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Happy Birthday, Restrained Elegance!! š
Congratulations to everyone for continuing to make this website world class. I think 9 years is quite an achievement and long may it continue!
Cheers,
SteveP.S., what a Birthday treat to see Ariel in the bondage version of the lexicon positions. Stunning!
Yay!!!! Happy Birthday to RE!
I cannot believe it is over 9 years ago that I first went to Hywel’s house, put on some armour and got hogtied! There have been many changes since then but, thanks to Hywel, the heart of the site has always remained strong – and the quality of the content has just got better and better.
Here is to the next 9 years… my gosh, I will be nearly 40 then, rather not think about that one!!
Thanks to every single model and every single photographer – and every single member for your valuable input and invaluable support. And a MASSIVE thanks for having me along for the ride, Hywel! I am so proud to be involved with the site.
Kate x
Greetings from New Jersey,
I hope everyone is doing well.
Doesnāt seem possible that the RE site is nine years old already. Also doesnāt seem possible that such a quality little bondage community has sprung up as part of the site. Certainly many thanks and praise go to Hywel for getting things rolling and for having the courage to let go and allow others contribute to the process behind the scenes as well such as Kate, Steve, Merlin and numerous others. Of course there are many many models to thank for sharing themselves with all the site viewers both for their efforts in front of the camera but as part of the production teams at times as well. Thank you one and all.
Obviously any quality site can not please everyoneās tastes but RE does consistently show a pretty wide cross section of material, as has often been noted, and there is something for just about everyoneās particular set of favorites. Obviously there are just too many permutations of individual preferences for every set or video to be a winner in everyoneās eyes. Some site will stop doing certain types of things if the majority doesnāt seem to care for it. So far, and RE deserves a lot of credit for this, I have not seen evidence of them not doing any certain type of set or video because some have decried it because there will be members that do like it. Itās always nice to see a site push their own boundaries and limits and yet still sow what made them enjoyable to many in the first place. Also goes without saying that the steady improvement in the technology is nice to see as well.
Itās also a nice chance from many sites, bondage or non-bondage, in that Hywel and the others behind the scenes of the website side of RE do try to address problems individual members have encountered. Given the sheer volume of material involved with RE and the hassles of dealing with a large site (servers, back ups, porting to updated equipment, security issues, credit card processing, uploading and scheduling content, and on and on) you have to wonder where they find the time but they always seem to try. Very refreshing.
So, a Happy Birthday to the RE site, to all involved in bringing it to the members, to the members who have supported it through nine years and to all on the forum and chats for the community they have formed. Hereās to at least another nine years. Hope there will be a big party next year for number 10ā¦ā¦
Cheers and all the best to RE,
Jeff
Know IĀ“m a few days late…. but
Happy birthday to RE! š
// Pling x
Many congratulations! Quite apart from the remarkable aesthetic quality you bring to your work, the sheer volume of new scenarios is deeply impressive.
Auberon
Yes. Congrats!
I’ve been a member of Restrained Elegance for a long time (checks old records: Purchase Date/Time: Thursday, May 24, 2001, 10:53 PM for the initial subscription) A looong time.
RE happens to match my own tastes very well: Barefoot bondage, large & high-quality photos, beautiful models, secure restraints that look good, a “glamor” style (vs “industrial grunge”), models who generally look like they’re enjoying the experience, lots of shots that stand well back to take in the whole model, variety in how and where the models are restrained (and a general willingness to experiment, even if the experiments don’t always work out), not overdoing the gags (a fairly high percentage of ungagged photos, generally avoiding huge gags or an “all gags, all the time” format), and lots of barefoot bondage photos.
So Happy Birthday, Restrained Elegance!
š yay Happy 9th Birthday RE!
I’m sure this site has more birthdays than me! š
Of course by process of clever mathematics we can be fairly sure that next year will be then big 10 years!! oOOooo.. Now THAT sounds like an excuse for a celebration does it not..
I’m sat here trying to think up some good ways RE could do this and not really coming up with much that doesn’t cost Hywel $$$ tbh so I thought I’d throw the question open to the forum, so?? any ideas out here?
M
ok, it took a few weeks but I’ve come up with a 10th Birthday Celebration suggestion. Can’t decide how viable it is so I’m going to float it here and hope someone has an opinion.
