I've got a really wonderful nude photo shoot almost all in place. It's been about two years in the planning. Without giving too much away, I've bought almost all the items I need (paints, draperies, etc.), selected the locations and micro-organized pretty much everything. And it's a good thing I did, because there are a couple of hitches that are keeping it from becoming a reality. The first, and most obvious one, is my own reluctance about 'appearing' nude, nude or not--If it was just me, I could do it, I think. I'm no Cindy Crawford (as evidenced by the comment on my first 'nude' attempt which said something to the effect that I looked like a boy), and if I was too embarrassed, I could just NOT post the photos. Which leads to the second problem. I've done two short dry runs of the shoot, during which I have learned two things: Number one, to get the effect I want, I need a second person to paint my back and backside. I thought I could do it on my own, but it doesn't look that great, and I don't want just frontal shots. Number two, to get the SHOTS I want, I also need a second person, because I am going to be fairly high up in a tree for some of them, and although I can get a remote for the shutter, I can't get one for camera positioning or shutter speed settings. I intend to use only natural light. I don't have the time to keep climbing up and down the darn trees, as much as I would like to. Most of my time is spent working and sleeping, so when I do this it has to be fast. Which means I need someone to help me. There is only one person in the world I can ask, one person I know who wouldn't make this about sex in any way shape or form--my sister DancingRain, and I'm embarrassed to even ask her; we both grew up in a very prudish, stifled environment, and I'm not sure it wouldn't embarrass HER to paint my buttocks or see/photograph my genitals and breasts (such as they are). I don't even think she's seen me nude since I was ten, and her memory of her childhood started to go missing around 1986 or so. Which kind of means she will be "seeing" me for the first time, IF I ask her, and IF she says yes. My own hangups are making me want to run and hide at this point, so I'll shut up now, but you get the point.