Been a while since I’ve written a blog, I figured I would do it about the ZEISS GIRLS.

Having once modeled, and a strong appreciation for the field, I felt featuring one girl a month would be a great thing.  It obviously has multiple purposes, it’s also a good way to continue to grow viewers/fans. Each female I feature has a diffrent following of friends, so that is that many more people exposed to Zeissofficial.com The plan originally involved Elmer Escobar as the photographer, but due to his change in location, could not be done. Elmer then forwarded me to his good friend, the talented, Filippo Barbarotto. Fil and I did about 6 shoots, and luckily while he was away on vacation Elmer came back to NY for some work, allowing us to feature two new lovely ladies.

My first model was my go to girl, Jillian Clarke, a sexy girl, who never lets you down. This is a girl that, no matter what I’ve ever asked her to be part of, she gladly agrees. So in December 2010, Fil and I brought Jill to this great location Fil knew about. And even though the location was messy and broken down,it worked perfect. Shots came out great, and blew peoples minds at how attractive she is. Jillian is a show-stopper for sure, heads turns,knees buckle, people simply crowd around just to get a look. Whether you like a beautiful face,or a perfect body, she really has it all.

Next was my second go to girl, the fabulous Diana Antunes, who shortly after disappeared from the modeling world entirely. Diana has one of those faces that in my opinion appear sculpted, just so close to perfection. Fil and I chose to use the same location, but a diffrent spot within the location. Diana although shy, always does a fantastic job, she has this one look, and her jade eyes pierce right through you.  She as though made of porcelain.

Next on the model list was a lovely lady who danced in my music video, Shanta Lewis.  We actually had her on the same day as Diana Antunes, figured it would be easier to get two shoots done at the same time. Shanta had left an impression from the moment she showed up on set for the video, with her luscious lips and beautiful curves, she was hard to forget.  Such a seductive vibe comes from Shanta during each pose, you just fall into the mood.

Next on the list was the “Marilyn Monroe - like”  Doris Cano. I say Marilyn Monroe like, because to me her face just glows with that same vibe. In my opinion  she has such similiar features. Doris showed up, and was just flawless, so petite and beautiful. To be honest one of the most lovely ladies I’ve ever laid eyes on. She was up for getting a little dirty and into the muck for the shoot. With every shot you could hear both Fil and I let out a little “wow”. She’ll be a classic one day, just like Marilyn.

Nora Mancini graced our eyes next. I approached Nora about modeling after having seen her through mutual friends. She is simply stunning, and irresistable to just about anyones eyes. Unfortunatley for Nora we chose one of the coldest days in the winter season to shoot. Nora could barely keep her eyes from tearing the weather was so bad. But she was tuff and worked through it.  During her last outfit change, she chose a back less shirt, and the cold just blew right through everyones bones, major props to Nora. Non the less, the shots came out great and Nora remains irresistable.

On multiple occasions i asked “Bomb Shell” Michelle to model as a Zeiss Girl. Bomb Shell just has this overall sexual essence about her, I believe “oozes” sexuality is the way to say it. Being her very first photo shoot, she came in and treated it as though she was a professional. Most models who have tattoos, just do not wear it well, but Bomb Shells just came off so edgy and beautiful.

The day of my music video shoot, I was walking through the hallway when this beautiful girl goes “should i switch into shorts, i brought them incase”, and i replied “yes”. Well that girl turned out to be a hip shakin beauty named Anna Jadanova, and I asked her right away to be a Zeiss Girl. Over time certain things came up preventing the shoot from happening. During the month of July, Elmer returned to Ny, and had planned a shoot with Anna, so it became mutual understanding I would then use this as her Zeiss Girl shoot. After having seen the shots, i picked out my favorites and was wowed everytime. Between Elmers amazing work, and Anna’s beauty, it was a great mix. She just has this thing about her, between the smile, the eyes, the HIPS, and legs…what’s not to love. She carries this class about her that is just so magnifying, and im honored that she is a Zeiss girl.

Elmer still in Ny, we decided to do a shoot. Through Bomb Shell, i found the Ana Merida, a young lady who looks like the perfect example of a human Barbie. This was Ana’s first shoot, and you would never guess it.  Ana is just stunning, you look at her and just think “oh my god”. From face to body, there is no disappointment, she knew the faces to make and the emotion to deliver. We did three outfit changes for Ana, and each one more mind blowing than the last. She is as lovely and nice, as she is beautiful, shoot looks like it was out of the highest end magazine you could find.

