What a honour it was to be featured in Vice, a north-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was a pleasure being interviewed by Matthew Forbes. We spoke about how Sekushi began, about the business, the partners support chat I run, family life, and even the bunnies. Read the full article here.
We’ve truly been blessed (but also have worked very hard) to find ourselves as owners of our beautiful home and we have been opening it up for a few shoots this year. One of the first to take advantage of this offer was Charlie Rose, a beautiful blonde, Melbourne based escort. Get in touch if you’d like to stay up to date with the day our home studio will be open.
About a month ago I wrote about plans for a sex worker collective photo shoot here. The aim was to provide extra encouragement to donate towards bushfire relief charities through the sale of erotic content. The end result was Cheeky For Charity which has so far raised $2,898.21 and donated in equal shares to the Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund and Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary! It was such a privilege to be part of this awesome collective project.
Here's the beautiful message we received from the Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund Management:
Thank you so much for this contribution and for thinking of us in Cobargo. We were thrilled to see sex workers supporting our fundraiser - it fits so well with our message of strength in diversity. People sometimes look at small rural communities like ours and think mainly of farming or forestry when in fact we are much more diverse and proud of it.
Please pass on our thanks to everyone involved in this fundraiser.
Kindest regards
Zena
This project would not be possible without the time, energy and help of all of those involved whether they attended the shoot, took BTS content or are helping with social media promotion. Thank you to: Audrey Parker, Sara Fennic, Dylan Fiera, Honey Jones, Heather Hunter, Lola Hunt, Nova Hawthorne, Paige Aster, Gabriella May, Jessie Lee Pierce, Lily Lawrence, Mistress Malissia, Georgia Hart, Emily Nguyen, Amber Leigh, Maia B & Crystal Rae, together with Alyssa Forde, Blaire Hunter, LoveLust Gifts Australia, Flat Pack Fox, Charlie Forde, Estelle Leon, Harley Sinn, Leo Embers, Abigail James, Amber King, Jayde, Molly Lock, Alice York, Alena Easton, Blaire Belrose, Sienna Saint, Olivia Winsome, Darth Lacey & Lea Nights.
Photo Credit: Jac & Heath Photography
If you don't already know (and I meet a half and half mix of clients who know or who are totally surprised by it), but I am married to a sex worker. I can't believe out 2 year wedding anniversary is coming up. It's cotton for anyone else in the same boat as me.
Anyway, I often get asked for resources that would be useful for partners to read so here's a little list:
The Partners Portal
Scarlett Academy is a small SWer owned organisation and they host a central resource hub for practical sex industry information. The Partners Portal has web articles, videos, and Q & As aimed at supporting partners of sex workers. Here's the link: http://www.scarlettacademy.com/partners-portal
Christian’s Blog on Dating a Sex Worker
This is said to be the must read article to read for any partner of a sex worker: https://christianbvega.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-date-sex-worker.html?m=1
Partners Subreddit
There's a Reddit page for partners. People ask questions here and sex workers, other partners and the odd internet troll answer. Here's the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/partnersofsexworkers/
Discord Chat Group
There's also a chat group with a few partners from all over the world in it. I think of it more as a social group but the members are there to support each other if needed. Send me a DM on Twitter or Instagram and I'll pass on the link to you.
Suggested Therapists in Australia
This list was sent to me and I've never used their services before so I can't vouch for them personally. If you do have a good experience please let me know.
Matty Silver
Phone counselling (based in NSW) M. 0411 131 619 Ph. 02 9664 8927 mattysilver@optusnet.com.au
Tammy Moran http://www.tammymoran.com.au
Dr Irene Panagopoulos
Prahran Psychology Clinic. Vogue Medical – Shop 1- 009, 670 Chapel Street, South Yarra 3141
0408 521 889
Medicare rebates available with mental health treatment plan from GP. Bulk billing available for eligible clients. If client discloses their referral from RhED they will be bulk billed
Would you like to see Melbourne based escorts, Georgia Hart, Estelle Leon, Lola Hunt and Paige Aster as you’ve never seen them before - getting frisky for to raise money to go towards bushfire relief in Australia? It was such a privilege to join these four on this project to create cheeky never before seen nudes and BTS footage, which they are adding daily to their newly created ‘Wild For Wildlife’ OnlyFans account, for the next 3 weeks. If you’d like to give more, feel free to send them tips too!
