My virtual reality is made from cardboard

For the SF Bay Guardian's annual Sex Issue, we decided to base our 2014 cover shoot on our cybersex story, and go with a TRON-esque setup (inspired by Playboy's 2010 tribute) with Virtual Reality headsets, à la Oculus Rift.

We immediately found two perfect models: dominatrixes Maitresse Madeline and Lorelei Lei at Kink.com, which kindly allowed us to stage the photo shoot in Kink's Battlestar Galactica space at the San Francisco Armory. (Sidenote: Kink has the most amazing prop closet I've ever seen!)

And photographer Matthew Reamer took care of the blue and red lighting to perfection.

But I ran into problems finding an Oculus Rift VR headset that would be available during our scheduled photo shoot. After looking at a few VR spoofs online, I decided to make my own with cardboard, goggles, and spray paint:

I think my fake headsets translated pretty well in the final cover:

Guardian photo of Maitresse Madeline (top) and Lorelei Lee by Matthew Reamer

Here's a behind-the-scenes shot from the photo shoot, courtesy of Matthew Reamer:

From left: Maitresse Madeline, Eleanor Bleier, Matthew Reamer, Pony Gold, Lorelei Lee, Brooke Ginnard

Nude beaches

For the SF Bay Guardian's 40th annual Nude Beaches issue, I decided to transform an iconic nude image — Michelangelo's David — into a nude beachgoing bro.

I used Photoshop to transform the statue into a sand sculpture, and added modern neon props and colorful light leaks resembling an Instagram filter for a cover that's both a humorous allusion to an iconic work of art, and a parody on hipster culture.

I had SO MUCH FUN transforming iconic works of art in Photoshop ... despite the fact that putting a beer can in David's hand may be one of the most despicable things I've ever done.

WARNING: Past Nude Beaches cover photos, displayed at the end of this post, contain full-frontal nudity and are not safe for work.

Below are the cover photos from the past two years, both photographed by Matthew Reamer. (WARNING: NSFW!)

For the 2013 issue, I decided to experiment with nude typography. I gathered a group of friends (and friends of friends) to spell out the word "NUDE" on San Francisco's Baker Beach (the nude-friendly end, obviously), then used Photoshop to superimpose "BEACHES" on the sand below them.

The 2012 issue featured a photo of three people hanging out (literally) (sorry) at Baker Beach. It was the first time in the Guardian's history we were allowed to feature a penis on the cover, and we took full advantage. The cover photo attracted attention from Jezebel, whose online commenters also applauded us for featuring beautiful, real bodies.

Fun fact: The 2012 nude beaches shoot was the first photo shoot I ever coordinated for the SF Bay Guardian.

The garage door

The Garage Door Sessions is a project by photographer Matthew Reamer, who will occasionally roll up the garage door of his Mission district studio and take beautiful portraits of passersby. (You can find it on tumblr here.)

I was lucky enough to have my portrait taken in front of the garage door when I visited the studio late last year for the SF Bay Guardian's Year in Music cover shoot. I recently discovered the photo on his website ... and put it on my website.

MicahTron photoshoot

Finally getting around to posting a behind-the-scenes video I filmed while on-set for the SF Bay Guardian's December Year in Music cover shoot, featuring stunning rapper MicahTron.

Shot at photographer Matthew Reamer's Mission studio, the footage features MicahTron, Reamer, dancers/club kids Saturn Jones and Jocquese Whitfield, and fashion designer Jim Zormeir — who created the white, warrior-like accessories to MicahTron's look with a handcrafted mold and lots of talent.

And here's the finished product ...

From left: Saturn Jones, MicahTron, Jocquese Whitfield. Photo by Matthew Reamer