You're about to enter Rhonda Land, a dimension not of imagination, but of sight and sound, ambition and hard work.

Rhonda Toppel and her family--Michael, Reesa and Sierra--were close friends and creative collaborators for many years.

And they let me take hundreds of pictures, mostly of Rhonda, for her modeling book; and to preserve family memories.

Rhonda collaborated with me on writing and photography projects, and everything else creative: including teaching me makeup and hair, helping with her experience in lighting and sound, and co-writing several screenplays over the years, etc. etc. etc.

I met Michael and Rhonda selling Direct TV door-to-door in Vallejo, California.

Rhonda was a working model and I was an aspiring model photographer, although she was also interested in media, specifically film making, as much as I was.

Michael was a hard-working steam-fitter at Standard Oil in the East Bay, a place I knew well because my father was an Oil Tanker Captain who had tied up there many times in the past.

We lost touch after they moved to Florida, although I did visit a couple times early on, before Rhonda ended up writing, directing and producing her own feature-length film, "Chill Out," in 2001.

Rhonda's my imagined go-to actor for the nurse at the end of "The Silver Splitter," who will also a main character in a sequel, if she's available.

She's featured in a new photography folder, "Rhonda" in "Whats New."

Enjoy!