Also being auctioned off are 15 polaroids of all the action at this shoot for you to keep. To place your bid to own your very own physical spank bank, please email lolahunt@protonmail.com. Bidding started at $200 but is now up to $1000 at the time of writing! Get in quick or you’ll miss out!
All proceeds are going towards the wildlife and communities affected by the bushfires in Victoria and New South Wales.
Its interesting that as a lawyer in a mid sized national law firm, we had aspirational targets of 10 hours a year to do pro bono work which nobody ever met, as we slaved away keeping our billable hours up as high as possible to avoid getting sacked. I’ve been thinking about how to provide the same pro bono service as a photographer and projects like this are just perfect. Please give it all the support you can whether finanically, or just by sharing the social media posts. Here are links to the social media accounts of all the girls to help with that:
Lola Hunt: Twitter | Instagram
Estelle Leon: Twitter | Instagram
Paige Aster: Twitter | Instagram
Georgia Hart
It’s hard not to be moved by all the amazing things I have seen the sex worker community do as I watch on from overseas. Now that I’m back I want to do my part to help too. I’m certainly not asking many of you to do any more than you already have, but whether you’ve already done plenty and still have the time and energy to help, or if you’re in the same boat as me, and feel like you haven’t done enough yet, I’d love for you to join me, my wife (Tash Hamilton) and a few other friends, in Melbourne, for a group effort to fundraise for those effected by the bush fires.
I’ve booked a simple studio location in Brunswick for a half day shoot on Thursday 16 January 2020 from 1pm. I’ll cover that cost as well as giving up my time for free. I hope the below is not too much information as I want this to be simple., fun and effective, and hopefully helpful to all those effected by the fires. But also there are important details to discuss too.
THE CONCEPT
My idea is to ultimately make large donations, as a collective of members of the sex worker community, to a few charities. Those charities haven’t been decided on and I’m happy for input on this via the group chats.
To raise the funds, my idea is firstly for every one involved to publish the same group photo simultaneously, together with BTS video content like boomerangs. The concept for this photo will be to wear what you like in neutral tones of nude and white as pictured below (special thanks to Alyssa Forde for this suggestion). Both those face out and face in are welcome and if you’re face in I’ll pose you so your face is hidden. The message for the photo is that the sex worker community is doing all that it can to help. LoveLust Australia will try to donate a few outfits to help anyone who needs it.
Secondly, and only for those interested, I will also want to take a couple raunchier semi-nude group photos to sell via a password protected gallery, probably hosted on my website. The concept for this photo will be to be:
stripping out of the clothes in the first photo; and
taking photos of each other with phones and polaroid cameras as a way of celebrating how this community has raised so much money by selling nudes. Someone also suggested holding hand written signs like Save the Koalas or anything else you might think of.
Any polaroids taken and BTS content can also be sold.
COLLECTING THE FUNDS
I’m thinking the main way of collecting funds would be via bank transfer to a business account held by my wife Tash Hamilton. The donations have to be marked as donations in the reference field. I’d like to encourage you to promote this in your networks, and then to distribute the password to those who have confirmed payment to Tash’s account. That way everyone is essentially doing their own admin rather than having just myself or Tash doing it all. 100% of the donations will be donated. There are no overhead or running costs.
Doing it this way also avoids paying commissions to a third party and the risk of being shutdown by the third party i.e. Go Fund Me has been shut down fundraisers due to being organised by a sex worker. The only downside is its likely donations won’t be tax deductible. If anyone wants to make a tax deductible donation then perhaps they should be directed to one of your choice. If they show you confirmation of a donation, you can pass on the password to them.
Before anything goes live, I’ll send details of everyone’s social media accounts so everyone can tag and give credit to everyone else involved. If you have your own fundraising promotions, those details will also be shared.
