Always stretch before you shoot

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Reflections of Bondage

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Elbows Do Not Always Have to Touch

Close enough

Yes, I love when elbows touch. There's something about taking something as far as it will go, and there's really no farther then welded together when it comes to having your arms behind your back. I know there are Russian gymnasts out there and uber-flexible gals that can go beyond that, but I'm talking about the typical damsel. When the elbows are together you know the position is tight, but they don't have to touch to look challenging to me.

My ultimate love is when I can see that someone's arms are as close together as they will go. You can see how the rope around the elbows sinks into the skin even more than when elbows though. You can notice the tension in the shoulders because they can't rotate back any more. The shoulder blades start to close in on themselves, and the skin on the arms gets tight to the touch. That my friends can be even more challenging than having your elbows though.

When someone is flexible, their elbows can touch and it doesn't cause as much strain as you would think. When someone can't get their elbows to touch though and you pull them as close as they will go. That is the ultimate test of endurance. There is not way to relieve any pressure or any tension. Every cord bites in it's deepest and every movement pulls your already strained shoulders just a little more than would happen with elbows touching. I'm by no means saying that it's easy to have your elbows touching. I'm just saying it's damn hard when they don't touch and are still cranked back.

That's one of the reasons I loved working with Sammie Sparks. Her elbows didn't touch, but she'd let you haul them back as far as she could take. She'd let you do that and then still struggle like hell. In my opinion that is more taxing and more uncomfortable than most can imagine. That is a true test of fortitude that I will always appreciate. As a rigger one of my goals is to portray true helplessness and elbows not touching that you can visibly see are at their maximum closeness show true helplessness to me more than a lot of other restraints.

Image courtesy of He Made My Tits Bulge with Sammie Sparks.

Poor Candle is going nowhere fast!

I had to hustle this week. I'm starting a couple new ventures and with FetishCon right around the corner I am pressed for time. Speaking of which what the hell does that even mean. It's not right around the corner, it's in Tampa. Is Flordia somehow occluded by a large corner? What? Oh yeah, i had to hustle. I thought I was clever having a clip all prepped and ready to go. The problem is I just didn't feel like putting it up. So began the saga of capturing and prepping a new clip. I think I chose wisely.

It's hard to hold a candle to Candle when it comes to bondage. Come to speak of it, what the hells does that mean? Why would I hold a candle next to her? I'm not into that type of thing, and she is certainly perfectly illuminated by the 3000 watts of cold lighting I use. It just doesn't make any sense to ... huh? Oh yeah, I was taking about Candle Boxx. When my old clip became problematic to use I went into the archives and pulled out my first clip of Candle.

Now when I say archives some might get the impression of a room with smartly polished wood and smooth marble podiums. Tasty tidbits of tied models sit under glass domes that are meticulously cleaned each dare for crystal clarity. In a future world perhaps the domes would have the contents of the DV tapes projected onto them for all who pass by to see. It's not the future though, it's the present. And I don't have a room like that. When I say archives I'm talking about a huge box full of tapes where half of them aren't properly labeled. I have to pull them out and remain professionally composed as I label them and search for a suitable update for my mood.

My mood that day drove me to search out a fun model that was tough as nails and gave me great content from start to finish. Granted that's most people I work with, but Candle takes the cake in that respect. And why would anyone take the cake? I mean Candle could because it would be an inside job. She'd sit on top of the thing until nobody was looking and run off with it, but I don't see why ... um, sorry, I keep getting off topic. Candle is just great in ropes.

I dragged her in and we wrestled like a gold medal depended on it. I never sweat so much in my life and the between scene footage of Candle's chest heaving up and down trying to catch her breath is priceless. She was groped, forcibly stripped and tied while she struggled. Once helpless she was "convinced" to remain still as hundreds of feet of rope were layered onto her naked and vulnerable body. A tight ballgag, a strict hogtie and a gauze wrap finished the package. I don't know why it's a package, she wasn't being delivered. That's the kind of shit you keep around for as long as you can!

