An FTQ. (Frequently Thought Question) Do I get, uhm, you know, 'turned on' when I'm shooting?

It's funny. I am rarely asked this question by someone I don't know well. But I think it's something many wonder about and I don't think that's unhealthy. The answer is yes, and no.

Shooting erotic imagery, imagery that is designed to provoke both a physical and physiological response in a viewer, is a process of conception; coming up with a concept, staging; creating the right scene for the concept, discovery; letting the light and the model speak to the camera to find the best image, and finally titillation; is the image thought provoking in the right way?

So if what I'm seeing and feeling in the studio isn't at least a bit hot to me, turning me on a bit, then it's probably not going to speak to the audience much either.

Sometimes that's a failure to connect between me and the subject. I'm very much a mental/emotional connector. Someone can be drop dead spectacular but if there is no mental/emotional connection I'm just unlikely to get terribly interested. Being hurried sucks too. Knowing I'm out to capture a certain number of images and scenes, etc., can be a buzz kill, but it's part of the job and I take it seriously.

I get most turned on when I feel a deeper connection with my subject.

When I know she feels beautiful and at peace with herself and the moment. When it's fun for both of us. We laugh. When the connection is real. I get turned on...

Does that mean I get hard? Sorry for the blunt question but it's what people really want to know. Rarely. And I mean, really rarely. In rare cases I might feel a bit of the impulse, but it's not going to happen because sex isn't going to happen. At 56 my body gets that and decides not to waste the energy.

Over the years I've had a few situations were a photo shoot could have turned into something more. I've never let that happen then and there. I want to be sure, for her and for me, that it's something we really want. If so, great. If not, so much the better that we didn't let it happen in the moment.

I'm not made of plaster. I'm a human being. My brain is occupied during a shoot with a lot of technical details and with the art of keeping my model/subject in the right headspace but the brain goes where it wants and sometimes mine likes to enter the playground of fun that these sensual subjects invoke.

And that's healthy too...