Once again before we start, challenge 252 is a little bit too long to fit on the title, so I’m adding it here:
252. Before the start of 2012, produce a calendar for 2012. You may get whatever help you need from other’s, the calendar will be tastefully nude and themed around larp/fantasy/scifi/Steampunk and other geekery. The calendar must be on free sale to any who wish to buy it, and after costs are deducted proceeds can go to the charity of your choice.
This challenge was set only a few days after the 2011 calendar was released, sent in from a friend who had decided to get into shape in 2011 and thought that the challenge might motivate him into joining us in the photo-shoots later that year. As it happened that friend did not get involved in the 2012 calendar, but happily that did not stop us from taking the idea and running with it.
The concept for this year was geekery, which left us spoilt for choice for options. We had been given specific concepts that we had to use (larp, fantasy, scifi and Steampunk) and fully intended to have shots that included these concepts, however the addition of other geekery allowed us to take from a wide range of seemingly unrelated themes without too much worry about going outside the boundaries of the challenge. Definition time:
Geek (noun) A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest. This definition is very broad but because many of these interests have mainstream endorsement and acceptance, the inclusion of some genres as “geeky” is heavily debated. Persons have been labeled as or chosen to identify as physics geeks, mathematics geeks, engineering geeks, sci-fi geeks, computer geeks, various science geeks, movie and film geeks (cinephile), comic book geeks, theater geeks, history geeks, music geeks, sport geeks, art geeks, philosophy geeks, literature geeks, historical reenactment geeks, video game geeks, and roleplay geeks. (Definition from our old friend Wikipedia)
Essentially we had a licence to take pictures with whatever theme we fancied and we’d undoubtedly be able to call it “other geekery.”
Our First Photo-shoot - Dungeons and Dragons
Unsurprisingly our first photoshoot was filled with people that had been in the previous calendar; our only new model pulled out at the last minute. Despite this a great time was had by all as we spend at relaxing day snapping pictures of us in various geek poses. Unlike the previous calender where we had specific months to fill, I’d asked my models to bring along things that they though geeky and therefore we had a selection of roleplaying books, comics, dice, larp weapons and toys from various science fiction shows to play with. With the help of Rosie our photographer, we had snapped out half a dozen excellent shots by the end of the day.
Our models were the beautiful Vikki (who’s house we took the shots in), the muscular Craig, the devilishly charming Marcus and the rakishly handsome Andy.
Oh and me.
The day was wonderful, putting the photography aside, it was lovely to catch up with people some of whom who I had not seen in a months and by the end of the day, it was clear that our calendar was looking like it would be finished in plenty of time for distribution.
The second set of photographs was taken in London at the home of Tequila Mockingbird. You might have guessed that “Tequila Mockingbird” is not her real name, but when a person has such excellent on-line moniker you’d be a fool not to use it. Now I had never been to her house before; in fact whilst I had I’d met her a few years previously and we had got on famously, she lived over 200 miles away making the likelihood for popping round for a cup of sugar slim at best.
The Tequila Photo-shoot, minus our Model. You should buy a calendar
We took some fantastic shots of Tequila on a bed of comics and I promised to take some more shots for her for the 2013 calendar in 2012.
Our third shoot was with Mel. Now Mel I had been trying to convince to join us in a calendar shoot ever since the I was first challenged. Every bit as beautiful as any of the models that had appeared in the calendar, Mel had helped with a number of challenges for the website to date and used my house on numerous occasions as a staging ground for assaults on the commercial district of Manchester. The pictures we took of Mel were fantastic; we took them against green screen, which meant a sizeable amount of photoshopping ahead of me, but the parts of the picture that weren’t green showed excellent promise and we were well on our way to finishing the calendar.
Gemma, preparing for her shoot.
Gemma and Nikki were my forth shoot and we explored the Steampunk side of the challenge. I was really rather happy with the photos taken that day but learnt a valuable lesson about pacing. Our photoshoot lasted no more than 20 minutes and I was eager to get the photos done to ensure my models were not inconvenienced for an extended period of time. Chatting with Gemma later, we agreed that we should have taken our time and given her time to feel less self conscious at the prospect of having pictures taken whilst dis-robed. It was a valuable lesson and one I used in the next photoshoot for Rachel,
Sadly we didn’t get to use the Rachel shoot. That’s not to say that they were bad pictures; quite the contrary, the photographs were crisp and clear and the subject was beautiful and held an air of confidence. Tragically despite being crisp and clear, none of the photographs really worked as calender shots and I was forced to confine them to the unusable folder.
A gaggle of geeks holding vintage tech,
It was then I came upon a problem. I went reviewed my photographs and checked the number of usable pictures we had. We were still shy several months and it date was getting precariously close to 2012. In hope that we could turn things around I asked my Facebook friends for help. Thankfully they did not disappoint and by the end of the week we managed another photo-shoot, this time in the upstairs room of the locale geek shop. Brian the owner was an absolute gent, making us brews whilst Steve and Rebecca (who joined us in the 2011 calendar) took their clothes off with newcomers Gina, Si and Max. The shop made an excellent back drop and we managed get a number of rather good shots with vintage computers, nerf guns, lightsabres and (for some reason) a tiger themed onesy.
The next day found me at the abode of the newly married Adam and Lou camera in hand. Despite the vast scope of the “other geekery” I was getting to the point that I was running out of concepts to photograph. Fortunately Adam and Lou all manner of ideas and with an application of Rockband guitars, nerf guns and various objects of geekery we managed a couple of excellent pictures.
With enough months now under our figurative belts our final shoot of the year took is back to Mel’s house, where remarkably few photographs of her wearing nothing but a laptop and a pair of worrying sexy Argyll socks gave use our beautiful December picture.
With that photos were done and all that remained was the photoshopping. Our finished article can be found below. All profits from the calendars go to charity. In this case Guide Dogs from the Blind and Doctor’s Without Borders.
Click the cover! Buy it now!
1 – as I say, cheery delusions.
