I like to keep in touch with models who have posed for me.  I also like to surf the web.  A few months back, I came across a bondage photograph featuring Lydia, and once I saw one, I saw many.  As it turns out, Lydia does a lot of bondage & fetish modeling.  

I've done a little bondage photography in California with Karina, who also enjoyed fetish modeling.  The challenge is that I didn't particularly like most of the bondage photography I've seen.  The issues: 

• For many bondage photographs, the art is in the knots -- they are poorly staged, lit, & composed.

• Personally, I don't care for most of the bondage photographs I've seen.  The ones I like center on the theme of "surrender".  I am not overly interested in the inflicting of pain, humiliation, or other overly aggressive themes.

• And one other thing, which I'll mention later.

On short notice, Lydia tells me that she's coming through town & has an afternoon free, and we agree to try some bondage photography.  About this time, I am passing through my basement, and I see what I think will be an excellent setting for some bondage photographs.  Remember, my house is a Victorian, built in 1890, and in the basement (with its exposed brick walls) is a funky post & beam setup that is a few feet from the outside wall.  Don't ask me why that post is there in the middle of the floor, but it's there.  I figure that tying a model up to this post, with the brick wall in the background, would be good.  Further, the ceiling is low, maybe seven feet tall, allowing me to tie the model up to the beam, too.  I'm not sure what the wood is, but it certainly isn't a typical modern day building material -- a splinter makes the area go numb; I suspect that the wood is hemlock.  So, I spend a day or so rearranging the boxes stored in the basement & wrapping the post with a burlap blanket, and we were ready.

A bit of advice -- that rope we used -- don't use that kind of rope.  It has little fibers that cause rope burns at the slightest touch.  Lydia was a trouper & didn't complain, but I can see that a nylon cord would have been more kind.

Assessment:  Lydia is terrific & professional, and she was generous to share her expertise.  And, of course, she looks great.  I also like the "dungeon" setting & I hope to use it again with local models., and I see that I can create some interesting lighting even with the low ceilings down there.  But to be honest, these pictures fall a tad bit short.  These pictures are supposed to be dramatic, but there isn't much of a story here.  Why is she here?  How did she get here?  What happens next?  All these things are missing.  So, if I can find the right model(s), I'll try this again, creating a story with a beginning, middle, and conclusion.