Sisterhood of the Travelling Red Dress (Daily S.P.O.T. for 2/8/2010)

You've probably heard of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, the book and movie series about four young female friends and the magical pair of jeans that fits each and every one of them perfectly. (When you consider that two of the actresses in the film adaptation were the respective stars of GOSSIP GIRL and UGLY BETTY, it's pretty clear that magic -- or a whole lotta spandex! -- had to be involved...)

It turns out I accidentally created a similar sisterhood, this one based around a basic red satin dress, size "small," halter top, knee-length pleated skirt.  The same type worn by Marilyn Monroe in that scene from The Seven Year Itch where she wanders over a subway grate, as well as the brisk breeze emanating from same -- an iconic pinup image that I confess to being neither the first, nor last, photographer to visit in my career. And like Marilyn's dress, this little number came with a Won't-Stay-Down hemline at no additional charge...

	The dress was originally purchased for the curvy young lady to my left: Vyper, a Florida-based wrestling valet who, thanks to relentless MySpace self-promotion second only to Tila Tequila, had extended her fan base far outside the Sunshine State. We had been exchanging photo comments on 'Space for some time, until she came across this pic in my gallery and declared "When we shoot, I wanna do something like this!" You had best believe I booked my flight and hotel the very next day. This shot was taken at the entrance to the beach on Ft. Lauderdale's main drag, with the ocean providing a nice bit of natural breeze.
	The dress next wound up on the slim frame of glamour model/neo-hippie chick Sativa Verte* (whom you Fuse viewers might remember from a few memorable episodes of their Pants-Off Dance-Off show). For this shoot, we added a white crinoline for a little vintage fluff -- and Sativa, who'd previously done a "naughty cancan girl" set with me, added a few energetic high kicks before pretty much shedding the vast majority of the outfit. 'Cuz that's, y'know, how she rolls. (This photo session, at my regular stomping grounds Studio 212* in Metuchen, NJ, was to be part of the aborted MODEL BEHAVIOR DVD THREE, which may eventually see the light of day -- but I'm not holding my breath. Come home, Sativa, all is forgiven...) *LOUD WARNING: Site contains nekkid wimmen.
	Brenda Fernandez is part of the "Queens of Elizabeth, NJ," a pack of aspiring models whose ranks include the Delgado sisters Joanie and Carmen (profiled in "Backlighting, Part 3") and Diana Quezada. Brenda falls somewhere between Vyper and Sativa on the "curvy" spectrum, but still rocked the dress effectively, mixing things up a bit with red stilletos and garters. Speaking of backlighting, there's more than plenty here courtesy of a strobe behind the white muslin background to blast it out nicely. (A better example of the behind-the-scenes backlight will be explored in a subsequent post...)
	Curves galore -- and a whole lotta retro glamour -- were supplied by my favorite Morocco-born, Belgian-bred belly dancer, Saloua Elmot. Normally clad in bangles and gauzy veils -- not to mention the occasional real live snake! -- Saloua happily got in touch with her inner Betty Page on the rooftop of her Lower Manhattan apartment building. Strappy Chinese Laundry heels and vintage nylons complete a pose that wouldn't look out of place on the nose of a WWII bomber.
	And the little red dress concludes its world tour (for now, for now...) on the long, lean Carina Herman, who'd been on the same shoot as Brenda (see above), but had to wait seven months for her turn to "go Code Red." Speaking of world tours, this pedestrian walkway can be found in a Secaucus, NJ hotel/shopping complex that's a regular Stiff Shots locale.

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So what have we learned today?

"Uh, you've got a serious stocking fetish?"

Yeah, well, guilty as charged. Anyone else?

"The right outfit is timeless?"

Bingo. And if you don't believe me, believe Aunt Betty:

Back From The Dead/New Year's Resolutions

The S.P.O.T.'s been idle for way too long. Too much dust 'n' cobwebs. Grab the Pledge and the Swiffer...ah, that's more like it.

Two Thousand and Ten's turning into an interesting year, photographically, for your old pal Mr. Stiff. More interesting/intriguing/dare-I-say-it scintillating portrait work (two words: pregnant model!). More black and white work (and more ways to create said B&W; plug-ins and filters are fine, but sometimes good ol' Adobe Bridge can give you great results). Maybe I'll even shoot a few more buildings, or boggy marshes, in addition to the usual cheesecake pinups and wrestling shots.

And maybe...just maybe...I'll figure out a way to restart/salvage the aborted high-rez 'n' widescreen MODEL BEHAVIOR DVD THREE project. In the interim, here's a fragment, shot in the style of your typical TV pharmaceutical commercial. While heavily censored, it's still very much Not Safe For Work, so view accordingly:


It's shaping up to be a verrrrrry interesting twelve months. Join me, won'tcha?