I’m definitely open to suggestion on all of the above, including the concepts, which can be discussed in the group chats. But I am pretty happy with the colour palette for everyone's outfits, as nudes and whites should be easy for everyone to hopefully find in their wardrobes or to borrow from a friend.
Speak to you soon!
Yet another shoot sponsored and styled by LoveLust in 2019 - the fourth and final one for the year! To wrap up 2019 with a bang LoveLust wanted to celebrate Aussie summers, so for this glamour photography shoot, they dressed up Emily Nguyen in Cordite & Dynamite Bikinis and we turned on the waterworks in a friend's backyard for added effect! If you'd like to have a shoot sponsored by LoveLust contact them on Twitter or Instagram. If you'd like to follow Emily you can find her on Instagram and Snapchat!
Sydney escort Lana Jade had this to say to her 18k Instagram followers after her first look at her photos from our lifestyle and boudoir photo shoot together in an amazing waterside property in Sydney:
“I just got a little sneak peek of my @sekushistudios shoot with edited photos coming through my inbox 😍😍😍 I’m so in love with this shoot. I put off booking him to shoot my photos because he’s one of my good friend’s husbands and I honestly didn’t think I could be sexy or ‘Lana’ enough in front of him. From the beginning of the shoot I was blown away by how easy he was to shoot with, how he guided the shoot perfectly and made the most of every single minute of the shoot. Andy’s ideas were awesome and my fave photos are with props he thought to utilise. I was so freaking excited when I got the raw images back and have been bursting to share them. Yaaaaay, thank you Andy!”
You can find out more about Lana from her website, Instagram, Twitter and she also has a podcast!
I'm excited to drop these photos from my second collaboration with LoveLust Australia who asked Instagrammer and Twerkout instructor Crystal Rae to model some of their outfits including a stunning sequined g-string by Cordite n Dynamite Bikinis, Club & Stagewear. Their was no brief this time so I made the most of the freedom to get creative for this glamour photography shoot and we tried to focus on mixing and matching Crystal's outfits.
Crystal was surprised at how productive we were over an hour shoot. She's an experienced model with a dancing background and she said more than a few times and I can she would get caught up chatting away to photographers. I live a pretty busy life at the moment juggling the rest of life with a 1 year old baby, so I'm always making the most of the time I have with each client to ensure I deliver as many photos as I can for them to choose from. Check out the different looks here and be sure to follow Crystal on the gram.
My vouchers have been hugely popular as gifts and I’m joining the bandwagon and giving one away myself!
Up for grabs to one lucky winner selected at random is one Sekushi Gift Voucher valued at $1,000. That’s enough to book me for a full 3 hour shoot with 12 professionally retouched images in any city that I tour in Australia and with location costs included. This will make it as easy as possible for the lucky winner to use the voucher they won!
Last year’s giveaway was all about ourselves, and celebrating the sexiness in us all. This year’s giveaway is all about making someone else feel sexy and celebrating their sexiness.
To enter the draw simply:⠀
1. Follow @sekushistudios on Instagram or Twitter;
2. Like either of these posts on:
a. Insta: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1YT-D8gcse/?igshid=1g9twty94o5oq or
b.Twitter: https://twitter.com/sekushistudios/status/1163736435536478209?s=21
3. Reply to either post by tagging a friend and describe their sexiest feature.
Double your chances of winning, if the friend you tagged also follows my account.
Triple your chances of winning, if you share either of the Insta or Twitter posts on your feed or story. Remember to tag @sekushistudios so I can see it. Otherwise send me a screenshot of your post or story via DMs if your account is private or protected.
Look out for more of these competitions/giveaways in the future. I always appreciate the support of my clients, friends and followers in helping me live my best surburban life, which is made possible through this business.
Best of luck!!
Models on voucher: Blaire Hunter and Elle Emerson
* * * *
Terms and Conditions
This competition closes at 7:00pm, AEST on the 31st of August 2019, after which one winner will be randomly selected from all entries. The winner will be contacted via Instagram or Twitter and sent either a digital voucher, or a physical voucher by post if an address is provided.
The voucher can be redeemed by the winner for themselves only. Vouchers are not redeemable for cash.
