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Forums generally are not what they were – and the Restrained Elegance ones are no exception. It is, of course, entirely up to Hywel what he does with them, but I don’t think anyone could claim they are very active now or make a significant contribution to the membership of the site.
I would like to record my own appreciation of the forums – although I think their greatest days were before I arrived. I remember how, in my nervousness about admitting my interest in this fantasy world, I read back for years through the old forum pages before daring to add something myself. The atmosphere then was so warm, welcoming and helpful. And I continued to enjoy that helpfulness throughout. Hywel’s help with cameras and photography matters more recently is just one example.
All things change and the new is always different from the old. Social media does not have all the benefits of the forums. I have found the word limit on Twitter difficult – and I am sorry for the clumsiness and mistakes in some of the things I have said there in the past. But social media are the way forward. I wish everyone involved well. I post on Twitter and Mastodon/Kinky Elephant under the “Fantasy Dabblers” title and have been pleased to enjoy the work of Sablesword and others on the latter. I frequently post to both at the same time. They are separate posts. I’m not sure why that is. It may just be that I don’t understand the system for automatic cross-posting some people use but it does mean there are usually different pictures – though from the same shoot – on the two platforms.
So, farewell forums – and we thank you. 😊
Andrew
Thank you again for ideas. I hope it is OK to report the results of my recent trip.
Following the operation on my arm, I could not hold a camera with two hands. I tried one day. It didn’t really work photographically or medically. 🙁 I also tried using a tripod but lugging the weight around with one hand had problems too. So I shot one handed using the Sony A7 riii with the 55mm f1.8 prime lens. I am generally happy with the results in all the circumstances.
My wife shot with both her Canon 5D mk iv and the Sony RX10. She did notice a difference in quality (and she is the one who can see!). We suspect it is still the RX10 that will travel with her in March because of the weight worries.
Thank you, everyone. Merry Christmas and happy shooting.
Thank you everyone who looked at this and, of course, thank you Hywel for such a detailed and helpful reply. Apologies for not thanking and updating you sooner but I have been distracted by an operation on my arm (all going well so far, thank you).
The thought of hoping they don’t check the weight doesn’t appeal, although I realise lots of people do this without problem. It may be just the extra nervousness my wife and I live with, although it looks like the airline in this case has specified that their weight limit includes the – usually extra – camera bag or handbag. But the real problem is that if things do go wrong, they are likely to do so in Hong Kong rather than at a UK airport where I might think I had some chance of sorting things out.
Your idea of (if I may so describe it), “keeping the kit simple” appeals to me but my wife’s basic camera body is the DSLR Canon EOS 5D mk iv and she wants to have the ability to shoot everything from landscapes to nature as well as the main purpose of the trip – shooting Natalia Forrest and Keira Lavelle. She didn’t feel she could cut down the lenses she wanted to take adequately. I did offer to let her borrow my A7 riii. Perhaps I could have pressed harder, but am glad she declined and I suspect I could not have deflected her. She was still in “determined mode”. So, she continued to research bridge cameras and study reviews and pictures allegedly taken with different ones. She bought the RX10. She now has it at the annual meeting of a group of photographers she belongs to and no doubt will find colleagues to offer further advice and comments.
Meanwhile, the world moves on. I had an operation on my arm last week. It was the UK NHS at its best: less than 2 weeks after I first saw the surgeon for an opinion and nicely timed to fit with our other commitments. 🙂 Things seem to be progressing well and I feel confident I will be allowed to fly next Monday to what will be our biggest photography project so far – a 10 day trip with a total of 4 models joining us at different times. But I do foresee difficulty bending my left elbow enough to hold a camera with both hands – at least for an extended period. My wife is keen for me to try her new RX10. I am more inclined to stick with my A7 riii and its lightest lenses, including the f1.8 55ml prime. At least this time we can take all the alternatives and test them if and when the situation arises. I may get some comparisons pictures. Perhaps I will be able to post some on the forum for comment.
Thank you again.
Andrew
Just an update on this story. With the trip in March and me thinking our best buying opportunity would be at a show we go to in January, I thought I had plenty of time to seek ideas and opinions. I had not realised by wife might engage “determined mode”. With a couple of hours unexpected free time in London on Monday, we were in one of the better known camera shops. This meant that your naïve writer discovered the price of the RX10 iv!
The main update is that the Panasonic FZ 2000 has been added to the list of contenders. It scores on price and the salesman alleged it has the same sensor as the RX10 (1inch and made by Sony) but the lens may not be as good. This gave me the chance to throw a spanner into the works by reminding my wife that in circumstances like she will be facing I still use the camera I used before going to exchangeable lenses and Sony a7. The FZ 1000 is still available to her – free! 🙂 So thoughts from anyone on the FZ2000 would also be helpful, thank you.
