What a mistake to make

I've wanted the Sony A850 camera from the day I first read about it. It's full frame, has a great sensor, is 24.2mp and contains all manner of useful bits and pieces. Today I made the stupid mistake of picking one up and testing it. It's gorgeous and snaps shots with a heavy thunk that makes my camera feel like a plastic toy. It was all that I could do to walk away - but I did. It's a $2000 investment and I know that the price will fall (my last camera, with a kit lens now retails at a mere C$420) but I'm just aching for it with every fiber of my being. Damn it.

On a kinda related note had dinner with a friend and his friends last night and was joined late by someone who had been working... he was a stripper in a male lapdance club and had made $1300 on his shift that night (a good night admittedly). That would buy 3/4ths of a camera. Now Canada is Full Contact so to make the money he basically had to chat up old men, lead them to a booth and then see how many songs he could get out of them before they balked at the escalating cost.... it usually ended up with them groping his naked genitals and requesting more (he's not allowed to comply) but it seems a small price to pay.

Real Gold was getting a VIP room booking - an hour with someone, a private pole, some champagne and anything up to a Grand for the time. To get those regularly you needed a few things he said... first when you got your 1 song to dance to on the main stage you needed to be engaged, use the pole, show some athleticism, have a routine, show that you could move slowly, fluidly and with rhythm and then not disappoint in the cock department (hen nights want you half hard but they never splash cash, gay guys wanna see you 'tied off' and to get you half hard later). You also needed a great 'barside manner' - these guys have to approach clients, say hello, hold a conversation, hold the customer's attention and then move it from amiable to libidinous in seconds. It's a tougher skill than the pole by all accounts - and the real money makers are the guys who you think genuinely like you.

I'm thinking that the latter skill might be something that we tap into for a session or two on engagement....

Time for a wee break

So with both of us getting excited as soon as the temperature gets above minus 10 we decided that it was time for a little break - and so we're off to Cuba... home of Fidel, British honeymooners, no Americans, cigars, pieced together old cars, the phrase "that may be difficult", old crooners, hot swingers and rum.

Hurrah. Oh and Huzzah!

Tomorrow is a 5am start to get the 6.30am train to Toronto... early as hell but trying to avoid the airports while they're crazy.

Finally getting down to some work

I write the blog from me new office (hurrah) where I'm sheltering from the cold, the snow and the generally Januariness and working on a couple of proposals that I need to get out into the world.

Last night's floatation bath did me the world of good (although the salt has played havoc with my skin and I'm not sure that it was a great idea for Jude) as did the massage afterward.

Today has been a little less relaxed though I was befriended by a middle aged Russian lady who insisted on cutting up some fresh ginger and dropping it into my tea as I "looked cold on the inside" - to warm herself up she poured generous amounts of French Vodka into her black tea as she told me the story of how she got to Montreal, the dark bear of a husband she left behind in Russia and her poly-lingual daughter. It's nice to be back in a city.

Dominated by shoots

I realize that this blog is fast becoming dominated by photo shoots - but right now I'm in full photo shoot mode... it really does help me to have 2 hrs a day where I'm totally focused, concentrated, relaxed and actually in charge. Once I have the shoots done I can then get on with real work; and I tend to be more productive. I'm starting to get to know my models too, which is always a good thing. It makes me feel as though they're confident in my abilities and makes them more relaxed right from the start of the shoot.

Anyway today (tomorrow and Friday) was about more of the Playboy stuff and this time it was a lo-fi sauna look that we were going for. Very unedited versions of what it's going to look like here...

And a shot that I took during the 'set light' phase here.

Tomorrow is Indian woman doing Native American (geddit?) poses

And we follow that with a very soapy bath shot and a young woman who speaks no English...

Watching the world walk by

So I sign on the new office space today... and as I was a little early I decided to take advantage of Starbuck's and Bell's Two Hours of Free Internet with a triple shot latte (I'm not sleeping and need a kick start) on St Catherine - Montreal's main(stream) shopping drag.

The view from the window is very Montreal. Tanned people in Canada Goose jackets promenading. Tourists trying to work out the parking poles. A restaurant 'O.Noir' that serves its food in total darkness, a Lebanese lunch place and of course "XXX XXX Spectacle Erotique Studio Octopussy" which flies the Quebec, US and Canadian flag and has old school neon signs  promising "Live XXX shows"

A scan of their website shows that it's this girl who pulled the dead zone shift today - Alehandra will doubtless be filing her nails between 'exotic massage' and 'erotic dance' - the smell of bleach heavy in her nostrils as a man who never thought that the job existed mops down the cum stained floors from the night before - in a bid to give his children a chance at a better future.

A few doors down Sexe Cite offers a more wholesome 'toys and costumes' experience... but the real life is always on the floor just above eye level.

Never give a nervous model an easy out

So today I was supposed to shoot a model who's a competitive figure skater (I think, maybe an ice dancer)... his profile said that he was comfortable shooting nudes and he approached me to be a part of my Playboy shoot - and to get some more 'wet and wild' shots for his portfolio. The fact that his portfolio doesn't have any nude shots should have really alerted me to trouble ahead - but the truth is I don't really care whether people wanna get nude or not - I just wanna shoot some.

Anyway as the days went by and his messages came through clearer and clearer. Could he bring an escort? Could he wear boxer briefs? Could he move the date? I tried my best to be reassuring - yes a chaperon is fine, wear as much or little as you feel comfortable with; I'm flexible on times and dates.

Of course what I forgot in all of this was to give him my address. And by the time I did he had a legitimate 'it's a Sunday, traffic will be murder, can we reschedule?' excuse. Schoolboy error from me; fair enough on his part and another date set up. But as I'd set up light and the most lo-fi set to date it seemed a shame to waste effort (even effort as minimal as this) and so it was off with the togs, up with the lights and on with the show.

The results aren't great but they keep me on track, on schedule and (when posted on the fridge) on the diet. Oh well... onwards and upwards.

What I did today

Today I took some old lenses, an April 1970 Playboy magazine, a 5' 3" Welder from Montreal and a couple of hours and did this.

Tomorrow I'll start to work on a lot of the other images that we shot together and turn them into something that's lovely and shiny.

I do love the 'digital age' - even though there will be no record of it at all in centuries to come