Mighty Aphrodite

11:16 pm - The Social Whirlwind...

...of The Expo. Caught up with so many fabulous people we know...made some awesome new friends...drank lots of red wine...made lots of money...spent lots of money...had a total blast! 

We were a bit concerned that our position wasn't as good as last year - we were stuck around the corner & out of the main flow of traffic, but we covered the cost of our stand within 80 minutes...beating last year by 160 minutes (I know we are sad for counting, but we don't do this as a hobby, it's how we pay the mortgage). But the best thing about our position were our neighbours...meeting Marcello Mangano, his partner Laura and the model Angellore was one of the highlights of the weekend. Marcello has immense talent, a wicked sense of humour and a complete lack of ego which made a refreshing change from some of the other wank we had to put up with...it's funny how the emptiest vessels make the most fucking noise.
Bob & Carole-Anne from Stig Art were there again with their incredibly tempting furniture...so tempting we commissioned Bob to build us one of these:

What fun we shall have in the studio... 

12:56 am - Vorsprung durch Fetisch

That Audi advert has a lot to answer for...

Current Mood: relaxed

09:46 pm - We love...

...our new ceiling mounted lighting rig!! Faffing about with lights has never been so easy... 

Current Mood: impressed

09:47 pm - Erotica

Struggling to get back to normal...such a very tiring week, but we had so much fun, it was worth all the stress beforehand. The Art Gallery looked stunning when everyone had finished putting their work up. The Guild are certainly a force to be reckoned with now!
We had such a great show business-wise too...Thursday was all trade enquiries, Friday was a mixture of commercial & print & calendar sales, then Saturday was BEDLAM!!! At one point, Leigh was trying to frame 2 12" x 16" prints for a customer while we were both taking bookings for Erotic Portraits...we even have one couple travelling to have a session with us all the way from Switzerland :)
Sunday wasn't quite so busy, but we took our last booking at 8.55pm, just before the show closed.
Only downside was that the calendar didn't sell as well as we expected...but then from the feedback we got from people looking at it, I can see why...in general, people either want something a bit more page 3 glamour or they want something more "art nude" that they can put up without offending anyone. Our calendar was aimed at people like us...couples who like classy erotic photography...trouble is that (like us) many couples have kids, so they can't display a calendar like ours...in fact, we haven't put a copy of the calendar up ourselves yet because of Jason.
Still, we're still learning...we'd like to book up for next year, but they've put their stand prices up by so much that everyone we've spoken to is boycotting it, so we're going to wait & see if they reconsider the prices...

09:50 pm - ETO Magazine

So Funny...if anyone hasn't seen the photo of our stand at The Expo in ETO I'll try & get it up here in a day or 2. Bad picture, but good write-up!

Went to Guild meeting on Sunday & saw the floor plan for Erotica...we've got an excellent spot which we are over the moon about...we're right on the main thoroughfare - first stand you come to with lots of passing traffic ("j)

And we're just round the corner from the Fairygothmother stand (according to one of the exhibitors at The Expo, everybody wants to be next to Fairygothmother because they are always very busy).

Only 8 days to go...yikes :O

07:30 pm - Just 2 weeks to go...

...til EROTICA!!!
I'm torn between being really excited and really dreading how tiring it's going to be. They are expecting between 80-100,000 people over the four days *gulp*. It is going to be sooooo busy. Knowing the response we got at The Expo, we're quietly confident we'll do pretty well - Erotica is much more aimed at the market we get most of our commissions from. I just wish we could have booked a bigger stand...so much to display on 3 tiny linear metres!!!
Had a full day in the studio with Sammie B yesterday...and she kept her clothes on!! Doing some lifestyle photos for her portfolio and she did some "bridal" shots for a press release I'm writing. She even had some photos taken with Desi, who was a complete star for 2 minutes, then got totally bored & sat there with a really jaded look on her face.
It's been good to get back in the studio with models rather than the paying punters. I love this image Leigh took of Lisa Shepley a couple of weeks ago.

Current Mood: optimistic

10:17 pm - Something from the weekend...

...ah, such fun. Weird how the normal world seems so grey & lifeless after a weekend of watching beautiful people in bright shiny clothes and impossibly high heels. The Expo was soooo great. It was pretty hard work & totally knackering, but we met so many great people & got such fantastic feedback on our stand that we're still slightly floating on air.
And selling 5 of our big framed prints, plus several 10" x 8"'s, plus booking 2 erotic portraiture sessions at the show, with another 2 confirmed since we got home, not to mention one commercial job confirmed and another one pending...well, it's all good :D Must have handed out about 500 flyers to punters too...our web stats are going sky high!
The Rubber Ball was a bit of a let-down...took far too long to get in, was far too crowded...missed all the shows & was too tired & feet too sore to walk around much. Ended up sitting in a corner with MellieD, Morrigan & Co. chatting 'til about 3.00am then had to go back to our hotel to try & get some sleep.
Funny thing is, we really just did the Expo as a dress rehearsal for Erotica. We'd already shelled out for all the flyers, calendars, framing & other stuff for the stand at Erotica, so it made sense to do another exhibition so we'd get more use out of them. We were really just looking to cover the cost of the stand, but we've actually made a great profit already.
Today was a bit of a leveller though...working for Reading Borough Council at their annual exhibition...how we stayed awake...brain cells deteriorating...need more bright shiny clothes for stimulation...just kept thinking, if only they knew what we'd been doing at the weekend ;D

