BANG

January 30th 2009.
I had to buy some new curling tongs.
I'd unknowingly left my old ones on all night and they had fallen from the shelf onto a pile of wires on the floor. When I woke up, I could smell something burning and I was lucky to have found them in time as the heat had already started to melt away at the plastic around the wires.
Didn't think it was a good idea to use them again even though they didn't actually blow up, so I picked up some new ones from Boots.

On my way to Kent to work with Jim, I was helped to the right platform at Victoria by some kind guy working at the station, who also kindly carried my enormous bag for me. We got chatting, he asked me about my day; I said I was a model & that I was going to a shoot.
He seemed interested so I gave him my card. Might as well do a bit of self-promoting on my travels where possible!
So hello to Mr London Victoria Train Man if you're reading this.

Keith Curtis & I met up for lunch & a chat about our little project 'Nudes in Public/Strange/Unconventional Places' on Tuesday, after which I popped in to see Robert again.
A place in town was doing an offer on food so Keith & I sat down to take some notes on said project.

Big topic of interest is the graffiti under a subway in Southampton - some photos were taken and hopefully they will be our first step. I'll reveal more on this, when there's actually something to show.
Traffic was terrible Tuesday morning as there'd been an accident in Newgate Lane so getting out of Gosport was even more of a nightmare than usual. I got off the bus as it was much quicker to walk - walked quite a way and then the traffic cleared. I saw my bus overtake me so I was a bit annoyed!
Finally got to the station and my train had been cancelled because no-one can be bothered to keep up with maintaining the tracks! Raah.
Then on Wednesday, many trains were cancelled again due to a fatality at Worthing. I was shooting with Graham Wood that day, but luckily made it on time.

Shoot with Graham on Wednesday was as enjoyable as ever; we now work together regularly twice a month.
We based this one on the BBC4 programme, 'Seven Photographs That Changed Fashion,' trying to capture the feel of Bourdin & Bailey's original images and also Rankin's attempts, as well as continuing with the high key work from last time, much of it headshots. I ached after this shoot but it was totally worth it.

Yesterday, I was shooting in Somerset, although the photographer Ed Melville picked me up from Sherborne.
Had a shock that morning though - I'd fallen asleep the night before whilst setting my alarm, but before I'd set it! Only by some miracle did I wake up at the right time.
Had a lovely day - he treated me like a princess, we hopefully got some fabulous shots, concentrating mainly on soft, sensual & erotic nudes & Japanese rope bondage, which is rather new to me.
I can now proudly say I'm able to create some basic Shibari.. all I need now is 30ft of rope from B&Q to practice with at home, hehehe.

Christopher Brick has bought a dancing pole for the studio. I said I'm happy to pay half as I'd like to come in on my days off, presuming the studio's free to practice on it as I miss pole dancing and it's a  great way to keep fit.
I'm now only concentrating on covering the cost of the studio hire on Feb 2nd, and covering what I owe for the pole. It'll be a bonus if I make any money for myself I've decided, but I'm not expecting to nor am I too worred about it, as long as I pay off my debt.

The Pin-Up Project (Jan 23rd-25th)

30th January 2009.
Jim Bateman & I had planned last weekend's photoshoot for quite a while.

I got a new book for Christmas from Nick of paintings of classic pin-up photographs and we spent most of the time recreating many of them.
I'd stuffed my bag full of clothes, lingerie, hats, accessories, make-up, hair pieces, props including a fluffy hot water bottle, cuddly toy, hardback book, a few vinyl LPs and a paper fan.
Jim's recently introduced me to this new style of photo editing, which involves using a Photoshop plug-in called Imagenomic/Portraiture. It's a quick airbrush, but you can completely control how much smoothing/saturation boost/sharpness you want to give. It lifts and smooths any photo in a matter of seconds.
It worked perfectly for these images, especially after upping levels to create something very high contrast and high saturation to give that 'painted,' almost cartoon feel.

I have discovered many cool Photoshop tips & tricks recently; it's fun trying them all out.

Jim & I started shooting at around 11am on the Friday (23rd) and got through 7 sets, each with very different hair styling, so poor Jim had to put up with me whinging that no amount of hairspray could hold it in place, etc!
We had a great giggle and although I worked the poor guy's socks off, I'm glad to say we both think we got some stunning images, many of them looking authentic in a very 40s style.

He also has this knack of taking stunning photos of me, whatever I'm doing. He'll tilt the camera, he'll zoom in, zoom out, move all over the studio, edit excessively to find the limits - no idea is ever left uncovered.
And he's so relaxed about it all - even when I'm not!
This is one of the many reasons I love working with him.

First thing Saturday morning, we did swimwear glamour in my two Wicked Weasel bikinis before I'd curled up my hair and carried on with more cheeky pin-up pouts & smiles, including doing some work in the kitchen.
I went home very happy and very satisfied with achieving exactly what I was after.
Most of the shots were clothed, but when I did get everything off, Jim said how much bouncier I seem when I'm nude.
He's got a point. I do love being naked, but I didn't realise there was a physical reaction!

Nick M who kindly picked me up, drove us back as I don't think I could have carried that ridiculous bag back again on the train and we stopped off for a bite to eat & played a few games of pool in a local pub before he had to head back to Basingstoke. I popped in to see Robert afterwards to say hello at the end of a very busy weekend.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Tiny Weeny Wonky (how does it go again?)

20th January 2009.
My shoot on Wednesday with Graham Wood went well. Ever since I went blonde in November 2008, he's been wanting to work with my new look, and he said I had a completely different image in the blonde photos from the day, opposed to the images we created when I was brunette.
I asked if this was a good or bad thing and he said 'it's an interesting thing' and later reassured me he liked the images very much.

I enjoy working with Graham on a regular basis because he genuinely enjoys learning about photography - he doesn't skip steps, nor does he blag his way through - he likes to experiment and dabble with new equipment, light setups.. changing only the tiniest of things, one thing at a time to make sure he sees the exact differences.
You'd never hear 'oh, we'll just brush that up in Photoshop' from him.. he'll stay at it until he gets it right in the studio.
He always produces stunning work, but never ceases to strive to do better.

Thursday night, I had plans to go round and visit Robert for a catch-up but I had a ton of housework to get done and he was shopping at Asda. I asked him to pick up a couple of bits for me and he popped them round & stayed for a drink & a chat.
My friend in Cyprus, Cemay passed her due date for her little boy to be born on Friday - I'm still unsure whether or not she's had him. He must be comfy in there; clearly doesn't want to come out.

I had a photoshoot Friday; my second with John Hill, but this time at his home studio in East Croydon. I felt we created much better images this time than our first shoot and he felt the same.
I had a terrible time with trains too as they were all delayed. For the first time in my life, I wondered why the hell I'm not driving yet.

I finally got around to catching up with email Monday during the day. To give myself a break, I enjoyed an evening at Rob's with the best chilli ever cooked and a bottle of red. He's got a day off today so is taking his mum, Dina to Titchfield for lunch. Wish I could have gone too, but have far too much to catch up on here.. (says she, writing in her blog!)

I want to go to this Bristol party tomorrow night at Que-C's but I haven't found anyone who can give me a lift yet - cheeky I know!

End of the week and weekend should be manic. I'm meeting Rachel for lunch in Petersfield on Thursday, then taking a train up to Basingstoke, then heading off to Kent for a weekend shoot with Jim Bateman.

The only free days left in January for me are the 26th and 30th.
I'm meeting with Keith Curtis to discuss/start working on a particularly cool project on Tuesday next week, Graham Wood again to carry on from where we left off on the Wednesday, and I'm doing a bondage/erotic art photoshoot with Ed Melville on Thursday 29th.

Couple of things that have happened so far this morning: Tony Nutley's announced his new flash website. I really recommend giving it a good look; it's fabulous work, by a fabulous photographer who's been photographing fabulous famous names for the past 50 years.
I have been marvelling at it all morning.

I have also just picked up the post and my Wicked Weasel bikinis have arrived, which are my 'prize' for winning the charity auction at last year's Brighton group shoot. They look fab and I must go now so I can try them on.

Happy New Year!

13th January 2009.
Well, happy new year to you all.

Today, I managed to get my website finished and I'm pleased to say I did it all myself.
This exciting news aside, I really must get back into work mode - I have been rather unproductive lately and the only shoot I've had so far this year was shot by David Churchyard on Jan 3rd. He wanted boy-girl erotic film style shots with male model, Rob Duncan.

Jim Bateman invited me over to his place in Kent for an overnight shoot 29th/30th Dec with one day working with CherryX and then on my own the day after. We got some cracking fun images involving silly string & party poppers.
December 2008 was fun and superb for socialising and networking; 10th Dec being the Bristol get-together at Que-C's bar. I wore my long green satin dress & met FastEddie, Naked Rockstar, Razoir, Sharpshooter, Simon Young, Cleveland Rogers.. all of which I hope to work with soon.

I worked with Marcell Hibbart on 11th Dec near Gatwick - from what I've seen so far, the images are gorgeous and I can't wait to see more. Chris & I ended up at the White Horse drinking & playing pool that evening because he picked me up from the station.. we just couldn't quite make it back without a pub visit.
12th Dec was Lowford Studio's minced pie & mulled wine Christmas do.. mainly Tony Nutley telling of his hatred for Ruby Wax and me rolling about on the floor with an enormous teddy. Success.
14th Dec was spent with Robert, Christmas shopping in Bournemouth - ah, it was so lovely and special and we ate dinky doughnuts (you didn't see that, I'm a model!) & walked round the park. It was also the day two years ago that he proposed to me oddly enough.

Chris grabbed me to go shopping in Portsmouth with him on the 15th because he said he needed a woman's advice on what to get his wife for Christmas! We had a laugh and I shamefully crawled back into my hole when I lost several poor shots at pool.
Saw Chris again on the 16th at Lowford studio, catching up on work. At 6pm, I had an urge to finally shoot with that oversized teddy bear. Received a text from Nick soon after saying he was jealous because said bear had seen more of me than he had.

Got my hair done at the salon on the 17th, but not before stopping off at David's for a bacon sarnie for breakfast. I'm so cheeky, but he loves it!
18th was booked for a shoot with Dave Kennedy at his studio in Reading. I am now on his studio register. He seems pleased with the images and hopefully I may get future work there.
Chris drove me up and we went on to Jason Tang's night out on the tiles at Revolution's Vodka Bar in Soho.
Felt like I had the beginnings of flu by the time I got back to Camden for the night - and my silver shoes were ridiculous. I swear they are not made for walking!

Rob said he might pop over during the evening on the 19th, but he ran out of time so invited me over for a snuggle instead.
Went Christmas shopping in Portsmouth with my pa in the morning of Dec 20th, but felt unbelievably ill. My head was agony to move even the slightest amount and my arms & legs felt ready to drop off. Came home, slipped into my PJs with a hot water bottle & went to bed.
Woke up to a text from Hollie at 8pm asking if I was coming out to Chicago Rock that night..............and because I no longer felt like I was dying after I had a bath & put the make-up back on, I squeezed myself into my tiny santa dress and went out!
Pa invited me out for dinner at the Jolly Roger in the evening of Dec 21st, where I met Mervin and by sheer coincidence bumped into Adam and some of his friends.

The run-up to Christmas and Christmas Eve was spent at Robert's - we drank & watched music videos on the floor by the tree. Woke up there the next morning, opened stockings. Nick's kids came round Christmas Day at 10ish and we opened some presents all together before I headed off with pa to Dorset to spend the day with my family.
It was late by the time we drove back. I woke up Boxing Day to a full English breakfast at Rob's and had a day watching Pirates of The Caribbean I & II, followed by roast lamb for dinner.

Apart from shooting at Jim's between Christmas & New Year, the only other thing I did around then was have a get-together with some PHS girls.. dinner at Cafe Rouge & drinks in Bar Risa. It's always great to see everyone again, but it amazes me how different we all are - so different since sixth form and just SO different from each other.

As for tonight, I've just come back from an evening at Paul's, drinking whiskey & playing him at tennis & bowling on the wii. I'm not bad for a beginner.
Must be off to bed now, as I have to shoot early tomorrow with Graham Wood and I really have written enough!

Keep your Bonsai trimmed and tidy

8th December 2008.
Well my shoot on Saturday in Farnham is postponed because the photographer's car blew up. I was quite busy in the run-up to Christmas, now it seems like everyone wants to rearrange their shoots.

On Friday, I worked with John Evans who was giving a tutorial to John Hammond. So I was more 'hamster' than model which made for very easy work but beautiful shots.
I went back to Mr Evans' house afterwards to have dinner, play with his son's Python, (very cool!) discussed the possibility of using it in a shoot one day, and then I headed out to another photographer/model social evening in a Winchester pub; it was a giggle.

Saturday night, Tobes came down and we went to Dom's party together.. luckily, I think I managed to avoid all dodgy photos. Lots of us ended up staying at Jen's. I rolled into bed at a pretty indecent hour considering, and was picked up only a couple of hours later by Chris because I had another studio day at Lowford. It wasn't quite as successful as the last, but that was due to lack of promotion, not lack of sleep amazingly.

Worked with Kevin White, James Delta & Bob Dixon but had only managed to book 6 hours of my day when last time I'd worked 10 hours.
Still, it was successful and Toby eventually made it down to spend time with us between 1 and 4pm before his trip home to Swindon. He'd been shopping and bought me a tiny Bonsai tree as a present. It has a bit of a hidden meaning, but I thought it was really sweet nonetheless.
I'm off to London today to do a spot of shopping and lunching with Ciaran. :D

All over the UK

8th December 2008.
Can't believe it's just three weeks til Christmas. I am so busy at the moment. I am also now blonde.. I did pretty well keeping the same brunette colour for six months before I craved a change I think!

In the past two weeks, I've been working in London, Bournemouth, Chichester, Kent, Newcastle (Langley castle) and Swindon..

All the travelling has taken it out of me a bit; today is my first day off in ages. I've started putting the Christmas decorations up although I need to pick up my tree and some of my lights from Robert's at some stage.

Erotica '08 went well, although standing around for 10 hours a day in 4" platforms and the tiniest corset was hard on the body! John and Greg sold quite a few prints & canvases, and I bought far too much stuff. Got asked out by two of the Fantasy Boys, so that can't be a bad thing!
My studio day at Lowford on Nov 17th was a success, with bookings from 10am right through til 9pm and five different photographers. Chris has arranged another studio day for Dec 7th and so far, I have 8am-5pm booked up.

Jim Berriman got me doing fashion the other day, which is pretty shocking.
I've also had the priviledge of working with John Hill, George Swift, Dave Samuels, Chris Brick, (again) Christian Mapledoram, Jim Bateman, (again) and model Cherry X ..and I have day shoots and evening parties booked up all weekend now, which is pretty exciting. I love social get-togethers and networking events.
I am missing Robert though. I don't see him as much as I'd like, but I guess the space is doing him good. I love him unbelievable amounts. Le sigh.

Work is fabulous, I'm feeling pretty positive at the moment.

John Evans' 'Nude: Light & Skin' photography book up for sale

13th November 2008.
Cheryl Elizabeth is featured in John Evans brand new book, 'Nude: Light & Skin' which is up for sale, starting at just 12.95/$25.10.

Order your copy now from http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/403635
Click 'preview book' to have a flick through the images.

Cheryl features with Iveta Niklova on both front & back covers.

Cheryl is also featured on pages 6, 14 & 15 if the blurb is taken as page 1.