While this giveaway is open worldwide, please do not enter unless you plan to visit Australia soon to redeem this voucher. This will give others, who will definitely be able to benefit from this giveaway, the best chance of winning. ⠀
Private or protected accounts are welcome to enter (Please DM a screenshot of your post to @sekushistudios on Twitter or Instagram).
After two fabulous years running Sekushi Studios full-time, I’m giving my price list a make over up with these changes coming applicable to all shoots booked after 1 July 2019. On the face of it, it will appear that my prices are going up. However, by taking advantage of a new early bird discount, the rate rise is quite small. Also, I’m bringing more giveaways this year together with, loyalty rewards and more! You can see my new rates here, but please do read the rest of this announcement first, where I explain the reasons for the price changes, and as always, happy to hear your thoughts on these changes, if you have any :)
The Changes
There are three main changes to my pricing. The most obvious change is to my rates. There are two main reasons for raising my rates which I explain in great detail below. However, to offset the rate rises, I am also announcing a significant 20% early bird discount for shoots confirmed with a deposit paid at least 1 month prior to the shoot. So, with the discount applied to a $800 Standard Photo Collaboration, the rate will be reduced to $640, which is an increase of only $40 from my old rate. I’m hoping this will encourage you to book early and plan early. I often want to give discounts last minute before a tour to see them fill up, but instead will be rewarding those of you who book and plan in advance. This will provide me with greater financial security and reduces my outgoings, as I should be able to book flights and locations earlier. I’ll also be planning tours even earlier, and informing you of them through my monthly newsletter, to give you the best possible chance to make the most of the discount.
After two years of full-time business, I feel like I am more in touch with the needs of my clients than ever. This year, I’ll be introducing a comprehensive new package especially catered to many of my clients who are new to the industry, and looking to create their online advertising profile. The new Complete Photo Collaboration package will include 16 final images, the maximum number needed for a Scarletblue profile. It also includes a free sekushigram shoot, with 3 final images, usable within 6 months of the main shoot, to give these clients fresh new content down the track.
The last significant change is to the Sekushigram Shoot. The shoot time will now be reduced to 30 minutes from 1 hour, though the price remains the same at $200. The original purpose of this package was to create a very small amount of content, quickly and easily, in particular promoting one specific service like social dates, or a unique selling points specific to any brand. Due to the length of the shoot, sekushigrams haven’t always been used this way, so for those looking for a more of a portfolio update, consisting of more than 3 images, the new Mini Photo Collaboration shoot package is better suited for that purpose.
But why?
So those are the main changes, and there are two main reasons behind those changes which I’ll now explain in more detail. It definitely hasn’t been an easy decision to raise my rates and implement these changes, and is something I’ve been thinking carefully about for about six months. It’s been difficult because I’m incredibly grateful for the continuing business and support I receive from you and this industry I have the privilege of serving, and so I’m also very conscious of whether my prices will be perceived as reasonable.
The first reason is that after working with hundreds of you, my skills and my understanding of your businesses and needs has progressed. I can now confidently call myself an expert at my trade, and a leader in this area of photography. From the feedback I’ve received over the last two years, collaborations with you have resulted in you booking more of work, and importantly, more of the work that you want or enjoy. At the end of the day, these commercial successes are highly valuable, and as long as you continue to be successful, I feel rate rises within reason can be justified.
Secondly, after life changing events in the past 12 months, particularly welcoming a second child into our family (the effect of which I totally underestimated), time has become a more limited resource for me. Being time poorer, restricts my ability to give you the best possible service I can, including my ability to deliver services within my advertised turnaround times and to spend enough time with you planning before our shoots. Over the past few months, I have constantly found myself apologizing to some of you, for missing these deadlines. While many of you have been so understanding and patient, its just something I don’t want to become the norm. Rather than extending my turnaround times any further, I see the answer to this problem being rates that better reflect the more limited nature of time for me.