A second – and somewhat unrelated – question is where to buy. A number of photographer colleagues/social media “friends” of my wife recommended buying on the “grey market” – allegedly saving up to £500 on the RX10 iv. This was another term your naïve writer was unfamiliar with, but which seemed to justify the warning, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. I invite discussion on this too, but after hearing more details from other enthusiasts and working out what we think is happening, we decided to keep well away.
Thank you.
Andrew
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This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by
tfandrew.
Thank you, Hywel, for the further detailed and helpful response. It was what I was looking for and gives me hope that – in the right circumstances and when I look carefully – I may be able to see and work with “distortion” effects.
One aside on “photography groups”: we are probably very much together on groups in the sense of camera clubs, but the group I was at was a tutored enthusiasts group. My upset was not that the tutor didn’t like the picture – that’s his problem – but that I had not seen the effect he didn’t like.
There’s a known effect under which visually impaired people, when asked what they can see, will say what they think should be there or what they think the questioner will like. This is not an attempt to please but a subconscious attempt by the brain to interpret the incomplete information it receives. With your latest reply, I have more confidence that I may genuinely be seeing things.
Thank you again.
Andrew
Thank you, Sablesword. You make a good point. I think my wife and I were mostly amazed this judge didn’t just turn horrified at the thought of bondage but you take it to the next stage. Thank you.
I had to return to this topic to thank you, Hywel, for including the lighting diagram and shots of the actual lights when Lauren Louise returned to “Shoulder the Rifle” – 12th June. I hope these things in no way deter any members who are only interested in the BDSM and they definitely add even more to the site for those of us also interested in photography.
Andrew
Thank you, Kate. That arrangement of spreader bars may have provided the context but we can all thank Christina for the imaginative ways she used them. She is an absolute star performer.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by
Thank you, Hywel, for the detailed and helpful response. There is a lot for me to think about and I hope some is also useful to others who can make more of the comments on colour than I can. There is even a bit for my wife to ponder as she tries to learn all the features of one of the latest Canons she has recently acquired.
I’ll add my vote for a wide angle behind the scenes shot. I recall you occasionally put drawings of the layout in photosets (possibly only when the set was from a tutorial). I really liked them and I am sure they played a part in inspiring me to get serious with photography.
Can I just add a “thank you” for “Great Expectations”. It may not have been the upper class countess but I welcome the return of Ariel’s comic talent in this classic, bratty personality.
And if we are seeing a return of RE videos adopting titles from classic literature, then I welcome that too.
Ancrew
Thank you, Hywel. Please don’t keep us teased for too long. As a general rule, I don’t like being teased.
Andrew
I know I’m getting even further off the original subject of this thread but I would like to offer a big “thank you” for the lighting information in “The Kidnapping Business” (18th July). It is a beautifully lit and photographed set of a beautiful model.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by
May I use this thread to thank you not only for the video tutorial but for the added information on lighting and other technical aspects in recent photosets. I am currently catching up on RE after a trip to the USA and have just seen “City Socialite” (New on June 1). Although my lighting expertise does not yet run to trying an effect like the one created, I think I now understand enough to follow what Hywel is talking about enough that very much helps grow general knowledge.
I can’t help adding that I was fascinated to know Hywel has the 85mm f1.4 Sony lens. Sony showed me it at the Photography Show. 🙂 They also told me the price. 🙁
Incidentally, I did like “City Socialite” very much. I was interested in the later shots using the light on the balcony – although I think they were better when you were able to get the rather ugly metal panel out of focus.
Many thanks again.
Andrew
Hi Sablesword, Just a quick – and probably just as familiar – response on “Dutch angles”.
For the most part I agree with you but am being gradually educated by my wife who uses them a lot and to good effect. Perhaps it is because of her influence that I have been enjoying them more in recent RE sets. I am currently catching up after a trip to the USA so have just reached “City Socialite” for 1st June. I note that among its angled shots are a few at the sort of slight angle that only gets into my pictures by mistake but which actually work.
I suggest we will both just have to continue being grateful that RE sets have lots of images so there is almost always something for everyone.
A couple of days ago, my wife and I were in our local DIY store and discovered the chain cutter was now marked “authorised staff only”. I don’t know whether this was just the particular store (or the particular design of cutter) or another sign of the ever growing “nanny state” that the UK is turning into.
I can also only guess whether the staff member who cut our chain wondered how the strange selection of lengths we asked for might be used. I suspect they know not to ask. 🙂
Andrew
My wife and I usually view RE and similar – and now edit our own pictures – on PC screens. We often view social media like “Twitter” on android tablets but use the PC for creating our own tweets that have pictures. It does not bother us in the slightest whether a viewed image fills the screen nor has it been a factor in our own editing.
Yes, we create our own desktop backgrounds, but it is a small part of our viewing.
