Author Archives: Mistress J

Mistress J Gives Thanks!

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the year is winding down to a close. I thought I would dedicate this blog to some of the things I am thankful for.

The first and most important is my health. I am very thankful to be healthy! I am able to do two of the things I love to do, take photographs and run.

On Sunday, I participated in the Big Sur Half Marathon and set a new personal record. I did this as part of an amazing fundraising organization Team in Training and I raised $2150 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I received many donations from the “alternative” community and I want to publicly thank everyone who supported me.

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Nude male by Mistress J photography

I am also thankful the universe has guided my passion of photography to work with one of my favorite subjects, men! I love the male body and feel fortunate that I get to document the exciting sinews of the submissive male.

I like what I do, and am looking forward to the upcoming months to get my kink on! I hope you get yours on too. Let me photograph your secret passion. I promise, it will only hurt if you want it to.

 

Intrigued? Contact me. My email is Mistressjstudios@gmail.com.  I am in San Jose, California.

 

About Mistress J

 

Genderbending and Heteroflexibility

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Women have been given the permission to allow their sexuality to be more fluid. We are given the permission at a young age to brush each others hair, sit close and  it is always permissible for two women to sleep in a bed together, in a non-sexual context without any type of questioning of their sexual preference. It is also acceptable for women to wear pants. It is hard to believe this was not socially acceptable not that long ago.

Men don’t have it so easy of course. They must keep their sexuality in check. It seems society makes it so they can either be gay or straight, with no in between. These past few months, I have had the opportunity to have some frank and intense discussions with a few gentlemen on the topic of what heteroflexibility means to them and their sexuality. The discussions were incredibly varied, detailed and passionate.

The gentlemen in question all agreed to being curious to exploring their curiosity under the loving  guidance of a Mistress (me). But that is another blog post.

Today, I am going to discuss a photo session I had with a man named Moe. Moe is what many consider a man’s man. Rugged, sun kissed and manly, this country boy cowboy on occasion flirts with his feminine side.  Moe is successful in business, a caretaker of his aging mother and horse trainer. He also has an affinity for women’s clothing. He likes to flirt, hide his male parts and express himself in ways one might consider feminine.

This of course must be done in private, which is why he came to me. He does have a bit of an exhibitionist streak, and allowed me to use his photos. So it is an interesting dichotomy.  Compare these two images. The first he presents himself as a confident man. The gaze is straight on, looking at me (my camera) boldly in the eye. His legs are open and his manhood exposed. To me, his body language and gaze are inviting the viewer in for sexual contact. Per my customer request, I have blocked out his manly bits.

The second image shows him to be more vulnerable.  His pose is demure submissive, feminine. Men are not supposed to hide their genitals. The other half of the population suffers from penis envy, so expose your junk man and be proud of it! Is he ashamed? Maybe. The pink backdrop was deliberately  selected for this shoot, after all real me don’t like pink.

Moe then brought out his lady garments and I helped him become one of his favorite alter egos “Goth Girl”.  Hose, corset, dress, veil and a quick application of makeup transformed him. It does not matter if he can pass for a girl. That is not his objective. Moe wanted a safe place to document his other side. My studio provided that.

In my upcoming blog posts you will see a reoccurring statement from me. Mistress J studios is a sex positive studio. My studio is a safe place and create art of a sensual nature so my clients can expose a piece of themselves that may remain hidden most of the time. I take pride in producing high quality photography. Every session is custom designed for each client. During a session you receive from me my undivided attention, my time and talent and commitment in making your photographic and artistic yearnings come to creation.

 

Intrigued? Contact me. My email is Mistressjstudios@gmail.com.  I am in San Jose, California.

About Mistress J

The Male Submissive and the Photographer

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The male submissive. Does that sentence conjure up images of wimpy men brow beaten by a shameless shrew of a wife? Media images of the submissive man have shown the man to be much smaller in stature, Imagesuper thin weak and almost effeminate compared to his large bossy and brash wife. But is this true?

No.

In my experience, the male submissive is complex. Often he is very successful and could be considered Alpha in many respects. If traditionally the male is told he is the leader, to be dominant, why would a man go against convention and submit to a woman? This goes against biblical writings and preaching and shatters the foundation of traditional family. Why would a man want to do this?

The answer is as complex as the man himself and cannot be answered in a single blog post.

I will tell you of MY experiences as a FemDom, as Mistress J, erotic photographer. I think it comes down to yearning. For whatever reasons, when we reach adulthood and start experiencing sex there are deeply ingrained desires we often ignore or don’t understand.  Some have the need to serve or to be controlled or bullied. Some are either born naturally submissive or an event triggered this desire.  The reasons are as varied as there are people on this earth.

As Mistress J, my clients come to me in search of a release. I call myself a “Keeper of Secrets.” My clients have shared with me sides to themselves their wives, friends, coworkers do not know, and they trust me. They come with a pent up desire to communicate something to someone who will understand. Perhaps to even feel desirable, if only for an hour.

Others have come with a curiosity of what a Domme and BDSM is like. An erotic photoImage session is a unique way to get introduced to this kinky world.

