Nov
08
The Most Beautiful Women I’ve Photographed
most beautiful women

Markie

Before anyone accuses me of being shallow, there are a lot of different kinds of beauty.

There’s structural beauty where we marvel at the symmetry of someone’s face or aesthetic beauty resulting from a pleasing presentation well put together like a work of art.

There’s a beautiful soul who inspires admiration of her empathy and compassion.

There’s cuteness, often associated with pretty children, but present whenever someone looks so adorable that they possess a contagious attractiveness.

There is awe of someone’s genius or intuition.

There is beautiful strength, found in those who show an enviable strength or persistence in the presence of challenges.

True beauty is rare. And all around us.

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Nov
05
Once More Unto the Breach

If you are following me online, it’s eventual you’ll see that I am returning to my old stomping grounds, the place where my career first began. It’s been a long, twisting road — a very rocky one for much of 2019 — but I am happy to double back (or triple back, in this case).
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Nov
01
Fort Payne Halloween Block Party Portraits

The DeKalb County Democratic Party opened its doors during the Fort Payne Block Party, Halloween edition. These people came in off the street for me to photograph.

Thanks to everyone who participated. You can download a color version for free — or find your child’s photo if you don’t see it here.

Fort Payne Alabama Halloween Block Party Photos 2019

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Oct
28
The Stranger

Allow me to tell you a story about a girl, a boy, and a lust for blood… 

horror movie photo shoot

Greta decided to take a walk. She was down the street from her home when she saw a mysterious stranger in leaning against the block wall in the shade.

horror movie photo shoot

For a moment, their eyes locked. She thought he was handsome standing there smoking a cigarette. He was tall and dark and muscular. She’d never seen him in the town. She was intrigued and wanted to know more, but she was too shy to introduce herself.Read More

Oct
24
How to Brand Yourself Online

Do you hate always comparing yourself to your competitors and feeling as if you need to level up to match them? Worry about failure? Hate being photographed and how you have looked in past photos?

Then Stiefel Creative has solutions to make it easier and more enjoyable to promote your brand.

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Oct
20
When and Why Did We Turn Against Our Fellow Americans?

It’s distressing how closed-minded and hateful people have become.

Specifically, my people.

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of our president. I recognized decades ago that he was a media-hyped jerk while assigned to read his book “The Art of the Deal” by a conservative-leaning history teacher my junior year in high school. I didn’t see the point in reading an entire book by some real estate guy bragging about his own genius the whole time.

It’s clear to me now that I was just one of many fertile minds sitting in that classroom being groomed for a new Republican rule. While the worship of Trumpism did not take root in my ideological belief system, it clearly did in some of my small town Alabama classmates, who would go on to watch “The Apprentice” weekly on the TV — a thought growing in the back of their heads that, yeah, we should let this successful businessman have a crack at fixing what’s broken in America so we can all get rich too.

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Oct
10
Come Drink a Beer with Me

If you are a craft beer fan, I encourage you to visit Fort Payne, Alabama on October 12 as we have what will hopefully become an annual event, the Mountain Town Hop Fest.

From 2-6 pm, you’ll find a variety of Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia craft beers, along with food and great music. The organizers expect more than 30 breweries to participate. The only drinking vessel that volunteers will pour into is the 4oz commemorative glass. The glass come with your ticket purchase.

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Oct
04
‘Joker’ Portrays a Descent into Madness

I just watched the movie “Joker” and it’s clear this is one that will be in my head for a few days as I try to figure it out. I don’t know whether this is one of the best or one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.

If you haven’t seen it yet, be warned. Spoilers ahead.

Early on, we see that the main character is an extremely unreliable narrator, fading from his miserable existence into delusional fantasies in which he is treated with kindness and admiration for his dreams.

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Sep
30
Raging Against the Dying of the Light

“Every time when I look in the mirror,
All these lines on my face getting clearer.
The past is gone.
It went by, like dusk to dawn.”
– Aerosmith

I don’t want to grow old. I refuse to “go gentle into that good night” and will “rage against the dying of the light,” as Dylan Thomas put it.

I  define “oldness” as a crescendo of blandness, diminished enthusiasm for life, less arousal/passion, and heightened fatigue. So set in our ways that we can no longer open our minds to accept we don’t know it all.

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Copyright Steven Stiefel 2018. All Rights Reserved