Shoot prep

For those of you that think the life of a model is easy, think again !

I have a shoot tomorrow early in Cheltenham tomorrow, a good 80 miles from home . So prep for this and most shoots is done the afternoon and evening of the day before . Session at the gym this morning, ironing and making any repairs or alterations of clothing , cleaning boots and shoes . Long soak in bath, to include shaving, hairwashing/conditioning, facepack, exfoliation .

Check and plan route to shoot, confirm all is ok with photographer, deal with todays correspondance, book in shoots .

Early nights are a must and no alcohol the night before or anything heavy to eat that may cause bloating . The list goes on lol .

Tomorrow's shoot should be fun, if a little on the nippy side as it's a location shoot and at this time of year we all know how cold it can be , so a nice big fluffy bathrobe has been packed to keep me warm when let's just say i'm scantily clad .

Nails painted, hot milk all ready and will soon be climbing the wooden hill to bed .

A couple of images from a recent shoot to warm you all up :-)

Time for a rant ( well just a little one !)

One of the risks you take posting images online, whether it be Facebook, Blogs, Twitter or portfolio hosting sites , is that the images can quite easily be saved  and used else where.
I have no problem with people collecting them, what I do have a problem is with someone collecting them and passing them off as their own.
Thanks to a very eagle eyed acquaintance I was informed this evening that someone had stolen some of my images and used them to set up a modelling account on a profile site. The only plus side is that this woman is trying pass herself off as 26, I know I look a bit younger than my 47 years but that is pushing it a bit. The only thing to do when this happens is to complain to the site owners and get the account closed. Strangely she had picked images that largely focused on my musical talents, so if she had got booked for a shoot not only would she have had to explain why she looked nothing like her images but also why she didn't have all the instruments as well. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but this is taking it just a bit too far.

Rant over, now to finish getting ready for tomorrow's shoot .

Today's little treat is one of my favourite erotic images .

Silky the musician.

Music has always played a major part in my life. Having been brought up in a household where my mother taught singing and piano it only seemed natural that this would have a major influence over me.
I can play the violin, piano, cello, flute, saxophone and am also a trained singer. My ability to play musical instruments is often called upon when creating images and there are numerous around with my violin and cello. I would love to work on some erotic images using a black grand piano, but finding someone who will allow me to roll around on the top of their prized possession , possibly in high heeled shoes is proving pretty difficult, but I live in hope.
 I suppose the creative in me is possibly why I'm not shy in front of the camera, I've always been a performer and creating images is really no different to standing up on a stage and playing the violin to several 100 people. On the plus side if the image doesn't come out quite right on the first attempt there is always the facility to delete, something you can't do if you make a mistake in a musical performance.
The instrument that gets the most attention is the cello. It is a very sensuous instrument and just by virtue of being an instrument that one plays between the legs a very sexual one. I can guarantee that any one that knows a little about music will comment on me being an excellent "fiddler" or very adept at playing my "g string", the old ones are always the best lol.
So as my theme today is music, the images of course will be the same .

 

 

Days without shoots.

Of course as in all jobs, models don't work every day. If you are a freelance model such as myself, days off are spent updating portfolios, correspondence, applying and posting castings and generally getting noticed as much as you can, whether that be by blogs, tweeting , Facebook or forums.
On top of that there is the constant search to keep your modelling wardrobe up to date, experimenting with styling and of course the general welfare of ones self.
If I can I try to get down the gym nearly every day. I tend to spend a couple of hours and can now quite comfortably complete a 10km run on the treadmill amongst other things. Years ago I wouldn't have even contemplated this but now I get a real buzz from it and know that it keeps my body in trim for shoots. Early nights are a must, especially the night before a shoot and watching your diet goes without saying unless you are blessed with a metabolism that means you can eat anything and everything. I never have and never will be petite and am very proud of my curves and though I say it myself as a female that has just begun her 48th year I don't think I'm in bad shape.
So today I'm going to share a couple of nude images that I'm pretty proud of.

Older Models

There are plenty of plus points in taking modelling up later in life.