So while my rates are going up its definitely not because I want to be making more money from you. I have been very happy with my rates for the last two years and it has paid me well enough to be in a position to give a little back which is why I throw my Christmas party for my clients every year and run gift voucher giveaways here and there. However, in order to strike a happy balance between work and my new family commitments, I’m hoping to work a little less, to ensure I serve both my family and you, as best I can, with the time I have. I’m hoping the net result of these changes will result in my life being a little less hectic and a little more enjoyable again, which will ensure that I’ll be happy to continue serving you as best I can, long into the future.
Giving a little back
With that said, I have always struggled with the idea of raising my rates, because I’ve always wanted to be accessible to as many of you as possible, whether you can charge a thousand an hour for your time, or a hundred. It’s the same reason why I provide priority edits on a needs basis, rather than for an additional fee. It keeps everything on an even keel. So for those who I might now have become unaffordable, there are a few things I’ve arranged to hopefully keep my services within your budgets.
Firstly, as mentioned above, bookings confirmed with a deposit paid at least a month in advance of any shoots will receive 20% discounts. Secondly, I’ll be giving away 3 x Standard Photo Collaboration vouchers throughout the financial year to someone I trust in several sex worker networks. The recipients of these vouchers will be selected at random from a pool determined by a process of peer nomination. I’m also committed to running at least 3 gift voucher giveaways a year, rather than only on my business’ anniversary, to help reduce my shoot fees. And lastly, I’ll be creating a rewards program to thank my repeat clients with discounts, to keep them as regular as they have been. However, this is something I will still be working on, so watch out for updates on this in the near future.
I’ve always been receptive of constructive feedback and as mentioned earlier a very conscious of what you might think or feel about my new pricing. If you have any thoughts, questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me as I’ll be happy to discuss those things with you. Otherwise, I hope to work with you again or for the first time, sometime in the next financial year!
This is me with a good friend of mine, Daniel, on my wedding day. Had we met earlier he probably would have been my best-man. We met online after seeing each other respond to posts by partners of SWs on the subreddit, r/sexworkers. When we realized we both lived in Melbourne, we met up for drinks. It nearly never happened, I mean its not the most normal thing to meet a stranger from the internet in person, but we finally got there.
Anyway, we’ve both been with our partners for some time and our relationships are in good places, so you’re wrong if you think partners connecting with each other is just about having a cry about how jealous or insecure we are. Its more so about eliminating that elephant that stands in the room whenever you’re with your non-SW partnered friends.
Most just don’t get it. Amongst my friends, only one knows about my real job and my wife’s. He was the best-man at my wedding, lives in Melbourne so we see him and his partner often, and he’s gotten to know my wife very, very well. That made it a lot easier when we told him the truth. But I still feel like there’s an elephant in the room and I feel much more myself around Daniel.
My other friends live in Sydney. I hardly see them and they just don’t know my wife well enough. Lying sucks but I’ve lost friends and family before.
While my relationship is in a great place now, there was a teething period early on. When your partner is a SW, it's likely you won't have anyone to turn to with any of your relationship issues - other than your partner themselves because its also possible that they're the only person who knows you're dating a SW. That can be a huge burden on any relationship. In contrast, my wife has plenty of networks and contacts through the industry and beyond, so if she has a problem with me, I might not be the first to hear of it, if at all.
That’s the other reason why I’m pretty passionate about connecting with other partners. Now that I’ve moved past the teething stage I’m able to help anyone who might have gone through something similar, so that they can possibly end up as happy as me.
So how can we connect? If you’re in Melbourne let’s grab a drink at the end of March. If you’re anywhere else, you can join the anonymous discord chat group. Either way DM me.
Daniel and I also both volunteer for Scarlett Academy, which provides resources and support to partners of SWs. We are points of contact for any partners with questions. Here’s a link for anyone interested: www.scarlettacademy.com/partners-portal
A little bit behind this shoot…
This is Abigail and Kitty. Can you tell which one of these two was at their first ever photo shoot?
If you can’t, that’s because this is a trick question, because neither of them had ever had a photo shoot before. Would you believe that more than half of the clients in the last 2 years have never had a professional photo shoot before working with me?
