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Well, I called it the “waitress tie” because I was trying to get across what it looked like, without bothering with an elegant name. However, I wouldn’t mind at all if it were re-named to something like “the harem yoke.”
That would invoke the idea of a beautiful new captive presented to the harem-master, with hands in front and visible without their being able to cover anything important, while still looking less crude than a neck yoke.
And a (slightly delayed) Happy New Year to you, too.
I just saw the “waitress tie” set, and the comment on how much you hated it. You can blame me for it: IIRC, I was the one who suggested it. I won’t suggest that you be put into it for future sets, but does your hatred extend to putting other models into the waitress tie?
And would you hate it less if we came up with another name for it?
There is something wrong with the (list) bb markup here. Is it just me, or do others see it as well?
“Alternative bondage materials”: I’ve been grumbling for a while now that the new updates have been all rope and metal and metal and rope. CD, are you talking about the archive sets when you say “I have been pleased to see the increase in the amount of alternative bondage materials over the past year (alternative to rope or metal)”? Because I seen hardly any of that in the new updates.
Having a few closeups (<10% of the total) of special or intricate bindings might be good, although I'm not a big fan of closeups in general. OTOH, I like half-body and three-quarter-body shots that crop off various parts of the model even less.
My own list of suggestions for 2013 would be
o Keep up the good work with the big stills of barefoot bondage.
o Use more alternative bondage materials
o Use more exotic costumes & clothing.
o In sets where the model wears glasses, they should be among the last things to come off, rather than the first. Shoes and stockings, OTOH, should be the first things lost.
o Combining the above with “alternative binding materials,” how about some sets where the model’s nylons are removed and used to tie her up?
o More toe-ties and toe-bindings wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. Nor would some barefoot tickling.
Repeating some of the suggestions I’ve made in earlier posts:
o A “witch test.” The model is tied to a pole, or sitting on a bench, and then drenched with buckets of water, “to see if she melts. If she melts, she’s a witch.” I’m suggesting this for the Spain trip [ed – if you do one in 2013] because it really needs to be done when the weather is hot.
o “Comfy?” The model is promised that she’ll be made comfortable. She’s then tied in a ball tie or frog tie while wearing a nightie, or a “little black dress,” or just bra & panties, and then left in a nest with a huge number of pillows & cushions. Maybe on a bed, maybe on a couch, maybe on a rug in front of a “harem set” wall.
o More brunettes. Also, more “ethnic” models (east-asian, south-asian, latina, black…)
o More sets of models tied in a chair. In particular, more of the classic “tied to a straight-backed wooden chair” type sets. (As a particular suggestion: Buy or make an oversized “prop” chair of the straight-backed wooden type, 1.5 x the standard size – something that will make Ariel look like she’s all of four feet tall. Then use it with various models for a “captured by giants” series of sets.)
o The next time you do a long video project, make it something light-hearted. In particular leave the punishments out, or else treat them as jokes.
o Do a “Slavegirl Lexicon” set with a model other than Ariel (and with a different body type) as a “compare and contrast” thing. (Or maybe a two-model set, with Ariel and a second model, both tied in the same position, with the lecture-text blathering on about the “important differences.”)
o A “mad scientist” set, [ed – I’m not a big video fan, but this might make a good video] where a damsel-victim is restrained on a table/bench and 5-7 battery-powered remote-control vibrators are taped to her: On the soles of her feet, on the undersides of her upper arms, just above the armpits, one between her breasts, and to her legs at the knees. The vibrators are then activated, singly and in various combinations, as “tests” and “experiments.” Maybe with suitable “scientific” voice commentary by an off-stage Hywel.
o Model is strapped or taped to a stretcher at some temporary holding point, waiting for the minions of Honest Omar to carry her away. The “temporary holding point” might be the bedroom or office where she was captured, or a warehouse or basement setting.
o it might make a good (and humorous) storyline for an intrepid reporter to conduct an exclusive interview with a kidnap victim – while the victim is still hogtied and in the kidnapper’s power.
