Okay, I admit it, I do have a few friends who are not in the adult business, bless their hearts. And yes, they know nothing about how erotic pictures are produced. They tend to ask funny questions. I suppose they are not unlike the guys who surf the Net or buy mens' magazines. I guess before I picked up a camera I also used to wonder about the models, especially when I would bring home my Penthouse or Playboy's Girls of Summer. The Girls of Summer and College Girls issues were my favorites. I liked the "girl next door" types, rather than the glamorous women found in the lingerie issues and monthly layouts. I also liked to imagine what kind of relationships the models had with the photographers. Did taking naked pictures turn them on? Later I noticed that when the Penthouse babes spread their legs, you could see a little wetness in there. Was that faked? Did the photographers put baby oil in there? Or, was it... real? Were they really turned on?
Occasionally, I've been known to show the results of a recent shoot to a friend, perhaps even a group of friends. No, I don't pass pictures around at parties anymore. One recurring question has always been, "you fucked her, didn't you?" Or, "man, this chick's fuckin' into it." Yeah, my friends are sometimes like any average guy out there. But isn't that really the point of it all?
I hate to throw cold water over everything, but no, professional photographers do not fuck the models during a shoot. Shortly after the shoot...now that's a different story. Just kidding. Actually, after I've been with them all day, dealing with their lives and problems, their sweetness and bitchiness, their pagers and cell phones, I always just want to go home - alone. Sometimes my partner, Paul, who doesn't get as "close" to them as I do (until he's got everything organized on his computer, that is), wants the company to take them out for a bite to eat after the shoot. This is a good policy. The girls work hard. They're always hungry, and their boyfriends never have any money to buy them dinner. I usually hold my breath hoping they have other things to do. Hey, don't get me wrong here. These girls, each and every one of them, have a lot to offer. They are all unique and I spend lots of time talking to them on the phone. Most call regularly to say hi and complain about their real jobs and boyfriends, or to find out when we're shooting them next. Sometimes they call and ask me to take them out on the town in South Beach. But there are still the pagers and cell phones to deal with.
Y'know, those folks who own the boutiques in South Beach know their stuff. They sandwich their shops between the bars and clubs. And, like the bars and clubs, they're open all night. They adorn their window mannequins with slinky, little, black mini-dresses. For big bucks. You do understand my problem, don't you? "Buy that for me and I'll wear it now...." Who needs underwear?
Enough of my vital lifestyle concerns.
Do the girls get off on the shoots? Well, yes and no.
I know you probably didn't notice that I was briefly missing while writing this, so please pardon my disjointedness as I just got back from running an errand. I got a call from one of my models who I had some photos made up for. She's heading up to Boston for a few days and would like them. So I tell her, "Girl, now is the time to meet me." Imagine my excitement when she says she just woke up and is going to meet me in her pajamas! I go to our meeting place, TGI Friday's. Have you seen what they call pajamas lately? Baggy flannel pant kind of things, all the way to the knees! A t-shirt tops it off. Oh well, so much for my brief, early afternoon thrill. Couldn't even truly impress the bartender.
Okay. Girls getting off on photo shoots.
There're lots of occasions when I develop a model who may have no experience, little experience or the wrong experience. It isn't just the pose. It isn't just how wide she spreads, or how pink she is. Well, maybe the pink. I love good facials. It's how her expression comes off on camera. I've never been a big smile guy. Even in my fashion days, when I had to occasionally shoot "lifestyle," I didn't encourage smiles, much to the dismay of certain model agencies, who of course wanted smiling girls with tennis rackets in hand. I tended to have the girls sit in the middle of the tennis court with short, short tennis skirts and lots of leg, maybe even a couple of white panty shots. Then what do you do with the tennis racket? But it's different and evident now.
Take Lisa, a wonderful nineteen-year-old who lives somewhere in the Carolinas (I can't keep those "Carolina" places straight. Jesse Helms is "North," right? Gotta stay away from there.) She comes to South Florida to work. Well, I was one of the first photographers to shoot her. She's gorgeous, but I had a hard time getting proper facials from her. Her looks tended to be blank, without passion. See, passion can be a number of concepts. It can be sex. Or anger. Or love. Or disappointment. Or it can be orgasm.
This was my second shoot with Lisa. I was out shooting her in a park, but not getting the expressions I wanted. She peed; she did public up-the-skirt, public toys. But her looks remained somewhat lifeless, so I told her I wanted her to cum. Really cum. I'd shoot her face, mainly her face. Afterwards, she'll be looser and a better adult model.
Lisa says okay, but first get her the right toy. So we go toy shopping. She settles on a bunny thing. Next scene she cums seven times. Count 'em, seven times. Her face is great. She's now a new model ready for anything we can throw at her. Oh yeah. The final shots of her private parts revealed lots of female white cummy stuff. Don't ya love it? Female white cummy stuff! And no baby oil!
I tend to write about Taylor a lot, but she is special. Taylor is a cum machine; she'll be the first to admit it. She looks at my videographer Judson and cums - or gets sick. Either way it's hot shooting. (Funny, Microsoft hasn't entered "cum" into their spell check. I keep getting squiggly red lines under the word. Guess I have to customize it into the dictionary myself.)
In complete seriousness, I first recruited Taylor in a titty bar. She was a waitress beckoned over by this voluptuous beach bunny dancer (voluptuous is in Microsoft's word check) who I was talking to about a hardcore girl/girl shoot. So a few days later, we did a major shoot and video production with Ashley and Taylor. One scene had Taylor doing her laundry, sitting on the vibrating dryer and getting turned on, then finding a pocket rocket. This was real true cumming, folks. Her clothes came off slowly (she was also wearing my bandana). The pocket rocket was wailing. Three times she came during the scene. Then, with Ashley, another three times.
The following week, I took her out to a park for a pee shoot. She came while peeing in her pants! Real, not fake. A thunderstorm approached, so I took her to lunch. On the way to the restaurant, my trusty 4-Runner splashed through flooded streets. Lightning was flashing and thunder was pounding. And here was Taylor next to me playing with her pocket rocket, cumming. After lunch, we found a back alley situation with an old refrigerator and an old sofa. She climbed on top of the fridge and pee'd her pants and came. Not too much later, she'd pee'd all over the sofa and came again. Wow.
Stacey is as good as any of 'em. During a girl/girl one time with Amy, Judson decides to interview her. To be sure, she came during the girl/girl scene, but Judson wants more. He asks her personal questions while holding his Sony VX1000. Camera's rolling; she's talking about unique sexual experiences. He asks her if she likes toys. You bet. His hand reaches into camera view with a couple of vibrators. She grabs them both and proceeds to play. Shortly, she is no longer interested in Judson or his persistent questions. Stacey's claim to fame is "oh shit, oh god, oh fuck," over and over and over.
Really, just displaying their bodies does excite some girls. Many are dancers who are used to public nudity, but not to the settings and the explicit exhibitionism associated with photo shoots. I want these shoots to be sexy; that's the critical ingredient to be conveyed to the viewer and reader. Many girls do get wet between the legs. You can be sure my camera is in focus.
(Greg Gregory has two decades of shooting beautiful women behind him. He is based in the Miami area and with partner Paul Howser comprises CV Productions, a content provider to Webmasters. Please visit Greg and Paul at www.cvproductions.com.)
