Loup o' Fintry

Had my second waterscape nude shoot this past week. I'd been planning it for ages, but circumstances prevented me; partly time, partly weather, partly the fact that there's not many TF models who do nudes, but mostly because I'm just quite lazy.

Then, about three weeks ago, I was contacted by a model requesting such work. I wasn't really keen to work with her, and was "between jobs" as well, so declined the offer. Next thing I knew, I found out she'd done a nude-in-water shoot with a tog who'd been in contact with Sazza, the lassie who'd previously helped me out. Eeeek! My precious idea would be all over everyone's profile before I could even establish it as a signature style! What to do?! What to do?!

Rush job. Scoped out a couple of locations, contacted the lovely Karen1985, and got a shoot sorted in the space of nine days. I confess that I wasn't as happy with the results compared with Fairy Glen, but maybe my expectations were higher? Still, nice location, great model, and nothing to stop me giving it a second shot in the future.

Addendum: turns out the other model's nude-in-water shots were nothing like mine, and I was worrying needlessly. Still, I'm kind of glad she contacted me, since it made me get off my lazy ass and get a shoot organized.

People are LeStrange

Had a shoot planned in East Kilbride with MM's Lily LeStrange and a newbie male model from PureStorm. He'd contacted me a couple of months ago looking to work together, and I suggested he play the victim of a makeover psychopath who would tie him up, cover him in gunk, and come at him with blowtorches, scalpels, etc. "Think Heath Ledger's Joker meets Trinny and Susannah" was how I put it.

He loved it, designated psycho Lily loved it, and eventually we settled on 11am on June 18th as our date. I then got a message at 11pm on the 17th saying he couldn't make it because of a family bereavement, but I didn't see it because I'd gone for an early night (so I could get up in time for the shoot). Had to rush the next morning, and didn't check my messages then either... you see where this is going? Yup, we discovered he'd be a no-show while sitting at the train station where we were supposed to be meeting him. D'oh!

My fault in a way, but very frustrating nevertheless. Lily and myself decided to go to the planned location anyway, but there was a security guard and a dog putting the kibosh on my plans. I suggested the abandoned railway station under the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow as an alternative; bit of a photographic cliché, frankly, but still a very cool place if you haven't visited. Anyhoo, although I was a bit lacking in inspiration, we still got a few good shots, and finished off with some ice cream in the gardens afterwards. The moral of the story? Always bring a spare model to shoots, in case one doesn't show up.

Changes

"Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes", as David Bowie once sang... Something new, something new, something new, and something new.

#1 New job. Starting on the 21st of June, after 14 years at my old place which came to an end in May. Although the carnage since I left -- over thirty redundancies, including 23 of 30 in the production department which is where most of the revenue is generated -- makes me feel like one of the lucky ones...

#2 New gadgets. It's 2010, and I finally got around to buying myself a phone of my own for the very first time. I was losing my works-provided handset (actually I got to keep it, but I needed to get a new contract so I could swap my number over), so I decided to go hog wild; I could have just bought a SIM-only contract, but instead I treated myself to a new HTC Desire smartphone. I also got a new point'n'shoot, but since a model had asked about an underwater shoot, I thought I'd get something that could cope with a dunking: a Canon Powershot D10.

#3 New business cards. To go with my "commercial" website, at www.delargy.co.uk. While I go through this big upheaval in my life, I thought I might as well have a stab at getting more paid work as a 'tog. Heck, bezzie mate Karen B left to become a full-time actress. That's a proper full-time actress, not one of those people who works in an office for forty hours a week but calls herself an actress because she got to be an extra in The Bill eleven years ago. So if she can take such a plunge, why can't I be a 'tog? I'm already getting paid every now and then.

#4 New car. The wee Arosa's beginning to aggravate me after two years of ownership. It continues to be enviably cheap to run (a best of 74 mpg last month, £35/year VED), but it rattles a bit, one of the front wheels is slightly squinty, and the exhaust needs fixing. It's too wee, and since I'm no longer working in Glasgow every day, I don't need something that you can park in itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny spots. I'll probably miss it when it's gone though, especially when I'm filling up at the petrol station. EDIT: Might be a change of plan with this. Keep running the Seat, which has now managed a 76 mpg tank, or switch to a Skoda Octavia or Ford Mondeo? I can't decide...