— Or maybe have the kidnap victim be in a straight-backed wooden chair, in a classic “kidnap victim chair tie.”
— Or maybe the kidnap victim has been rescued, but the rescuing authorities haven’t untied her yet – for some reason there is an absurd bureaucratic delay in doing so. Maybe that can be one of the reporter’s questions: “You were rescued on Tuesday, but the Ministry still hasn’t authorized untying your ropes. What is your opinion of the Ministry’s policies in this regard?”
— Or maybe the intrepid reporter allows herself to be hogtied in order to get the exclusive interview, either with the kidnap victim, or with the kidnapper, or with some other villain.
I’d say colorful and skimpy, in addition to being removable without removing restraints. Simple would be a plus.
Possibly:
A very short wrap-skirt, maybe fastened with a big bow, or maybe with an oversized button bearing the logo of “Honest Omar.”
A length of bunched cloth, used as a “cloth crotch rope.” One end tucked under or tied to the collar in front, running between the breasts, between the legs, and then back up for the other end to be tucked under or tied to the collar in back. Or to a cord tied around the waist as a belt.
A string that ties around the slavegirl’s waist, with a tiny loose flap of cloth that (sorta) covers the front, fig-leaf style.
A “string skirt” – a cloth belt with long fringes, ribbons, or cords that hang down to somewhere above the knee.
Tops – if any – would be sleeveless, with buttons on the shoulder straps, and maybe buttons or ties on the sides as well, to allow removal from the bound slavegirl. Maybe very short tops that show the “underboobs” combined with the cloth fig-leaf or one of the skirts.
“Let’s make the victim super vulnerable by removing the sense of sight!!” Well, maybe. But one might also say “Let’s make the victim feel really vulnerable by letting her see what’s happening without being able to do anything about it!!”
Or I could just be the grumpy guy who is (just barely) old enough to remember when “boys don’t make passes at girls wearing glasses” was the received TRVTH with no dissent or contradiction in sight. And a big enough geek to resent it, all these decades later.
Actually, I feel that it might be a good thing to slavishly recreate highly rated sets. Not frequently, and maybe not more than once, but maybe just once, as an experiment.
In particular, let be bring up my old idea of taking a popular set and redoing it with a different model, for an “exactly the same, only completely different” effect.
Think of “bringing back a scenario to use with a different model” as a counterpart to “bringing back a model to use with a different scenario.” A popular setup may not deserve as much stardom as a popular model, but I think it does deserve some applause and encore performances for its supporting role.
At a tangent, it might make a good (and humorous) storyline for an intrepid reporter to conduct an exclusive interview with a kidnap victim – while the victim is still hogtied and in the kidnapper’s power.
Or maybe have the kidnap victim be in a straight-backed wooden chair, in a classic “kidnap victim chair tie.”
Or maybe the kidnap victim has been rescued, but the rescuing authorities haven’t untied her yet – for some reason there is an absurd bureaucratic delay in doing so. Maybe that can be one of the reporter’s questions: “You were rescued on Tuesday, but the Ministry still hasn’t authorized untying your ropes. What is your opinion of the Ministry’s policies in this regard?”
Or maybe the intrepid reporter allows herself to be hogtied in order to get the exclusive interview, either with the kidnap victim, or with the kidnapper, or with some other villain.
To flesh the last idea out with some specifics, an intrepid female reporter has agreed to be hogtied to interview a celebrity villain. Certain subjects, by previous agreement, are off-limits, and when the reporter starts to mention one of them, the villain says “We agreed not to mention that,” and gives her a single swat on the bare soles with a riding crop – or maybe a single tickle-stroke with a feather duster.
(And since I’m a decided non-sadist, I’d very much prefer this to be played more as slapstick, rather than as dramatic sadism: When the crop strikes, the reporter gives a bright “ouch!”, smiles, and continues to the next question, rather than howling moan of “owww!” that expresses Real Pain.)
