Loooong ago (before the Sandy2012) I had posted Erika in my first ever “Old School Friday” post and said one day I would tell her story. Soon after that I got the idea for “Meet the Models” and went full steam ahead with that. I had always come back to wanting to do a write up on Erika, but wasn’t able to as I wanted to keep the flow up. Now with Sandy destroying my server, I can come back and write up the story on Erika!

Mid 2008 I was working with a webmaster shooting some of the models for his paysites. He told me he had a new model that wanted to start a site and set up the shoot. Right away when I saw Erika I thought she was beautiful! She had an amazing look and outstanding body. No sooner than I said hi to her, her then boyfriend walks through the door and starts to take the limelight. I was quickly able to see that Erika was infatuated and dominated by this guy and knew this was going to be difficult. Right away I sat Erika down to get to know her a bit as I could tell she was nervous. I didn’t know if she was nervous because she would be shooting topless for the first time? Or nervous because her boyfriend was with her? But I wanted to try and work through that and get her to relax so we get images that are GOOD! Of course, the boyfriend dominated the questions and even answered some of them for her! As I was talking to Erika asking her what she planned to do with the rest of her life, her boyfriend chimes in with “Well, I’m in a band. I’m lead singer” …O.K. thanks for sharing bub! I discussed this with him for a bit as he obviously needed to be heard/included. We moved on with the first shoot and I was happy with what we got:

 

Soon after the first shoot we found ourselves texting back and fourth. I got a chance to get to know her and thought she was a sweetheart but was wasting her time with her boyfriend. He didn’t respect her and as a result, she didn’t respect herself. We set out for our next shoot and it was in the studio as well. At this shoot he became the type of escort we all hate, he started having her do things that she was uncomfortable with but because he wanted her to do it she did. Several times I stopped as well as gave her many chances to back out of the shoot. I encouraged it and told her to think about it. He left to go smoke and her and I had a pretty long talk and she said she was totally ok and that it was her ideal initially:

All was moving well and the site was being built. Her and I were talking and texting and all was well. I was shooting a session when I got a text from her that pretty much said she was freaking out. I wrapped up my session and when I did I told her to call me when she could. A minute later I was talking to her on the phone. She was crying hysterically and saying they had broke up. I wasn’t a fan of the boyfriend but I tried to be objective. I ended up telling her that she would be better off with out him and that she was too young to be in such a serious relationship. She agreed and we set up a time for a new session. By the time the new session rolled around (week later) they were back together and “happy” The resulting shoot was what inspired the article “Why I don’t allow escorts”

After this shoot we had another one and it was during an off week of their relationship. At the shoot she drank a lot and was pretty drunk. She was still fun to shoot but we didn’t really get any images worth keeping. She stayed in the room for the night. She texted me later that evening and told me they were over for good she wasn’t going back to him and next shoots would be better. The day after she texted me and told me they were together and stronger and better than ever. She was amped and ready to work. By this time I had decided it was too much going back and fourth and told the webmaster that I didn’t have much interest shooting her. She was awesome to have as a friend, but until her ups and downs of the relationship were over, the super excited, terribly sad, so focused on him instead of the camera.  The webmaster wasn’t happy with my decision but agreed to it. Erika and I texted for some time after that and eventually fell off. A MMA or Mixed Martial Art client sent me some clothes to shoot a few models in and I thought of Erika right away. She came in and we had a good time. She told me she was following her off now boyfriend into the military and she was doing it for herself.  If she was doing it for herself all I could do is wish her luck.

This was in Summer 2008. That was the last time I saw Erika. I caught up with her on Facebook a few years back and she has a new boyfriend and still in the military. She is doing exceptionally well in the military and is truly happy with what seems to be a good guy. I am beyond happy for her and wish her continued success! She lives across the country now but comes here every now and then. Next time she comes through we’ll shoot and get some updated images.