Thank you, Hywel, for the careful thoughts. It is very kind of you and generous of time when I know you are busy.
In January, my wife and I went to a photography show in London. Let us just say – as she keeps reminding me – that the Rotolight Neos she bought were nothing like as expensive as what I bought. Here are some first examples of the results, taken at TopHat Studio in Newark and starring a stunning blonde Temptress Kate.
In my first shot, the Rotolights provide the main lighting
We were told it was difficult to light this “1970s themed” set because studio flash tended to drown the featured table lamps so we thought it a good chance to try the Rotolights. There are two used, just in front of her to camera right and behind her to camera left. The round lights create a satisfying round catch-light in Kate’s eye.To emphasise the 70s colours, the colour temperature has also been tinkered with. The lights – and camera – were set at 4300K but the temperature upped to about 6000 during editing. I’m told this further emphasises the 70s feel. Those who can see colours will no doubt form their own opinions.
In the remaining two shots, the Rotolights supplement daylight.
In this “bathroom” set, there is a window to camera left and the set also gets significant light from one of the studio’s flourescent house lights above and to the right. The Rotolight is providing fill to Kate’s face and inside the bath.
Here, the window is to camera right and the Rotolight is providing the light from the left.In all these shots, ISO had to be turned up a bit – to 800 for the 70s room.
I offer these shots for members’ information. My personal view so far is that LED lights have their uses but are not a substitute for good flash you want strong light.
We are now feeling encouraged into video where we can make use of the special effects on the Rotolight, such as lightning, fire, tv and flashing police blue lights. 🙂
Andrew
Thank you for your kind words, Hywel. I’ll aim to post a few more sets from time to time. Meanwhile, here are 3 more shots of Kendra James from our shoot at FetishCon. My own work this time. Camera: Panasonic DMC FZ1000.
I’m sure it would never have occurred to us that my wife or I would be posting on this forum when I wrote to Hywel introducing ourselves saying neither of us was a photographer and we just dabbled on the edge of this fun fantasy world of bondage. It is still less than 2 years since we plucked up the courage to turn our cameras off “full auto” and only just over a year since our first shoot with a professional fetish/bondage model. At least that name has stuck and we are now accustomed to being known as the Fantasy Dabblers.
I hope you all enjoy these.
Lighting also interests me. I would like to add to previous ideas:-
(a) Combining natural and artificial light; and
(b) Use of reflectors with natural light.
To provide background to (b), my wife and I went on a photographic holiday to Spain this year where the other photographers made much use of reflectors as supplementary light, especially for the model’s face. Sometimes this worked very well but quite often it either left the model looking flat and washed out or separated her from the background (or both). Are there simple tips to stop this happening?
I should add that if will help if you can talk about the size of reflector most of us can carry around. I know from previous “behind the scenes” sets that you have huge ones.
Andrew
Hello Mathelehrer2 and welcome to the forum.
I can’t speak for Hywel but I can say I was tantalised for a long time by the selection of pictures on the opening page. I don’t know if your precise question has been asked before but the simple answer is they may not be there.
Someone else will have to help you with your first picture. The second is from a set called, “Natalia Squared” that went onto the site as an update in April 2014 but has now gone – until it appears again in the Archives. There are several topics in the old Forum where Hywel explains all about the cost of bandwidth and the various ways all website owners control costs for everyone’s benefit. His involves not having everything up on the site at once.
Sometimes, the picture in the preview slideshow is from a set shot very recently that haven’t gone up at all yet. For example, I kept looking out for the set that included the one of Penny Lee in the countryside so was very pleased when “Captured Hiker” appeared on the site.
I hope Hywel doesn’t mind me saying that, yes, the preview slideshow is a bit of a teaser (or perhaps he would prefer tempter). The fact is that there are lots of good things inside that keep many of us here for a long time and I hope you are enjoying them.
Andrew
I agree with Sablesword that I like this set and add some reasons of my own.
As I might expect from a set made during a tutorial, it is a great illustration of lighting effects. I guess the early shots are lit from a single source positioned off to the side close to the wall. The effect is very dramatic. This is especially noticeable in the brickwork background but it does leave one half of Ariel’s face dark. I fear it may also make her hair look a little lifeless, although I really only noticed that once I had the later shots to compare it with.
Perhaps it’s my over-active imagination, but I also love the way Ariel is holding the spreader bar in the first couple of shots. What is she thinking of? Is that a cane or crop? How effectively a simple stance and prop can release a string of fantasies without any need for us to see more. 🙂
And yes, gags are fine but I doubt if even Ariel could have managed quite the range of facial expressions she used in this set if she had been wearing one.
I also admired the way Ariel stands on one foot while her ankles are held n the spreader bar. Maybe her dance background and skill make this possible for her but that doesn’t make it less impressive.