Anyway she struggled and made the mistake of pulling the gauze off of her face. Some issue about drool and peppers on her egg sandwich from <insert coffee place that will sue me if I mention them here>. Rather than hose the scene she opted to get the gauze off, let the drool go everywhere and then struggle for seven minutes with a vice around her neck. I put that gauze on tight and when she got it off of her face it squeezed her neck. She was red and gasping the entire time. The crazy thing is she loved it. Now that my friends is a true bondage model!

Image courtesy of Hogtie from Hell - Taken Down and Tied Tight.

I've got questions, do you have answers?

I haven't mentioned it but my garage is being converted into a true studio space. This has taken up a lot of time over the last week, but it will be worth it. After a lot of moving, shifting, toting, lifting and trashing of things we are on the verge of framing the studio walls and hanging lights. It will allow me to hang a green screen, repaint when I'm feeling peckish for red walls and not trash the living room because that Victorian chair looks better for photos than the blue couch. There is even a high-output portable air-conditioner so the ladies can be comfortable while I make them very uncomfortable.

Speaking of uncomfortable the first guest at the studio will be Deanna Deadly, and I'm really looking forward to her visit. She has a super personality, an extensive latex collection and a look that I haven't gotten to work with in a while. She'll be shooting super-heroine for Angelique Kithos' store and jacked bondage for myself. The exciting thing is she has done tight bondage before but never anything ultra-strict. She's looking to delve more into that type of material so I get to be the first to really turn up the heat on the rigging. I'm already a fan of her work as the bound and gagged damsel in distress, and I get to see just how she deals with a real physical and mental challenge. Yes, I've been wringing my hands a lot thinking about it.

I'm currently rendering my second compilation focusing on hogties. As I do so I can't helping thinking how sweet it is to have enough material posted that I can't start doing compilations in the first place. You need a variety of people and enough footage that you can do themes. It's kind of cool to be able to rummage through a myriad of restraints and cherry-pick scenes. And by kind of cool I mean really damn cool. I know I've got a long way to go before I have some of the backlog that others have, but having started with 5 clips I think things are moving in the right direction. The reason I started putting together compilations was a request for a custom blu-ray of select scenes. This second one made me realize something though. Shooting on production-quality equipment means I'm not up-sampling DV footage to grainy blu-ray. I'm taking blu-ray footage and down-sampling for my clips. That means I can do hi-res blu-rays as well as high-quality DVDs.

The question then becomes is there any interest in that type of format. Are people content with clips and streamed full movies or does anybody out there want full movies in DVD or even Blu-ray quality format? I'd love to know your thoughts and will be happy to get some emails on the topic. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line at tedmichaelsdamsels@gmail.com about it or about any other suggestions you might have.

Let Me Give Her the Clamps Boss!

Apologies for the Futurama reference but it seemed appropriate for the image. It's been a while since I've shot with Amaya, but she emailed me the other day about another possible shoot. We'll see where that goes, but it did remind me that I recently located a tape in a box. When I went through the mystery footage I found eight clips on it that I thought I'd lost. I remembered shooting them but I after two moves couldn't find the tape anywhere. I'd given up on them until "poof" they appeared in an office box labeled "stamps" lmao!

I find it somewhat ironic that this clip was shot two abodes ago as well. It was a short stint in a tough space to shoot, but I think I made out okay. Amaya always looks cute with her trademark glasses and her girl-next-door looks. I don't shoot nipple clamps a lot because they shorten the footage. Believe it or not they hurt like hell and that tends to wear a gal out! Amaya does great with them though, so she's one of the few that gets them every shoot.

I go for two things when I shoot with the clover clamps. I like a stark contrast and I love glinting. The stark contrast was achieved by the secretary look on a gal wearing those harsh clamps. The glinting requires a very well-placed spotlight and a gal that doesn't mind you saying, "shake them more". Both worked in this case, so I was happy. And yes, I know the term now is office administrator. I personally don't feel many people have fantasies about tied up office administrators though, so I'll stick to tying up the pretty secretary. Bosses get mad when you put too much ice in their scotch!

