(한국어 번역을 기다리는 중)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

We rejoined JJ about a week after her pedicure was done, giving it time to settle in and look natural. She found the patterns a little too gaudy (although technically executed well) and was itching to take them off. But she put together one last bit of photos with her friend, and produced a masterpiece of modern modeling.

But before getting to that, I wanted to make mention of an excerpt of foot health news that might be useful now, roundabout monsoon season, when women wear sandals instead of rain gear, since I guess the idea is that you’re gonna get wet, anyway. So people wear minimalist sandals and dry off when they get to work.

Chosun.com has some suggestions about that:

“비가 옵니다… 발이 웁니다“

장마철이면 구두와 발은 비에 젖기 쉽다. 잘 관리하지 않으면 세균이 번식해 피부질환을 일으킨다. 샌들을 신다 보면 각질이나 굳은살이 생기기도 한다. 발을 드러내야 하는데 다른 사람 앞에서 곤혹스러울 수 있다. 노출이 많고 땀이 많이 나는 여름철, 효과적인 발과 구두 관리법은 무엇일까…

장마철에는 앞코가 좁은 신발은 되도록 피한다. 구두는 귀가 후 마른 수건으로 물기를 제거하고, 통풍이 잘 되는 곳에서 건조시켜야 한다.

샌들을 자주 신는 여성은 각질이나 굳은살, 물집으로 고생하는 경우가 많다. 각질이나 굳은살은 건조한 상태에서 강제로 제거하면 오히려 상태를 악화시킬 수 있다.

미지근한 물에 발을 불려 부드럽게 문질러주는 것이 좋다. 샤워 후 발 전용 스크럽제나 보습제로 마사지를 해주는 것도 방법이다.

퓨 린 피부과 김연진 원장은 “여름철 샌들이나 하이힐을 신는 여성은 양말을 신지 않기 때문에 땀을 제대로 흡수하지 못하고 피부질환이 쉽게 발생한다”며 “굳은살, 물집이 생겼을 때 억지로 제거하면 오히려 세균에 감염되기 쉽다”고 말했다.

These are rules that JJ has followed for some time, and it has helped keep her feet in great shape. It also helps that she gives her feet a rest and doesn’t wear high heels all the time, or even most of the time. But sometimes, she does, which she shows us in her photo set here.

And a change into aqua blue to match the blue…

A few more angles and views…

And JJ makes one last change before she goes home to take off her very smurfy pedicure.

If you’ve worked this hard and spent so much on getting a beautiful pedicure, make sure you’re taking care of your feet when you’re walking around in dirty water, chemical-filled rain, and all the dirt, grime, and grit that will get all over you if you just walk around in the monsoon season as if it were a summer swimming pool party.

At the very least, clean your feet, moisterize, and dry your shoes thoroughly. And try to remember all the hard work that people like Jin-hui put into their pedicure work before exposing your preciouses to the elements.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

우리는 청담에 있는 니케인뷰티에서 JJ의 첫 패디큐어를 위해만났다. 이곳은 고급스런 헤어 네일 샾으로 많은 연예인들이 자주 출입하는 곳이기도 하다. (약도와 연락처). JJ는 이런 서비스를 받을지는 상상도 못했을 것이다. 미스코코의 수준높은 기준에 맞추어 멋진 실내 인테리어와 한없이 친절한 직원, 철저한 위생관리와 적절한 가격을 자랑하는 곳으로 선택했다.

We met up with JJ in Cheongdam for her first pedicure at Nihke (니케 인뷰티), a super swanky and famous hair and nail salon that is frequented by many Korean celebrities and other fabulous fashionistas (map and phone number here). JJ had no idea that she was in for such star treatment. This place was up to Miss Koco’s high standards with its sleek design, super nice staff, good sanitation practices, and reasonable prices.

우리는 한가인, 송선미, 예지원 같은 연예인들의 손발관리를 하는 네일 전문가 진희씨를 만났다. 서울에서 가장 솜씨좋은 네일 아티스트 중 한 명인데다 친절하면서도 많은 유익한 정보를 가지고 있었다.

We had the pleasure of meeting Jin-hui, a professional nail artist who does the hands and feet of people such as Han Ga-in, Song Seon-mi, and Yeh Ji-won. She’s one of the best nail artists in Seoul, and on top of that she’s really nice and full of great information.

