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Wu was a great man. I owe him so much. I've said in the past that his Feature Model section got Soles of Silk so much attention each and every time. To honor the man who honored me by letting me submit 8 sets over the years, I'm posting what a blog series here in the forum. I encourage everyone to post their own threads to remember Wu and celebrate what HE built here and how he helped so many of us. This is my little tribute that I came up. I only wish he was still here. Olivia was set to be this year's feature girl and I think I just might do a free set for everyone with her anyhow. She was looking forward to it just as much as I was.
Wu first approached me about doing a feature set for his site a little over a year after I opened Soles of Silk. He told me he always liked my work and wanted to know if I'd take part. It took me all of one second to agree. I asked him who he had in mind and he picked Carmen. Carmen was Wu's favorite in my site's early years, so I was not surprised. Carmen was ecstatic when I asked her if she'd be up for it, agreeing as fast as I did when Wu asked me.
I saw that many of the sets Wu had featured prior to mine had themes. I asked Wu if he had anything he was looking for with the set. He told me the only things were that Carmen had to be in blue jeans and if possible, have her toenails painted blue. Those aspects of the set were a favorite with a former forum member who was sick at the time. Wu thought it would be a neat gesture to have the set be an ode to him when he was down and out. And apparently, according to Wu, Carmen was this forum member's favorite on Soles of Silk as well.
Never having had a set featured on Wu's Feetlinks before, I didn't know what to expect. I waited patiently for the set to be posted and when it did, boy did people ever begin to take notice of Soles of Silk - and especially Carmen. She was already a favorite on the site, but this set put a spotlight on her like no other. Carmen was easily the site's most recognized model after she showed her feet on those train tracks. And although it's been years since Carmen has posed for the site (moved out of state), people are still fond of her and still make mention this set today - seven years later.
For the site's second feature set I had a perfect idea. How about two girls? And not just two girls, identical twins. Kimmie and Kellie debuted on Soles of Silk about a year before this set's post date. Needless to say, these two were massive hits from the very first set to this day.
It was Wu who gave me the football theme for the set. Each year around the Super Bowl he goes with a football themed set, so in 2007 it was mine to tackle - pun intended.
With it too cold to go outside I ended up buying the girls two cute costumes online - one being a football player and the other, a cheerleader. My friend was nice enough to let me use his basement for the set as he had some sport memorabilia including two original seats from the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore (home of the Orioles, Colts, CFL Stallions, and Ravens). The girls made good use of those.
Whenever I have had both twins in front of the camera at the same time, their playful nature always takes over. This time was no exception. It's always cute to see girls grabbing at each other's feet in pictures, but to see twins doing it was a major score - again, pun intended.
This set was a great follow up to Carmen's feature set and marked the last time Wu asked me for any specific theme - instead, telling me he likes my creativity and likes to see what I can come up with.
I can still remember when Wu approached me about doing the site's third feature set. I had a number of girls on the site, but none were more active and more dependable at the time than Madison. So when Wu signed off on Madison being the girl this time around, I was overly happy. At the time, Madison was also going through a break up after a long term relationship, so I decided to cheer her up with the news. I took her out to dinner one night, promising that I had some news she had to hear. I still remember the smile she got from being told Wu picked her to be the 2008 feature model to represent Soles of Silk.
When it came time to do the set I had the idea of doing a set with a piggy bank as I loved the play off the word "piggy" with toes being called "piggies." Of course I had to go to about a dozen stores to find a damn piggy bank. When I did find one, however, it had the words "shoe fund" etched in the side. Talk about good luck!
Prior to the set I made sure to pull some money out of the bank and get a few rolls of coins to break open. I've never been a fan of sets where models pose with cash to show how much money they make from their fans, so I wanted to make sure this looked nothing like that. I wanted the set to be fun and all about a girl wanting to buy some shoes. So we kept the bills on the smaller side because in all reality, who shoves $50s and $100s in piggy banks?
Although Madison was making regular updates on Soles of Silk, she did gain some new fans with this feature set. It also marked the first time I submitted such a large set to Wu - something that has become the norm ever since Madison showed off her narrow soles for her set in 2008.
I always strive to do something creative for Wu's feature sets. This time around my aim was to do something different and/or memorable. With Cierra picked for this feature, we decided to try something just a bit outside the box, but something I've seen on other sites. This "something" was a bitchy, size tease theme. I wasn't sure what Cierra would think, but when I ran it by her, she loved the idea and was up for the challenge of being a "bitch" for the day.
Since I keep Soles of Silk free of nudity and sexual content, Cierra and I began to brainstorm some ideas. Since I love using props in my sets, Cierra and I thought a magnifying glass and ruler would be a great ideas. From there I took to the Internet and found some items that made light of smaller guys, without going overboard. I found her a t-shirt with a slogan reading "size matters" and a notebook that said "size does matter." Both items also had rulers on them, so the it made a little theme. And then a couple of days before we were set to shoot, I found a pair of flip flops at the mall that read "bitch" on the soles. I grabbed them and considered them icing on the cake.
I was curious to see how the reaction to this set would be and it didn't take long to find out either. It was a massive hit. Most found the set to be overly funny. Others who are into bratty girls and size teasing loved it. Many asked me to do more sets with these themes in the future. And since some of my other models loved Cierra's set so much, I listened to the fans and made the size teasing and bratty girl theme a reoccurring one. Guess you have Cierra to thank for her original tease.
If there was anyone on my site more deserving of a feature set than Mindee in 2010, I don't know who it would've been. Back when I started Soles of Silk Mindee wasn't too keen on posing - claiming her feet were ugly. After convincing her that I needed more girls to pose, she finally agreed. She was one of eight girls to be featured on the site when it debuted.
Although Mindee is one of the original models, it wasn't until a few years in that she really began coming into her own. She started posing more frequently and people began to really take notice. She had her fans from the start, but I could see with each and every set, more and more fans began popping up. And when the Piggies & Power Girl set went live, her fan base exploded! My inbox was flooded and there were comments galore on Wu's Feetlinks Forum.
I couldn't have asked for a better response for one of the sweetest friends I have. Mindee deserved every great comment people made. And I think it further inspired her to be even more active with posing for the site. Since this feature set, Mindee hasn't gone long without shooting new sets for me and she's actually poised to have the most photos on the site by the end of the year - unless Cierra makes a comeback. Mindee's size 8s have become synonymous with Soles of Silk, and this feature, for many, was one of her defining moments.
This is the set where Ryan made her debut. I was trying to plan something special for the feature set as always and knew I had a newly minted 18 year old friend that wanted to pose for me. I knew people would love her as she is a cutie and her feet are amazing. I sent Wu a couple of pictures asking what he thought about the idea of debuting her in the actual feature set. When he saw the pictures, he was 100 percent in with the idea.
In the weeks leading up to the set I kept getting emails asking who Ryan was since Wu had her on the upcoming features list. The only thing I told people was it's a new model and one they won't want to miss. So many asked for a sneak peek, but I wouldn't budge. I even held off on debuting her on Soles of Silk itself - something I never do. I always insert new models onto the site ASAP, but Ryan was my only exception.
When Wu posted the Sexiest Catch set, I knew within a couple of hours that I had a new starlet on my hands. Ryan was over and over big. People loved the set, especially those into fishing. For two years in a row I managed to combine a popular hobby with the fetish and I think it just made the sets even more popular with those crowds. And then the following week I debuted her on the site. Two weeks of Ryan really had people talking.
To this day I still get feedback about this set - two years later and counting. I'm sure I'll be getting feedback on it for many more to come.
When Wu came to me about doing another feature set in 2012, Kayleigh was without a doubt, the obvious choice. Since her debut sets, which were shot the very day she turned 18, she has been one of the most dependable models I ever had. She loved being the one to represent Soles of Silk on this go around. And I think it was well deserved.
In addition to her dependability, Kayleigh has always been creative when it comes to her sets. When we used to work together she'd always throw around countless ideas for future shoots. It was no surprise when I told her she was picked to be the site's feature girl in 2012, that she wanted the set to be unique. We had months to plan and I don't even remember how many ideas we tossed around.
If I remember correctly it was early May when we came up with an idea to do a set using a school bus. Kayleigh knew someone who could give us access to a bus and that's when we knew we had it. Plus, with the set scheduled for June, it made perfect sense for a "school's out" theme. We even added the book bag and binder - complete with a shout out to Wu, on the front. Once Wu posted the set I got a lot of feedback. So many people loved the setting and theme, which Kayleigh and I appreciated. And of course, those tiny little feet earned a ton of comments all by their lonesome.
With the exception of Ryan, most of the girls who have posed for Wu's feature sets from Soles of Silk have been my more established models. And while Aspen has been a ball of fire posing for more than 500 pictures already, the fact remains that she's been on the site less than a year (August 2012). Be that as it may, she's one of the most deserving girls on Soles of Silk to represent the site. She's been nothing but dependable and energetic about posing since Day One.
While I won't go into details about how this set came to be, as I will be posting an entire blog about that, I will say this location is one of the most beautiful I've used for any set I have ever done. It wasn't even one we intended to use, but again, that's what the blog titled, "The Epic Adventure of Shooting Aspen's Feature" is all about. Make sure to give that a read.
Sadly, I will be out of town for about a week right when this set is scheduled to be posted. While on the road I will try my hardest to keep tabs on all your feedback on the site's Twitter (@SolesofSilk) and the Wu's Feetlinks Forum. Aspen is also really looking forward to reading it as well. She's so proud of this set and rightfully so - she looks beautiful!
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This is a great idea, Patrick, we should all honor the memory of Wu this way. I know he loved so of my classic early models such as Francine, Little Dee, and Maureen, so maybe I'll start my own thread, but for now, I'll take a bit of time to be able to absorb this sad news.
quote:Originally posted by Fair Adam: This is a great idea, Patrick, we should all honor the memory of Wu this way. I know he loved so of my classic early models such as Francine, Little Dee, and Maureen, so maybe I'll start my own thread, but for now, I'll take a bit of time to be able to absorb this sad news.
I'd love to see that with some words about your interactions with him and the models he loved. I did this series last year on my blog because I've always valued him posting feature models from Soles of Silk. I just thought about it immediately and thought it would be a great way to start some discussion and encourage people to post their own similar threads so we can all remember him!
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Wow Patrick, I remember each and every one of these shoots. These babies take me back, for sure. Has it really been that long?
How fitting that each and every one of these sets represents some of your all-time best work (NO exaggeration!!! ). A fitting tribute to Wu for sure. He would approve for sure (actually, he already did. )
-footboy1
-------------------- Foot fetish is a thirst that can never be quenched. Posts: 3101 | Registered: Feb 2005
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