Mechanical

I've been mending stuff this weekend - and like working on the bike in the summer it pulls me out of shape psychologically.  A longing to be feminine becomes intense, almost as a reaction to anything typically 'male' (although these days it's more likely to be a woman mending something around the house than a man). I am starting to interpret this as a deepening identification with my female side.  Although I can keep plugging away at dirty, greasy, sweaty jobs there is an inner recoil to the other sense of self, which I'd never even acknowledged ten years ago but which now seems to be where my sense of self resides.

I thought I'd do a photoshoot - when really all I really wanted was to have a bath, wash my hair, and dress up.  So it wasn't much fun and felt more like 'work' - but not unpleasant : )

I didn't have any ideas and I started quite late in the afternoon so the light was failing.  I tried again with the idea of hiding partly silhouetted (even though it's a technically poor effect so I'm not sure I'm happy about it).  But at the end I really wanted to wear red and pulled on a satin dress.  Digital cameras often struggle with capturing reds and as the light was poor I was quite interested in how the dress would look.  This crop has something about it I like - some quality of darkness and stretched dynamic range that is interesting.

And here's a couple of other full-frame shots with some under-exposure: