Felicity Fatale

Introducing Simon

So I guess you've all been waiting since my last post to see what pictures I came up with when I shot Simon?  Well wait no longer.  I'm going to post just a couple of my favourites that I've finished off so far because you're going to see him grace these pages again very soon.

Simon was an absolute pleasure to work with.  Considering we were working in his bedroom and en-suite with just the absolute minimum of props and lighting (just his bed, the shower and my two faithful strobes) we reckon that these came out pretty good.  No fancy studio for me!  It just makes me want to rent a posh apartment of my own very quickly!

Anyway, less jabber, more pictures.

The Guild of Erotic Artists

On Sunday I went off to the Guild of Erotic Artists.  I'd had a few opposing views of the guild from friends who are members so I felt that I should go along to see what I thought of it for myself, rather than rely on other peoples opinions.

It's about an hour away from me in St Albans.  It's a good job a drive, because there's no way I could get there using public transport!  But anyway, a quick jaunt round the M25 and you're pretty much there.

The place itself is beautiful.  An old 14th century barn, and inside it's packed full of art from it's members.  The artwork ranged from massive oils on canvas, to small sketches.  The overwhelming majority though was photography, which I have to admit I did find a little disappointing.  The standard of the art was also just as varied, with everything from snapshots to true masters of their craft.  Which is good I guess, because it invites people with less experience, which is good for me!  I hope that the guild does to more to encourage other artists to join, they must be out there.  It would have been good to see more painted work, sculpture, even things like printmaking.  I'm sure these artists must be out there!

During the open days there are models put on for photographers and for artists who draw from life.  This part of the day unfortunately I did find a little seedy, but then I have never been a fan of multiple photographers all shooting one model.  Having been in the unfortunate situation at a group shoot of setting up my model and lighting only to hear the thud of a shutter over my shoulder... lets just say I'm not impressed when other photographers pinch my shot.  Had it been more of a one-on-one situation, say bookable in 15 min slots, with some lighting available I might have felt differently.  But that's what makes artists all individual right, we all do things differently!  Having said that, there were a few sketch artists that I didn't get to meet, but I did peer over their shoulder to take a look at their work and it was pretty awesome.  Really makes me wish I could draw!  Well I can draw, but nothing ever looks like it's meant to.

So anyway, why am I going to join?  Well the biggest draw was the use of the barn as studio space for £40 a day if you're a member.  I've got all my own lighting and backdrop, but just no space!  So this could be good for me, and will save me having to find a studio round here to rent for a while.  It's always better to hire facilities when you need them rather than keep a studio all the time unless you can guarantee that you'll be shooting there every day.  Anyway it's summer coming up, and I plan on taking advantage of the big, bad, outside world!

Look out for a few treats from me over the next few days, I'm shooting the most fabulous male model tonight.  Got a few things planned, so we'll see how it goes!

Business Cards!

Since I am heading on over to the open day tomorrow at the Guild of Erotic Artists, I felt I should have some way of getting people to remember who I am.   Well of course people will remember who I am, but I wanted something with my website written on so that they could find me more easily later!

So I got a quote from the local printers, they said they could do me an uber quick turn around time, and 24 hours later I picked the cards up.

AND CHECK THEM OUT!

They're gorgeous.  I'm going to be dead chuffed handing them out tomorrow.

And the added bonus... they're wipe clean.  ;-)

Beauty Retouching

What else is a geek going to do other than sit at her computer all day?  I'll let you into a little secret.  I'm a self-confessed Photoshop junkie.  I just love to mess with pictures that other people have shot, see if I can improve them.  I'm a perfectionaholic at heart, but my skills are still catching up.

Anyway, over on Model Mayhem they have a really great thread in the Photography Talk forum.  It's called "Serious Retouch v2.1" and it's just the most funnest thing ever.  If you're a nerd, like me.  The basic idea is that photographers post some unedited versions of their shots, and willing retouchers like me, sort them out for practice.  I'll come to my latest effort in a minute.

Unfortunately todays little session has left me reminded exactly why I need a new graphics tablet.  I'm saving up for a Wacom Intuos3 A5 Wide Tablet and Pen.  Hey, it's on my Amazon wish list if anyone is feeling generous.  You see, at the moment I have a cheap A4 tablet.  Not only is it pretty unresponsive, the pen gives me hand cramp and the sheer size means my laptop is miles away across the table and I have to peer at everything as if I'm an old woman.  Not an ideal situation.  But anyway, I'll carry on with it until it breaks (or someone treats me).

Right, back to the picture.  It's this one by Killer Shotz Photography.  It always helps when you're given gorgeous photography to work with, and this one is just great.  Lighting was spot on, but the models skin and make up was a little less than perfect.  Problem solved with Photoshop...

Until tomorrow, my little munchkins...

Joan Crisol - Chulo

On Wednesday, a parcel from Amazon arrived on my desk.  But this wasn't just any parcel.  This was the book I have been wanting for months.  So after the packaging was ripped off and the advertising thrown away I could breathe in a long, deep breath full of that glorious new book smell.  Yes, I admit it, I am a book-whore.

This is a coffee table book, a decent size one at that.  One thing to note is the quality of the printing.  The publishers are Bruno Gmünder who do a whole line of erotic books based around male subjects, and by all accounts they are all beautifully printed.

The cover shot is striking.  Model and dancer, Marco DaSilva is an excellent choice and immediately challenges your thoughts of what male glamour photography is all about.  And then you open it.  Page after page after page of glorious shots of glorious men!  Some nude, some in skimpy underwear, but surprisingly rarely with their lunch-boxes on show!

One thing that jumps out at me is Crisol's talent.  I mean, I know he's good, but from following his work on the internet I didn't realize quite how good.  Every page seems to have a different style of capture.  Lighting, composition, posing and processing all different, showing a truly massive variety of work.

The other thing that very much impressed me was the styling and obvious thought that has gone into the locations here.  All the models are perfect, no doubt about it.  And they are matched with the perfect outfits and the perfect locations and props.  This is what photography should be like - striving for total perfection.

All in all, if you want a book that will appeal to men, women, gays, lesbians and undecideds, this is the book you want to get.  This book has personality, oodles of it.  And it's not afraid to shout loudly about it.  This is inspiration at it's very best for anyone thinking about shooting male models.

Oh by the way, if you fancy buying this book, please do it through the link here.  It really helps me out because I'm a poor photographer wannabe.  =D

It's all so quiet...

Sssh!  Sssh!

Woke up this morning to a beautiful blanket of white snow.  About an inch and a half of it too!  The dog is in heaven chasing snowballs and the cats have retreated to under my duvet.  Bless them.

I'm going to walk to work and see what I find with my camera, so maybe there will be an update for you later.  Unfortunately no lovely models to pose for me since I'm in the office all day.  But I might find something good!

UPDATE 2042hrs

Here it is... the stillness of the local park.

Latex Love

Well, I got the studio out and unpacked yesterday in an effort to have something new to post on my blog.  I realized that although I've shot portraits and nudes in front of my rather cool Lastolite Hilite background, I've never actually shot anything shiny, which is what this thing would be absolutely perfect for!

Basically, the Hilite is a massive softbox that is used as a background.  If you turn up the strobe inside a little high and put the model too close, you get a really great light wrap around the sides of the model.  Well combined with shiny latex, this is the result!

This is almost straight out of the camera too, just a few tweaks with the curves to bring out the contrast more.

I was really impressed, I posted this over on PhotoSig earlier, and I got the best critique ever.

"The pose coupled with the red flame and stocking tops mean that when I view this I think I am looking at a poster for some sort of low budget Mighty Morphing Power Rangers spoof porno."

Maybe I should do more low budget spoof porno shots!  Sounds like a plan!