markvelasquez

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 14

Cherish has come a long way in the time I've known her, and though she still struggles from time to time understanding certain aspects of the world and people's motivations, it's nice that she still comes to me for advice and clarification. The shoot after this one had her arriving in tears, and we spent almost an hour on my sofa hashing it out, her venting, my listening, then me offering her alternative opinions on some of her percetions.

(And yes, the above breasts are real, no en...

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 13

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 12

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 11

Few people really know about Cherish's  tumultous childhood. Her father was estranged, heavily in to drugs and ODed when she was very young. Then, around age 7, Cherish's mother was involved in some dark deeds and was murdered in their home, forcing Cherish to live for a time in protective custody. After a few months, her gay uncle and his long time partner took her in, becoming the stable parents she had always longed for. Her "dads" had no idea how to raise a little girl, so they spoiled ...

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 10

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 9

Sadly, most women I know don't like Cherish. Not for any particular reason, they just think she's stuck up. As often happens, this idea is based on her looks, which makes people assume she's bitchy and uptight. In fact, she is often very shy in new situations, and her not talking out of insecurity is seen by other women as her being snooty and feeling superior. I've had the honor of getting to know her quite well over the years, and if people knew Cherish's childhood background, i think they'd g...

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 8

Another thing about Cherish was that right away, she was comfortable with nudity, one of the first women in my local area to be so. She knew she looked good and has unfortunately always needed a bit of validation about her appearance, at least from a proper and healthy audience.

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 7

Though just clowning around, I attempted to shoot a few double exposures of her, shooting her first in silhouette and then shooting again over those images. They weren't that great or interesting, but I thought I'd share them to once again show that not everything I take is successful. Far from it!

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 6

And though Cherish's natural proportions are almost surreal, she definitely works at it. She's been an actress and ballet dancer since her youth, and has made her living the last decade or more as a dance instructor, teaching ballroom dancing to couples while also dancing professionally in competitions throughout the country. Though she can be a bit vain at times, she also goes out of her way to not take herself too seriously.

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 5

Now living several hours away, it's always nice to hang out with her and her husband, which we do every six months or so. This day we had shot their Christmas card photos, and then she said she wanted to take some modeling photos, which was great because she and I hadn't really shot together for over two years. I had thought she was over the whole modeling thing, which was fine, since our friendship is not based solely on our work together. But she is still as lovely as she ever was, and I'd nev...

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 4

She told me that she had been confused by our encounter, and that she had gone back to her car where her boyfriend was sitting and told him what I had said. He was just as confused as her, yet was supportive and encouraging of her if she wanted to do it. Years later, they are now married and we're all very close friends. I consider it a privilege to have been there to help her through the ups and downs of their relationship, advising her when I thought she was acting a bit nuts, defenind him whe...

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 3

Seeing her confusion, I knew that I would never hear from that blonde goddess. But to my surprise, only a few days later she sent me an email saying that she recognized several local women on my site she had known from the local community college dance department. Thankfully, the town being so small finally paid off, and she figured if those women had worked with me, I must be at least decent. she came over for a test shoot only a few days later, and we hit it off instantly, being friends ever s...

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 2

Cherish and I have been friends since she was 18 years old, almost a full decade ago. The legendary story goes that I was rushing to the bank to make a midday deposit when I saw this stunning blonde Barbie doll walking to the ATM. Stunned at her flawless appearance, especially in my small town, I couldn't help but approach her and ask if she'd be interested in modelign. She looked stunned at first, and at that point I knew not to belabour my spiel, so I handed her my card, asked her to look at m...

Visits from Old Friends, Pt. 1

Sometimes the best people to work with are the tried, true, and tested models. I was happy to have a visit from an old friend over the holidays, and this set is both uncensored and silly, showing just how fun a model can be when she's known you for a decade. This is just the first of many sets we shot, so stay tuned!

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Discover this behind-the-scenes set at the $25 Level!

When test shoots go right! Pt. 7

The only drawback to Rae was her large, pointless tattoos. One was a huge bird or wing down her right side, the word "freedom" literally on her right breast, and a smattering of flowers and other weird things combined down her left side. All her attributes far outweighed her deficits, and so this was the first of several great, and soon to be revealing, shoots. For once, Model Mayhem hit home run!

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Do you like Rae's photos? Do you like seeing these test shoots? Would you lik...