My Most Rewarding Private Photoshoot

(No photos, for obvious reasons.)

I've done a lot of private erotic photoshoots for people over the last decade or so, but the one I did a couple of weeks ago has got to be the most rewarding. That is almost entirely due to the nature of the client.

She contacted me through my website and explained her situation.  She has been blind since birth and is unable to take naughty selfies to send to her boyfriend.  He is currently trapped in another country by Covid and they have been apart for some time.

Since she doesn't drive, I did the shoot in her small apartment.  I used my wonderful portable studio strobes for some poses and used some rather dim Winter windowlight for others.  My Canon R6 did what I asked of it in low light, as expected.  I always enjoy putting my skills to the test in challenging situations. 

I told her she could have a friend present, but she decided to go solo.  As we got started, I was thankful for my long experience putting people at ease.  We quickly established a good working flow.

The photos came out amazingly well, considering the location I had to work with.  My client had a great body and was not hesitant to follow my posing instructions.  In my past health care career, I worked with quite a few blind or partially-sighted patients, so I had a pretty good idea of how to communicate smoothly.  Fortunately, she had excellent computer skills, so I was able to deliver the images via Google Drive as usual.

My biggest concern was helping her decide which of the 300+ images to send to her boyfriend.  I thought I might have to give each photo a descriptive filename or something along those lines.  It could have been rather awkward.   Fortunately, she had a wonderful girlfriend who was able to help with that.

I got a note from her saying that her boyfriend loved the pix and thought she looked like a model, which she did, for sure.  My clients always put a lot of trust in me when I do a private shoot, but in this case the level of trust was off the charts.  That's even more important to me than making boyfriends happy.

Obviously, I can't share any pix with you from this shoot.  It feels strange not to include at least one sexy photo, but I'm sure you understand.  Private means private!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Mike

One Surprising Tip for a Successful Private Erotic Photoshoot...

KEEP IT SIMPLE

The most common error couples make when they are planning a private erotic photoshoot is to keep adding more and more elements to the plan until it becomes impractical.  Then they often just give up in frustration.   Here are some of the things people add to their shoots which increase the complexity, the cost, and the chances for things to go wrong.

1.  VIDEO -  adding video recording to a still photo session causes several problems.  To start with, the two techniques require different lighting systems if you want both to look good.  Video also brings with it the need for a quiet shooting area, since all sounds will be recorded.  Then you need to ask how the photographer is going to direct the clients without his voice being on the video.  You probably don't want your naughty video to include his voice saying, "move your bootie to the left a little."    To do video and stills together requires a team of two or preferably three skilled people, so the expense mounts quickly and the intimate atmosphere of the shoot is lost.

2.  MULTIPLE LOCATIONS -  Doing a shoot in a hotel room or the studio is pretty straightforward.  Doing a shoot in one place, then transporting everyone and the equipment to another place tends to be stressful and increases the chances of unexpected problems.  It's not impossible, but once again, it adds cost and complexity.  It's fun to think about doing a romantic outdoor shoot on a beach at sunset, then moving to a hotel room for more intimate action, but it's not the best idea.

3.  ADDING ADDITIONAL ACTORS -  Many potential clients I talk with get caught up in the dream of planning an erotic photoshoot.   The most common element they want to add is another person, or maybe more than one.  In addition to legal and safe sex issues, this adds another failure point to the plan.    The odds of them showing up for the shoot are poor.  If you don't already know them well, the odds of them being compatible with your fantasy are poor.  It's just a bad idea.

4.  TOO MANY SCENES OR POSES -  It's pretty common for clients to create a list of all the erotic scenes or poses they'd like to squeeze into the time available.  It's actually good to have a list, but you need to be flexible and willing to call a halt when you start to get tired or don't feel sexy any more.   In my view, erotic photoshoots are supposed to be fun, not hard work.

5.  WANTING TO SHOOT OUTDOORS WHEN OR WHERE IT ISN'T PRACTICAL -  Finding places where you can do a nude or erotic photoshoot outdoors is very tricky.  The best place is during warm weather, on private property, where neighbors can't see.   It's true that I've done many outdoor nude shoots with pro models, but I only use experienced professionals who are OK with the risks involved.  We always shoot on weekdays when the woods and rivers aren't crowded and we are ready to pack up and leave at a moment's notice.

I hope you found these words of wisdom helpful in planning your own private erotic photoshoot.  If you have questions, feel free to contact me using the contact option at the top of every page.

Canon EOS R6 - Six Months In, How Much Do I Like It?
 

About six months ago, I made the big switch to a mirrorless camera body, the brand new Canon EOS R6.  My previous camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV was working fine, but mirrorless cameras offered some advantages that I felt would potentially make my work easier and better.  Both features are related to the auto-focus system.

The first improvement is that the mirrorless autofocus almost always achieves perfect focus with any lens you put on the body.  With the older DSLR bodies, the system had different autofocus errors with different lenses.  To get accurate focus, you had to perform a task called "micro-focus adjustment" with each lens you owned. 

