OKIE-X Film Project FAQ

Essential Information

I want to par­tic­i­pate. How do I qualify? 

To qual­ify as a sub­ject for the OKIE-X project, you must

• be a cur­rent or for­mer Oklahoma resident,
• be a cur­rent or for­mer singer, rap­per, instru­men­tal­ist, song­writer, arranger, com­poser, or pro­ducer, and
• per­form in pub­lic or make your music avail­able to the pub­lic, either via phys­i­cal media, down­load, or streaming.

Artists should fill out the Artists’ Survey before sched­ul­ing a sitting.

Artist’s Survey

How long are the por­trait sessions? 

Shoots typ­i­cally take 5 – 10 min­utes per sub­ject. You are wel­come to stay and watch me develop the neg­a­tives; allow about one hour extra if you want to see the dark­room process from start to finish.

When is the cut­off for participation? 

The por­trait phase will last through 2016. At this time the cut­off is unknown. However, that could change any day. You should reserve your spot sooner, rather than later, if you want to participate.

What should I wear? 

Wear some­thing you’d like to be pho­tographed in. Many sub­jects wear the same thing they wear on stage. Some bring sev­eral cos­tume changes. Feather boas, loin­cloths, and glit­ter all strongly encouraged.

Bear in mind that x-ray film is blind to red, so any red clothes, makeup, or props will be black or dark grey in the final black-and-white image. This is not a pro­hi­bi­tion on red; just don’t expect it to ren­der as medium-grey as it would on mod­ern panchro­matic films.

May I bring my (gui­tar) (drum) (dog) (spouse) (bowl­ing tro­phy) (Ouija Board)? 

Feel free to bring an instru­ment or an object of per­sonal sig­nif­i­cance. Spouses, boyfriends, girl­friends, and pets are wel­come. Firearms are not.

Where is the studio? 

The stu­dio is in Norman, Oklahoma. Please use the con­tact form at the bot­tom of this page to request my stu­dio address and phone number.

When is the stu­dio available? 

The stu­dio is set up most week­days, and if it isn’t, I can have it oper­a­tional with an hour’s notice. Tell me when you are avail­able and I will work with your schedule.

The typ­i­cal stu­dio sched­ule is:

• Monday: 11 AM – 7 PM
• Tuesday – Thursday: 10 AM – 7 PM
• Friday 10 AM – 2 PM

All por­traits are by appoint­ment only.

When will I get to see my por­trait? Will I get a copy? 

I’m not show­ing the final images to any­one out­side the stu­dio at the moment, but hope to do so as the project nears com­ple­tion. You will receive a dig­i­tal file and a lim­ited license for your press kit.

Anything else I should know? 

I live with a cat, so if you’re aller­gic, you may want to take appro­pri­ate mea­sures before vis­it­ing the studio.

General Information

Who has participated? 

