More Photos
Nate Zettle has been a fairly constant factor in my endeavours. Whenever some scheme of mine needs photos it’ll be him I start bugging about taking them. Or being in them. Or both, but that’s a bit of a challenge.
This hasn’t always worked out well – the Self-Defence Manual alone required endless shoots and reshoots as formats changed or images came out looking lame. I was expecting that at some point Nate would give up or just plain down tools and go home, but for the present I’m still getting away with prevailing upon his good nature. Such as it is…
Here’s a selection of photos that never made the final cut of whatever it was we were doing at the time….
This hasn’t always worked out well – the Self-Defence Manual alone required endless shoots and reshoots as formats changed or images came out looking lame. I was expecting that at some point Nate would give up or just plain down tools and go home, but for the present I’m still getting away with prevailing upon his good nature. Such as it is…
Here’s a selection of photos that never made the final cut of whatever it was we were doing at the time….

This one is for a column I was contracted to write for Iowa Shooter magazine, who ended up not being able to pay me the ridiculously small fee we agreed. I don’t think the venture got off the ground.
The article was all about making space to draw a handgun.
And that’s Nate whose eyes I’m trying to put out. I’m unfriendly like that…
The article was all about making space to draw a handgun.
And that’s Nate whose eyes I’m trying to put out. I’m unfriendly like that…

And this is Nate kicking me in the head.
This one is from a shoot we did for Martial Arts Insider (yes, Insider, not Illustrated) magazine. Another startup that never made it, as far as I know.
It’s a deliberate piece of King-Fu Theatre, for an article about what does NOT happen in the real world.
The sunglasses are authentic, however.
This one is from a shoot we did for Martial Arts Insider (yes, Insider, not Illustrated) magazine. Another startup that never made it, as far as I know.
It’s a deliberate piece of King-Fu Theatre, for an article about what does NOT happen in the real world.
The sunglasses are authentic, however.

And again.
This one is from the first shoot for The Self-Defence Manual, taken in Hendon.
This photo didn't make the final cut; instead Nate got to kick Mary.
Not quite as therapeutic as clobbering me, but I guess you have to take what you can get…
This one is from the first shoot for The Self-Defence Manual, taken in Hendon.
This photo didn't make the final cut; instead Nate got to kick Mary.
Not quite as therapeutic as clobbering me, but I guess you have to take what you can get…

Far too many people seem to be amused by pictures of me getting hurt. Here’s another one. This is Dave Birdsall making a point during one of the ‘author debates’ we held at various times.
These photos were taken on different days, even though I seem to be wearing the same clothes all the time. Draw what conclusions you will.
These photos were taken on different days, even though I seem to be wearing the same clothes all the time. Draw what conclusions you will.

This is Rachel, Nate’s fiancée (at the time; they’re married now) and my training partner, elbowing me in the head.
It’s a different jacket, okay?
We had a lot of fun shooting pictures of us engaging in violence, even though a lot of them didn’t turn out all that well. Sometimes a posed photo looks great and sometimes the real thing looks badly posed.
It’s a different jacket, okay?
We had a lot of fun shooting pictures of us engaging in violence, even though a lot of them didn’t turn out all that well. Sometimes a posed photo looks great and sometimes the real thing looks badly posed.

Myself and Nate having a debate about the finer points of photographic technique. Or something.
This one wasn’t set up; we just had a bit of a fight and took random images of the ensuing chaos. Naturally, I chose to use one where I’m winning. As I recall my sorry ass was handed to me soon after this was taken.
This one wasn’t set up; we just had a bit of a fight and took random images of the ensuing chaos. Naturally, I chose to use one where I’m winning. As I recall my sorry ass was handed to me soon after this was taken.