Shooting with a Sexy Older Woman

Previews from Lis’ photo shoot.

I receive many contacts through my Model Mayhem Profile, and recently I was contacted by Elisabeth. ‘Lis’ is a former catwalk and catalog model, she worked from the age of 17 until she was about 32 in the fashion industry in London and Milan. For the past several years she has taken a break from modeling while raising her children. She contacted me with some nice comments on the images posted on my MM profile. After some discussion, I invited her for a shoot, as I have been thinking about working more on the theme of ‘sexy older women’.

This is not the first time I have worked with ‘women of a certain age’. In fact, in the past few years, I have done several private shootings with women over 40. I find these experiences greatly rewarding and I think it is something more women should consider doing for themselves. I know several women who, after getting married, having children and starting to see the signs of age, tend to stop thinking of themselves as sexy and attractive. Personally, I think the key to being sexy has less to do with your looks or age than it does in knowing who you are, understanding your strengths and weaknesses and having confidence in yourself. Nothing will help build that confidence better and more quickly than a photo shoot with an experienced photographer and make-up artist. And just imagine the reaction you will have from your husband or partner when he sees your sexy photos.

Portraits of Lis

If you don’t believe me, then just turn on the TV to any fashion make-over program like What Not to Wear orHow to Look Good Naked. These shows promote the idea that looking sexy is really more about taking stock of what you have and showing off your positives. Of course, confronting your fears and insecurities is not always an easy task, that’s why I take photo shoots like this very seriously. It’s all about creating a safe and supportive environment where you can be yourself, the person you see in your mind, not in the mirror.

The photos you see below are some behind the scenes and preview photos from the shoot, the final versions will be posted in my galleries soon. Although Lis has a modeling background, I know it wasn’t easy for her to do a shoot like this. I specifically told her we were going to do some sexy shots and I know she had her doubts, but I think the results speak for themselves. 

If you are interested in commissioning me for a photo shoot, simply contact me here for more details with the subject: Sexy is an attitude.

Rita Primerano applies make-up

Tools of the TradeSupplies

I want to thank my studio partner, Philippe Wiget, for giving a helpful hand on the day; also to Rita Primerano of the Vitality Center for her talented make-up skills; to Beata Sievi of Entre Nous for loaning us her exquisite corsets and lingerie; and, of course, to Lis for her adventurous spirit and easy-going nature.

Studio Progress

A couple of weeks ago we started construction at our new studio. Thanks to Stefan and Thomas for helping Phil and I out, it was a long day.

Here’s a quick video.

An Update

Dear friends, fans, followers and other interested parties,

The facts of my absence and lack of activity on this site are not in dispute. The past months I have been very busy with several major changes in my life.

For one, in September, my wife and I moved out of our beloved 300 sqm. home/office/studio apartment. It was a bittersweet moment when we turned over the keys, however, our move did not take us far. In fact, we only moved one floor lower in the same building, but our new home is about half the size, so no real chance to have even a small studio to work in. 

With this in mind, we began searching for a new studio. Joining us in our search was my good friend and fellow photographer Philippe Wiget (check out his wedding photography). Phil and I have talked about sharing a studio for the past couple of years and, finally, the planets had aligned to the point where we both could find a common solution.

Let me tell you, finding a proper studio space is not an easy task in Zürich, Switzerland. We started looking in September. I thought we would look at many, many spaces, but in actuality, we saw less than 10 total. Most spaces that were advertised were too small or the ceiling height was too low or they didn’t have basic amenities or were in the wrong location. It’s stressful shopping for a space like this, but fortunately for us, the torture ended in mid-January.

We found what I can only describe as the perfect space. It’s an old car repair shop with 170 sqm on the ground floor and another 110 sqm in the basement. It has skylights and plenty of windows and a good ceiling height of just under 4 meters. To be honest, I can’t imagine how it could be much better. Certainly, we have a lot of work to do to get it fixed up and looking sharp, but everything in good time.

 A panorama of our new studio in Zürich.

As you can imagine, without a proper shooting space, I have not done much studio shooting in the past months, however, I have been shooting a lot with my iPhone (follow me on Tumblr) and I managed a few shoots in October, which I will post soon.

We will start moving into the new studio at the beginning of this coming week. The goal is to have the place in decent shape to start working out of by about mid-February. Of course, I will be offering my classes and workshops in this new space and the studio will open up new possibilities for lighting and fine art nude workshops, and for those of you interested in renting a studio in Zürich, please let me know.

Finally, since we are still in the month of January, let me offer my warm wishes for a great new year and new decade. I already see signs that this year will be better than the last, and, at least for me as an American, I am hopeful that we can begin to right some of the wrongs that came out of my country’s failed politics under the Bush administration.

Please stay tuned, I will be following with regular posts on this blog throughout the year. You can expect articles and advice, news updates and images. I have already started updating my portfolio, so be sure to check out my commercial and personal work and let me know what you think.

With warm regards,

Bryon Paul McCartney

Behind the scenes - Ljuba 8/14/2008 from IMSirReal on Vimeo.

This is not new, but I wanted to post it here as well. I have started doing behind the scenes time-lapse videos whenever I do a shoot. Soon, I will also combine these videos with comments from the models. My aim is to give others a better idea of what's happening on the set and some insight as to how I set things up in the studio. I hope you like it.