TucsonTied Blog

Let’s talk about my “signature”…that stuff we all know as “The Pink Rope”.

It all started with this pic…

“Should We Call The Police?”

 In 2006 when I was just starting out, I uploaded that baby to a photographer/model networking site called ModelMayhem.  All was fine for a while until some guy who did mainly landscape photography left a comment on the pic that sent a shiver up my spine…”Should we call the Police?”  Dunno why that terrified me so…but just after I saw that, I had visions of the owners of Mayhem calling the local cops and sirens flashing, guns drawn as the local police broke down my door…

Then I woke up and sent him a nasty reply.

Basically, I asked where the fuck he was coming from with that crap, and why he would DARE to say something like that.  CLEARLY, he didn’t understand what “Damsel In Distress” (“DiD” in this article from here on out) photography was about…and he admitted to that in his reply.  He said that if I wanted any respectability in the community of photographers that was ModelMayhem (“MM” in this article from here on out), I should try to work with better lighting, rent myself a studio…and perhaps use colored ropes.

Fuck that noise, thought I.

I don’t need to impress any fuckwads at a photography website…I was there to “network” (meaning make contact) with models who also had portfolios there.  Still, the colored rope idea was intriguing…I figured I’d try it on a lark and see what came of it.  I went thru a LOT of color experimentations and have a bag of failures to prove it…the one that stuck with me, however, was pink.

Dunno why, really…but something about pink rope set against a black dress background appeals to the “artist” within me, even today.  Here’s a recent pink rope/black dress shot with CJ from under a year ago…

Pink “Shibari” CJ

Her hands are actually tied behind her head, believe it or not…lol.  That’s a “shibari” (Japanese ropework) tie called a “rope dress”…I actually still like the look of it.

Anyway, for the sake of adding a picture (lol), I’m getting ahead of myself.   Time passes, and I do a LOT of pink rope ties; to the point where it becomes a recognizable thing for TucsonTied to do this sort of work.   Other colors as well, but mostly pink.  I like the work a LOT…

…but apparently not a lot of fans do, as my sales slump.   It was HARD motivating myself to edit pics in those days…nobody seemed to be interested in the work.  In the background, my buddy Jerry, over at NaughtyTies (among others), kept telling me that I ought to change things up a bit…make myself stand apart from the pack of other photographers in the DiD field…and dump the pink rope, already!!   I, on the other hand, thought I was doing great stuff, but apparently I was the only one thinking that.

Time again passes, and Pantera introduces me to Dave Annis.  He immediately joins the “dump the pink rope” crowd, also adding that I should make the ties different as well.  “Well,”  thought I, “it certainly couldn’t HURT…”  That’s when I met Andrea and did her up right and proper…

Andrea…sheesh!!

A little sloppy by today’s standard, but still kick ass, no?   What was best for me tho was it was a little black dress…and no pink rope.  What was Nicholson’s line from the first “Batman” movie…, “Wait’ll they get a load of me…”  😉   When I sent him a preview pic or two, Jerry didn’t know what to make of it (“Did YOU rig this?”  LOL…understandable; it’s a HUGE turn in my work), but loved it.  I had arrived again.

I felt reborn…and fans noticed.  I’m getting a lot more people coming aboard now that I’m really kicking it up a notch with stuff like this…

Sasha Fae…my all-time best arm tie 😀

Let’s face facts:  whatever the colors are, the colored ropes just SCREAM “photoshoot”:

Pink rope Bondage on Pantera Noelle

While the white just screams, “kidnapped” :

White rope Bondage on Pantera Noelle

Which is totally the desired effect.   She looks LOVELY, no?  😀

Since I’ve made these changes, I’m getting recognition from all around…heck, I’m even having models practically beating down my door to work with me now…not for the money, but for the challenge that the work brings.  One gal sought me out BECAUSE I’m doing the tighter ties…money just seemed like a secondary thing.

People like the work more since I’ve changed things up…and I’m more motivated than ever before to produce it for you.  The “TucsonTied Empire”  (lol) has expanded to include a better tokens page than we had before, video, and, most exciting for me, the recent addition of a Clips4Sale page, a cornerstone in today’s bondage website marketplace.

My fans love the work (they tell me so almost every day), I love DOING it, and, as a side bonus, the money coming in ain’t exactly pocket change anymore (lol).  I have to wonder what would’ve happened if I had told that landscape photographer to fuck off in bolder language and I had listened to folks who told me to tighten up the ropework sooner…..

Make no mistake…the pink rope days are over.  You’ve spoken with your praise and I’m listening…you want the tightest, cleanest ropework you can find out there, along with gorgeous women modeling it.

I got your back. 😉

Tolstoy