and were part

of a very successful tournament. Soon after, I was asked to become part of a fledgling game company, DGS Games (www.dgsgames.com), as they needed someone to handle graphic design, the website, and eventually photography. It was an offer I could not refuse.

Recognizing how my networking with gamers had paid off, I decided that if I were to ever do anything serious with photography, I needed to get plugged in. I began to connect with local photography groups, attending workshops, and rounding up models to help me hone my art. For a while, it was more about getting experience and becoming comfortable working with people than it was about creating anything special. Most importantly, the feedback I was getting from other photographers spurred

me on. It wasn’t long before I began to wonder if I might be able to turn photography into a business.

Then lightning struck when I learned about and managed to obtain a scholarship to Skip’s

Summer School (http://mei500.com/) held in Las Vegas in 2011. All I had to do was get there and pay for room and board. I was not nearly as excited as I should have been. Here I was, a nobody with nothing but a business card and the idea that I could take photos going to a place where I could rub shoulders with photographers from around the world.

The opening speaker was Jerry Ghionis. I had no idea who he was, but his presentation opened my eyes. I loved photography. He made me realize why. To paraphrase, if the average photograph at a wedding is taken at 1/100th of a second shutter speed, in 100 shots, you have captured only one second of the entire event. Yet, when years pass and they see those photographs, the entire day will come

to ever do anything serious with photography, I needed

to get plugged in

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flooding back. Having been lucky enough to have had a very skilled photographer photograph my wedding, this rung true. I was inspired. And it was only the opening speaker!

I would hear other experienced, well-known photographers speak that weekend including Jules Bianchi and Joy Bianchi Brown, Tamara Lackey, Bambi Cantrell, Roberto Valenzuela, Scott Bourne and Vincent Lafloret. Frankly, I was in awe. Here were people answering my questions and concerns with how they had overcome those same obstacles. It was time to move forward.

That first evening a gentleman sat down next to me and asked me what I shot. Being the wallflower I am, I didn’t pursue the conversation as I should have and I’m sure my demeanor wasn’t terribly inviting. I probably looked a bit shell-shocked as I was completely out of my element. It wasn’t until an informal panel that I realized that he was one of the photographers teaching classes, Matthew Jordan Smith. I had just missed a real conversation with someone who would inspire me in so many ways and I was completely clueless.

Returning home, I knew I needed to kick things

into gear. Before long, I had domain names for my brands and began designing websites to go with them. Many local photographers helped by giving me valuable feedback on a variety of topics. My enthusiasm was overflowing and I’m positive there were a few who would have liked me to shut up about my trip. They probably still do!

In the middle of this flurry of activity, my work with DGS Games continued. We were pressing towards the release of a rulebook and things needed to be done. Graphic layouts were needed for a variety of things, including the rulebook and packaging.

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Plans were made to shoot (or reshoot) all of the miniatures we were producing for the game. Scenes and diagrams were needed for the rulebook in particular, so I went into product photographer mode, burning through everything we had in short order. Hours were spent editing and preparing images and we were still producing more product! It was a hefty load.

During the first few months of 2012, with DGS Games a priority, projects at work overwhelming me, and finances tightening up, photography came to a complete halt. All the momentum I had gained through the latter half of

2011 was completely lost. Everything in my life was suffering as I had taken on too many projects. I went over eight weeks barely taking my camera out of the bag. There was certainly no way that I could make a return trip to Skip’s Summer School. I had managed to work with a good friend, taking photographs for a few magazine articles he was writing, but that was the exception to the rule. My family was starting to feel the strain. I needed to make a serious change. With a heavy heart, I parted ways with DGS Games as they sent our first rulebook, Freeblades, to print.

It was a time mixed with frustration and relief. I turned my focus to learning more about the business side of photography. Frustration became motivation to get photography back on track. Relief gave way to excitement about the possibilities ahead.

In reflecting on the path I have taken to this point, there were times when I had no dreams. Today, it seems, I am on my way towards living a dream I didn’t even know had been scripted.

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The next couple of articles will focus on the relationship between new models and established agencies. This 4 part series will examine many topics that a new model will face as they decide to be agency represented.

A model should be prepared when they approach a legitimate agency. The portfolio, the confidence, and also business sense should be as professional as possible before a model meets with an agency. The most important item a model needs to have with them is a professional portfolio. The portfolio should have a mixture of head-shots, full-

body shots, half-body shots, and three-quarter body shots. Each picture in a portfolio should show different looks and different expressions including different attire and should come from all genres they are aiming to get involved in.

Two crucial mistakes that models make are 1.) having multiple pictures that look the same and 2.) having the same photographer take every photograph. A good portfolio consists of 8 to 15 pictures that are from different photographers and show that the model has experience in front of a camera.With that being said, a model needs to shoot with 5 to 10 different photographers to gain enough experience before

When a Model Should Approach an AgencyPart I

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Nathaniel Goodwin Model & Writer

http://nathanielraygoodwin.com

attempting to be represented by an agency. Agents are trained extensively to make quick decisions on new models, so fresh models need to acquire the mindset to dazzle the agent with ‘Yahoo images’. ‘Yahoo images’ are when a model is synced with the photographer and the background, pose, and expression are in perfect harmony.

A model should also have a business card and a modeling composition card to present to an agent. A business card has the model’s contact information; such as phone number, email address, website, and also a physical address where the model can

be reached. Good resources to get affordable business cards are VistaPrint.com, 123Print.com, and Zazzle.com.

A standard model’s composition card has 5 pictures (one photo in the front followed by 4 smaller pictures in the back) and has a model’s measurements on the card.

Great sources to order high quality reasonable composition cards are CompCardExpress.com, SpotLightPrinting.net, and BuyCompCards. A model can insure a great modeling career by being proactive and working hard to get the attention of an agency.

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