니케가 유명한 또 다른 이유는 직원들이 매우 친절하거니와 품질관리 수준도 확실하다는 점이다. 진희씨는 모든 네일과 헤어 도구들은 다음 고객을 위해 철저히 씻고 자외선 소독까지 한다.

Another reason Nihke is so popular is that, while their staff is just amazing, they also have high quality standards. Jin-hui assured us that all their nail and hair tools have to be throughly cleaned before being used on the next customer, including being treated under UV light.

게다가 손님들을 최대한 편안하게 해준다. 커피샾에서 음료를 대접하고 조금 창피해하는 손님들을 위해 패디큐어를 할 때는 고급스런 개인방을 따로 쓰기도 한다.

They also like to make thier clients as comfortable as possible. They served us beverages from the cafe and even have a lush private room set up for pedicures (since some clients are a bit embarrased or prefer some privacy).

그러나 그 무엇보다도 이런 고급스런 곳에서 받는 패디큐어가 팔다리를 잃어야 할만큼 비싸지도 않다는 것이다. 기본 패디큐어가 단돈 30000원 이라는거! 추가서비스- 네일아트나 파라핀-은 만원 이만원선이라 충분한 값어치가 있는 것이다.

The icing on the cake was that the standard pedicure doesn’t cost an arm and a leg–or even a couple toes–as one might expect from a high-class place like this. The basic pedicure is 30,000! Additional treatments, such as nail art or paraffin, only run 10-20,000 extra, making a pedicure there well worth it!

간단한 매니큐어 시술을 받은 뒤 JJ는 패디큐어실에서 하얀 안락의자에 앉아 모든 과정을 만끽하고 있었다.

After a quick manicure, JJ got comfortable on a chic white lounge chair in the pedicure room.

우리는 패디큐어 직전에 비교를 위해JJ의 사진을 찍어두었다.

We took a final shot of JJ before the pedicure, just to give you an idea of where JJ was starting, and where she ended up.

그 다음, 그녀는 뒤로 기대 앉아 니케의 직원이 제공하는 모든 여왕대접을 즐기고 있었다.

Then she sat back and enjoyed the primping and pampering provided by Nihke’s expert staff.

단계별로 JJ의 패디큐어 과정과 정준희씨로부터 배운 몇가지 팁을 담아봤다.

Step-by-step, here’s JJ’s pedicure and some tips we learned from Jung Jinhui, Nihke’s best nail artist.

Step 1: Filing
Squared shaped! This helps to prevent ingrown toenails.

1단계: 발톱갈기
네모꼴로! 이런 모양으로 다듬으면 발톱이 안쪽으로 찌르면서 자라는걸 방지할 수 있다.

Step 2: Application of cuticle softener
Don’t just scrape! Prepare the cuties.

2단계: 큐티클 소프너를 이용한다.
긁어내지 말라!

Step 3: Pushing back the cuticles and scraping the nasty stuff from the surface
Ewww.

3단계: 큐티클을 뒤로 밀어내 지저분한 것들을 긁어내라.
으엑.

Step 4: Clipping the cuticles
Careful…

4단계: 큐티클 잘라내기
조심스럽게…

Step 5: Spraying of disinfectant to clean everything (not pictured)

5단계: 소독약 뿌리기.(사진없음)

Step 6: Foot massage
“Ahhh…”

6단계: 발마사지
“아…시원하다.”

Step 7: Separating the toes
Don’t worry! They’ll be reunited someday…

7단계: 발가락 틈새 벌이기
걱정말것! 언젠간 다시 합쳐질 테니.

Step 8: Application of base coat
This keeps the color separate from the nail and helps the color go on better.

8단계: 베이스 코팅.
코팅처리는 착색을 방지하고 색이 오래갈 수 있도록 해준다.

Step 9: Checking the color
Is it ok, JJ?

9단계: 색깔 확인하기.
JJ, 이 색 괜찮아?

Step 10: Reapplication of color
Two coats makes the color really stand out.

10단계: 덧 칠하기.
2번 덧 칠하면 색이 확 살아난다.

Step 11: The top coat!
If you look closely, that’s very fine shaping and coloring work, I must say! I kind of prefer a plain and simple look to the pedicures, but we decided to go for the whole package that day.

