Looking through the lens...
I had a photo shoot yesterday. I was out in the winter sunshine and wind for just over 4 hours. I woke up this morning like a kid on Christmas ready to take my 12 rolls in for processing. Alas, it looks like the weather will not be cooperating today. I just don't feel like getting out in the snow with all the crazy DC drivers. I am supposed to bartend tonight, I am certainly calling in, it already is not worth it on that shift and today would be crazy to attempt to go in.
The model I worked with yesterday had requested the shoot with me. Initially, he was going to get a pro fashion photographer in NYC to shoot him, but even with the "friend discount" he was gasping for air. I don't quite understand the shock that some people have when you provide a professional service and ask to be paid? I mean, sure, I have done plenty of stuff for friends and received plenty, but still.
I know that ASL interpreters were the chosen people to be kicked around by leather events for a while. What do you mean you won't interpret my contest for 6 hours, alone, with no compensation, just so I can charge deaf people 20 dollars to come?
When the model came back to me and said, hey I want you to do this shoot, because well you are pre-paid and that is better than paying. I am not really pre-paid, the bar covers my costs, but not my time. They then retain the rights to the photos. I have been doing their shoots for years, mainly because I like the art factor. I take the photos, lay them out in all their ads, that I write and design. I like that.
It wasn't as if the model really valued my work or had even noticed it before, he just like the price. That kind of stung me yesterday, in a way I did not like. I guess my choices about life lately have given me some new perspective on just about everything, even things I didn't think about.
He came with his boyfriend and this amazing 1980s Ford 4x4 rusted pick up truck, complete with toolbox in the back. I had the best time shooting this hot little leatherman all around my normal places and this truck.
Fucking awesome.
He was shy, well beyond shy really. He flatly said, I hate having this done, I don't like my picture taken...at all.
Wow, great, that should make for a great time I thought. I offered him coffee and then some hooch, in hopes it might loosen him up a bit. He took the coffee. We talked about his body and what he was and was not comfortable with. What he thought was sexy...which nothing really resonated there. What he wanted me to avoid and what he wanted me to help enhance.
Once we got started it was all good. He got into it a little bit. He had a hard time with some of my instructions. Such as hey, rub your chest and belly in a sexy way. Like you would if you were jacking off or maybe getting head. He just stared blankly at me.
Of course, on my body it was kind of tough to show him how to touch himself. So everytime he grabbed his chest he just kind of cupped it. Oh well, I got some great shots anyway, I think.
One of the cooler parts of yesterday was when a regular patron who had arrived at the end of the shoot, asked how much I would charge to shoot him and his partner. I talked a little about the job and we agreed to a price and are currently looking to set up some time to talk and see what it is they want out of the shoot.
I went to a dinner party last night and had such fun talking to this Navy Seal, who was cut and hot as all hell, about how a cockring could really make his package look bigger. One of the other guys and I got into this conversation about new underpants with a gummi cockring built in with a special pouch to hold it all. Quite fascinating really.
I am thinking maybe once I get some more things cleared off my deck, I will be spending a lot more time behind the camera. Especially my new (yet to be purchased) digital Sony, to replace the one my roommate helped himself to when he left. One of my big goals for this year is to get my dive certifications, so that I can then get my underwater photography certification. I love the water and what lives in it and well, taking pictures.
It feels good to be getting back to my art and being enthusiastic.
The model I worked with yesterday had requested the shoot with me. Initially, he was going to get a pro fashion photographer in NYC to shoot him, but even with the "friend discount" he was gasping for air. I don't quite understand the shock that some people have when you provide a professional service and ask to be paid? I mean, sure, I have done plenty of stuff for friends and received plenty, but still.
I know that ASL interpreters were the chosen people to be kicked around by leather events for a while. What do you mean you won't interpret my contest for 6 hours, alone, with no compensation, just so I can charge deaf people 20 dollars to come?
When the model came back to me and said, hey I want you to do this shoot, because well you are pre-paid and that is better than paying. I am not really pre-paid, the bar covers my costs, but not my time. They then retain the rights to the photos. I have been doing their shoots for years, mainly because I like the art factor. I take the photos, lay them out in all their ads, that I write and design. I like that.
It wasn't as if the model really valued my work or had even noticed it before, he just like the price. That kind of stung me yesterday, in a way I did not like. I guess my choices about life lately have given me some new perspective on just about everything, even things I didn't think about.
He came with his boyfriend and this amazing 1980s Ford 4x4 rusted pick up truck, complete with toolbox in the back. I had the best time shooting this hot little leatherman all around my normal places and this truck.
Fucking awesome.
He was shy, well beyond shy really. He flatly said, I hate having this done, I don't like my picture taken...at all.
Wow, great, that should make for a great time I thought. I offered him coffee and then some hooch, in hopes it might loosen him up a bit. He took the coffee. We talked about his body and what he was and was not comfortable with. What he thought was sexy...which nothing really resonated there. What he wanted me to avoid and what he wanted me to help enhance.
Once we got started it was all good. He got into it a little bit. He had a hard time with some of my instructions. Such as hey, rub your chest and belly in a sexy way. Like you would if you were jacking off or maybe getting head. He just stared blankly at me.
Of course, on my body it was kind of tough to show him how to touch himself. So everytime he grabbed his chest he just kind of cupped it. Oh well, I got some great shots anyway, I think.
One of the cooler parts of yesterday was when a regular patron who had arrived at the end of the shoot, asked how much I would charge to shoot him and his partner. I talked a little about the job and we agreed to a price and are currently looking to set up some time to talk and see what it is they want out of the shoot.
I went to a dinner party last night and had such fun talking to this Navy Seal, who was cut and hot as all hell, about how a cockring could really make his package look bigger. One of the other guys and I got into this conversation about new underpants with a gummi cockring built in with a special pouch to hold it all. Quite fascinating really.
I am thinking maybe once I get some more things cleared off my deck, I will be spending a lot more time behind the camera. Especially my new (yet to be purchased) digital Sony, to replace the one my roommate helped himself to when he left. One of my big goals for this year is to get my dive certifications, so that I can then get my underwater photography certification. I love the water and what lives in it and well, taking pictures.
It feels good to be getting back to my art and being enthusiastic.