I like this woman for some reason, and it wouldn't be hard for anyone else to see her as a pretty easy-going woman. In New York City, everything is going at a thousand miles an hour and everyday is a scene out of an action movie. A place like Central Park is truly this woman's path to serenity because that is a word that can sum up this woman's natural self. She is totally devoid from harshness, she's good-natured, and not easily annoyed or angered. Someone who has softened or matured by age or experience.
--
She makes her living as a gardener/plant ecologist. Her passion and nurturing care for the infinite species of plants is such that my guess is that she wouldn't mind being reincarnated as a plant, probably that's more rare than anything a typical person is usually familiar with.
I saw her studying some leaves as she was walking along, sometimes peering into them as if her eyes were lenses from a microscope in an effort to discern clearly what its DNA sample showed. She took her time doing that with different leaves and flowers around her. She took her time smelling them, too. She was in no rush to get anywhere and I could tell that in doing what she was doing, she was in the middle of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of her beloved plants in whichever way she knew how. For her, this was kind of like paradise.
Her knowledge of plants and the environment is such that she could write or co-author a book on plant physiology.
--
I remember smiling to myself when seeing how she was trying to wrap her mind around the concept that I wanted to take photos of her feet because the whole thing about how one can find beauty in feet must've been alien to her, as if she never heard or knew that such a thing could exist. She decided to join along because it was interesting and uncommon from what people would normally do from time to time. Besides, she acknowledged that her feet really needed a break.
posted
It's great to have you back! Another year of great photos to look forward to. Can't wait to see what more you have in store for us this week.
Posts: 191 | Registered: Feb 2009
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hyperion ... Yes. For some reason, I was pleasantly surprised by the tops of her feet. I really enjoyed taking pictures of those. A real down to earth lady, she was an enjoyment to have a light-hearted conversation with. I liked her look, I liked her feet, and I also enjoyed the shoot and her willingness to take the time to relax herself to let me take capture the encounter.
Thank you.
caseman ... Indeed, another year of some of the most fantastic photographs anyone will ever see. I will have more photos to show everyone before this week is over. The folks should truly enjoy the style in which I captured these women, the Women of Central Park.
She saw no harm in having her photos taken as we looked for a spot to have the photoshoot. It was such a beautiful day and we figured that the grass was a pretty peaceful spot to spend out time together. On a day that wasn't so hot, the sun setting on her beautiful skin during the late afternoon hours provided a soothing relaxant for this young woman.
One thing that made this photoshoot a thing to remember was that not too long after the shoot started, a woman and her two young children walked onto the lawn and sat on the grass not too far away from us. Her daughter looked no older than nine and her little brother must have been no older than five. The kids were playing with each other while their mother wasn't paying too much attention to them or to us. I think she was in her own world and she seemed to have been at ease to just set her mind free finally.
After a while, her two kids came over to us just to get a sense of what was going and what the purpose of the shoot was. They were cute kids and curiosity certainly got the best of them, though the boy was more attached to what was going on than his older sister was.
He kept walking up to us and asking questions, talking to us and asking for advice on things that a typical five-year-old would worry about. On what seemed to have been the ninth time he came up to us, he wanted advice on what to do to keep his sister from bothering him so much. The model in the shoot said, "Well, maybe you should be nice to her." The kid then looked at me with a look on his face as if to wonder if she actually believed what she was saying. The look was priceless.
Treating the issue with deliberate inappropriate humor, I told him something along the lines of, "Look at her (meaning the model). Don't pay attention to what she's saying. She's just saying that 'cause she's a girl and they're on the same team. Look, just be yourself, just be a cool kid and she'll leave you alone eventually. People don't bother cool kids."
He high-fived me and went on his way to play with his sister. The model, after seeing and hearing all of this, laughed it off and kind of rolled her eyes at us all at one time as if to say boys will be boys and respected us for our stance on that issue, even if she didn't agree with it wholly.
Gretel spends inordinate amounts of time on obscure or non-mainstream activities, most of which is geared towards fiction or fantasy. She's into comic books and loves to read through books that are thousands of pages deep, perhaps. Science fiction novels.
[ November 11, 2019, 10:30 AM: Message edited by: National ]
posted
I love Gretel. Love what you did with her and your photos are quite amazing.
I must tip my cap off to you. You certainly have quite the collection here. There's so much information in here and so many photos to look through that I can't help but feel that I've hit the jackpot.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Apr 2010
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Terrific job on the overhead upper body shots, and I like the camera tilts too. Gretel has nicely curved arches. I am not a breast man, but her are also nicely curved.