Either way, as long as there are a decent number of stills offered on the site.
I very much prefer stills, but I seem to be in the minority in that.
Moving off-topic, I’m much more likely to join Nude In Metal than Silk Soles. But I’d like to repeat the comment I recently made in the suggestion subforum: All nude, all the time is wearing; I like to see some bright, skimpy costumes in the mix. Maybe not for the “Nude In Metal” site, if “all nude, all the time” is one of the selling points, but in RE sets.
I’m thinking of something simple, like a bright-colored piece of silk tied around the waist, or acting as a loincloth (with a tied cord, or a padlocked chain, as a belt to hold it in place). Or if the model is collared, maybe a narrow and/or bunched length of cloth, one end tied to the collar in front, dropping down between the breasts (not covering them), between the legs, and back up to be tied at the back of the collar. (Sort of a cloth crotch-rope.)
Oh, and please have the models’ hands secured in front as they perform their tasks. Especially if they are completely nude.
Nude + hands behind + tasks = looks like pulling things from their asses = at least faintly squicky.
But you do allow comments. You just force people to make the comments here on the forum, rather than on the RE site itself, which filters out the lazy and impulsive.
Thanks for the explainations.
Even if the hammerlock and the reverse prayer aren’t interchangable, I’d still like to see more hammerlocks and fewer reverse prayers. Call me an atheist, or maybe a pagan Thor-worshiper
but I really do like the hammerlock “look” while I’ve been quietly waiting for the RE crew to get tired of reverse prayers. There was a while when they seemed to be showing up quite frequently.Of course, now that I’ve posted this, I expect others to show up chanting “More reverse prayers! More reverse prayers!” We audience members are an annoying lot, and Hywel can’t please everyone. 😕
This deserves a bump: Another call for duct tape! (Or bondage tape, or some other, more-or-less similar sort of tape.)
Perhaps RIMUVA DiD tape:
[attachment=0:2ur7dyos]YAGSSW_2011a.png[/attachment:2ur7dyos]
Lorelei Station and the Silver Sands Shipping Syndicate recommend the use of RIMUVA DiD Tape for restraining and securing captive cuties. RIMUVA tape comes in a variety of pleasing colors, useful for both at-a-glance coding and aesthetic binding. RIMUVA tape also features a bio-neutral adhesive that sticks tight while avoiding irritation, and an adaptive nano-fiber reinforcement that both provides comfort and prevents escape, no matter how vigorously your captives struggle. RIMUVA tape is industrial grade, and has become the standard throughout the Orion syndicates, the Cetus combines, the Houses of Ursa III, and even the Federation black market. Buy RIMUVA DiD tape wherever transshipment supplies are sold. Available in either single rolls or convenient and credit-saving bulk packs.Hasler: I agree about avoiding over-complex stories (although we may disagree about what makes a story “over-complex.” I prefer a touch of the exotic and fantastic, while you seem to like a more mundane scenario.)
But this brings up the matter of “you can’t please everyone.” Or rather that Hywel can’t please everyone. You want gags and collars and closeups. But I’m only moderately enthusiastic about the collars, meh about the gags, and as for the closeups… My preference is for fewer closeups and more shots that take in the entire model.
Two quick ideas:
1. The classic “intruder breaks in and binds damsel with duct tape.” Either a bedroom setting (intruder is a jewel-thief, come to break into the home safe, tapes up damsel-in-lingerie-on-bed before continuing), or in an office setting (intruder is looking for Important Papers, and tapes up secretary-type before continuing).
2. “Captured & Stripped by a Barbarian Warlord” – model starts in office clothing (and wearing glasses), except that her shoes have been taken. She’s restrained in a dungeon or harem; maybe cuffed to the bondage pole. Every couple of photos, another piece of clothing is removed, until the last dozen photos are of the bound model, naked except for her glasses.