Boundcon recently ran in Munich(?), that in itself could pass without much notice at RE and neither Hywel or crew are “scene people”, however, assuming it runs again next year then its timing is pretty good for RE’s 10th birthday.. This must of been at the back of my mind as a looked at the Tutorial preview shots posted on the forum.. š”
IF RE were to take out a decent size exhibit at the next Boundcon, how about creating a shooting space right there on the floor, a couple of pole mounted backdrops on stands and maybe similar side screens, leave space behind for storage and model space, maybe put a couple of tables accross the front and decent (small) shooting space is created. Obviously need a few strobes on stands and maybe boom mount and I’m fearful of the overhead sodium? lamps but I reckon its doable. In terms of purpose of this space I’m wondering how much interest there would be in running tutorials right there, in the middle of the convention floor š® Obviously the usual full day shoot would have to be cut down to 2 half day shoots to give people chance to see the Con. When not running tutorials the space could be used for doing professional shoots for RE with the multitude of pro models attending the Con as this would be a missed opportunity otherwise and either way it would be interesting for members and non-members alike to see an RE bondage shoot in the flesh and thus good publicity for the site? The cost of the show would only be comparible with any other RE location shoot and would produce lots of interesting sets and boost the profile of RE within the industry.
Anyone think this is a good idea? anyone interesting in actually shooting a 3? hour studio tutorial there? would the promotors allow this in principle or does it clash with their photography policy? and has this been done before?
Thoughs?
M
In principle it sounds like a good idea. I actually ran a group lecture/tutorial at the one BondCon I went to ages ago. I do wonder about the cost of the booth and even more so about the sheer logistics of running it, especially as I speak not a word of German.
Ariel and I considered going to Fetish Con this year, and were vaguely wondering about doing some tutorial there, too, but in the end we decided against going because the high-season flights to Florida were prohibitive.
I have a cunning plan for something to mark the site’s 10th Birthday- a bit lower key than a public performance or big party, but I was thinking about maybe doing a limited edition book… with a copy reserved for everyone who has been on “crew” for the site, and the rest available for public sale. Places like Blurb allow production of modest print runs without ruinous expense these days, at least for projects like this where I’d basically be looking to break even rather than rake in the profits.
Cheers, Hywel.
LOL, I just logged in to add that it might be a great place to sell some comemorative(sp?) photobooks š Looks like you’re ahead of me.
Dissappointing lack of responses to this thread, which could be quite telling in itself š are people warmer to the limited edition book idea? or do we just have lots of lurkers here? š
Cheers
M
I think Merlinās suggestion would be a lot of fun! Itās a real shame the logistics / technicalities and cost is prohibitive this time round.
But producing a book is a great way to mark your 10 year milestone, Hywel. I seem to remember you mentioning in the past you would like to compile a book at some point. I hope you get the opportunity and time to fulfil this! Thatās also a very kind gesture offering a copy to the RE crew.
Cheers
SteveGreetings from New Jersey,
Hope everyone is doing well. Thought I would chime in on 10th year anniversary planning. Personally I would love to see Hywel and Ariel do something at either BondCon or Fetish Con as part of the tenth anniversary of RE but I have no idea what either charges for booth space. Dealing with the logistics of getting any reasonable amount of bondage gear and photo equipment there (particularly for Fetish Con in US) would probably be a nightmare. Plus the expense, particularly if coming to Fetish Con, could easily be cost prohibitive. Still it would be niceā¦..
As would some form of get together but this has its own set of logistic and other hassles to deal with. One day perhaps.
I think the idea of some sort of commemorative book is a very sound idea and I certainly commend Hywel for the idea of reserving a copy for the production team. Nice touch sir. Iād certainly be interested in buying a copy. An added thing you might think about is setting aside some quantity of the books so you can have the production team autograph them along with several of the well known models (if the logistics can be worked out for them to do this). Obviously those would be sold at a higher price but I suspect there would be a reasonable percentage of the RE community that might be interested in such a premium item. I know that Harmony Communications did that with their 50th anniversary issue of āBondage Lifeā magazine back in the late 1980ās or early 1990ās and the limited premium edition sold out if I remember correctly.
Something else you might think about is commemorative DVD. Perhaps do some interviews with some of the production team (off camera as needed for privacy issues), talk with a couple of the models, perhaps a behind the scenes video of an entire photo or video shoot, perhaps film one of the tutorials in the future, perhaps include some outtakes / bloopers from some of the videos if they exist and so forth. Such a DVD could be a stand alone thing or part of the book.
Iāll certainly be interested in seeing how things work out. RE closing in on ten years on the web. Amazingā¦.. and no where to go but upwards and onwards. Should be a glorious ride.
All the best and Cheers,
Jeff
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