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This is the reality show I’ve been waiting for. It makes perfect sense. Take 10 aspiring fashion photographers and let them battle it out. The photography is the main reason I watch America’s Next Top Model and it’s one of my favorite shows. The Shot will hopefully be everything I imagine it to be.

Press Release

VH1′s ‘The Shot’ Premieres on Sunday November 4th at 10:00 P.M.

From The Producer Of AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL Comes The New VH1 Reality Competition Series ‘THE SHOT’

NEW YORK, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ — In VH1′s new series “The Shot,” 10
amateur photographers get the chance to live out their wildest fantasies in
pursuit of their ultimate dream: to become the next great fashion
photographer.

Premiering Sunday November 4th at 10:00 p.m. “THE SHOT” is an eight
episode series that will give 10 aspiring photographers 30 days to compete
for a chance to kick-start their career as a professional fashion
photographer. The cast will live and work together in a downtown L.A. loft
while being guided by world-renowned fashion photographer Russell James.
James, known for his outstanding work in Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, W,
Photo, Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret will guide these aspiring
photographers through a series of photo shoots meant to challenge their
creativity and expose their individual weaknesses. For the first time in
their lives, the cast will work with supermodels and high-end
professionals, while traveling to exotic locations — all to capture that
one perfect shot.

Our hopefuls quickly find out that the world of high fashion is not
always glamorous — from challenging location shoots to difficulties with
models — these aspiring photographers must stay on task to prove that they
have what it takes to get the shot.

Each episode will contain a “teach challenge”, where Russell presents
the cast with a new technical or creative lesson, and a photo shoot, in
which the cast will be asked to utilize what they’ve learned in a
legitimate, fashion- oriented photo campaign. Each week Russell and his
professional panel which includes Marie Claire senior fashion editor Zanna
Roberts and Italo Gregorio a lead hairstylist from Victoria’s Secret
Beauty, will review the cast’s photos, eliminating the weakest shooter.

After a month long journey the best photographer will emerge victorious
with $100,000 courtesy of the skin experts at Vaseline, an editorial spread
in Marie Claire, and a photo spread in the Victoria’s Secret catalogue.

10 aspiring photographers … 30 grueling days … 1 shot at a
glamorous life in the world of high end fashion photography.

“THE SHOT” is executive produced by Ken Mok for 10X10 and Christian
McLaughlin, Jim Ackerman and Michael Hirschorn for VH1.

“THE SHOT” is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, John Frieda, Vaseline and
Victoria’s Secret.

I’m back from Arizona. My body is still adjusting. While the time difference should only be one hour, Arizona does not observe daylight savings time. Here’s an article that does a decent job of explaining why.

I’m still down in Tucson and spending most of my time on brother duty, making sure he has enough meds, food, etc. He’s doing really well, so it’s been pretty fun. We’ve been able to hang out more than I thought we would.

Yesterday I snuck off for a bit to have lunch with my great aunt and uncle. My uncle let me take some photos of his camera room. He’s 93 and has collected 1600 cameras in his lifetime. Many are rare and all are in working condition. He let me take some snapshots of his collection, which I’ll post after I get back home.

Today my brother’s wife was home all day, so I decided to rent a car and reclaim my freedom. I got a pimped out Buick Lucerne. Well, it was as pimped out as a Lucerne can be.

My foot was feeling a lot better, so I decided to drive out to the desert for awhile and hike around with my camera. It was 96 degrees out and the sun was blazing hot. I guess I was the only person crazy enough to be out, because I didn’t see anyone else around and the parking lot was totally empty.

When I stepped out of the car it was really peaceful and quiet, until I heard a rattlesnake in the near distance. Fortunately, it rattled every 10 seconds or so and I could tell it was getting farther away. Honestly, I was hoping to see a rattlesnake, but that didn’t happen, which I guess is a good thing. I kept on with my hike and had a great afternoon.

I’ve been having a problem with my left foot for about a month, but this morning was the worst.

Here’s how it usually happens: I wake up and the outside of my foot aches along the top and side. Walking on it hurts a little and I have to walk it off for a few minutes to loosen it up.

This morning when I stepped on it, it felt broken. I almost hit the ground and hand to limp around for about an hour. It still hurts, but it’s tolerable.

Here are my guesses as to what’s wrong:

1) sprain or strain
2) a circulation problem, but it’s only one foot, so that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me
3) bad shoes – I’ve been wearking Chuck Taylors for a couple of months. No arch support, etc. However, yesterday I wore Birkenstocks all day. Today I’m trying my hiking shoes.

If this keeps getting worse, I’m going to have to pony up and go to the doctor. It’s nearly unbearable.

Any other ideas about what might be going on?

I finally got rid of my cold and made it to Tucson yesterday to help deal with some family medical stuff. It’s good to see everyone down here and I’m definitely learning to let a lot of my anxiety go and just deal with things as they come. I’m trying to apply this to all aspects of my life.

The flight down was uneventful, but it was the first time (post-iPod) that I haven’t listened to music on a plane. I read 65 pages of a book. Yes, a book!

I used to be an avid reader WAY back in the day when I worked at Waldenbooks, but then the internet, work, and (self-diagnosed) ADD took over.

I really enjoyed reading and it made the flight seem to “fly” by. Okay, bad joke, but what I realized is that reading is a bit meditative. It took me out of my life, thoughts and worries for a couple of hours. I think this could be the key to relaxing and getting back some control over anxiety.

What am I reading? Samaritan by Richard Price, the author of Clockers (one of my favorite books) and writer on The Wire.

Okay, back to my trip. I’ve had three good meals since I’ve been here:

1) An incredible spinach, chicken, avacado, cucumber, tomato, and feta salad with roasted garlic tomato soup at Chopped.

2) Seared lamb loin with fig, pureed chick peas with mint, and steamed arugula with feta at Feast.

3) Today I hit Chuy’s for some chicken tacos and a beer. Simple, tasty, and the perfect meal to eat outside under a hot, setting Arizona sun.

Yikes! My laptop just burned my left thigh. Ouch. No more charging and using it at the same time.