With Elmer now back in California, I remembered a stunning girl I met on a photoshoot a few years back now lives in Hollywood. Danielle Baker, who I personally met in NYC, is wowing from the second you meet her.  She’s kind of like a punch in the face, if punches in the face felt good; You see it coming, but then BAM,”woah thats right, she leaves an impact”. So I asked Elmer if I could get a model by him, would he be willing to photograph her. Once he saw a photo of Danielle, he agreed of course. I then asked Danielle if she’d be interested, to which she responded “I would love to”. After Elmer and Danielle had connected, they set up a shoot etc and asked me for details on clothing and location . Basically I wanted to emphasize that fact she was in Hollywood Cali., and being I’m not too familiar with the area, I left it to them. They chose a rooftop, which is very cool, because the last shoot Elmer and I held was a rooftop, but in Manhattan NY. These shots are just phenominal, each photo has it’s own wow factor, plus Danielle’s wowing qualities. Danielle Baker is classic Hollywood beauty, stunning from head to toe, and a dancer/singer to boot. Couldn’t have asked for a better turn out with this photoshoot!

One photoshoot prior to Danielle Baker, Elmer and I had done a shoot with Ana Merida. Knowing Elmer was coming back to New York for a few weeks I figured I would reach back out to Ana and see if she had any friends who would like to do a shoot along side her. Ana brought her friend/roommate, Martha Wasser, to my attention. I of course agreed. For this shoot I wanted to style something classic, vintage, but still sexy in a modern way. The concept behind my album was a huge influence. After having been told about Automat Restoration in Hicksville New York, I kindly emailed them asking if we could us their facility, to which they quickly agreed. Martha came in and went to it like a pro, and allowed Elmer to really capture some fantastic shots! One of my favs.

Toward the middle of November, Fil and I decided to set up another shoot. So i reached out to a gorgeous girl I saw on Facebook, Diana Scherillo. I asked her if she’d be interested in a photoshoot, and she was 100% down for it. Then it came down to finding a theme, i thought a pool hall would be cool. So I called up Mr Cues Billiards in Lindenhurst NY, and asked them if they’d mind a sexy girl crawling on their tables and pranzing around, they of course had no problem with the matter. I think Dianas shoot may be my favorite of all to this point, because I love the colors, and the concept, and the story telling that comes through some of the darker images. Every thing came out amazing.

Approaching the completion of my debut album “Last Train to Rock n Roll” it seemed to be the best way to promote it would be by filming a commercial for it. It took a long while to cast the perfect actress to play the role of the simple girl, turned into a bombshell. After going through alot of options I was at a Bar and Grille one evening and spotted this gorgeous girl. After some conversation she introduced herself as Mikaela, a beautiful name to match the rest. We continued to talk, and after leaving we found each other online. I approached her with the idea of starring in my commercial, she happily agreed. Having never modeled before, I was thrown back by how professional she handled it all. She went through the motions, and really gave it her all. Filippo Barbarotto did me the favor and came down to take some great photographs. While Jon Onderdonk and Sean Dahlberg filmed what is sure to be an amazing product! Mikaela certainly made the commercial what it will be.

Each and every Zeiss Girl has my deepest gratitude for being with me.

Much Love

Zeiss

I then asked Mr. McDaniel what inspired him to give Zeiss that particular hair style, his reply :

“I wanted his contour to be clean, so I used his hair to articulate some energy and movement. Keeping his color scheme, naturally his hair would be black. And as a wild man at heart, his hair would wildly flow, not restrained to styling!”

Mr. McDaniel was more then helpful, and for that I thank him. While looking at the original designs, I noticed a few things, one being that Zeiss is 6’2. Zeiss being that height is further ironic, because …so am I! Then I take notice to the fact that he’s listed as 185 lbs, which I know for fact I weighed that all through high school when I bought the comic.

Major choices were also listed on the character, such as possible names, none being Zeiss. But what is there is little things like color of items, weapons he conceals, and the color of his “lenses” that are on the goggles he wears. It is my guess the name “Zeiss” was taken by the fact that he needs lenses, and Zeiss is one of the biggest lense companies in the world. If Mr. Ed Brubaker can shed some light on that, I will correct or confirm this blog.

Sum up, just very ironic to me that the first comic I buy myself for my favorite hero has a villain by the name Zeiss, who wears Elvis like hair.

 ~Z