OK, a third idea:
3. Model is strapped or taped to a stretcher at some temporary holding point, waiting for the minions of Honest Omar to carry her away. The “temporary holding point” might be the bedroom or office where she was captured, or a warehouse or basement setting.
And a general thought: Metal restraints & handcuffs are nice, but I think you’re starting to overuse them, and when you don’t use metal restraints, it always seems to be rope. It would be nice to see some bondage that wasn’t the usual metal or rope.
For my part, I liked it better that Heidi was tied with ropes rather than put in handcuffs.
I agree that using the pole has produced some really good sets.
Hi Hywel,
Thanks for the comments and the constructive/confirming criticism. It would be nice to get away with a big reflector, but I was afraid that I would need an actual third light. Besides, these sets were done in a hotel room, and as you said last year, hotel rooms are a pig to light. Making things even piggier by trying to use a reflector would not be good.
Now I need to decide whether to get a third Alien Bee(monobloc) or use a speedlight as the third light. One advantage of the speedlight is that I could get a clamp and attach it up at the top of the curtains. But there are also disadvantages to this solution.
Anyway your advice, as always, is helpful.
Orias:
[attachment=3:2nl0boss]FC2012_Portfolio1200_27.jpg[/attachment:2nl0boss]
[attachment=2:2nl0boss]FC2012_Portfolio1200_29.jpg[/attachment:2nl0boss]Rain Daniels:
[attachment=1:2nl0boss]FC2012_Portfolio1200_33.jpg[/attachment:2nl0boss]
[attachment=0:2nl0boss]FC2012_Portfolio1200_37.jpg[/attachment:2nl0boss]Congrats to you both.
I’m already at f/8 and I’d rather not stop down any further. Not so much because of depth of field (although I probably should worry about that more than I do), but because going beyond f/8 gives up sharpness.
Hywel,
Thanks for the advice; as always it’s helpful.
I’ve considered putting a gel on the flash, but the design makes doing so difficult – not impossible, but just difficult. The modifier I’m particularly trying to tame is this one, with the on-axis (“cage”) mount, on an Alien Bee light.
I hadn’t considered the Cokin filter holder system, mostly because I never have heard of it before. I’ll have to check that out. I was thinking more of a screw in filter for the lack-of-hassle factor. Given my current small number of lenses, and the fact that I only want to lose one stop, I didn’t think the cost would be too bad.
Of course if I wanted to throw money at the problem
I could buy a new camera with a base ISO of 100 instead of 200, and/or upgrade my Alien Bee strobes to Einsteins for the ability to turn the power way way down when necessary.This is something of a tangent, but: Are there any plans to change the billing system so that long-term members (like myself) can change their credit-card details without having to cancel and rejoin?
This isn’t quite what you were asking for, but what do you think about these?
[attachment=1:1h93sxwo]FC2011_Portfolio1200_20.JPG[/attachment:1h93sxwo]
[attachment=0:1h93sxwo]FC2011_Portfolio1200_24.JPG[/attachment:1h93sxwo]I wouldn’t mind seeing a RE tickle video. The chief thing I’d like to see is the tickling combined with some really secure bondage – strapped down to a plank, for example. Or, of course, in the stocks.
OTOH…
IIRC Hywel has done a bit of tickling in the past, on RE. I got the impression, however, that it was something of an experimental or side-line thing for him. That he isn’t a big ticklephile, at least not the way I am :mrgreen:. He (and Ariel) seem to be much more on the “stingy” end of the spectrum – that bastinado video was a natural for them, in a way I don’t think a tickle video would be.
An idea that isn’t really either tickley or stingy, but that might be fun: A “mad scientist” set, where a damsel-victim is restrained on a table/bench and 5-7 battery-powered remote-control vibrators are taped to her: On the soles of her feet, on the undersides of her upper arms, just above the armpits, one between her breasts, and to her legs at the knees. The vibrators are then activated, singly and in various combinations, as “tests” and “experiments.” Maybe with suitable “scientific” voice commentary by an off-stage Hywel.
