The photography business has been a little slow since the advent of digital cameras and their later incorporation into cell phones. There's a pickup at the start of school for senior pictures a little better than the guy who takes yearbook photos can produce, and again at prom and graduation times. Weddings bring in some business, but the time involved in photographing a wedding makes the cost pretty high for a lot of couples. They've started relying on a brother or uncle to record their special day.
I own 'Picture Perfect', a studio in the suburbs, and I while I was keeping my head above water, things could have been better. Some of the other studios had closed, but I liked being my own boss. All I needed was something to fill in the low spots and I'd be doing OK.
The digital camera boom also spawned another industry -- websites for people who like displaying themselves to other people. One day as I was looking at one, I wondered if there were any women out there who'd like pictures just for their husband or boyfriend.
Next door to my studio is a hair salon. I figured there was no better place to find out than there. I've known Virginia, the owner of the salon for several years. She's talks to lots of women every day, I figured she might have heard about something like this. As it turned out, she had. After a few cups of coffee and one dinner, we had a plan of sorts. Virginia would tell the women she thought might be interested about my studio, and I'd make up some brochures for her to put in her salon.
The brochure I worked up required some sample photos, so I went looking for a model. That was harder than it sounds. My samples had to be of a real woman, not the slender, ravishing girls made more so by advertisers and magazines with the liberal use of an airbrush or a computer program. I got about a dozen responses from girls just like that before almost giving up. When it looked like I wasn't going to find a model, I told Virginia I might have to postpone my plan. She just grinned.
"How 'bout using me?"
I don't know why I hadn't thought to ask her before, but she was perfect. Virginia is a pretty woman with a figure I like -- round and soft in all the right places. Though the loose pants and tops she wore at her shop didn't reveal much, she looked to have a pretty nice body. At around fifty, she was also old enough to show more mature women can still look desirable. We decided to do her photo shoot the next Sunday.
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I was setting up my lights when she came out of the changing room in a robe.
"This is harder than I thought it was going to be. Nobody but me and my cat's seen me undressed in a long time, and Rufus doesn't care what I look like as long as I feed him and change his littler box. You won't laugh when you see me will you?"
"Only if you say something funny."
She untied the belt on her robe and let it fall open.
"You said to bring some sexy undies. Are these sexy enough."
The light blue teddy with matching bikini panties was a whole lot more than just sexy on her. Virginia's hips were deliciously wide, soft, round and absolutely hot, and her breasts...Well, the teddy wasn't sheer, but it didn't have to be. Virginia wasn't huge in the breast department, but she was nicely endowed. The air conditioning in the studio had caused her nipples to stiffen into two firm bumps on the front of the teddy.
I took about a hundred shots of Virginia in various poses. Some were not revealing at all. They were shots of her face and chest down to the top of the teddy, and made her look soft and innocent. Some were of her stretched out on the twin bed I'd installed in the set. The black spread I put on it contrasted nicely with her pale skin and the light blue satin and lace. I tried to get a selection from mysterious, to sensuous, to erotic. I figured that would cover what most women would like.
My offer to pay her was met by Virginia shaking her head.
"Nope. Just give me a copy of the files. I want to put some of these on my dating site. Maybe they'll get some great guy's attention."
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It took a week to put the brochure together and get it to a printer, and two more days to get the thousand copies I'd ordered. A hundred of these went next door to Virginia's salon.
A week went by with no responses, then about five one night, a woman walked into my studio with one of the brochures in hand. I guessed her at about forty, and she was really cute in her shorts and tight top. She had a few extra pounds maybe, but she wore a wedding ring and I figured those pounds were left over from having kids. I asked if I could help her.
She took a deep breath.
"Can you take pictures of me that look like this?"
"Sure. That's what I'm here for."
"And they won't go anywhere else, just to me."
"That's in my contract. You can sue me if they do, but you have my word they won't."
Marylyn signed the contract and we set her appointment for three the next afternoon. I also went over a few things from my brochure that would help her pictures look better.
"Put on your makeup like you were going to a party, and especially your eye makeup. Your eyes will be a focal point of the pictures. I can ask Virginia to help you with that if you need it.
"I have a changing room in that part of the studio you can use. If you want lingerie shots, bring a selection. Since I'm taking digital pictures you can see what an outfit looks like right after we take the pictures and change it if you'd like.
"We can do anything from street clothes to totally nude. It's your choice, but the less you have on, the more things will stand out. If you want total nudity, you shouldn't wear any underwear the day of the session. That way, there won't be any strap or elastic marks on your skin."
Marilyn came in the next afternoon carrying an overnight bag. She was obviously embarrassed to be there, and blushed when she asked if she should get undressed.
"Let's just get you warmed up to the idea that you can look sexy first. Then we'll see how far you want to go."
I took twenty or so shots of Marilyn in several poses, and even the loose jeans and sweatshirt didn't take away her natural charm. Instead, they gave her a very soft, very innocent look that contrasted erotically with her smile and sultry, dark eyes.
She looked at the samples, then looked at me, and grinned.
"You can make me look sexy, can't you."
"It's not anything I'm doing. It's just the way you are. Do you like these, or would you like to try something a little bolder."
She grinned again.
"Brian isn't gonna believe it when he sees these. I want to try bolder...a lot bolder."
She came out of the dressing room wrapped in one of the big beach towels I keep there. She was nervous again.
"I've never done anything like this before. Do I just take off the towel and you take pictures or what?"
