Phetish Photography

I find shooting fetish images creatively satisfying. I don't shoot them often but, when I do, it takes me to realms unlike most of what I shoot... and I find it refreshing.

When shooting fetish, it requires having a higher level of trust between the shooter and the model, especially so if there's a bondage element in the images. It's an uncommon model who will show up for a shoot with a photographer they've never met before--most especially if the shoot is of a TFCD nature--remove all or part of her clothing and allow herself to be restrained.

Sure, there are experienced fetish models who are more likely to be at ease in situations like this, especially if they're very experienced, but, for obvious reasons, these models are less likely to be participating in TFCD shoots.

When shooting fetish images, I try creating a somewhat ethereal quality to them. I attempt this through the lighting and by shooting the images from interesting, somewhat less-than-usual, angles. (Leastwise, somewhat less-than-usual for my usual.)

I also sometimes like shooting from a place where it seems I'm peeking in on what's going on, as if the model is unaware of my presence. Often, when shooting in this genre and once I start clicking, I try to be as silent as possible. It seems to me, for the model, and particularly if she's blindfolded, my silence heightens the tension between us and, sometimes, that tension translates to the images.

As for the lighting, one way to create an ethereal quality as well as a foreboding sense, is to put the mainlight low. (I've wrote about this before, right HERE.) Horror movie directors, for quite some time, have known this is effective gimmick. I'm not saying I try to make the images look like frames from a horror flick--I do try to fill some of the horror flick-like shadows--but a subtle form of horror movie lighting is, in my opinion, fairly effective when shooting fetish.

The model who put her trust in me while shooting these images is my good friend Kori Rae. Images were shot in my studio with a Canon 20D w/28-135. No models were (ever) injured in the production of these, or other fetish photographs I've snapped.