I’m not 100% sure why this is the case, but I’m also not complaining. I think it might have to do with my style, which is very classic, and boudoir-esque, and probably suits the girlfriend vibe that seems to be a common starting point for many of my clients as they begin developing their brands. It might also be because if you look around my website, you’d be hard pressed to pick out the first timers from the seasoned vets, because I'm great with giving directions.
Anyhow, there is a little bit of a story behind this post. Kitty and Abigail are friends in real life. Kitty was the initial point of contact, trying to book a shoot for the both of them towards the end of last year. However, for reasons unknown to me, Kitty dropped off the radar, but shortly after that Abigail contacted me about a shoot on her own.
I had no idea they knew each other until I rocked up to Abigail’s shoot, where I also got to meet Kitty. She explained that she was there not just to support her friend, who was understandably nervous about the shoot, but to also get an idea of what it would be like to work with me, because she was also nervous.
I told them both what I tell all my clients, that half of my clients are first timers just like they were, that I’m excellent with direction, that I would run the show, and that they had absolutely nothing to worry about. If you’re shooting with me, all you need are your outfits, hair and make up is optional, and to be present, preferably on time. I’m more than capable and happy to control everything else - where to stand, how to stand, what to do with those awkward hands, and so on. There’s nothing else to worry about once you arrive at the shoot.
At the beginning of the shoot I told Kitty by the time Abigail was finished, she was going to want to book in her shoot. At the end of the shoot, I asked Kitty what she thought, and she said we’d definitely be working together soon. And now we have!
“With kindness, dedication and detail to his work, my girlfriend and I were able to feel safe, comfortable and have a great photo shoot. Once he started giving us directions of poses and angles, we automatically knew that all photos would come out fantastic! And yes that did happen! We would love to work with him again. Thank you very much.”
This is Kendall Heidi, who loves a good role play. You can find her on Twitter (@KendallHeidi2) However, this post isn’t going to be about her and her cute little nurse uniform, it’s about me and family life and only very slightly connected to the images lol.
Last Wednesday my wife and I woke up to both of our sons throwing up on us in the middle of the night. Earlier that day the youngest also shat all over me in a crisp fresh white shirt. That night I had a wicked fever and next day, I too had gastro… If any of you have kids by the way, I’d love to know. Let me know how many in the comments below.
The next morning, my wife escaped to Noosa for her fabulous hens weekend. Thank whatever higher power might exist, because we had long ago, pre-arranged for my mum to fly down that weekend and help me while my wife was away, and I needed all the bloody help I could get.
I’ve never been so tired. I spent the entire day in bed. I felt like I needed to sleep, even though I couldn’t. But I didn’t have the energy to get up and do anything either. It’s not that hard to walk 5m from my bed to my desk to do some work, even just to respond to emails, but I just couldn’t that day. I couldn’t even sit in bed and catch up on Netflix. I’m lucky my mum was here (this is her first visit in 5 months), because there was just no way I could deal with a baby, let alone a sick one, in the state that I was in.
I’m devo because I could have crushed out so much work while my mum looked after the baby all weekend for me. But instead I slept for like 3 days. Yet despite the down time, and despite this being another stop in a year thats been so stop-start, this week I feel like I’ve finally found some rhythm, which I’ve been craving all year. So hopefully you’re noticing a lot of new content popping up here on this blog, and different kinds of post too as I experiment a little over the coming months. Let me know your thoughts if you’re enjoying any of this new stuff. Would love to hear from you!
These have been long on my mind. I get the odd request now and then, from my clients, as well as from my client's clients, for some sort of gift voucher which can be redeemed towards a photo or video shoot.
I am excited to finally be able to offer Sekushi gift vouchers! The timing couldn't be any better. The first anniversary of Sekushi Studios becoming a full-time venture is coming up, so to celebrate that milestone, and promote these vouchers, I'll be giving 2 x $200 vouchers away in my very first social media competition.
Enter the competition for your chance to win here.
Cut to the chase and order a gift voucher here.