• John Calvin Abney
• Brad Absher
• Andy Adams
• Leigh Adams
• Troy Alan
• Shandee Allen
• David Amram (Honorary OKIE)
• Miranda Arana
• Charlie Archer
• Lynne Ashby Neill
• Taylor Atkinson
• Alaina Avants
• Jesse Aycock
• Grace Babb
• Sophia Babb
• Gabriel Barham
• Sean Barker
• Edward Barrett
• Lauren Barth
• Joe Baxter
• Jerrod Beck
• Dale Bennett
• Laine Bergeron
• Byron Berline (1944 – 2021)
• Peyton Bighorse
• Tim Blake
• Steve Boaz
• Johnny Bohlen
• Nate Borofsky
• Mark Brashear
• Rachel Brashear
• Cora Brinkley-Gutel
• Garrison Brown
• Nathan Brown
• Gabrielle Bruner
• Dave Bruster
• Kris “Buck” Buchanan (“Buck Wild”)
• Wink Burcham
• Blake Burgess
• Tim Burgess
• Marlin Butcher
• Katie Butts
• Michael “Tic-Tac” Byars
• David Carlyle
• Giovanni N. “Nooch” Carnuccio III
• Sherree Jane Chamberlain
• Lysandra Chapman (Lysandra Dial)
• Kinsey Charles
• Lauren Nicole Clare
• Nellie Marie Clay
• K. C. Clifford
• Gene Collier
• Kenneth E. Collins
• Don Conoscenti
• John M. Cooper
• Chelsey Cope
• Zac Copeland
• Dave Copenhaver
• Bob Cornelison (“B. C. Rimshot”)
• Clarissa “Cid” Costello
• Ryan Costello
• Tory Ayers Costello
• Gentry Counce
• Paul Courtney
• Lindsey Cox
• Randall Coyne
• Samantha Crain
• Amanda Cunningham
• Brian Daniel
• Arash Davari
• J. Kyle Davis
• Abigale Dawn
• Jared Deck
• Patrick “Red” Dennis
• Bob Deupree
• Molly Devine
• Manda Shae Dickinson
• Kate Dinsmore
• Marcus Dixon
• Wayne Duck
• Daniel Duggin
• Justin Dupuis
• Donald Eisenberg
• Jonathan Eldridge
• Jurine Elkins
• Lincka Elizondo
• Mark Elliott
• Kailey Ann Emerson
• Carolyn Esmon
• Nicole Van Every
• Adrian Falwell
• Kalyn Fay
• Carrie Felter
• Tanya Felter
• Brad Fielder
• Donovan Fite
• Elizabeth Forsythe (“Eliza Bee”)
• Christopher Foster (Poppa “Piano” Foster)
• Daniel Foulks
• Jared Tyler Frederick
• Bob French
• John R. Fullbright
• Adrienne Gilley
• Mike Gilliland
• David Goad
• Matt Goad
• Louise Goldberg
• Javier González
• Victor Gramm
• Tim Gregory
• Joshua Griffin
• Carly Gwin
• Holly Hall
• Jeremy Hall
• Juli Hall
• Jim Halsey
• Gabriel Knight Hancock
• Camille Harp
• Isaiah Harrell
• Kurt Lochner Harrington
• Jimmy Harris
• Ali Harter
• Morgan Hartman
• Jordan Hehl
• Melissa Hembree
• Leigh Adams Henglein
• Michael Henneberry
• Shane Henry
• Leslie “Balthazar” Hensley
• Meghanne Hensley
• José Hernández
• Susan Herndon
• Emily Hiltner
• “Reverend” Justin Hogan
• Josh Hogsett
• Mike Hosty
• Kristen Howard
• Matt Howard
• Rodney Hulsey (“Rodney Deus”)
• Benjamin Kyle Hutchins
• Cody Ingram
• Todd Jackson
• Evan Jarvicks
• Beau Jennings
• Mike Jenkins
• Chloe Johns
• John Johnson
• Joie Sherman Johnson
• Peggy Johnson
• Ronnie Johnson (“Grand National”)
• Sherman Johnson (“BiG WoRm”)
• Batiste Jones
• Jen Jones
• Ryan Jones
• David Allen Judy (“Danny Trashville”)
• Zachary Kaczka
• Chase Kerby
• Ryan Kilby
• Brent Krueger
• Jimmy LaFave (1955 – 2017)
• Ike Lamb
• Teresa Lamb
• John Roffers Langdon
• Frank Lawrence
• Jim “Jaz” Lambeth
• Alex Larrea
• Mandii Larsen
• Dale Lawton
• David Leach
• Lauren Lee
• Robbie Lee
• Sawyer Lee
• Tyler Lee
• Cattie Lesley
• Tony LeSure (“LTZ”)
• Steve Liddell
• Joshua Lightfoot
• Tove Cornelia Margareta Lightfoot (née Thunell)
• Felix Linden
