The ad I placed was rather simple;
"MODELS, fresh faces needed for winter ad campaign. Send recent picture and sizes.
$20 to $100 per hour depending on assignment.
Send to PO Box 188034 Sacramento, CA 95818"
With the current labor market I figured I'd be lucky to get the four or five responses I'd need to fill out the order for poses. I gave it a week before I drove up to Sacramento and checked my PO Box and then there were only three envelopes waiting for me. On the way back to San Francisco I knew I'd have to hire them no matter what they looked like or what sizes they were. I had a deadline to meet if I wanted to make any money.
All three were amateurs who had never modeled before and I realized I'd have some long hours ahead if I wanted to make this work. The girl who was sixteen would be okay for the juniors outfits. The blonde would be great for the dresses with her long legs and elegant facial features. The brunette with the short hair and the sassy looks would be my lingerie model since she was the only one of the three who'd fit the crap that the agency had sent over with the courier.
The first two shoots were a pain in the ass. The mother of the sixteen year old bitched and whined the whole damn time about wanting my negatives (fat fucking chance on that one!) and that the loft was too cold. I shot three rolls and then gave the old bitch her money and told the kid to come back and see me when she was eighteen and I'd work with her then. The mother cussed me off and slammed the door behind them. The blond yammered on and on about how she was doing my shoot to help pay off her credit card bills and, if it wasn't any trouble, could she keep the clothes? At least I got a good laugh out of that one. I also got some damn good shots when she finally shut her trap and let me do my job. Hell, I may even call her back for another job someday.
The last shoot was completely different. I knew the brunette was something special the moment she walked in the door. She had this achingly beautiful innocence about her, the kind that makes you want to cry just looking at her, you know what I mean? Tall, perfectly proportioned, excellent posture, and the grace of a dancer were immediately evident after just looking at her for, what, twenty seconds? I dream of just meeting women like her, let alone having them in my studio. Oh, man, she was so perfect...
"Um, are you okay?"
Her question woke me out of the adolescent fantasy that had been running in my head at fast-forward.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Shit. Sorry, I mean!"
I was really fucking this up and I felt so goddamn lame realizing that I was acting like some assbite teenager in front of this woman who was here for a job.
"Here's the paperwork. Go ahead and fill it out and then go in the dressing room, you'll find the outfits waiting for you. I need you to put them on in order, okay?"
"Sure."
Just as simple as that, she disappeared into the dressing room with her releases, just like a pro.
She came out just a few minutes later in the white terry robe I provided for modesty.
"I'm ready. What do you want me to do?"
If she only knew.
"Okay, leave the robe on and we'll start by the window, good enough?"
I always worked my lingerie models up to getting undressed with a half hour of fake shots. I'd just let the shutter click, the motor wind, and the strobes flash for an empty camera. The models always thought they were modeling the ensemble and then they'd ease up by the time we got down to the bra and panties I was actually paying them to model. This time I regretted the empty camera thing since I think I would've kept the shots for myself.
She did her thing and I did mine and when we got to where I told her to ease the robe down off of her shoulders I could see her hesitate. Hesitation in a model is absolutely fucking priceless since it is the one thing they just can't fake. Sure, they can fake looking seductive and they can even fake looking innocent, but hesitation is something they lose after they've put it all on display a couple times. Once they realize that a hundred million people have seen them in their underwear they get this, 'what-the-fuck?', attitude and the hesitation is lost. No kidding, I've told models to grab their tits in the middle of a shoot (it's a shitty little trick I like to pull on them) and they'll grab their tits without even thinking about it.
"Gimme a second to pop in another roll."
I loaded the camera. Fuck me if I was going to miss this Kodak moment!
"Okay, baby, let's see that shoulder!"
I spent the next two hours in heaven as I shot sixty rolls of film of her just getting out of that freaking robe. I could sell a billion goddamn dollars worth of terry robes with those pictures, and no one other than me, myself, and I would ever see them! By the time I got her to drop the robe she was as innocent as a newborn kitten and each pic I shot was total fucking gold!
She was the perfect model and I was in the Zone shooting her! Other photogs had told me about these magic moments and I had never lived one until this perfect lttle angel walked through my door. She was the model of my dreams and she was also starting to get into my heart. I never thought I'd break my "Meat Rule": Never ask for their name, just treat them like meat and do the shoot. This model was more than just another slab of flesh for me to hang clothes on and play dress-up with. She really was something special.