If you like a the girl-next-door look, harsh clamps and pleading eyes check out Amaya in He Tied Me Up Tight and Clamped My Nipples.

Life Imitating Art

In the days before camera and camcorder yours truly drew ... a lot. Splash pages, comic strips and portraits were my favorite artistic outlet and the scenes were often about tightly bound and gagged damsels in all sorts of dire predicaments. As the years went by I started photographing bondage scenes as reference for the drawings. As I discovered the creative outlet of images and video the drawing slowed down but I still see them in my work.

The drawing of the poor girl tied to the sign post was drawn far in advance of the video screenshot shown. If you turn the screenie upside down though and you'll notice they're basically the same. The positions, angles and style of restraints that I prefer far predate even the first time I tied anyone up. I owe my creativity almost entirely to that. Drawing gave me the ability to visualize restraints. If it doesn't look realistic or possible in a drawing then there's little chance it will work in real life. That's why I still sketch. If I can put it down on paper and it makes sense then I know I can find a way to realize it in the flesh.

At first glance it may appear to be coincidence. If you draw 100 drawings and photograph years of images and video you're bound to see similarities by pure chance. In fact that is very true and I see that all the time; however it's impossible that every drawing pops up some how in multiple videos. I'm fond of saying do what you love and you'll love what you do. My drawing and photography has always focused on what I enjoy. It's only natural that my subconscious would reproduce all of those sketches. If you think something is cool, you're going to see it pop up in your work form time to time without even knowing it.

Careful what you wish for

Have you ever been in the ocean and been hit by a huge wave that you didn't see? You know it's there somewhere. You get preoccupied, stop paying attention and that's when it hits you. It knocks the breath out you, drags you under and spins you around like a rag doll. It pins you to the bottom and churns you with the broken shells and sand for what seems like forever. Just when you think you are going to suffocate it lets you go and you pop to the surface. The sun is on your face and you take a huge breath of air that feels like the greatest breath of air ever taken.

Welcome to my last two weeks!

I've been preparing for the biggest event of my life and every detail is hitting at once. The stress has been a bit overwhelming with discussions, details, writing checks and trying to stay sane even when the world has gone crazy. On top of that we have a dog that had knee surgery and Angelique got bitten on the face by the other dog! Emergency rooms, trauma centers, medication, stitches (on the dog only thank goodness) and the list goes on. Just having to carry the dog around everywhere has been a chore although it's burned off seven pounds of my post-holiday dough-boy physique.

Fortunately everything all just fell into place yesterday. So many things resolved themselves and so much of the pressure has been taken off of everywhere. Now we sit back and enjoy life!

I've still been putting up clips but I haven't had time to update my musings. A recent clip starred a gal named Tina. I have a normal pattern when I shoot. I do a test position to gauge someone's abilities. Then I do an amped-up position followed but a much more relaxed position to regroup. After that it's usually something off-the-wall for fun. I broke that pattern with Tina. She walked in feisty and basically demanded to prove she was the best bondage model in the world. So I gave her the treatment. We started with a full-out take-down with sports tape and then moved on to two more positions. In all three her elbows were crushed. I was the wave and when Tina popped up for air she needed more than the sun and a deep breath, she needed a pain-killer. Then she said, "let's see all those other posers handle that!" Makes me laugh to this day ... I felt like I was being a little mean the whole shoot and it was really just a badge of honor to her.

Check out Tina in She Tried to Rob Me So I Stole Her Dignity but only if you like harsh take-downs, ballgags, welded elbows, bare feet, head wraps and a hottie sitting butt-ass naked on a toilet seat while she struggles!

Test complete!

I did it! When I started publishing material I made note of several things that were live or die indicators for any portal. One of the things I noted was a minimum amount of content. Another thing was video dimensions. You get the point. What would I need to do to actually get seen and get purchased.

Another list that I made was the "fan" list ... and by this I mean the bleep hits the fan list. Having made a ton of websites in the past, I know that the #1 reason people tank is lack of content and the #2 reason is lack of ability to update. With the holidays coming up and a trip to Vegas, I had a choice. Should I set up a number of updates for the time I'd be gone or should I do a little test.