Even when adjusted, some lenses would exhibit different amounts of focus error at various distances and even at different zoom settings.  While it was annoying, it was just part of being a professional photographer.  You dialed in the adjustment as well as you could, then shot extra images to allow for deletion of poorly focused shots. 

Even if your autofocus system is perfectly adjusted, you still have to make sure you place the viewfinder autofocus point exactly where you want it, which takes attention and practice.  It's not always easy to do if you and your model are moving.

The second autofocus feature I really wanted to try was the eye tracking function.   The EOS R6 and many other mirrorless cameras will continuously track a particular subject that moves around within your view and it will keep the lens focused on that object.  This is obviously a great thing for sports photography or working with moving children, just to name two genres, but I find it very helpful when shooting with models.

Once I switch on the autofocus system with the button on the back of the camera, the powerful computer inside the R6 goes to work analyzing the scene.   A focus box appears in the viewfinder and quickly starts moving. It first finds the head of the model, then places a very small focus box on one of her eyes.  It does a pretty good job of tracking that eye as long as it is visible and there is enough light in the studio.   If it loses the eye, it will default to head tracking.   If the model moves so that her head is no longer visible, the camera struggles to find something else to focus on.  At that point, I press another button and the autofocus system changes to a small spot that I can place wherever I like.

It is now extremely rare for me to reject an image due to imperfect focus!

The issue of megapixels

Most people assume that you always want to buy a camera that will record the largest possible number of megapixels.   In many genres, such as landscape photography with the goal of making large prints, that is surely correct.   But when photographing people, I believe that is not the case.  Very few people make prints any more, especially when the images are erotic.   My photos are generally shared electronically and posted to online sites with limited resolution.  Beyond a certain point, additional megapixels are wasted.

My previous camera had a 30 megapixel sensor.  When viewing those photos at full resolution, skin and makeup imperfections are very distracting.   You can spend a huge amount of time retouching skin and throwing away much of the detail you recorded with your high-megapixel sensor.

The current generation of Canon mirrorless full frame cameras includes the R6 and it's more expensive brother, the R5.   The R5 has a 40 megapixel sensor - I knew that was more than I needed so I chose the R6 with a 20 megapixel sensor.  This is the first time I've stepped down to a lower resolution body, so I was a bit nervous.   But I was pretty happy with that resolution in my old 5D III and even with the 12 Mp sensor in my very old 5D Classic.

After six months of photoshoots, I can say the reduction in sensor resolution was a good decision.  I feel the images have a smoother, more flattering skin texture and I've never wished for higher res images.  As a big bonus, the smaller RAW files are noticeably faster to process and store.  I had been thinking it was time to build a new desktop computer, but it looks like my last build will be adequate for a few more years.

The Question of Sharpness

The sharpness of an image is not the same as resolution.  It is determined by many things, but in this case I'm only discussing the effect of the lens.   I've read articles stating that a mirrorless camera body has a sharpness advantage over an old DSLR body because the back of the lens can be closer to the sensor.   Perhaps this is true, since the mid-priced 24-105 lens I bought with the new camera is extremely sharp, on a par with earlier expensive professional lenses.   It is so good and so convenient to use that I don't have a lot of experience using other lenses on this new body. 

Overall, I am very pleased with the R6.  I think it is a great choice for photographers who work with human models and distribute their work for viewing on video screens.

This Shoot Was One of My Best
 

There isn’t much to do these days with the cold weather and so many businesses locked down.  It makes me want to look back through my image archives.

Way back in 2015 I had a chance to do a very cool photoshoot that produced some of my best work.  There were four factors that came together to make this such a great shoot:  A beautiful pro model, a cavernous old artist's studio, lots of natural daylight coming through large windows, and a nice set of professional camera gear that I had been using long enough to be comfortable with.

The model was Chrissy Marie from Model Mayhem, who has been published in Playboy and Penthouse.  You can see her own site here:  https://www.captivechrissymarie.com

She is and was a very professional model, proud of her natural body and not afraid to show it off with great skill.

The artist’s studio was located in a historic multi-story brick building in downtown Portland on W. Burnside St.  My artist friend was able to rent an entire floor from the owner who was an admirer of his paintings.  Half of the huge space was a room lit by huge windows, obviously designed before interior lighting became cheap and bright.  This is where my friend created his paintings and had room to display dozens of them for potential buyers.

The remainder of the floor was dark, dirty and partly filled with junk.  There was just enough light coming in from a couple of small windows to allow some dramatic backlighting, but I realized it was time to set up a studio strobe with an umbrella reflector.  These images have a completely different feel from those taken in the art studio.

My camera was the workhorse Canon 5D Mark III, which was the first camera I’d owned with reliable autofocus.  I used two lenses for this shoot that are standards for wedding photographers, the EF 24-70 F/2.8 L and the EF 50mm F/1.2 L.  These large aperture lenses allowed me to create some lovely artistic background blur.