11단계: 탑 코팅
자세히 보면 정말 정교한 모양과 색이다! 발톱에는 단순한 색을 선호하지만 오늘 만큼은 모든 걸 다 시험해보기로 했다.

Step 12: Nail art details
Polka dots are very popular!

12단계: 네일 아트 문양
땡땡이 무늬가 대세다!

Step 13: Drying
Fresh after the pedicure, the nails are still a bit we around the edges, the entire tips of the fingers and toes shiny, and not in final, settled form yet. I think this pedicure was a bit elaborate, as it could have stopped with a simple color, but this was a good way to show off our nail artist’s skills. We like the results.

13단계: 건조하기
패디큐어 직후에는 가장자리에 칠이 아직 덜 말랐고 손발톱이 아직 반질반질해 건조해야 한다. 이 패디큐어는 조금 화려한 감이 있다. 하지만 전문가의 솜씨를 최대한 발휘하기 위해 평소보다 화려하게 했다. 결과는 대만족이다.

전과 후를 비교하니 확실히 다르다. JJ는 대부분의 여성들보다 손발톱 관리를 더 잘 하는 편인데도 서비스를 받기 전에는 표면이 꺼칠꺼칠했다.

That’s quite a difference from before, where the nails were quite rough, even though JJ does take better care of her nails than most women.

큐티클의 모양이 단조롭고 깔끔하며 네일 모양이 전체적으로 균형있다. 건조하고 푸석한 살점들이 사라지고 안쪽으로 파고드는 발톱들도 없을 것 같다.(특히 발가락이 큰 사람들 한테는) 그리고 진희씨의 브러씨 솜씨도 눈여겨 볼수있다. 큐티클과 폴리쉬 사이의 간격이 정확히 일정하다.

Note the clean and even reshaping of the cuticles, balanced overall nail shape, the elimination of dry, scaly skin, and with that, the potential for ingrown toenails (which seemd especially possible with her big toe). Also note Jin-hui’s exact brushmanship and the slight space between the cuticle and the polish, on top of the exactness with which the edges of the nails are painted.

진정한 고수의 작품이다.

This was a truly top-notch job.

Jinhui’s Additional Nail Tips:
1. Don’t forget to paint the tips of your nails.
2. Don’t apply the polish with heavy pressure. Instead brush it on lightly and evenly.
3. Always use a base coat. It make a huge difference. It alsond protects the nail bed when taking off nail polish, prevents it from being absorbed into the nail, and also taking parts of the nail bed when it chips.
4. Scrub and remove dead skin from your toes, bottom of your feet, and your heel 1~2 times per week.

진희씨가 추가적으로 몇 가지 팁을 제안한다.
1.네일의 끝 언저리까지 꼼꼼하게 칠해야 한다.
2.힘을 주어서 칠하지 않도록 한다. 대신 가볍고 일정하게 칠해야 한다.
3.항상 베이스 코팅을 사용해라. 쓰고 안 쓰고의 차이는 엄청나다. 매니큐어를 지울 때도 손톱을 보호하고 착색되는 것을 방지하며 색이 떨어져 나오더라도 손톱이 부스러지지 않는다.
4.매주 1~2회 정도는 발가락, 발바닥, 발꿈치의 굳은 살을 벗겨내라.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Welcome to Part 2 (of 4) of our series about everything you need to know about pedicures. In this installment, we are joined by JJ, who is going to be our model in this series, and came recommended to one of our writers as someone who had never, ever had a pedicure but constantly gets comments on how attractive her feet are.

패디큐어에 관한 모든 것을 알려주는 두번째 연재기사이다. 이번 기사에서는 모델로서 JJ와 함께할 것이다. 인터뷰 내내 그녀는 취재기자에게 패디큐어를 권유하면서 발이 참 예쁘다는 얘기를 계속했다.

Well, we put her confidence in her “feet cred” to the test. In this short set, we take a look at her “BEFORE” pictures so that we can get a sense of what changes we can see in the “AFTER” series that will come in Part 3 later. So JJ will be one of the best examples you’ll ever see of what difference a good pedicure can make.

그래서 우리는 그녀가 너무나도 자신 있어하는 패디큐어 상식을 시험해 보기로 했다. 그녀가 패디큐어를 받은 전과 후를 비교함으로써 다음 기사에서 그 차이를 엿보기로 했다. 따라서 JJ는 최상의 패디큐어가 어떤 변화를 주는지에 대한 좋은 시험대상이 되었다.

