markvelasquez

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 21

And with that, Lindsay removed the wig, which was a great relief to Roarie. "That thing is like having a cat sleeping on your head! It's heavy and hot and you're afraid to move!"

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 20

Finally able to indulge in some of the snacks I had brought for her (I told you she loves to eat, and always bad things), Roarie dove into the Oreos as soon I called it a wrap.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 19

Just as I was about to call it a wrap, Lindsay gently asked if I we could take one or two non-nude shots so her mom could get a print, which of course we did. This is the final image I ended up making as a print for her mom.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 18

Roarie is incredibly thin, even though she famously eats a surprising amount of food daily. Still, she has a decent backside and I couldn't end the shoot without one or two butt shots.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 17

Here's another great, elegant pose. Her long legs are just incredible here.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 16

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 15

And here as well. It's so subtle, most people wouldn't even notice. Did you??

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 14

The only real retouching I did on these images, apart from the standard color-corrections and subtle density changes in RAW, was taking out Roarie's other tattoos, which are little hears the size of dimes that she has facing outward on each hip. Somehow though, I missed the one on her left side in this image, which you can barely see behind her left elbow here if you look closely.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 13

Roarie has such an elegant, fashion model body; she truly is a joy to have in front of the camera. She moves effortlessly, and when she's usually not hamming it up or making silly faces, she always appears to be an gentle lady, whether it's true or not.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 12

But eventually it was time for some straight nudes. As Ariel applied some touch-ups, I noticed how odd it was to see Roarie so quiet on set. No matter what her mood in daily life, when Roarie is working she is pretty wild, but today was different.

Roarie had been traveling with her girlfriend for two weeks up until that afternoon, and they were always very clingy and affectionate. But only an hour before the shoot the girlfriend had left to take part in her band's performance down in Los Angel...

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 11

This exquisite robe was also part of Lindsay's mom's collection. Taken from a musty closet, clearly not having seen the light of day in decades, her mom was proud to show it off and let us borrow it. I tried my best to be complimentary of the woman, even with all her creepy porcelain dolls in the room that I was trying to shoot around.

When I asked if this room was a recent addition, Lindsay piped up in her usual blunt style and said "Fuck no, my mom always had me and my two brothers dressing ...

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 10

Tea cup.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 9

I had even gone out and ordered a special piece of cake for this shoot (see the level with which I had planned?!), so I swapped it out from shot to shot for one of the classic tea cups Lindsay's mom had in her collection.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 8

Which is why so many of these shots look the same.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 7

Once Lindsay had finished covering up the tattoo under Roarie's left breast, we were ready to go. As is often the case for me on large production shots, I go to the effort of planning every detail, but when it comes time to shoot I literally have no idea in which way to shoot it other than maybe the one or two images that I had in my head. Usually this last two minutes, leaving me feeling stressed. All these people have donated their time, and often money through product, to have me deliver a se...

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 6

It turns out that Lindsay's mom is a nut of porcelain dolls and old antiques, and the front room of her very modern home is decorated almost like a French parlor of the 1800s would be. The decor wasn't 100% historically accurate, but it was infinitely better than anything I would have been able to accomplish with my budget of zero dollars. Also, Lindsay's mom had an elaborately designed wig that Ariel and Lindsay doctored up to make it appear brand new.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 5

When I approached Ariel and Lindsay with this idea, I admitted that I didn't have a location in mind, but that I was sure they could do the wig and make-up, knowing their talents.  I said I had picked up a cheap wig at a local costume shop, but Ariel immediately informed me that it wouldn't be needed, AND that she had the perfect location in mind.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 4

not only is Roarie perfect for most photo ideas, but historically, her choice of pubic hair matched perfectly for this idea. In an age when most women I've encountered as models under the age of 25 are completely shaved, having a full bush of natural hair was a welcome change.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 3

Though Roarie has the looks of an elegant fashion model, she is a loud, verbose, gregarious person, animated and often very wild, fluctuating in energy levels from extreme highs to comatose lows. I like her a lot, though sometimes she can be a bit much to deal with. but of course, no matter what, when it came time for the actual shoot, she was her consummate professional self.

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 2

Roarie, a native of Florida who picked her modeling name because she has a tendency to "roar" at life,  spends most of her time traveling internationally now, having visit over 30 countries modeling. When we took these, she was still barely starting to travel as much, still taking tours around the US.

For this shoot, since I knew it was going to be a much larger production than what I normally do, I enlisted the help of talented make-up and hair stylist Arial Lizarraga and her then girlfr...

Let Them Eat Cake, Pt. 1

Though Marie Antoinette never actually said that iconic phrase "Let them eat cake," it's synonymous with her. The first time international model Roarie came to visit me in my small hometown, I knew we had to take my production level up a notch. 

-

Find this full nude set, including many behind-the-scenes images and explanations of how we made it all work, at the $25 Level.

BACK TO OJAI, CA: Pt. 27

Sick of the bugs, Brooke finally decided to take refuge under a net someone had set-up. She stayed in there a while and I clicked away happily, watching as she couldn't help posing and creating the best angles for me. We eventually packed up our gear and hiked back up the trail to our cars, scratching our itches and laughing about the encounters we had experienced. We chatted up on the road for a while, gave each other hugs, and finally hopped into our separate vehicles and headed home in opposi...

BACK TO OJAI, CA: Pt. 26

BACK TO OJAI, CA: Pt. 25

Out of the water for the last time, we decided to stay on shore and have her warm up a bit, which we hoped might also help us stop getting attacked by the bugs. She slipped on this warm little hooded sweatshirt one of us had found on our thrift store adventures and deiced to stay in the sun for a bit.

BACK TO OJAI, CA: Pt. 24