Making out of with...TammyJones

Enjoying your 4th of July? Had fun with Canada Day too, eh?
Well, this shoot here would have been a trait d'union for both, things went a bit differently than planned. but...

....But what it ends up being, is a beautiful display from a photographer with great passion and also, why not, ambition. Driven to get better and better, TammyJones has progressed leaps and bounds in this year on flickr, and she is often seen at Pornstars parties and events taking lovely instant photos as well as embarking in projects that would (and WILL!) look great on any SL magazine.

So without further ado, let's have a peek at this photoset she did, "Moonlight Desires", featuring herself and her partner Danni (dpinedo90). Here's a selection of photos (please check the WHOLE set on Tammy's flickr, includes also flavour text you'd otherwise miss), and a Q&A with Tammy herself, telling us more about her 'career' in porn. I hope she'll be an inspiration to some who are just starting, and that will help her to be more known to people who are looking for models and/or versatile photographers for their projects. Enjoy!

- When did you get the inspiration to make this photoset? I like the title!

" Inspiration... I think it's more improvisation. The original idea was to celebrate Canada Day and Independence Day in the shoot. Danni being in the US and me in Canada. At the start of the shoot I was wearing a bikini with a maple leaf on it, I swear. My photo shoots rarely end the way I have them planned though. Somewhere in the process I get a better idea or something else derails the original idea and it gets supplanted by something that is akin to stream of consciousness.



So, while on the beach and looking for the right light it occurred to me that most beach photo shoots I have seen take place in daytime. I thought that maybe a night scene would make the set stand apart from the others. The title isn't original though, it's the title of the song that I had playing in the background while working. 'Moonlight Desires' by Gowan."



- How long did it take you to do the shoot from start to finish? In world shoot and then post-process. Was it all taken in the same day? In the same order?

" Wow. Excellent question. I think I spent the most time on making the poses. I made those over three or four days. Each day I would spend about two hours making as many poses as I could. The shoot itself took place over two days. Mainly cause Danni and I are in different time zones. So the first day, I had to leave after taking two or three pictures.



The second day, thankfully was a Saturday and I made Danni stay till I was done. I don't think I've ever seen her stay awake as long as that day. I am so grateful to her for putting up with me throughout the whole shoot. So the shoot was maybe 6 hours in length between the two days.



Post-production. Uhm, would you believe, outside of pages 2 and 3 (volleyball) and page 10 (merged two shots) I spent maybe 2 minutes tops with each picture in post-production? That includes cropping and saving. Post-production was an hour tops. So, from start to finish about 13 hours.
If I split the shoot into thirds, the last 7 shots were shot last. The start and the middle are flipped."



- Tell us a bit, if you like, how did the set begin. Was there anything in particular planned in advance?Tell us a bit about how you made "it" happen.

" I did have several shots planned in advance of the shoot. The most obvious ones being those that have both Danni and myself in them. Those I believe were a success.
The volleyball photos were also planned. I had never done an 'action' shot like that before.



The reflecting in water shots (pages 13 and 14) were planned as well, but I am not as happy with those, so there will most likely be more attempts at shots like those two in the future.

While I did have all the poses ready, I didn't go into the shoot with any preconceived idea of where and how I was going to use them. Or if they were going to be with Danni dressed, topless or nude. The lack of a story and my directing Danni during the shoot is what eventually led me to put together the very simple 'story' behind the shoot.

The set was originally meant to be published in a magazine and I was told to have between 16 and 24 pages . So I was aiming for that. there are 21 pages, so if needed, one (or five) could be edited out."



- Do you have a favourite photo (or photos) from the set? And do you discard a lot of the raw snapshots you take? Share one with us if you wish, to show the difference between unedited or edited take.

" There are four photos I really like. Pages 8, 9, 12 and 19.



There are a few raw images that I did not use, but they are not much different from what you see in the finished set. A good example of that is the few pages that are the same shot, just a different angle.

But, since you are asking for shot showing the difference between unedited and edited, I actually do have a shot showing just that. I took it before I got Danni to model. A test shot I took using me as the model."

- You just celebrated 1 year of flickr uploads! What is the most valuable lesson , if any, that you learned about taking photos in SL?

" I think the cliche answer would be perseverance. But, I think even more than that I learned not to limit myself. I know that I do have limits, but those limits are more of technical knowledge not imagination."



- What is your next goal in SL?

"To become supreme ruler. Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

But seriously, I still have the same goal as I did last year. I'd like to be in front of the camera more, modeling or acting. As a photographer my goal is to take a photo that reaches 100 faves."

Flickr is a tough beast, and quality of photos is just one part of the 'getting faves' system, but I am sure Tammy will see her dream come true soon. Have a great 4th of July, and thanks Tammy for the collaboration! Check out her flickr, including her brand new Independence day!