• Boyd Littell (1977 – 2017)
• Spencer Livingston-Gainey
• Broderick “Brodie” Kelley Lockett
• Nathan Lofties
• Carson Lundeen
• Jimbro Lutz
• Dana M^cBride
• Joel M^cCall
• J. Michael M^cCarty
• Maggie M^cClure
• Eric “Red” M^cDaniel
• Jimmy M^cFall
• Caleb M^cGee
• Wess M^cMichael
• Kenn M^cSperitt
• Cynthia “Luxy” Machovic
• Steve Machovic
• Ryan Magnani
• Beau Mansfield
• Allen Martin
• Dan Martin
• Mark Martinez
• Sophia Massad
• Zach Massey
• Dirk Matthews
• T. J. Mayes
• Kyle Mayfield
• Kelli Mayo
• Jack Mayou
• Tyson Meade
• Nathanael “Than” Medlam
• Taylor “Shraz” Mercier
• Miilie Mesh
• Ronnie Meyer
• Jerry Meyers
• Bob Miller
• Jody Miller
• Parker Millsap
• Jon Mooneyham
• Gabriel Mor
• Derek Moore
• Maxwell Moore
• Agustin Morales
• Darla “Darlin’ Darla” Morgan
• Nick Morgan
• Cameron Lynn Morris
• Joel T. Mossman
• Will Muir
• Christophe Murdock
• Steve “Murf” Murphy
• Mike Myers
• Bradley Nance
• Colin Nance
• Zach Nedbalek
• John Noerdling
• Grant Nordean
• Dean “Dino” Northcutt
• Jude Northcutt
• Shara Nova
• Andy Nuñez
• Marian Love Nuñez
• Shaun O’Brian
• Erin O’Dowd
• Wesley Levi Parham
• Jill Park
• Seth Park
• Blake Parks
• Ellis Paul (Honorary OKIE)
• Cameron Peery
• Nia Personette
• Brad Piccolo
• Penny Pitchlynn
• Pauly Ray Plaster, Jr. (“Paüly Creep-Ø”)
• Ken Pomeroy
• Pam Potts
• Joey Powell
• Dan Price
• Thom Proctor
• Pilar V. Guarddon Pueyo
• Gary Pulpit
• Dustin Ragland
• Taylor Michael Rapp
• Denovan Ratcliffe
• Adam Ray
• Kristin Reed
• Charley Reeves
• Samuel Regan
• Billy Reid
• Kyle Reid
• Sarah Reid
• Rick Reiley
• Mary Catherine Reynolds
• Jeff Richardson
• Felina Rivera
• Buffalo Rogers
• Dustin Rose
• Michael Rose
• Morgan Routt
• Mark Rubin
• Shawna Russell
• Lexi Sacco
• Ricky Salthouse
• Carter Sampson
• Brian Sanders
• Chris Sanders
• Mike Satawake
• Lacy “Changemonger” Saunders
• Matt Scheuber
• Sephra Scheuber
• Donna Settlemires
• Joe Settlemires
• Steve Short
• Marty Simon
• Dorian Small
• Jason D. Scott
• Jason P. Scott
• Chelsea Smith
• LeeMychael Smith
• David “Shorty” Short
• Chavez Soliz
• Charlie Spears
• Michael Stafford
• Elecktra Stanislava
• Medeia Starfire
• Kevin Stark
• M. Bailey Stephenson
• Christopher Stevens
• Frank Stevens
• Dylan Stewart
• Tory Stinnett
• Emily Alexander Sunderson
• Scott Sunderson
• Jason Swanson
• Christine Taylor (Christine Jude)
• Monica Taylor
• Danielle Tipton
• John Thomas
• Nadia Thomas
• Nikolas “Kite” Thompson
• Jason Tillis
• Cali Tonnu
• Jacob Tovar
• Grayson Trice
• Jennifer Tripi
• Curnita “Cooki” Turner
• Scott Twitchell
• Charmane M. Vaianisi
• RT Valine
• Chase Vegas
• Paige Vernon
• Daniel Walker
• Todd Walker
• Eric Walschap
• Bryan Walters
• Christi Wans
• Morgan Ward
• Terry “Buffalo” Ware
• Wendell “Wink” Ware
• Tania Warnock
• Bobby Lee Warren
• Dan Warren
• Levi Watson
• Kevin Webb
• Kristine Kamen Wendt
• April Wenzel
• Cheryl Lynn White (“Starr Lynn Raven”)
• Kierston White
• Chad Whittle
• Larry Whittle
• Jonathan Wilkerson
• Jonathan Blake “Jabee” Williams
• Katie Williams
• Robert S. “Bob” Williams
• David Wilson-Burns
• Andrew “Drew” Winn
• Jonathan Winston
• Justin Witte
• Hannah Wolff
• J.J. Wood
• T.Z. Wright
• Ray Wyssmann
• Bryndon York
• Richie Zenner