연재기사의 모델이 되기로 승낙하면서 JJ는 사진 몇 장을 준비해왔다:

Here are some of the shots JJ prepared before her big shoot, after one of our writers got her to agree to model for us in this story:

아주 좋군요.

이 사진에는 더 자연스러운 도시풍의 분위기에서 사진 한장을 찍었다. 여기서 우리는 미스 코코가 신발상자 칼럼에서 했던 질문들을 JJ에게 던졌다.

Very nice, JJ.

Here’s a more natural, urban setting and our first photo shoot together. Here, we’ll let JJ do the talking and pose the questions that MissKoco uses in her Shoebox column:

1. 하이힐 or 단화? High-heels or flats?

그날 그날 기분… 몸상태, 옷 스타일에 맞춰.. 적당히 섞어 신는 편이예요..

It depends on the physical condition or my outfit… i wear them both.

2. 간지나는- 멋진 신발을 만드는 조건? What makes a good-looking shoe?

우선.. 내 다리.. 발.. 걸음걸이를 돋보이게.. 만들어주는 신발이여야 한다고 생각해요.. 아무리 이쁜 신발이라도.. 걷는사람. .보는 사람까지.. 힘들게 만드는 신발은 꽝~ 실제로 이쁘게만 보이려구 힘든 하이힐을 신고 나갔다가.. 결국.. 다른 하이힐을 사서.. 갈아신었답니다..^^

First, it has to make my legs, my walk stand out. However pretty a shoe can be, if it makes the one wearing it and others watching that person walk in it uncomfortable, then it’s a goner. Once I wore heels I thought would make me look better but I ended up replacing them with other heels.

3. 대부분 여자들은 몇 켤레의 신발을 갖고 있나요? How many pairs of shoes must a woman have?

보통 여자들은 대충 30~40켤레 정도를 가지고 있을듯…..?? ^^

I think an average woman owns about 30~40 pairs?

4. 몇 켤레의 신발을 당신은 갖고 있나요? How many do you have?

하이힐.. 단화.. 슬리퍼.. 부츠.. 합하면.. 40개 정도 될듯… ^^

Hi-heels, flat soles, sandals, boots…about 40 all together.

5. 당신이 신발을 볼 때 가장 신경쓰는 것은? What do you see most in a shoe?

우선.. 내 스타일에 맞는지… 편한한지.. 정말 이쁜 신발이라도. 내가 소화해 내지 못하면.. 무용지물이 되는 법…. ^^

It has be fit my style, should be comfortable. A pretty shoe that doesn’t go with my style is good for nothing.

6. 당신의 신발을 신고 어떤 것을 하나요? 당신의 직업은 무엇인가요? 당신의 관심사/취미/활동들 은 무엇인가요? What do you do in your shoes? What’s your vocation? Your interests/hobbies?

나는 바리스타 입니다.. 바안에서 손님들에게.. 직접.. 커피를 만들어 주죠…^^
매장 안에서 근무할때는 편한 단화를 신고.. 거래 업체 사람들을 만나거나.. 회의가 있는 날은 격식에 맞게.. 하이힐을 신죠.. 나는 커피와 맛있는 음식을 좋아해요..그래서 여기 저기 맛있는 커피.. 분위기 좋은 카페, 레스토랑를 잘 찾아 다니죠…

I’m a barista. I make coffee for the customers in a bar. When I’m working, I’m in my flat soles. When I’m meeting my clients or attending a meeting, then I wear heels to suit the occasion. I’m into coffee and gourmet food. So I search around for good cafes and restaurants.

7. 어떤 신발을 가장 자주 신나요? 가장 안신는 신발은 어떤 것? 이유? Which ones do you wear most frequently? And the least? And the reasons?

자주 신는 신발이라.. 아무래도 편한 신발이겠죠.. 거기에 멋까지 더하면.. 정
말 좋구.. ^^ 가장 안신는 신발은.. 저 위에서 말한.. 힘든.. 그 하이힐… 정말 이뻐서.. 버릴 수도 없이. 소장만 하고 있지만.. 신을수.. 없어.. 속이 상하네요..