Current Mood: giddy

12:05 am - Body clock...what body clock!

Still not re-adjusted to Uk time...bugger. Wouldn't be so bad, but lots of early starts this week 'cos there's so much to do for the Expo & Rubber Ball next weekend (YAY!!)
The Calendar has arrived...and it looks fantastic...we are so over the moon about it! We just weren't prepared for how much space 500 A3 calendars takes up...the office is overwhelmed...and they aren't easy to hide. Luckily they are all still wrapped up in batches of 20, apart from the one we opened, but people do ask questions...luckily most of our non Mighty Aphrodite clients are pretty broad-minded.
Looking forward to the weekend, though I've not got everything I need for my Ball outfit yet...shopping in London on Tuesday. Hoping to get a drastic haircut this week too, but not much time to fit it in :(
Got to get to bed...zzzzzzz

04:50 pm - Back from the USA

We're back, in body but not in spirit. Flew out of JFK last night at 8.30pm New York Time & arrived at Heathrow at 8.30am UK time. Don't you love the way when you fly at night they put all the lights out when you're trying to read or watch a film, then just when you've managed to get to sleep, they put the lights on & start trying to shove breakfast down you??? Don't know how I'm functioning...no sleep for 29 hours!! but I've managed to reply to most of our outstanding emails, processed all the orders that came in while we were away & done 2 loads of washing!!! But now I'm feeling a bit dizzy...bumping along in a great big RV (recreational vehicle for the uninitiated or "motorhome") for 2 weeks along with travelling on every kind of boat imaginable (more to come on that front later) has left me with a feeling that I'm perpetually in motion.
And so much to do now we're back. Only 2 weeks to the Skin Two Expo & the calendar isn't even back from the printers yet...oh, didn't I mention we're exhibiting at the Expo?? Decided the day before we went away - now it'll be a mad rush to get everything ready. And I don't know what to wear to the ball...and my laptop blew up while we were away, so we've got to retrieve all my work off the hard-drive...I think I'd better go & have a lie down. More holiday stories later...

09:33 pm - Yep, that's me

You Are Subversion!
You are systematic and secretive. Sometimes even very calculating. Most everyone trusts you but they have no idea what really goes on in your head. You are capable of being nice or mean, whatever a situation calls for. You look out for #1.

What Naughty My Little Pony Are You?

11:11 pm - Long time no see...

Ah...life is sweet! You know how sometimes you work your arse off for weeks & seem to have nothing to show for it...well now all our hard work of the last few months seems to be paying off! All the hours spent nerdishly sifting through keywords & web link exchanges has started to bear copious and very juicy fruit.
Firstly the Intimate Erotic Photography service has skyrocketed - and all credit to Leigh, it really shows how good he is - the clients we've had so far have ranged from a size 12 to a size 16 and none of them have modelled at all before, but he manages to make them look so good that I'm just sorry we can't use some of the images on the web site (client confidentiality unfortunately forbids it). And the most important thing is that they are amazed at the results & love them so much that they end up buying loads of extra prints :D
So the British Journal of Photography rang last week & wanted to do an interview with Leigh about this service & asked if they could use a few of our images in an article they were running, about the rise of "Boudoir Photography". We told them to take their pick from the web site & unbelievably, they chose 3 images...all of me! So Leigh emailed the images through & that was that. Looking on their web site this morning, we saw that the article is in this week's edition, so quickly jaunted into Reading to WH Smiths to pick up a copy. We were ready to be disappointed - expecting they'd maybe used 1 or 2 of the images, hoping they'd be a decent size...WOW we're on the contents page...and a half-page image on the first page of the article...we start to jump around shreiking like mad things - we turn the page...there in all it's 40" hipped glory a full page picture of my bum!!! People in the shop start to move away from us...and OHMYGOD...they used the art nude of me with the baby oil...and put my name under it :O After the shock had worn off, I'm secretly quite chuffed...but don't worry peeps, I'm not about to start touting myself around Net-Model or ask to be a LDG - I only look that good when Leigh does his magic lighting ;)
Leigh is so chuffed about the article - all photos are credited & he's quoted all over the place and there's even a plug to the web site...
And if that wasn't good enough, we've secured a commercial job for a company that produces exotic bedding...silk, satin, rubber, PVC...want pics to update their web site & catalogues...they've booked us for a day in June to do their romantic stuff & then they are building a dungeon set for their fetish stuff, so that'll be another day. And we got to choose the model for the job too.
We've also been asked to supply images for a company who promote Erotic Holiday destinations to use on their web site and another company want to use one of our images in a full-page advert they are placing in Skin Two magazine.
Oh and we've booked our stand at Erotica for November...they've extended it to 4 days so it'll be hard work but it'll be good fun I'm sure.
Oops very long post...must stop now...and congratulations to Liverpool FC :D