Based on the D/s dynamic the photographer controls the scene and works within the subjects limits, pushing extracting, pulling. Negotiations always take place before the scene, I give aftercare, and touch base a day after to check in. This is all done under my loving female authority.

For me, as the photographer, I do get a feeling of power having my male subject reveal himself before me. I enjoy pushing him. It is a difficult thing to literally and figuratively undress before a camera. I enjoy watching the layers unfold. I often get a sexual charge, and combined with my feeling of power and control I feel my FemDom emerge.

As an artist, photography has been my way of expressing myself. I have allowed my camera to speak for me for over 15 years giving voice to my beliefs. I have been an activist, philanthropist, anthropologist and journalist all behind my lens. I have felt that taking a portrait has always been more than just capturing what someone looks like. As Mistress J came into being, it was a natural progression for me to seek out the submissive male and dominate him with my camera.

Intrigued? Call me.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mistress-J-Studios/123148307735672

Mistressjstudios@gmail.com

The Male Body as Art

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Mistress J is back after a rather long break from blogging! My sincere apologies. I have missed sharing my thoughts and am glad to be back in the internet saddle.

My website is currently down and I am focusing on the nude male, the male submissive and gender bending. I always welcome kinksters and naImageughty couples. So come on in, the water is warm!

As a super sensual FemDom, I love the beauty of the male body, and am making it my mission to create super sexy images of the opposite sex. On a personal note, I enjoy showing a bit of male vulnerability, exposing a piece that men are told by society they can’t show. 

Take this lovely image. To me it says many things. He is sitting in repose, contemplating. What is he thinking? His posture is protective. I chose to turn this into brown and white, adding to the mystery. Yet, we can still admire his sexy chest and powerful legs.

I love doing full body nudes and male erotica. I just don’t post them on my blog!

So give Mistress a call, she is waiting…

Mistress J Meets a Legend

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As much as I love being the photographer, it’s definitely fun to be the model once in a while! Last fall I had the pleasure of being photographed by erotic photo legend Charles Gatewood.

I met Charles nearly 20 years ago while in college and covering the Folsom Street Fair for a school assignment. He noticed me stalking people with my eyes and could tell I was a photographer. He showed me some of his photos that were on display, and at the time I was rather shocked by the content. Although he offered me the opportunity to work with him, at that point I was in no way ready to work with an erotic photographer; attending the Folsom Street Fair was already stepping outside my comfort zone and putting me in an environment that was shocking to me! Over the years I remembered his name. Every once in a while I would look him up, see his erotic books and make sure he was still around.

Fast forward to the present. I became Mistress J and one night, while poking around on the Internet, I decided to send an email to the great man himself. I was extremely excited he answered me the next day! Charles is a sweet man who has led a very interesting life. He is very open to sharing his experiences, and is always looking for more adventures.

After emailing back and forth and meeting in person, I made it up to Charles’ beautiful apartment with a fabulous view of the bay. He lives on the 3rd floor, and when you enter you see three huge canvases of his iconic black and white images, including a few of rock legends Bob Dylan (one of my favorites – it was thrilling to hear his story of photographing him in the early days!) and Rod Stewart, in addition to those of a more graphic nature. Charles Gatewood’s collection of work is a timeline of our culture.

After a long chat, we did my photo session. Charles loves natural light; he has a large sliding glass door he uses in addition to a white backdrop and a cream colored chair, which really made my red outfit pop. It reminded me again that I love being in front of the camera as much as I like being behind it.

It was a lot of fun being photographed by a famous photographer. I recognize the gift I was given and will always remember the experience. A big thank you to Charles for taking the time to share your stories and talent with me!

Upcoming Event: Queen for a Day!

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2012 is all about being who you are!

Mistress J understands that while often simple, men can be complex. That is why she started her business in the first place, to capture life’s complexities.

Miss J is a very understanding Domme, and realizes there are many men in this valley who desire domination by a woman. These men are not weak, but actually rather strong. They know what they want and need and try to seek it out.

That is why Mistress J has teamed up with Miss Tanya Love from A Place for Chainge and wants to encourage men and women to express themselves and be who they want to be.

In the D/s culture many straight men have the desire to cross dress or be a sissy boy. That desire might stem from the admiration of Female Dominance. Maybe something else, but Mistress J and Miss Tanya strive to serve the community by having you boys serve us for a night!

Come celebrate your inner girl at Queen for a Day! Queen for a Day is a fun, swanky night for sissy boys and cross dressers. You won’t want to miss it!

Join Miss J and Miss Tanya at their first annual Queen for a Day party! Named after the popular hit TV show from the ‘50s, Mistresses Tanya and J invite all of the boys to come and flaunt their feminine side.

This evening will give you the opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and move past the confines of your home. Mingle in a safe public place with other like-minded people!

Pull out that outfit from the back of your closet and have some fun. There will also be a fashion show and awards given to the top 3 beauties.

The Mistresses want to meet and socialize with other dominants, so please feel free to attend if you don’t have a special sub. You might find one here!

The Dommes will offer appropriate amounts of humiliation and beatings. There will be opportunity to shop for jewelry and makeup and have your photo taken with Mistresses J and Tanya or your Domme. We will have food and drinks available, but NO alcohol.