Well, I wear the most comfortable shoes the most often. A fancy looking one on the top of it would be perfect. The least one are the ones I mentioned before…the pretty looking heels that you just can’t wear. Can’t wear them, can’t chuck them out. Makes me sad.

8. 모든 신발엔 흥미진진한 히스토리가 있다고 봅니다. 당신이 제일 좋아하는 신
발의 비하인드 스토리는 무엇인가요? I believe there’s a story to every shoe. Is there one for your best pair?

저는 언니가 한명있어요… 언니와 나는 옷치수. 신발치수까지. 똑같죠.. 취향
도 똑같아서. 서로 다른 모양의 신발을 사서.. 공유하곤했죠.. 그런 언니가.. 뉴욕으로 유학을 가면서…. 서로 신발 다툼이 일어났는데.. ^^ 결국…. 몇개는 같은 아이템을 구입하고 마무리.. ^^ 딱히 한가지가.. 맘에 들기 보다는.. 그냥 그때 산 신발들을 보면.. 자꾸 생각이 나네요^^

I have an elder sister. We are identical in all sizes, clothes, shoes everything. We even share the same taste. So we would share our shoes. But when she moved to New York, we fought over the shoes. I ended up buying a few identical pairs. Don’t a particular favorite, but those shoes remind me of that incident.

9. 우리가 몰라도 될 신발 이야기들은 어떤 게 있나요? Is there anything we shouldn’t know about?

몰라도 될 신발 이야기?? 몰라도 될걸.. 얘기 해야하나??^^
원가.. 제품의 질….같은거??? ^^ 모르겠다.. ^^

Anything you shouldn’t know about? I guess you I’ll leave you ignorant of it. Or shall I say it? The quality, costs…stuff like that? Dunno…

패디큐어 팁 연재기사 시리즈 3편을 잊지 마세요. JJ와 미스코코가 고급스런 청담 네일샾에서 한가인, 송선미나 예지원 같은 연예인들의 손발톱을 관리하는 네일 아티스트에게 최고급 패디큐어는 받는다.

Don’t forget to join us for the 3rd installment in our Pedicure Tips series, when JJ and MissKoco go to a swanky Cheongdam salon for the best pedicure money can buy, with a nail artist who does the hands and feet of people such as Han Ga-in, Song Seon-mi, and Yeh Ji-won.

이 아티스트는 국내 최고이며 이 헤어/메이크업/네일 샾은 서울에서, 아니 전국에서 최고를 자랑한다.

She’s one of the best, and this hair/makeup/nails salon is one of the best in Seoul, and hence, Korea.

You have to be curious as to how this turns out, right? Well, you should be. It’s gonna be good.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

It’s time for a return engagement of a (less) test photo story, with our model Sugar! We’re on the move again!

As always, you have to be a registered member of the site in order to see certain posts – but don’t worry – it’s free! It’s just a way to encourage you to become a member of our community. So register with us today! 무료 가입만 하시면 Sugar의 완전한 글을 다 보일 수 있고 가끔씩 어떤 비공개 글을 다 보일 수 있을 거예요. 가입은 무료이니까 빨랑 하십시오!

And for those of you who for some reason don’t want to register, we always have a preview of a major post that you can’t see. In the preview, we’ll always give you a nice shot to encourage you to register, of course, but it’s better to register, because the smaller “private” posts are completely invisible to you here, so there may be a lot that you don’t even know you’re missing.

In the Black Pumps Challenge post, we were trying for a “classy” look, and is the first attempt at a more serious photo set, although we are still technically very much in the testing stages.

Sugar comes off well in this post, and we both gain a lot of posing/shooting experience from it. More on that in the full post.

Both Sugar and I appreciate your coming to the site, and we hope that you’re interested in helping us make this the best feet and shoe fashion site on the web!

Welcome to another installment of our site’s attempt to establish a photo style for promoting cool shoes and other stuff. We have a lot of fun in the process of shooting this stuff, but it’s actually pretty hard work. Just know that this fashion-industry-insider-turned-photographer is working hard to develop an unmistakable “FMS style” that will help brand us as we become gain more readers in the future.