I have not yet worked out the more complex lighting in the later shots – or even whether there is more than one setup used. Perhaps I will know more soon – see below.
Moving to the general question Hywel asked in the introduction to the set, I think new tutorials are a great idea. I am also confident that I will be able to write about this again after my wife and I have completed the one Hywel and Ariel have kindly arranged for us early in the new year.
Andrew
May I add here two suggestions that are not for Archive sets but “inspired by” recent Archive sets I especially liked.
First, assuming you still have them, can we see more of the old heavy collar and cuffs worn by Jenny Lang in “Kidnapped by Chat” (24th August)? It was great to see the SM Factory collar and cuffs on Penny Lee among the rough stonework at the back of the new house in “The Sultan’s Barefoot Slave-girl” (there I go talking about a “Silk Soles” video again), and they are fine as decoration for a favoured slavegirl, but it seems to me those old stones were made for heavy old chains for kidnappings, DiD and historical scenes.
Second, I’d be really interested to see what you can do now with an “invisible man” scene like the one in “Katarina’s Science Experiment” (16th August). I’m not suggesting a remake but something new with the same idea, perhaps the effects of haunting in a dark old house or of a mind control implant, etc. I know this sort of scenario has resulted in famously hammy acting in various tv shows. I am confident you would do better if you tried a video, but I’d be happy with a photoset for the moment.
Andrew
Thank you, Hywel, for the detailed response. It is a reminder of the effort that goes into your productions and the standards you work to. I am hopeful that as I work through my photography learning curve I will actually understand more and more of it.
I write this while still in Florida after FetishCon and as we are about to try filming with our own, recently acquired GoPro camera. Forgive us if for now we just have fun and leave the technical stuff (and kink) till later.
Andrew
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This reply was modified 9 years, 8 months ago by
I don’t know.They may have known exactly what they were doing in choosing that picture. From the little knowledge I once had of journalism, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was so. Still, it is a great picture. I’ve loved it every time I’ve seen it.
Andrew
I suppose it’s one strength of the forum that we can use it to clarify when our “No Real Feelings” vote conceals that we actually have lots of strong, but conflicting feelings. I have the same response to today’s (21st May) set: “Captured Innocence” The pictures are stunning, Roswell Ivory is gorgeous and the effect is intriguing. The set also demonstrates RE’s willingness to experiment and try new concepts, which keeps it fresh. It’s just that on this one, I can’t see the ropes and feel I have to take account of that when voting on a bondage site.
Andrew
On the subject of glories from the Archives, may we please have more outdoor sets (old or new) like the recent “Lake Bound” one. Of course we want to see close ups of the model and the bondage but it’s also great to see beautiful women in beautiful scenery. There is a lovely romantic feel to shots of the model in mother nature surrounded by flowers or trees or water or mountains.
I agree it’s a great set and would like to add special mention for the faces Katy pulls even before the tickling started (or are we just not seeing it?).
I offer even further admiration if you managed to achieve the trademark Retrained Elegance sharpness of focus while Katy and Natalia were wriggling as rapidly and uncontrollably as, I have reason to believe, some people do while being tickled. It’s not that I mind if they were given an occasional moment to compose a pose, I’m just interested to know.
Andrew
I am sure a RE calendar would be as superb as any other RE production but I suspect the printed calendars generally have been hit by the use of electronic organisers. If there were new pictures, my wife and I might buy one but I doubt we would use it. It’s just too convenient to be able to check dates and diary anywhere any time.
A cousin of mine is a photographer and printer and for many years has produced a beautiful calendar of the hills, castles and other sights of the North East of England. While one does not discuss business in the family, I suspect sales are not flourishing. I grant he has not (yet) tried chained, naked slavegirls as foreground subjects, but I can not be sure the overall effect on sales would be positive.
Andrew
Thank you, Hywel, the new layout makes things a lot easier for me. I can now zoom the page in to a size I can see and the posts still stay within the screen. I should add that I have also found (OK, had found for me 🙂 ) the shortcut keys on my PC to do the zoom easily!
Thank you also, Lurker. It’s nice to know the full size pictures are still there. Coincidentally, this morning I looked at the forum on my mobile ‘phone (Samsung Galaxy Note II) for the first time and realised how the pictures fit the screen perfectly. I don’t suppose I’ll use it that often (still a bit small for my special situation) but it must be marvellous for anyone who wants to wave the pictures round – in suitable company – and say, “look at this cool site I’ve found”.
Andrew
I have now logged in successfully and many, many thanks to Hywel for help and advice.
The photos are superb. On my screen, they are confined in a single column more than in the old forum. Positive: a lot easier to scroll down them. Negative: some aren’t as big. Given that they are previews and we get the full size in due course on the site, I think the positive outweighs the negative.
Good luck with the forum upgrade.
Andrew
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This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by