… with more sched­uled soon.

When will the por­traits be shown? Where will they be shown? 

The gallery show should occur in the 1^st or 2^nd quar­ter of 2017, with the loca­tion to be announced as the date approaches. At this time I don’t know when or where the show will hang. I will announce it on social media and also here when I know. The best way to stay updated on OKIE-X is to sign up for the newslet­ter. If you’ve sat for the project, please ensure that I have your cur­rent con­tact information.

What’s the deal with x-ray film? I thought x-rays were dangerous! 

X-ray film isn’t directly exposed by x-rays (except for den­tal x-ray film). In a clin­i­cal set­ting, the x-rays cause a spe­cial screen to emit vis­i­ble light, which in turn exposes the film. As such, using the film pho­to­graph­i­cally isn’t inher­ently dan­ger­ous. It’s very sim­i­lar to ordi­nary pho­to­graphic film and can be han­dled and devel­oped in much the same way, but it has some spe­cial characteristics:

• It’s sold in large sheets. I buy 8×10″ film in boxes of 100 and trim it with a guil­lo­tine cut­ter to fit my 4×5″ film holders.
• It’s orthochro­matic: it has a greater spec­tral sen­si­tiv­ity than really old mate­ri­als, e.g., wet plate col­lo­dion, but it’s still not sen­si­tive to all vis­i­ble light, like mod­ern panchro­matic films. As of May 2016, the film I use is sen­si­tive to blue and green light, but blind to red. 
  • Because it’s ortho, I can work with it under a safelight.
  • The final image looks dif­fer­ent from con­ven­tional film because of the film’s inabil­ity to see most of the col­ors vis­i­ble to the human eye — so red objects are very dark, and minor blem­ishes, freck­les, and other facial fea­tures are more distinct.
  • Most x-ray film has emul­sion on both sides — twice the emul­sion, half the patient expo­sure to hard radi­a­tion. The film I use began the project with has emul­sion on only 1 side, and, like mod­ern panchro­matic films, has an anti-hala­tion dye layer on the back. In May 2016, I switched to con­ven­tional x-ray film.
  • The emul­sion is very soft and requires care­ful handling.

What kind of cam­era are you using? 

I’m mak­ing the por­traits with a cher­ry­wood Wista 45DX. It folds down quite com­pactly and weighs less than a 35mm SLR. It has a leather bel­lows, an extend­ing rail with rack and pin­ion focus, and numer­ous front and back move­ments (tilt, shift, rise and fall, and swing), which allow var­i­ous focus­ing effects and per­spec­tive cor­rec­tions. I recently con­tacted Wista, who told me the cam­era was man­u­fac­tured in 1984.

What lens are you using? 

Note

Beginning in April, I changed lenses, as noted in the updated infor­ma­tion below.

The lens is a 105mm ƒ/​3 250mm ƒ/​4 “in bar­rel” brass Petzval for­mula lens, roughly 150-years-old. Most likely, it was a magic lantern or pro­jec­tor lens. It has no aper­ture con­trol and no shut­ter. I’ve fit­ted an old Packard #6 pneu­matic shut­ter to the lens hood to con­trol the expo­sure and to fire the stu­dio lights. I chose the Petzval for its sharp cen­ter and “swirly” out-of-focus periph­ery. The lens’s dream­like, sur­real look can­not eas­ily be repro­duced by con­ven­tional means.

What are you doing to pro­mote the project? 

I’m using all the usual social media chan­nels, along with directly con­tact­ing the musi­cians and talk­ing to the pub­lic. Additionally, I am in dis­cus­sion with a major local daily news­pa­per and a local tele­vi­sion sta­tion to do sto­ries on the project. More on that as things develop (in every sense of the word).

I’m not a musi­cian, but I’d like to help. 

You can help spread the word by telling your friends about OKIE-X and by link­ing to this FAQ on social media. If you are a busi­ness owner and would like to dis­cuss cor­po­rate spon­sor­ship, please con­tact me.

Contact Form

Please use this form to request the stu­dio loca­tion and my mobile phone num­ber, as well as to ask any other ques­tions about the OKIE-X project. [Sidenote: This site is pro­tected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.]