So Sugar and I got off to a more organized start for this, our second formal shoot (my third, overall). I originally was going to go with another “story” – as contrived as they are – to work into the photos. Quickly, I decided to scrap said story – which was going to be shot around a “sogaeting” (Korean-style blind date) in which I would have shot Sugar getting ready for her date, primping in the bathroom (as if!), going out, having dinner while absent-mindedly dangling her shoe, walking out together, taking a taxi, etc. – because it would have turned into a huge production.

As it turned out, scrapping the story was a good idea, since we had such trouble finding a shoe we both liked that was under 30,000 won (about $30).

The shoe search took nearly two hours, as there was nothing worth buying in the Ehwa area. We moved on to Hongdae, where we wandered around again for a while without finding anything. There’s really not much interesting at the lower price ranges, at least you can find in the standard $20-30 cheapie shops.

We were just looking for something that looked OK enough to shoot, while yet being a pretty plain shoe that actually posed as somewhat of a challenge to shoot, i.e. we didn’t want any shoes that were really crazy, sexy, or cool, because I could really use the challenge of making a pretty unremarkable shoe look good; any model under the lens certainly needed this challenge as well.

We had picked out a pretty cool shoe from a small shop in the middle “boutique” strip area near where the cars all like to park. It had a nice “line” as a traditional-but-a-little-saucy black pump, and had a cute little bow in the back. Unfortunately, the store seemed to be all out of the cool shoes in Sugar’s size (245), so we went with the lesser of couple evils. It was $30, so we couldn’t complain. It would do.

We then moved on to check out the new department store in Yongsan – IPark – to buy what would be some $11 black stockings, because my philosophy is that an entire project can be brought down by the element-of-lowest-quality; I’ll be damned to find all of our photo and modeling efforts for the day brought down by some stank, convenience store, stitchified stockings.

So after having met at around 2:30 and finally having everything together by around 6, we were ready to shoot. I had already decided to hit the Harue coffee shop, which I heard about blogging around, and fancies itself as high class because of all the expensive furniture and velvety interiors. I thought it would be a good environment in which to shoot a “classy” kind of photo – and the waffles there are great, I heard.

As you can see, the goal was more of trying to use extreme angles to make things more interesting. When shooting from a normal height (meaning anywhere that doesn’t involve in me eating the floor), the model’s legs just come across as flat, uninteresting, as just…legs. When shooting flat, you just have a picture of someone’s from the waist down. Ain’t interesting. There’s also nothing being emphasized in the picture. What’s the center-of-gravity for the image? The answer to that should always be “the shoes.” And now that we were shooting pumps, the importance of the foot’s appearance goes away, with the main remaining element responsible for advertising the shoe being the legs of the model.

Now, Sugar’s strength is in her feet, which are certainly accompanied by some attractive legs. Still, Korean standards are extreme, following the general principle of “the skinnier, the better.” The reaction to the previous photo shoot with the “Long as Sin” model is testament to this fact – most Korean women whom I asked to compare the various shoots all responded with a “I would kill for those legs!” This, despite the fact that I thought that model to be perhaps even problematically skinny, lacking a lot of curves and being certainly devoid of any muscular definition. Still, even after mentioning such things, most Korean women countered with, “Anyway, they’re pretty.”

Interesting.

And what I thought when shooting Long as Sin was that she would be much improved by hose and heels, which would also have hidden her less-than-camera-ready feet that day. I do have the sinking feeling that her extremely skinny legs would make her feet look extremely large, but given the extreme angles I’m using, that might not matter. We’ll see when we get around to shooting her.

Extreme!

In any case, my skills in the most recent shoot were spent emphasizing the shoes in different positions while also making Sugar’s legs look as thin as possible. She’s got really attractive legs, but they seem to have the habit of looking really different depending on her stance, and best when in motion, from the side, or from behind, actually. You will certainly notice this in the photographs to follow below.

Immediately below is another borrowing from fetish photography, in terms of this being a popular pose in the genre – “dangling.” It’s something that men notice – and I strongly suspect that most observant women do as well – and is something that is as apparently absentminded as it is purposely playful.

After shooting with flash for around 30 minutes – and after overhearing the people at a nearby table complain about us – we were asked to stop shooting. So I totally forgot to make room for another iconic shot that is a staple standard of fetish photography, which I will utilize for the good purposes of our site a late time.

You’re just gonna have to wait on that one.