Model on voucher: Ella Gold
Above all else, a photo shoot should be about you. It should make you feel good, by making you look good, even if you are just updating your professional portfolio. I've heard all too often that photo shoots are stressful, from first timers, and professionals alike. I would much prefer to hear that you:
found a stunning location without issue;
were confident about how you looked in your outfits; and
were excited to start shooting after a relaxing morning pampering yourself, listening to tunes, taking hundreds of selfies and sipping on champagne.
Here are my tips and tricks which I hope will help you achieve the above, and stop you from putting off a shoot with Sekushi Studios any longer.
Choose a Location
Booking the location should be one of the first things you think about. Other than you, the background is the other dominant features in a photo, so choosing the perfect location is important. For this reason, I've spent plenty of time with my clients to help them choose the perfect locations.
Stunning light-filled penthouse booked through Airbnb
Many of my clients book hotel rooms. In my experience, the booking process can be more tedious, but it may also be worth looking at Airbnb and Stayz, although many properties have unworkable minimum stay requirements. Here are a few of my tips:
Look on hotel websites for photos of the rooms to get an idea of what the rooms look like. Something spacious, with big windows, white walls, colourful features and plenty of natural light works best for my style of photography.
Booking a hotel well in advance usually avoids last minute price hikes and gives you a greater range of choice.
You don't necessarily want to book a hotel room for the same day as your shoot. So for example, if you've booked a shoot on a Saturday afternoon, you should book a hotel room for Saturday night, as you will be able to shoot after check-in which is usually from 2.00pm. But if you've booked a shoot for a Saturday morning, you should book a hotel room for the Friday night and shoot before check-out on the Saturday morning. If you need to shoot at 12pm on a Saturday, you should book a hotel room for both Friday and Saturday night.
Most hotels will not normally guarantee an early check-in, although it is possible to arrange a late check-out, usually at extra charge.
Shop
A shoot is the perfect excuse to spoil yourself with some new sexy lingerie, hosiery, shoes and jewellery.
Stand out with brighter lingerie sets, also with high-thighs and garter belts
If you've never shopped for lingerie before, here's a great guide on choosing the right lingerie for your body type. Recruit a friend to shop with you or ask retail staff for help with picking outfits. If you're confident in how you look in your outfit, that confidence will show in your photos.
Black and white are pretty popular colour choices, so don't be afraid to stand out with something a little bolder or brighter. Avoid colours similar to your skin, as your outfit may blend in.
Keep an eye out for lingerie sets with 'cheekier' tanga or thong bottoms, which are essential if you want the very best photos of your tush.
If you plan on wearing tights, avoid stay-ups (with the sticky lace tops), especially if your lingerie has a garter belt. Stay-ups are almost almost impossible to hook onto garter belts, leave imprints on your skin and they tend to create muffin tops on most thighs. Instead look for thigh-highs made to be worn with a garter belts, which tend to be harder to find and a little more expensive. Buy a couple pairs in different colours if you can, in case one tears on the day. When putting on your lovely new tights, avoid pulling them, scrunch them up and gently roll them up your leg, inch by inch.
Killer pumps are a must. The higher the heel, the longer your legs will look and the more plump your bottom will appear. Look for shoes with a stiletto heel, rather than wedges. Nude and black are safe colour options that will match any lingerie.
Simple jewellery will add a touch of elegance to your photos. You don't have to buy real gold or diamonds, as you won't be able to tell the difference in your photos.
Depending on the style of your shoot, think about buying props like toys, whips or handcuffs. The possibilities are limitless.
If you have a particular idea for your shoot, we can also discuss colours and styles before you shop.
Thong bottoms for the best photos of your behind
What comes first?
Its a bit of a chicken before the egg conundrum, but your ideas on the style of your shoot, including what to wear, what props to incorporate, and your hair and make up style, might help with picking a location, while at other times a great location may help develop your ideas about the style of your shoot. Its not easy, so if you need help, talk to me.
Tash and Jessie brought their own cushions and ordered balloons for their shoot
Take good care of yourself
A few weeks or days before your shoot book yourself in for colour, facial, spa, wax, and mani-pedi appointments.