This shoot produced over 1,000 usable images.  When I prepared this collection for sale, I split it into two sections.  If you are interested in owning this photoshoot for your private collection, you can purchase it most easily on Bentbox at these two links:

Part I:  https://bentbox.co/buybox_verotel?R7l0yoWU

Part II:  https://bentbox.co/buybox_verotel?7CCexv4q

If Bentbox doesn’t work for you, I can sell you both boxes via PayPal and Google Drive for $60.  Just drop me a note at:  [email protected]

Thanks for reading!   You know where to find me if you are interested in modeling or in hiring me for a private photoshoot.

Dr. Mike

The Strange Story Of Bachelorette Party Photography
 

I've seen a lot of strange, funny and moving things since I started doing private intimate photoshoots about fifteen years ago.  One of the oddest things is related to bachelorette parties.

Several years ago, I documented a rather naughty bachelorette party for a group of ladies who already knew me.  It was a lot of fun and I learned enough from the experience that I decided to offer that service to others.

I had no idea that this would lead to a ten year string of the strangest inquiries you can imagine.  About once every month or so, I get an email from a woman asking if I will photograph her and a handful of her best girlfriends getting crazy in a hotel or private home somewhere.   

Side note:  Once in a while, they ask if I will follow them on a pub crawl, but that sounds like a photographer's nightmare so I always decline.  Professional cameras are water resistant but not vomit proof and I have a low tolerance for drunks.  I tell them to use their own smart phones.

The exchange of emails usually follows a predictable path.   Once the woman finds out that I photograph bachelorette parties, she starts describing her imagined scenario.  There are almost always five women involved and the one emailing me has agreed to find a willing photographer.  She usually says that her budget is almost unlimited.   It starts out simple and with each email exchange it gets more complex and more sexual.  Instead of asking about how the photos will be delivered, she wants to know what I will "make" them do in front of the camera.   Sometimes she wants to know if I'm available for sexual service (I'm not) or if I can provide a man to  have sex with them or dominate them.  She always keeps asking for more details and adding new erotic twists.  

I've learned to spot the red flags by the second or third email exchange and sometimes I end it there, but I often play along to see if any new ideas come up.  Sometimes I can't spot the fake for a long time and end up wasting too much time. 

What I've decided is that the Bachelorette Party Photoshoot is a legitimate fetish.  There are definitely women who find that talking about it is a real turn on.  I think it's a branch of female submissiveness.  They feel that during a photoshoot, they can engage in naughty acts that they would not normally allow themselves to do.

I finally removed bachelorette parties from the menu of services I provide, but for some reason, the internet keeps sending me these horny women.  Maybe I missed a link somewhere.  It's sad that 99% of the inquiries are just fantasy material, as shooting bachelorette parties is actually a lot of fun and the ladies get some great pix with their girlfriends.  I'm still open to legitimate inquiries, 

If there are any kinky novelists out there, you might want to see if you can turn out an erotic E-book on the topic.  I bet it would sell pretty well.

So What Exactly is a Content Trade Shoot?
 

A content trade shoot is an arrangement between a photographer and someone who wants to be photographed, who we will call the model.  The two parties can negotiate any kind of arrangement they wish, but the general concept is that they each contribute their time and skill in lieu of cash.  Each gets to use some or all of the resulting photographs (or videos) in whatever way they have both agreed to.

Other terms for this kind of collaboration include "trade for print," "time for print," "trade for CD,"  or simply a "trade shoot."

In the past, both the photographer and model would most likely display the images in their own portfolios to give their career a boost.  More recently, "content creators" including models and photographers have been making money by selling their content online, through platforms like OnlyFans, Bentbox and Patreon.

A trade shoot is a win/win situation for both parties.  Models who mostly sell their amateur selfies benefit from having some higher quality professional work that shows them in a different environment.  Variety almost always improves sales.

Here's how my content trade shoots work - 

Trade shoots can take place in my studio or at any suitable location.  They typically last around two hours and usually involve full nudity.  Models may get as naughty as they wish.  My goal is to create at least 500 usable images.  They won't all be masterpieces, but will be properly exposed, cropped and color balanced.  Obvious mistakes will be culled.

The model will receive all the usable images within three days via Google Drive.  She may use them any way she likes.   I will most likely sell the same images to my fans on Bentbox.

I encourage the model to tell me what her fans want to see so we can include those things in the shoot.

That all sounds pretty easy, but here comes the hard part.  The gents who buy my work tend to be more affluent image collectors who have preferences for what kind of models they wish to see.  I call it the "girl next door" look.   They want healthy looking, cis-female girls who are fit, but not too skinny.  They don't want to see angry faces, a dozen tattoos, facial piercings, brightly colored hair or plastic surgery.  They want to see natural looking girls who are smiling and happy.  There aren't many models who completely fit that profile, so I have to make exceptions on a case by case basis.

Am I safe to work with?  Please check out my references on my Model Mayhem page where I have over 70 verified credits from models I've worked with.

Drop me a note at My Gmail  if you have any questions.  Feel free to ask me anything!

Updated, March 2023