I suspect that I’m in the minority, here, but when there’s on-screen doming, I’d rather see you or another guy do it, rather than Ariel or another woman. (But then I’m one of those weird people who is left cold by “Hot Girl-Girl Action!”
One thing that bothers me more than “lots of Ariel” is the shortage of brunettes in the recent sets. Lots of blondes, a good number of sets with redheads, but few brunettes. Even setting the Ariel sets aside, the blonde/brunette ratio is higher than I’d personally like to see.
Looks much as I’d expect from RE – i.e. good!
One thing I noticed, however. You have a lot of blonde models. Not counting the archive sets, I see 9 blondes, 3 redheads, and only 1 brunette. My suggestion: Tie up more brunettes. 🙂
I went with Nikon over Canon almost entirely for the user interface/ergonomics. I kept getting told that at the “buy your first dSLR level” the differences in such things as high ISO or skin tone rendition are much ado about nothing. And I believed it.
Besides, I subscribe to the theory of:
Camera painful or difficult to use –> not used much –> waste of money
Camera pleasant & fun to use –> used a lot –> great value for the moneySo far, my Nikon D90 is confirming this; it feels so nice in my hands…
I don’t see myself going full-frame. Maybe in a future where even the entry-level dSLRs have full-frame sensors, but not likely otherwise. So “I might upgrade to FF in the future” is a minor consideration for me; any DX glass I get today I expect to be using for at least the next 10 years.
OTOH, who knows? And on the third hand, I am shooting longer than I had expected, so a 24-70 would fit me much better than the high-end DX 17-55 lens.
I did have a chance to briefly try the Tamron 28-75 in camera store, since my first post on this thread, and I found myself much less impressed than I had expected. And since on analyzing my shots I find myself shooting longer than expected, the idea of a 50mm prime (which has always been in the back of my mind) is now a lot more tempting.
Some of my thoughts:
o Please please don’t include shots of the slavegirls working on tasks with their hands while their wrists are tied behind their backs. It makes them look like they’re pulling things out of their rear ends, and even though they have cute rear ends, the effect is still ugh.
o Use “waitress” ties (elbows behind, wrists in front) instead.
o French maid outfits, or better yet, partial french maid outfits. Just the skirt, with toplessness and bare feet.
o Colorful scarves, used to color-code the different slavegirls. (Blue service, Red service, Green service, Yellow service…)
o A pony-girl, to pull the cart used for room-service and/or luggage transport.
o Or if a cart is too much trouble, two pony-girls (or ordinary slavegirls) carrying a stretcher-type-thing between them, loaded with luggage or room-service trays. Maybe something in the style of a miniature palanquin.
o Receptionist topless & collared, with a chain leash attaching her to the reception desk.
o Two or three slavegirls kneeling in front of the concierge’s desk, waiting to be called to duty.
o A large hotel logo to be visible everywhere. In particular, on whatever little clothing the slavegirls wear. Or maybe hung on a cord around their neck.
It was reading DP Reviews that got me tempted in the first place
I’m particularly tempted by the Tamron 28-75 due to all the reports that it’s a really great lens on crop sensor bodies, but not so good on full frame. Also, the robustness isn’t as good as the Nikon 24-70 (or Canon 24-70) but I don’t put my equipment to the same sort of hard use that you at RE do. So for me, the reduced robustness and performance just might be worth the reduced price tag. Maybe.
Or it might be “penny wise and pound foolish” vs getting a top-of-the-line Nikon lens, instead.
I miss 4:3 ratio screens on laptops (and I’m clinging to my current (old) laptop for just that reason). 16:10 is OK on the desktop, but 16:9 is painful, and wide & narrow screens are even more painful in the small-screen size required by a laptop.
Data point: My screen is 1920×1200. I don’t run my browser full-screen, but I do go full-screen when looking at photos & video.