Book hair and make up artists (HMUA) a few hours before the shoot
I love the magic that HMUAs are responsible for and my preference would be for all my clients to have their hair and make up done by a professional, if their budgets allow, regardless of whether they choose to have their face blurred. This is because strong eye make up, fake lashes, cheek contouring and lipstick show through the face blur, and accentuate your feminine features. Definitely ask for fake lashes. My wife describes fake lashes are 'Instant Pretty' and I wholeheartedly agree.
Book your HMU appointment 2-3 hours before your shoot. This will ensure your artist has plenty of time to get to you and do their very best job without feeling like they're racing the clock. It will also give you plenty of time to relax and admire how amazing you look before the shoot begins, which should also help settle any nerves.
MUA: Julia Theodosis
Nerves
Its perfectly normal to be nervous, and fairly common too. I won't pretend to understand, having never posed half naked in front of a stranger with a camera before, but I can appreciate how any insecurities you might have, could be pretty exposed. What I can say is that I'm one of those idealists who thinks everyone is beautiful in their own way, has their own unique features that others are envious of, and I actively look for and emphasise those features. With that said I generally think that nerves can be minimised essentially by being prepared.
Many photoshoot virgins fear being unable to pose. That shouldn't be your concern, rather it is mine, and I'm pretty good at posing models. I'm also great at giving directions, giving assurance and I will always ask permission to physically move you into position if I feel it is necessary. But if you're still worried, the best thing to do is to practice. Look at some images of lingerie or swimsuit models and practice recreating the poses you see in front of a mirror. When you're finished, be sure to send the reference images to me, because I will be able to give you photos you love, by seeing what you liked in those photos.
If you minimise your stress by organising things early, and leaving plenty of time on the day of your shoot for travel, hair and make up and checking in, you will minimise your nerves.
Be prepared for a work out. As glamorous as a photo shoot might look, it's hard work. It will test your balance, abs, and legs, and while you may feel stretched out to the limit, the aim of certain poses is to accentuate your feminine curves by pushing out certain body parts as far as they'll go. Also don't worry about huffing or puffing or complaining or asking for a break on the day. I have yet to have a client complain more than my fiancee and well... I'm marrying her.
Bring wine, champagne, and music. I have a good playlist, but you may feel more comfortable with your own selections.
Bring a friend if you're really, really nervous. The only qualification is try not too get distracted by them.
You wouldn't know it but Tash was shaking while holding this pose
Other random tips
Keep sunrise and sunset times in mind, which are easy to find on Google. In winter, and with daylight savings, it can be dark as early as 6pm and if you want photos with natural light, it can be a race to get enough photos before the fading light disappears.
Pack your bag the day before. This will give you plenty of time to remember if you've forgotten something.
Bring everything, but especially spare hosiery incase you rip a pair. I've also seen garter belt hooks come off, so if you really want a three piece lingerie set in your photos, I'd recommend having a backup set. Pack as many other outfits as you like, which will give us plenty to choose from on the day. Pack a couple of pairs of heels too. I've had clients pack pillows and blankets, and other home decor to spruce up their location. Pack any other props which might help communicate the style of your shoot.
Remove all labels from lingerie, especially sets with mesh.
Check and clean the bottoms of your shoes if necessary. If you have Louboutins, you can get the soles repainted.
With most of the preparation out of the way, there won't be much to worry about on the day other than to:
The majority of my clients are late to shoots. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes to one hour before your shoot. If you arrive early, you can grab a coffee and relax. If you're running late, you might feel stressed and anxious.
Continue to take good care of yourself. The day before your shoot drink plenty of water, moisturise and get plenty of rest to ensure your skin is glowing.
Wear loose clothing rather than tight bras, socks, jeans, and anything else which could leave an imprint on your skin.
A lot of my clients like to lay out all of their outfits on the bed. As we will likely be shooting on and around the bed, it would be better to hang them up in the wardrobe or lay them out on the bathroom counter.
Turn on some music, admire yourself and pop open that champagne.
Bear in mind that during the shoot, if I ask you to move, I mean inches and millimetres, rather than full turns or backflips.
Seeing as though you are already looking hot AF, you might as well make plans to catch up with friends or go out and celebrate a job well done!