We also got a few outside shots as well, but these didn’t turn out as well as I wanted, so I only ended up with a very few to choose from.

I didn’t like many of the straight, front-angle shots of Sugar, and it didn’t help that the black pumps were boring. But the pumps weren’t supposed to help by being boring, right? Right. So it was a useful exercise. I did like the motor scooter and the city feel, though.

I don’t know – I may be making my expectations artificially high, but I do want to get more experience behind the camera and become more efficient at producing a higher ratio of usable, interesting shots during the valuable time I spend with the model and my camera. I don’t have the luxury of being satisfied with my shots. I’ve got big plans for this site.

Still, some of my “urban” shots seemed to work, while also highlighting the shoes in context. I really like Sugar’s legs in the shot below.

I also like these low-angle shots of Sugar in urban action. Note the ajussi to the left staring at her. I think it lends a bit of a cool effect, especially as Sugar towers over the viewer and every other picture element, even as she is being gazed at by this man in the background.

Yet, she is the one with the power. Such is the power of low-angle shots, besides the utilitarian use of it in fetish photography, which uses wide and often low angles to emphasize specific parts. It also makes you look taller, which always helps.

I think I’ll be making sure to use Sugar in high and slim heels, leggy skirts and dresses, and for close shots. I also think she’s really good at modeling sandals. Plan to see the model from “Long as Sin” here soon for a comparison and a point of another hopeful improvement in my technique.

And thanks, Sugar, for all your hard work that day. Give those legs a rest!

Here’s our second try at getting a photo story down while also working on developing a style for shooting “fashion-in-context”. The full photo spread – with nearly 50 shots – is visible to registered users. You must be logged in to view it. Just login and the post will be visible right under this one. 가입 좀 빨리 하시죠 - 이 photo story 완전히 다 볼 수 있게~!

What are you waiting for? 뭘 기다리십니까? Registration is free and will make you a full member of our community.

Here’s our second try at getting a photo story down while also working on developing a style for shooting “fashion-in-context”. Too many shoe sites in Korea – and on the web in general – don’t put shoes in a real context from which to see the shoe – I am striving to make a place where the shoe becomes the central part of the photo story, in a way that is both dynamic and believable, as opposed to feeling set-up or commercial.

Remember that this is just a test, just a dress rehearsal in which we are getting all the parts together.

Remember, click on any pic to enlarge it to huge proportions.

The “concept” that drives this photo story – just as something around which to build pictures – is that of “taking the train” to visit perhaps a boyfriend or other acquaintance for whom she wants to dress up just a bit. Hokey, I know, but it’s something to build a visual storyline around.

Frankly, I prefer shooting at night, where you can get some nice mixed lighting effects and motion blur, but daytime does offer a lot more light, obviously, and a fresher feel. Everything can’t be dark and sultry, and we have to be able to show shoes in many different kinds of contexts.

Also, I chose to have her use the same shoes as in the previous test session with Sugar, to provide consistency and a point of comparison. I don’t find the shoes especially attractive, but that’s actually some of the challenge of the exercise itself, right?

So we chose to have our model – remember Long as Sin? – come in to Seoul Station in her normal clothes (I had her wear a mini-skirt) and simply go through the motions in order, as if she were simply going to meet her boyfriend in another city. So of course, we have to have her change shoes, right?

It’s just the iconic shot that can’t be done without. On your left, I made sure to capture the “insert” shot right before the foot entered the shoe, which is where you’ll see a lot of fashion magazines catching that moment, along with the standard pigeon-toed sitting stance (which is a natural one to assume, by the way, if you’re going to be be putting on heels) in which the woman is adjusting her ankle strap or some such thing. The picture over here on the right side of the page is interesting because you get each shoe on either foot, with the feminine, knock-kneed stance that is as much as a function of making sure of keeping prying eyes from seeing anything they shouldn’t as any natural sitting stance for women sitting in heels. Considering that I was snapping away at a low angle, such was a natural stance to assume. In either case, it was very photogenic and a stance that Long as Sin seemed to enjoy.

Here is the final shot, and a potentially awkward one for the model. Now she has nothing to “do” – no task to accomplish, nothing to do with her hands, and it’s just her being left to assuming poses and being quite aware that she is being photographed. This can be quite unnerving for the shyer, first-time model, as was the case here.

