Sean OMalley Visits from London!

Yes, after 3 months in Japan I’m back to Holland in less than 2 weeks!  I had the time of my life during that period though it’s been an emotional roller-coaster with personal matters.  Still the positive outweighed the negative.  I got to spend a fortnight over the festive season with my fella and his family in Sweden to experience my first ever White Christmas as well as boost my modeling portfolio with a number of successful shoots with him.  Then whilst in Japan I had quite a few gigs from both local and visiting photographers from afar as Australia, U.S., and even England.

Yes England!  From jolly good o’ London in fact.  It was actually my second shoot with Sean OMalley during our coinciding visits to Tokyo, the first one being in September 2011 where we shot outside on the nightlife district of Akasakamitsuke.  Previous to that, I had the pleasure of working with him at the Bunker Group Shoot in north London in 2009 where I wore a corset for the first time and thought I was going to faint!  I remember Sean being very concerned and considerate towards me that I have since felt comfortable working with him.

This time, Sean and I shot at his high-rise hotel room in Shinagawa for some boudoir images on 26 November 2012.  All I had to bring was two sets of lingerie, one in black and the other in white.  And a pair of nice heels.  Not to mention a string of pearls for added vavavoom. I like shoots like that.  No faffing about, stressing out what to bring and teetering around town dragging a huge rolling luggage full of outfits from which you only end up wearing 10%.

Every shoot I go to, I make the point of packing sets of bothblack and white lingerie.   Along with matching suspenders, stockings and holdups and throwing in a pair of black fishnets.  You can’t go wrong with black lingerie if all else fails.  Black is not just versatile for adapting to various moods but it’s wonderfully sexy, sophisticated and sensual.  And it’s a timeless classic not to mention age-defying.  Maybe it’s due to age but I find myself feeling more refined posing in black lingerie and it reflects in the photos.  Sean clearly enhanced this by providing the right mood in the room by skillfully capturing the images with the available natural light from the huge windows.

As with white lingerie, I was pleasantly surprised as to how well it turned out too.  I always associate white with youth and “purity” and hence to be avoided by women over 30s, whilst recalling those wedding dress rules they said about choosing off-white or cream instead of pure white when you reach that age.  However, even wearing white lingerie somewhat gave me back 15 years of my past youth whilst retaining the elegance and sophistication.  It just takes good lighting and composition to create a refined image as Sean had again successfully demonstrated.  Focusing on the face, particularly eye contact, was also key.

I was further amazed at the result of me posing in a white shirt which he had kindly lent to me.   There is something sensual about a woman donning a man’s shirt.  It somewhat shows vulnerability and mysteriously emphasizes femininity as it looks as if the outfit is “protecting” her.  It’s something to be worn over sexy lingerie or even better, with nothing underneath.  Whether it’s an indoors boudoir shoot, an edgy fashion shoot or an outdoors nude shoot in the woods or abandoned building, an oversized man’s white shirt is so versatile.  It also keeps you warm too!  Another “if all else fails” outfit to bring to shoots.

I would like to share some of those photos from this shoot, although I am waiting to receive some more shortly. Waiting for the rest of the photos will certainly be worth it as I am so far loving them all what I’ve seen so far.  Thank you, Sean, for making some room for me during your busy schedule in Japan!  Meanwhile, I have been looking at my old photos and am horrified to see myself in hot pink or banana yellow lingerie and wonder why they I look so cheesy and cheap.  And OMG I even have a set in lime green!  Seriously.  Nope I think I’ll stick to the bare minimum and go simple with just black and white…

For more on Sean’s work, check out his Website!