Here’s one I would NEVER have predicted I would actually do. I’m not even sure exactly how I ended up at the link:
this is not a picture of me
And I still can’t quite believe I actually had the guts to sign up. I did it fast – without thinking about it too much. Basically, it’s an all-day session where you get styled and taught to pose, pin-up style, then get coached through a photo session. And there’s champagne. And a bunch of other people in the room with you. In your underwear. Can you feel my boundary issues creeping up even way over there from where you’re sitting?
However, there was clearly something about the idea that appealed, even though I’m the least photogenic person on the planet. For real – the camera takes everything that I like and makes it disappear and takes everything I hate and puts it right up there in your face. I think two things tipped the scales; first, the session I signed up for was a couple months away – long enough that I could sort of pretend it wasn’t happening and, therefore, not get nervous about it; and, second – hey, I could always pretend I lost my pictures if I was too chicken to post them. I’m still thinking about it.
I get to the hotel where we’re meeting for the shoot, and meet Betty. If you’ve checked out the link (and you should) you know that Betty is a burlesque performer and dance teacher. She’s very cool and welcoming, and my strong desire to turn back around and go home starts to die down a little bit. There are twelve other women there, all with various levels of experience at doing this. Some of the women are performers in Betty’s burlesque troupe – they come with good props and aren’t fazed by any of this (see below). Some seem less sure of exactly what to expect, but I don’t think any of them are actually nervous about this the way I am.
She's going to be a dictator-type overlord of a small African country, so I can't tell you her name
Especially when I look in the mirror after the makeup styling and see that I look like a drag queen. As one woman said, “Set the makeup gun to ‘whore’”. I am assured by everyone that I’m supposed to look that way – it all looks normal on camera. I’m not convinced, but I come up with a good drag name (Iva Krotchtangle), so it’s ok.
We start the photo sessions and some of the women are really good at it. Great looks, relaxed in front of the camera, the whole deal.
I think she's a senator
It’s actually very interesting to watch. There are twelve totally different women in that room, and twelve totally different kinds of hot. There is not one boring, supermodel-type, woman in the bunch and every single one of them looks amazing. It gets to be my turn and I take off my robe to start posing. I feel like I’m blushing all over, but it’s kind of too late to turn back now. Everyone is incredibly nice and very generous about loaning me props. After the first couple of minutes, I calm down and begin to enjoy it a little. Though I clearly have a lot to learn about posing – after I get my photos back in the mail, I see exactly how many shots I ruin with a completely ridiculous expression on my face or with an awkward pose. (The two photos above are not me – as you can see by the awesome posing).
Here are my two favorits shots – you’ll notice that in one of them I’m not even looking at the camera.
I don't really know what to say about this either
don't you like my hair in this one?
One of the women was doing this for the third time and said it was a surprisingly addictive experience. I get it. I feel like the first one was really just practice and I could do it so much better now that I know what to expect. It turned out to be a surprisingly fun, though long, day. I can actually see doing it again. With more alcohol and less makeup. Thanks to all the cool chicks who were there that day – you all looked great and you made it fun!
All of the above photos were taken by Randy Johnson, the Bombshell Betty Dance photographer. Yeah – he’s got a crappy job, doesn’t he?
July 1, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I love pinups! So tasteful and sexy. Brava beauty!
July 2, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Very hot! Did you bring your own costumes or did they provide?
August 13, 2009 at 8:13 am
I’m considering doing one of these, but I was wondering how many photographs were taken of you total? Since I have a habit of ruining my own photographs in general, I was trying to figure out what the ratio of nice photographs/total pictures taken might be to see if it’s worth it.
August 13, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Good question – I have exactly the same issue. Here’s my rough breakdown on the photos: about 200 shots in each pose – about 35 shots of each pose that were good (flattering, eyes open, etc) – about 5 in each pose that I loved and thought were really great. Someone with more experience being photographed than I am would probably have gotten more all around good shots than I did. I needed to remember to keep my eyes open, look at the camera, etc. Go for it! It was a good time.