Current Mood: bouncy

09:38 pm - Happy Easter?

Ah the joys of Easter weekend! I was quite looking forward to a bit of free time & lazing around with nothing in particular to do, especially as I've had to work through a bastard bout of Pharyngitis for the last 2 weeks...but the stark reality is that I'm really bored & will probably have to start working again tomorrow or I will go insane! Problem is, Jason (our 8 year old Einstein) is off school until 11th April, so no shoots booked in 'til after then. We've been slogging away so hard over the last couple of months and I thought this little 2 week oasis of calm would be a chance to recharge before the onslaught of a busy last 2 weeks in April, a fairly busy May and an insanely no-sleep-no-time-off June.
Jason was ready for a break from school though...his workload has increased so much this term since the school assessed him - he's working harder, but is much happier. He's been put onto the Able Children Register and has been assessed to have a reading age of 13 and has passed the year 6 SATS (the modern equivalent of the 11+ exams).
So finally we have some payback for all those shitty years when the schools didn't have a clue what to do with him & sent him to see psychiatrists & psychologists to find out what is "wrong" with him. Turns out not to be ADHD or OCD or any of the other fashionable maladies they like to label non-conformist children with. Jason is just intelligent...you'd think they'd never come across this before.
As far as Mighty Aphrodite goes, our first limited edition fine art prints will be on sale soon - we've chosen 20 images altogether, separated into 2 collections. Each image will be limited to a run of 200 prints. We'll be selling them through the web site & will be exhibiting at Erotica in November too.
Just hope someone likes them enough to buy them...

Current Mood: indifferent

10:40 pm - Busy busy busy!!!

Blimey, no time for LJ...too much like bloody hard work the last few weeks. But it's been a nice mixture of the boring work that pays the bills and the exciting creative stuff (that will hopefully be paying the bills by this time next year).
Been working on a new series of erotic images...if I say so myself, we have really excelled ourselves this time. So so pleased with some of the shoots we've done this month...the fabulous SashaMia, Ros, Kelly and today MellieD & SammieB. We even managed to persuade fellow photographer & member of the Guild of Erotic Artists, Dave Davies to model for us with Sasha...scary moment...first boy/girl shoot for us...but it went very well we thought.

Speaking of the Guild, went to our first meeting last Sunday. Such friendly people...we were made to feel very welcome by Colin & Silvee and enjoyed meeting Paul, Ken, Rob (Bloodied Angel) and Alex. And not forgetting the fantastic John Keedwell...how good is it when you meet someone whos work you really love and they tell you they really like your work too! And he's such a nice guy too :)

Things are slowing down on the studio front for a while now...we need to take stock of the images we've already got & concentrate on marketing our fine art prints.

Oh...and we've been chosen as "featured photographer" on Net-Model this week yay!! yeah Ok I know this only has a limited amount of kudos because the site isn't held in high esteem by anyone other than the amateurs, but it has resulted in a massive number of hits on our portfolio - over 500 in 2 days!!

Here's a few of our latest favourite images.

Current Mood: satisfied

10:35 pm - Testing whether I can upload a Photograph

Just thought I'd try & upload one of my fave photos from a session we did with the fantastic Aurora in Flames.

09:57 pm - Aphrodite is Mighty

At last...we are making progress with our endeavours to get the Mighty-Aphrodite web site finished & ready for it's official launch. We've almost made our final decisions on the 12 images that will form our first official collection of fine art prints that we will be selling through the web site...god I hate making decisions like this.
We've been looking at frames today as well & have ordered a couple of samples so within the next 2 weeks, they'll be on sale yippeee!!!

Current Mood: peaceful

10:37 pm - First post

Woohoo! Decided to see what all this LJ stuff is about...seems to me like a great way to stalk someone ;)

I'll probably never have the time or inclination to post much, but you never know.

Had Kittie Klaw (stunningly beautiful & exceptionally talented model)here in our studio today for a photographic shoot & she was talking about LJ which got me wondering what it's all about.

I notice a few of the models we are aquainted with use LJ to post their new photos, so thought it might also be a good way for us to do the same for anyone who may be interested (please...be interested...anyone...)