From shooting the wedding, to the rest of my trip there was just too much going on to stop in the middle of it all and blog. Maybe someone can recommend a time management book for bloggers. Thanks a lot… I know I have been slacking but I promise I am back (thanks to Sylvia for providing a much needed kick in the tail).

SO, the morning of the wedding had me a bit concerned as the rain was coming down with serious force. The skies were several menacing shades of gray and things just didn’t look very good. I caught a cab with Shay’s Mom CJ up to Shay’s flat and the cab driver assured us that the rain was “goen ta clear up.” We felt a lot better after hearing that.

I need to take a moment to say that the people of Paisley/Glasgow and most of the Scots that I spoke to over the course of the week were some of the warmest people I have ever met - even to the ignorant American…

After I arrived at Shay’s the rain started to clear up a bit and in the distance it even looked like the weather was going to break. Things looked good. The girls were running around getting ready. The girls were Josie (Shay’s best friend and maid of honor), Jillian (Shay’s close friend in Paisley - a fine Tomboy-turned-bridesmaid), CJ, Amanda (Shay’s stepsister), and Sierra and Shelby - Shay’s two adorable nieces. Here are some photos from the morning prep.

Had a fun time hanging out with Shay’s family yesterday. They are all really great. It was her niece’s birthday so we had a birthday cake and pizza. I am happy to report to you that Domino’s tastes the same in the UK as it does in the US.

After having a few too many beers that didn’t quite sit well with my jetlag, I walked back down to the hotel and got into my room at 9pm. I fell asleep at what I figured to be about 9:01pm. I woke up at 2:30am in a pool of my own sweat as there is no AC in the room. I called the front desk and unfortunately there were no spare fans available so I had to sweat it out. I fell back asleep at 4am and slept until 7:30 or so. All in all I feel much better having caught up on sleep, but man it was rough.

Now for the photo of the day (or post I should say). As many of you know, I shoot the occasional “saucy” image. What can I say? I like the girls… anyway, I am a staff photographer for Deviant Nation (DN). DN is a mecca for heavily tattooed women and the people who love them. Anyway, here is a photo from a recent shoot for DN, featuring the model LuxLux. WARNING: sauciness ahead…

Went for a little walk around the hotel before and spotted this building. I have no idea what it is, but it struck me so I took a few shots. I love this place… now I just need to figure out where the hell I am and where I am going. I also overheard the quote of the day from one of the hotel workers, warning another:

“Looks like the drunks got an early start loiterin’ by the river with their bottles… just warnin’ ya.”

I love drunks…

So I arrived in Glasgow this morning at 7:30 a.m. GMT. The process of getting through checkpoints was pretty simple and I got to my baggage quickly. The flight was great, especially since I slept through most of it. =)

After I picked up my luggage I walked towards the exit and was greeted by Shay’s Dad holding up a sign that read “MARCOS is the man.” That was a pretty funny thing to see… I was warned that there would be an awesome sign and she didn’t disappoint.

I took a taxi from the airport with Shay’s dad to my hotel. He dropped me off and went back to her flat.

So, I took a nap and now I am about to head out for a walk. I have yet to take a picture because I am a shithead… or maybe due to exhaustion, but I plan to change that. Just the drive from the airport to the hotel got me incredibly excited to be here. Glasgow has all the amenities of a modern city, yet somehow has managed to maintain an old world charm in its buildings and lush greens… OH, and I can listen to the locals talk all day.

Here’s an older shot that I am selling prints of… if you are interested in buying any prints, go to:
http://proofs.mriveraphoto.com/p229128872/

I am sitting here at the airport, getting ready to board in about 20 minutes. Going to shoot my dear friend Shay’s wedding. The flight is booked solid and I have all of my things, including my shoes and glasses so I have them. I am really looking forward to this trip! I hope to pick up a Scottish accent while I am there so every time I say “FUCK YOU” it has some added oomph to it.

The only photo that I have to add right now is from a recent shoot… the model’s name is Olga Parshikova and she is my Russian queen. Tall, gorgeous and funny… a deadly combination. Depending on internet connection, I plan updating regularly during my trip, so stay tuned (all 4 of you that read this).

Continuing with my portrait series at work, I got a call to do a quick portrait of Glenn. Glenn has such a great face. In his own words, we captured his “wonderful jaded quality.” I am loving this whole “take pictures at work” thing I have going. It’s nice to be able to do something personally rewarding while being at work. While my job (like any) can be frustrating at times, things could be a lot worse.

I will continue to post all of the beautifully interesting faces I come across as well as other work!

Continuing with my jack + bill photo work today. I had a visit from Rad. Rad was asked to grace us with his ink for the lifestyle abstracts that we are shooting for the website. As an added bonus I got him to stick around for a couple of portraits. Rad is full of personality and always has a smile on his face(at least I usually see him with a smile). As you’ll see, Rad is… well he’s pretty rad.

jack + bill is a new fashion pop-up agency for Porter Novelli. I am serving as the photographer and web/social media guy (i take the pictures and make the website). Here is the image that is being circulated to media as a teaser. The site is slated for an early July launch. I will link to the press release as soon as it is available in all its linkable glory.

“You are my DENSITY… I mean DESTINY”

Ah, well we all remember that great line from Back to the Future, right? Well, from playing George McFly in Back to the Future to almost taking David Letterman’s head off with a roundhouse kick, Crispin Glover has had a very interesting and unique film career. I had an opportunity to shoot Crispin in one of those classic “you have seven minutes” celebrity portrait scenarios. I was shooting a portrait of him to accompany an interview for Deviant Nation. He was a real pleasure to work with and actually gave me a few more minutes as we were talking about his production company.

ANYWAY, here is one of the shots from our session.

In my first post I shared some live shots of Honeycomb’s show at REHAB in NYC. About two weeks prior to the show, Tony and Rob stopped by for an impromptu test shoot based on the work portrait series I have been doing. I thought I would share the results: