'Want to candy my yams?
For most of us, the highlight of Thanksgiving is the meal. Although we all have our own traditions and way of preparing each dish, for most of us, the meal consists of turkey and dressing, cranberries and gravy and a delicious selection of fresh fall vegetables.
Although for many of us, it's the meat and dressing slathered in tons delicious gravy that draw us to the table, it's those vegetables, that are most closely associated with the holiday itself. Although Thanksgiving has a variety of origins, it's date on the forth Thursday in November is meant to coincide near the end of the fall harvest and to celebrate and give thanks for the blessings of the past year.
It is those vegetables that only make up so many Thanksgiving side dishes, but also serve as the main part of the holiday's decorations. Pumpkins and gourds, squash and corn husks are not only used for the meal, but as centerpieces for the dining table. This Thanksgiving tradition was the inspiration for Jim from Studio1x in the creation of this holiday shoot.
Starting out with a blank slate, for most of us, a naked table, for Jim....a naked man, the Pacific North West photographer went about setting his table with a series of mouth watering centerpieces. Now...finding a model willing to lies still as various pieces of food are placed carefully on his naked body and around body parts might seem a difficult task, but Jim knew exactly who get in touch with.
'I had met Bnaked about a year and a half ago. We have done a couple of shoots together. He loves to hike naked during the warmer months. Our first shoot turned out great, a couple of months later we decided to give it another shot. This time I wanted to get some creek shots of him. Even though it is summer the water comes right of Mt. Rainier and was a bit chilly but without complaining he emerged himself in the water. When I asked him if he would be interested in doing a Thanksgiving shoot, he was excited. I wanted to do something a bit different for this shoot, ran my idea past him and he was up for the challenge.'
'There is something freeing and exhilarating doing a photo shoot in the nude. We've all had our pictures taken. I think I stress out more on what I'm supposed to wear and how I'm supposed to look when those pictures are being taken. With a naked shoot, there is no flashy clothing, no special style. You're just out there...nothing to hide behind (other than a few vegetables).'
Being in the Northwest, October and November tend to be cooler in Jim' studio, which in his case, is his garage. The day of the shoot, he did plan ahead, thinking of his model who was going to have to spend the next few hours without any clothes on. Jim did however, forget about all those vegetables they would be using that were also stored in the cold garage.
'Bnaked shows up and he knows the drill after a couple of previous shoots and quickly undresses. He does mention that if feels like a crisp fall morning in the garage. Well I get him on the table and start placing the vegetables on him, he almost goes through the ceiling because they were so cold. Now I feel bad for not thinking about trying to warm them up first.
He was a trooper though and allowed me to do as I please and place the vegetables any where and way I felt would look good. He has a great sense of humor and we had many laughs throughout the morning. Needless to say, things got a bit carried away in some of the outtake shots but it was a lot of fun.'
It's a good thing Bnaked was such a great sport about having cold vegetables placed in so many different variations all over his body. I am not sure whether if was simply just his creative impulses, or that he was enjoying placing so many gourds around the gonads, but Jim created hundreds of different centerpiece options sending on close to 900 different table spreads for me to choose from! Of course with 900 different buffet options, going back for another serving , (on Page 2 HERE:) was a mouthwatering must!
1 comment:
Now. THAT is a cornucopia.
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