Most of us have had some sort of career prior to modelling and plenty of life experience, all of which can really help with both the business side of being a model and for calling up different emotions and expressions.
I in my previous lives have managed a high end high street jewellery shop, taught violin and piano and more recently ran and owned a small printing company, all of these experiences I know for sure help me now in what I am doing.
I of course wish I had started modelling a little earlier, starting in your mid 40's really does give you a limited shelf life, but with plenty of hard work I know I can continue for several more years.
One of the biggest hurdles you face is trying to convert some photographers into wanting to try the older model . They often complain that younger models let them down, have diva personalities or can portray little to no emotion, so why not try some one who is less likely to cause those problems. . It's also not true that once you have passed the age of 40 everything decides to travel south. I personally am in better shape now than I ever was in my 20's and 30's. I like exercise and have no problems in eating healthily That's not to say I haven't got my little guilty pleasures, good French red wine, ginger biscuits, tiramisu and Old Jamaica chocolate.
Today, I thought I would share with you an image from a shoot in Redditch. This would really be classed as an implied nude shot, not bad for an old bird eh lol !

Strange Characters !

You meet all sorts of people in the modelling world from professional photographers to hobbyists and I love working with most of them , however occassionally you do come across the odd perculiar character .

Last summer I had the chance to work down in the south-west , basically I was on tour . Had some great weather , met and worked with some lovely people, but on one particular wet day I had an outshoot arranged . I turned up at the photographer's address and we decided to risk the weather and set off to some ruins to take a mixture of images predominantly artnude .

The shoot was going pretty well, dodging the rain, using an umbrella as a prop etc and at one point the photographer asked me to get a pair of boots from my car .

I couldnt have been away more than 10 mins, but when I got back to my amazement the photographer had set up his tripod ( no euphamism lol ), stripped off and was attempting a few poses himself using the timer . I hid, stood and watched for a few minutes it was rather amusing . As I approached the photographer he remarked he quite often liked to have a go himself , and could he have a few images of himself naked with me . My comments were kept civil, but that photographer model rapport I spoke about in my previous post was certainly not created in this shoot . I kept a very professional attitude for the rest of the shoot and even dutyfully dropped the photographer back home, but I was rather tempted to leave him there in the middle of rural Dorset in the rain !

This image was not taken by that particular photographer but by another one I worked with on an outdoor shoot down there and is a reminder of the sunny days of summer .

The art of being a good model is particularly enhanced if you can work in lots of different styles .

I've worked right through from portraiture to some adult work and enjoy most of the styles I have tried . However, I particularly love 

erotic imagery and in 2013 I had the pleasure of working with a photographer particularly known for his glamour work Matt Harper . Yes, we did some glamour work as is the norm for him but I also manged to get him to try some erotic imagery and I think he did a marvellous job , I look forward to developing this work with him in 2014.

If you click with a photographer on the first shoot it makes the shoots that follow so much easier . I'm pretty easy to get along with but you do have to get used to my slightly naughty sense of humour.

How you get on with a photographer can really affect the quality of the images produced . The atmosphere needs to be relaxed and if something isnt right both model or photgrapher shouldnt be afraid to say so . 

With some models it's a few Jaffa cakes that will help to break the ice, with me it's a cup of Earl Grey and a few ginger nuts, after all a lady has to have standards :-)

New Year , New Blog

So many of us start the New Year with resolutions and before too many days have passed failed miserably, well this year I'm just going to make the one resolution and that is to do the best I can in all that I do. That includes keeping this blog up to date with the goings on of the modelling career of Silkythighslou.

A lot of models say that their modelling name and character are really an alter ego, but I can truthfully say that Silkythighslou is me as I am in real life and those that know me will vouch for this. A little bit naughty, risk taking, fun loving, but also serious about what I do, hardworking, professional, creative, I could go on but I'm sure that you will discover for yourselves from my entries here and my work what I'm like.

2013 was a fantastic year for me as a model. I travelled  all over the UK for work including several tours, met some fantastic photographers and models and made lots of new friends. 2014 is going to be more of the same and working even harder to promote mature models. Sadly I find that many older models get type cast with a particular type of work and I want to show that this need not be the case. Older models can give so much more to shoots than some of the younger wannabes and I am a firm believer that photographers, designers, MUAs, studios in fact the whole creative fraternity should be looking to develop more work with the older age group.

The two images I have posted today are from a fantastic shoot I had with a wonderful photographer called Orson Carter. I travelled all the way down to Somerset for this and it was so worth the early get up and the journey. We covered a number of styles and over the weeks I will show you more of the work we produced.

Well that's me for today, now to open a nice bottle of french red wine bought for me by my neighbours and cook something delicious for dinner .