Find out more and register at Ticketleap.

Finding Beauty in the Female Form Through Boudoir Photos

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It’s not difficult finding beauty and meaning in the female form. In my last post I provided a few differences between male and female boudoir photography. As I recently had two sessions, each with a woman, it got me to thinking about how a good boudoir photographer captures a female subject:

1. Show off the things that make her body different from a man’s – namely curves. Think of the classic hourglass shape. Create dynamic poses by having the model twist her shoulders off-axis from her hips to highlight these curves. This is a more dramatic version of the classical contrapposto pose used by artists for over 2000 years.

2. If you’re after a provocative pose, ask the model to keep her back straight pull her shoulder blades together a little. This will accentuate her breasts and bottom.

3. The number of ways to light the female nude is without limit, but in general you want to use very soft light to accent the softness of her curves. You can light high-key, where everything is evenly lit, or you can light low-key, where the light comes from one side and is more dramatic. If you want to be very dramatic, use the backlight as the only light source.

As with all photography, female boudoir photography is an art form; there are no fixed rules or boundaries. Curious what your boudoir photos might look like? Contact me to schedule a session!

Men vs. Women Boudoir Photography

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I recently had the opportunity to photograph one of my favorite clients (let’s call him “Frank”) for the third time. When he initially contacted me last year to find out if I do male boudoir shoots, he told me he wanted to feel like a GQ model; he wanted to feel highly desirable, be directed into poses and get the compliments he imagines female models get. Of course, I was happy to oblige.

What brought Frank to Mistress J? Growing up, Frank never felt very sexy. He had recently lost a lot of weight and wanted to shed his vanilla engineer exterior to release his inner Fabio.

Why Mistress J? Unlike other photographers that do male nude photography, the Mistress J studio was tastefully lit with attention to set design, lighting, colors and ambiance. In this most recent session, Frank was lean and fit. He wanted photos that would show off his toned arms and torso, so we did a lot of nudes and semi-nudes. The tasteful lighting of the Mistress J studio really helped emphasize the body parts he wanted to highlight.

I handle every single photo shoot the same way. We start with an in-depth discussion about the types of photos the client wants, what they’re planning to wear (or not wear), and the furniture and props they want to use. We also discuss perceived trouble spots, what they want to hide and areas they want to play up.

Are men and women really that different? There are a few major differences I tend to see between men and women boudoir shoots:

  • Men crave interaction more than women. Many men want Mistress J to be part of the scene. Although this is extra, having her in the scene means more talking, directing, obeying commands, posing, touching and encouragement.
  • Men and women have different lighting preferences. In every session I’ve had with a male subject, they want the lights on. Women, on the other hand, generally want the lights off, with the exception of the studio lights. They want that intimate space – a shell or bubble where they can slowly unwind and, like an onion, peel the layers off and expose their beauty.

No matter who the subject is, during each session, I start to notice things. I see the beauty of the hair, a curve in the body, or the way the light falls across the torso or defines the arms. When I see their beauty, I tell them. It helps them feel more comfortable and confident, so they can leave feeling good about themselves.

Although the execution may be slightly different, the final goal is the same: To leave each client feeling sexy and special, and to get some kick ass photos.

Corsets vs. Bustier: What’s the difference?

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Both corsets and bustiers can be great styles for a boudoir photo shoot. But what’s the difference? And which do you want to bring along to your session? It all comes down to personal preference.

Corsets were developed thousands of years ago to shape a woman’s torso. These close-fitted boned undergarments can extend from above or below the bust to the hips, and give a binding effect to flatten the waistline. A corset that covers the chest is designated as “over-bust.”

Bustiers are sleeveless tops that start at the bust and go down to the waist. Form-fitting and fashionable, bustiers can be worn as lingerie or outer clothing. Some bustiers have garters attached, and the modern designs have thin, lacy straps.

Despite their similarities, the main difference between corsets and bustiers is that the corset doesn’t always cover a woman’s breasts. It all really comes down to personal preference. Personally, I like steel-boned corsets for the restriction, compression and posture & figure enhancing.

Want to invest in a corset or bustier of your own? Here are a couple of local shops to check out:

Mistress J Heads to the Folsom Street Fair

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A fun element of living in the Bay Area: the annual Folsom Street Fair! Held the last weekend of September, open-minded boudoir photographer Mistress J made her way to the fair to see what other artists are doing, look at fun & sexy clothes & accessories, and have a good time.

In addition the incredible sex positive culture, the fair included a lot of fun shopping. One booth Miss J particularly enjoyed was the Corsets by Timeless Trends. In addition to this fun shirt (pictured below right), the booth included countless corsets in various styles, colors, sizes, etc.

Folsom Street Events is a nonprofit organization serving the adult San Francisco alternative communities. Through the production of street fairs, Folsom Street Events promotes diversity within the leather/alternative lifestyle, highlighting entertainment, service and vendors. Proceeds from the production of the fairs are distributed to organizations, which promote a sense of community, diversity, cooperation, health and human services.

Find out more and learn about next year’s event at folsomstreetfair.org.