-------------------- "If you can't laugh at yourself, then laugh at that guy over there, 'cause he's fucked up and it's funny!" Posts: 224 | Registered: Jan 2016
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Greta looks very nice. It's pretty neat to have someone capture a nerdy girl in the way that you did it. I love the face shots and how you were able to utilize the back round in these shots. You're an amazing photographer, National. I will certainly remember Greta's photos.
Posts: 191 | Registered: Feb 2009
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Central Park is never short of tourists, and here we have a Canadian visitor from Montréal, Québec.
I saw her sit on a bench to remove her socks from her feet and put her shoes back on without them. Apparently, she felt uncomfortable walking with the socks on and decided that going about her day without them would be the way to go. I wasn't going to let her go anywhere, especially after having a pretty decent look at the tops of her feet as I was walking closer to her.
She got up and started to walk in the same direction she was going before she sat on the bench. She was walking a little slower than I was which made it easier for me to catch up to her.
She told me how funny it was that I would want to take photos of her feet right after she had made some adjustments to them just a minute before. I told her that I knew that because I saw her do just that from that bench over there. A little laughter from her as if to say that that makes sense, that that would explain how this whole conversation got started.
She's an engineer for an architecture firm. This woman has scientific knowledge, she is a great mathematician, and she certainly has the ingenuity to address and come up with solutions to technical, societal and social problems.
Being that she's French-Canadian, it came to me as no surprise that she's a huge hockey fan and she attends as many Montréal Canadien games as she can. She has one of best looking feet I've photographed - the toes well done, the soles nicely shaped.
This shoot lasted for about two hours and it was very nice giving her a long foot massage afterwards.
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This is really fantastic stuff. Celine's feet are the stuff dreams of made of and I would not mind burying my face into her soles. Her toes look inviting and it's awesome that you were able to get her to do this. Words can't describe it, but I really dig your style and your work.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Apr 2010
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I agree with the sentiments shared by everyone here. I love the presentation of these women, I love how you photograph them as well. Something about the way the photos look and the angles you choose to take these photos makes your photos a look that is unique and synonymous to your work. They way you talk about these women and how you show them gives this whole thing a more "genuine, more real" look that many of us truly appreciate and we're thankful for your magnificent artistic expression.
Juliet Arts is very cute and I'm immediately drawn to her innocence and friendly spirits. Her toes look so cute. Actually, hot in fact. They look, and probably, taste as sweet as candy. She has some pretty nice arches from the way her feet look when they're crossed over when looking at her toes. She's probably the most easy going of the bunch that you showed this week.
Oui Fragrance. Judging from the insoles of her shoes, her feet were probably smelly, which is pretty nice for a nice looking woman.
I enjoyed Photosynthesis' set. There's something about her that makes her appealing in her own way, and her feet look exceptionally well. Love her soles and love that she has the presence of mind to keep her toenails looking all cute and nice by painting them.
I'll get to some of the others later.
Great to have you back here. It's truly a pleasure being in here.
Posts: 308 | Registered: Dec 2008
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quote:Originally posted by hyperion: Terrific job on the overhead upper body shots, and I like the camera tilts too.
I particularly love those shots as well. It's so much fun experimenting with new types of shots because it allows me to capture new perspectives about the woman that I wasn't obvious to me at the beginning of the shoot. Doing those shots makes me feel I'm taking great care of her as if I'm preserving the core nature the woman she has become and helps the viewer delve into other mysteries about the person that the viewer wishes to know more about. The overhead shots all started with this woman ...
I don't know if besotted is the right word to describe what you felt, but if I recall correctly, there was certainly something about that woman that brought out a strong feeling of wanting to have her or wishing for something to happen that you couldn't put into words that I never sensed from you when I posted any other woman to this point.
Believe me, I can see and understand why anyone else would feel the same way.
JBR ... Glad you liked Photosynthesis. She's a nice lady.
FMUK ... Thank you very much. It's great reading that from you. Keep up with the great work you do.
quote:Originally posted by the-moment: Words can't describe it, but I really dig your style and your work.
Means a lot to me and it tells me that you're quite observant. It takes courage and being proud of who you are to be your best self by presenting a new outlook, by showing something that has been seen millions of times in this forum (female feet) and implementing your own twist on how you see things, how you see the world. It takes *no* courage to be someone else. It takes no guts and no fortitude to pretend to be someone else. It takes no expression, no artistic ability, it takes a lack of being original to yourself and with the audience to copy someone else. I'm most at ease being in my own skin and conducting my photoshoots the way I see fit.
I try to make my style as different from everyone else as possible and that's something I embrace. If I believe in my own style of photography and presentation in this thread, then other people will buy in and truly appreciate it for being great and different all at the same time.
-National
[ November 11, 2019, 10:38 AM: Message edited by: National ]
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