Since I knew I needed to test some things I decided to forgo updates for a bit. I needed to know just how long it would take me to trickle out of sight. Slowly I dropped and it was agony not putting up some material, but I mustered forth. I figured this would be a couple days; to my surprise though it took 21 days for me to get pushed off the top 50 sites list on clips4sale. 3 WEEKS! I have to say that I am absolutely overwhelmed by how long that is for people to keep buying enough to keep my store showing up on that list. I am touched and thankful for the support.

With that test done, I now know that my material can weather what I used to call the 10-day storm. What happens if I get sick, or I have a family emergency or need a vacation. What happens if I can't get my updates done ahead of time? Now I know. As long as I keep putting up quality bondage with quality lighting that is TIGHT as a drum, I can outlast periodic small outages.

The good news is that tells me to keep going. The updates, the shooting and the editing are justified because the portal is sustainable. Thank you to all for your purchases and kind words. Thank you to all for bearing with me while I did my little test.

Now we can get back to regular updates :) This one is of Nyxon (who I see recently topped the bondage clips list at #1) in an escape sequence. I tied her up in thin rope, wrapped gauze over her ballgag and then left her to struggle without panties and with scissors in reach. I love escape sequences because the damsel has to work for it. The elbow ropes don't feel so comfy when you have to bend then out of a certain range ... to get loose you have to do just that. Kudos to Nyxon for the #1, Kudos to her on a great clip here. Check out Nyxon in Pantyless and Painful Escape if you like her or wiggling or escape sequences or tied elbows or ballgags or layered gags or vintage or ... okay, I'll stop :)

I can see your face ... at least half of it

The interesting thing about bondage video is that everyone's hair gets in their face. It used to drive me nuts. You spend all this time finding cute gals and coaching them to make sure their face can be seen by the camera and the damn hair is always blocking the gag and their eyes. I suppose it's my fault for liking long hair and preferring positions where the girls are on the ground but even sitting positions have hair issues. The girl will throw their head around and push their chin into their chest. Sixty seconds later you have a tightly tied body with a clump of messy hair sitting on top of it.

My solution has always been to grab the hair, pull it back and do the gag over the hair. It holds the hair in place with the exception of maybe a tuft or two that dangle and look great. This gets into a great debate I've had with people over the years. I get emails and chat messages, "please put the gag strap under their hair." Everyone has a preference, and I respect that some folks like hair over the gag. My preference is born of personal like and professional need though.

Professionally I want to see the girl's face. The most important thing to me is expression, and I need to see those eyes. It's also much easier for the model to breath when their hair isn't tickling their face. Last but not least hair in the eyes is the number one reason I have to stop filming and help a model out. There is nothing worse than a active sequence that is rolling along and the model stopping and mumbling something about hair in the eyes. Tied up people are on a clock. Two minutes adjusting damn hair is two minutes of lost video.

Personally I just plain like it better. My icon is Sally Roberts. She defined the damsel in distress for me and the many images of her hair tucked into the gag strap is something I can never get out of my mind. Add my rampant use of tight gauze and tape wraps and you have hair under the gag almost every time. I do make exceptions: tape strips over wadding for example; but you're almost always going to have that hair tucked with my shots.

That comes to another thing I just adore. I call it half face. It's when the model has her mouth packed full with a rubber ball, a ballgag or wadding and then gauze or tape is wrapped widely over her lower face. All you see is the top of her face and you can tell she is dealing with a lot in her mouth. To me a great gag is as important as a great tie. Coincidentally half-face only happens with the gag over the hair.

A great half-face scene is with Amaya Solice above. We frogtied her, ballgagged her and then wrapped a whole roll of black gauze over the lower part of her face. It kept her quiet and lets you see those beautiful eyes. You can check it out at Amaya Solace in Feisty Frogtie Leads to Naked Hogtie if you like ... or not, it's a free world :)