So I directed her to play with her phone, to act like she was receiving or sending messages. This was the moment when she truly started to get into the modeling, as she started posing a bit, adjusting here and there, but I could see that she was considerably more shy and uncomfortable than Sugar in her first modeling set, who in retrospect, was quite comfortable and happy to pose for the camera.

So I used the fact that she was basically able to think of and assume a single pose to my advantage. I wanted to try and get different angles on her, and I started consciously using shots I had seen in both fashion and fetish magazines and sites. The first shot below is a standard high shot that places the viewer in position of power and the subject in one of apparent domination.

For those of you who haven’t studies Semiotics in a marketing or design track, let me tell you that there is nothing accidental or unplanned about the shots and symbols used in the advertisements that you see. Every angle, every element, every pose is meticulously planned and executed. While shooting the picture of the model below adjusting her strap, this was obvious.

There were several shots of each of all of the pictures, but there is an alternate one of the below left picture with the model looking up slightly and smiling which was just too risqué to use. Her face was still appropriately covered by her hair, but the picture being shot at obvious waist-height and at the level of her mouth was too much to use. As it was, I used the shot of her looking down, which made for a totally different mood.

I then took a cue from some of the Japanese (and other) foot fetish sites I’ve seen, which are places that obviously do fetish photography well, i.e. they are good at making shots that include whole-body poses, but accentuate certain parts of the body quite powerfully, usually with a wide-angle lens. The shot to the upper right is an example of a standard shot that might accentuate the foot. It does the job OK.

But the one here is just stunning. It’s the same lens, except I got down on my stomach on the ground to get the shot, while the rest of her body is appropriately out-of-focus, with the effect being that the body part becomes something unto itself, which the user becomes almost a separate entity, watching you from a distance watching her nearly-disembodied body part. It’s a powerful fetish photography technique.

I do want to take note here of the condition of the model’s foot. I regret that she wasn’t nearly as pedicured as she had been in the summer, when I first ran across her – had she had all of that dry and dead skin removes, and her nails done properly (not the standard big-toe-only special popular amongst some Korean women but not acceptable to me), I think things would have turned out nicely.

Well, as I said – a dress rehearsal.

Then i moved to a few standard transitional shots as the model packs up her things in the first of the three shots below, while in the second assuming another brief girly pose, before moving on to walk to the main station in the third.

Here’s a transitional shot that I want to use to emphasize the shift between the two environments, inside and outside.

Now was a chance for a totally new angle, one that’s not very common in the photography I’ve seen – the POV (”point-of-view”) shot. I wanted to get a couple of them to put the viewer in the driver’s seat again.

In the shots previous (especially the “big foot” fetish shot and the high-angle shots), you get a kind of “male gaze” view of the subject. What I was trying to do here was accomplish two very different goals: 1) making the POV clearly the wearer of the shoe, with part of the miniskirt, bag, and even rear shoe visible, but also 2) providing the “male gazer” with a view they’ve never seen before, perhaps even one that’s even disorienting because of its placing him into the view of the woman.

Along the way of satisfying Goal #1, the woman gets to see the shoe as it might look on her foot – kind of a “test drive” – while in going for Goal #2, the man might even get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a woman, perhaps fulfilling a desire to cross-dress or otherwise go over the line with women’s shoes as fetish objects, which – contrary to popular belief about men who so fetishize femaleness as to assume or want to wear certain items – is almost entirely a drive found in heterosexual men, who are the majority of shoe sniffers, panty wearers, or full-blown cross-dressers.

In that respect, I think the shots worked out pretty well, although I will try to take better care to make them come out with more options the next time. I didn’t get quite as many usable shots as I would have liked – I was happy with the first shot, but not so much with any of the other remaining alternates.

One great thing about Seoul Station is the fact that it’s a huge dome of translucent material on the top of the building, with a large glass façade on one side. In other words, if you look at the pictures directly above and below, as the model walks through different parts of the station, there is a very nice balanced lighting effect, as the diffuse light from the top acts as a nice “fill” while the stronger, more directional light from the side acts as the main “key” light.

You’ll notice in the “test drive” shots above, the main light is to the front of her, so it’s almost like a flash effect, with her front being lit strongly and clearly. In the three shots below, as most of the light is directly to her side, you get some nice contrast and shadows as we catch her in the lower angle.