Sunday's Shoot - Ashlyn (New Model)

When I woke up on Sunday I was very excited. I was set to shoot with a new model - one with a different look than most of the girls you'll find on Soles of Silk. "Punky" might be the best term I could use to describe her, but I'm not even sure if that is accurate. Whatever the term, this new model, whose name is Ashlyn, certainly has a style all her own. But before I give the details of the day's happenings, a little back story is in order.

Some time ago I was at work when this girl with bright red hair came in. She made me do a double take. I found her to be really cute and ended up telling one of my coworkers. He informed me that she's the older sister of one of our younger coworkers. I left it at that since our coworker is young and I didn't want to ask him to introduce put me to his sister. I thought it might be better not to bring that up at work.

Months go by and late one evening at work I'm talking with Ryan during some downtime. I mention Ashlyn in a conversation and come to find out, the two know each other from school. I tell Ryan that I'd love to have her or a girl with her style pose for the site. For some reason, I never ask Ryan to see if Ashlyn would like to pose. We must have gotten busy or something.

Fast forward to the beginning of August and Ryan and go out to do our most recent photos (see Today's Shoot - Ryan: August 6). After we were done shooting we stopped at an Italian restaurant. During our dinner Ryan shows me a photo on her phone that Ashlyn did of her own feet. Since Ryan knew that I find her cute, she wanted to make sure I got a glimpse.

The conversation then turned to me once again saying that I'd love to shoot with her. Ryan immediately asked, "Do you want me to see if she will?"

I replied, "Hell yeah!"

Ryan left Ashlyn a message online to text her. Before you know it, the two were texting back and forth about posing for the site. Ryan sent her some of her photos that appear on the site and told her how easy and fun it is. Ashlyn told her it looked fun and that she was definitely interested. I had just done some great photos with Ryan and now I'm hearing that Ashlyn might pose too. Talk about a good day!

For the next two weeks I played message tag with Ashlyn about Soles of Silk and what it is that I do. I sent her some more sample shots and gave access to the site so she could look around. Ashlyn told me she was still interested, so we exchanged numbers and set a shoot date.

With only a couple of days left before the shoot, Ashlyn and I exchanged quite a few texts. We discussed everything from clothing to locations. Ashlyn actually picked the location she liked the best of the ones I sent and then things got hard. According to Ashlyn, she never knows what to wear. Now that she'd be picking out attire for photos, it was even worse. I assured her that for her first sets to go casual. I said we could save some themes for later shoots.

Now back to the morning of. I shot Ashlyn a text to tell her I'm ready. And guess what? She doesn't know what to wear. I just laughed and tell her to pick a few things, put it in a bag, and let me come pick her ass up.

When I got to Ashlyn's house, she comes out to the car with a couple of bags and no shoes on at all. I look at her feet and before I can ask, she said, "My shoes are in the bag."

In the days prior she said more than once that she doesn't wear shoes all the time. She sure was telling the truth. I opened the car door and this barefoot beauty with red hair gets in. Before long we're on our way to our location - a botanical garden.

After a 40 minute drive we arrive. Of course, it is drizzling. There was a chance of off/on rain showers all day, but we were going to do this! Well, at least I was pushing for it. Ashlyn didn't want her hair getting messed up because of rain. She wanted to look good her best in her first sets, but I really wanted to get her on camera.

Luckily the rain didn't last long and we picked out a location for the first set - a series of brick walls that lined various flower beds. The area was really colorful and I thought it would make for an easy location for her to pose for her very first pictures.

Up close to Ashlyn's size 5 soles.


Once we began Ashlyn got a little nervous. I assured her that I like casual photos and I'm not going to be picky about where a hand is, or how much tilt her head has, etc. Regardless, Ashlyn wanted them to look good and I appreciated her wanting that.

She started off the set wearing her boots. Now these boots have a bit of a back story too. Apparently Ashlyn doesn't like socks and wears these boots all the time. She told me a few times in text messages that her feet tend to get smelly due to her not wearing socks. I playfully told her that some of us guys actually love that and ready my camera.

So here I am, she's in her boots and is about to pull them off. She begins tugging them down and when the first one is fully off she playfully said, "Don't smell them!"

Of course I grabbed the discarded boot and sniffed it. I teased her that her boot smelled like Fritos and she gave me the strangest look. She picked it up and sniffed it too.

"Fritos? Really?" she asked.

I was done at this point. I kept teasing her and laughing about her feet being smelly. I told her they don't smell bad and she kept insisting that they do. And minutes later, with both boots removed, I told her I can really smell them now. Ashlyn said she could too and it became the running joke of the afternoon.

Needless to say, this first shoot was quickly lightened up from her being nervous to a little more playful by the Fritos jokes that ensued. We kept shooting, only breaking for people coming into our general area.

Once we finished the first set we made a quick stop at the bathroom for Ashlyn to change. I eyed up some water fountains earlier for the second set, so that's were we went once Ashlyn was ready.


Ashlyn posing along the fountains.


In this set Ashlyn wore some sandal. She joked right away that, "These ones don't stink."

I said, "I know, how sad."

Funny thing was, her boots were in her bag right beside me. And yes, I could smell them sitting there. How such a tiny pair of size 5 feet could muster that much scent was beyond me. But I'm not going to lie, I find it really cute.

By this set Ashlyn was a little more loose. I gave her less instruction as she had one set under her belt now. She knew that some of you like spread toes and others like scrunched toes. And although she struggled to get those piggies to spread sometimes, she made it happen. She also remembered from the first set that kicking off her sandals should be done slowly for those who like the shoe play shots. I told her she's already a pro.

We ended up shooting around all the different sides of the fountain and then on a nearby bench while some people came by. A large section of the park was being redesigned and it forced more people into the area we were using. Sadly that area was what sold Ashlyn on wanting to come to the botanical gardens in the first place.

After we wrapped up the second set we found ourselves a bench far off from the fountains to shoot Ashlyn's first video clip. I figured we'd go with her pulling off her sandals so she'd have something to interact with on her first go around. Of course there was no one in sight for the longest time as I explained what I wanted in the clip. As soon as we were ready, people came by. Then people from the other direction. And then more and more. I told her that she just attracted a crowd everywhere we went. We didn't give up, however, and finished the clip.

Once we finished we took a detour back to the visitor center for another change of clothes before the final set of the day. This location would be a wooden bridge connecting the park to a small island. I love wood texture and thought it would look different than the first two sets we had shot.


Ashlyn's third set on the bridge.


We made our way to the bridge and we could hear a couple of ladies out on the island talking. There was a large gazebo type building connected to the end of the bridge and that's where they were hanging out. They couldn't see us from where they were, so I got my camera ready.

I wanted this set to be barefoot without any shoes at all. I even told Ashlyn if her feet got a dirty in this set to just let them stay that way. I explained the liking of dirty feet for some and she just smiled and said okay.

Before we began this one I took a few artistic poses. I liked the setting and since Ashlyn had posed for two sets, I figured she'd be more relaxed to try something like this. I shot a handful of poses all over the bridge and then it was onto the foot shots.

This set was by far the fastest one we did. There was no one coming by to break up our pace and I was able to get a number of angles. The one I wanted, however, was up by the gazebo and the two ladies appeared comfortable and not likely to move. Ashlyn and I instead used a bench by the pond and had bridge and pond in the background. That allowed a few extra poses we weren't able to get on the bridge. And before we knew it, we had shot enough photos and squeezed in a quick clip to cap off the day.

I ended up having a really good time shooting Ashlyn's first three sets. I am happy to say that she said she had a lot of fun and is looking forward to doing more. We're planning out a couple of themes to do in September - one of which is one she really wants to do. So be sure to check back here on the blog, on the site's Twitter (@SolesofSilk), and on Instagram (@SolesofSilk) for news of that. And in just a few days two teaser shots will be added to the coming soon area of the site - with her full debut coming on the August 28 update.

Welcome Ashlyn and your stinky little size 5 feet!

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