Dirty Thirties HANDLED

“Stella, I’m 37. What a completely lame age to be.” I said out loud to my golden retriever this morning as I slurped shrimp-flavored ramen for breakfast at 11:15am.

I stayed up really late last night migrating images from my personal Instagram with the business name to a business Instagram with the business name per the instruction of my cousin slash best friend slash marketing consultant, Rachel Hyde. She thinks my personal life is too tied up in the business and it’s difficult for first-time clients to navigate the social media platforms. She’s right.

So, to completely defy all reason, I have decided to use this particular platform to … tell a completely hypothetical story about something that could happen to anyone (it’s totally about me.)

A stand-out, sure fire way to tell that you’re plummeting into the depths of mid-life crisis is looking in the mirror to find that the head of hair that frames your face is grey. NOT the natural kind that you get from living a pure and decent life but a grey that started out grey but was covered up with brown followed by a more striking black, stripped down to a ginger color, tortured into an ashish blond, covered in royal purple, faded to a yellowish lavender, bleached of all remaining dignity and strength, tapped, foiled and woven into a frenzy, coaxed back into a periwinkle color and finally DYED grey for the low, low price of roughly $1,300. THAT is when you re-evaluate your beauty standards. And your life.

March 9, 2017March 9, 2017 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: Contemporary, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Instagram, late thirties, Marietta, MOV, o, Ohio, Photography, sexy, vintage Leave a comment

***GLAMSHOP***

You asked for it. We delivered. Now, choose from TWO workshop packages!

September 25th

10am-3pm

200 Putnam St. Suite 300, Marietta Ohio

The Glam Bam, Thank You Ma’am – $99 plus tax

• Hot Tomato Studio tour
• Full instructional demonstration in the art of glam hair and makeup styling
• Lunch and cocktails in The Parlor
• Access to the coveted Hot Tomato Lending Wardrobe for dress-up (as cocktails allow!) Ever try on a steel-boned corset? Let The Madame show you how!
• Behind the scenes peek of a session in progress

The GLAM SLAM – $399 plus tax

• Private wardrobe consultation and session planning
• Hot Tomato Studio Tour
• Full instructional demonstration in the art of glam hair and makeup styling
• Personal one on one hair and makeup styling with two of our professional team members
• Lunch and cocktails in The Parlor
• One outfit, high glam photo session on our custom set
• Private proofing session to view your images
• Free 8 x 10 canvas of your favorite image
• New title for your sassy resume of #GDHT ;)

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

We’re looking forward to seeing you there! Grooowl wink ;)

 

 

Photographers, Andi Roberts and Jocelyn Adelsperger

Concierge, Jessica Kufel

Makeup Artists, Lauren Elaine and Tonya Winebrenner

Hairstylists, Veronica Fields and Chelsea Holtz

 Mistress of Ceremony- Jesse Hyde

 

September 1, 2016March 2, 2017 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: All Women, Community, Contemporary, Experience, fashion, GDHT, Local Event, Self CareTags: Contemporary, empower, glam, glamour, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, local, Marietta, MOV, natural light, Ohio, Photography, Self Care, sexy, small business, workshop Leave a comment

Armpits and Swoon

Today we have a post from our Hot Tomato Photographer, Andi. She discusses armpit smell and how you photograph the unseen things that create that sexy feeling.

I love the smell of my gal’s arm pits. Sadly, they almost never have an odor that hasn’t been carefully placed there during her daily routine. But sometimes, if we’ve been camping, or she has just been beating the shit out of her drum kit for three hours in a dark,hot, sweaty bar in July my sweet and usually very clean smelling curly headed love will have the slightest, sexy hint of armpit. I swoon….she showers. The thrill of that scent stays with me for hours.

Why am I talking about this, darling reader? It’s because as a photographer of the half naked lady persuasion (aka boudoir photographer) I tend to think about what other people find sexy. Then I think about how would I photograph that? How would I have another photographer capture my love of her scent without her being there? How would they make it look hot? I have some ideas…believe me, I have some ideas.

But that leads me to the question I am really interested in – what is it that stops your average person dead in their tracks in the middle of a jam packed week with grocery shopping, elderly dog pee patrol and running a couple small businesses to go hey, “I am totally making time to shave my legs and get naked with my sweetie for a fun romp in the hay. Groceries and old dogs be damned!” How do we translate that to an intimate portrait? And still have it feel sexy and authentic?

Maybe it doesn’t take much for you, but between you and me and the interwebs sometimes I just want to netflix and chill. And by chill I mean fall asleep on the couch halfway through an episode of Orange Is The New Black. I mean sure, prison sex is hot, but it’s not really enough to convince me to give up my corner of the couch most nights….but I am a scorpio so you know it really doesn’t take much convincing. What convinces you?

Maybe it’s the look that is the invite, a hot little makeout session or a day of flirting, sexting and planning. Maybe it’s a naughty selfie sent in the middle of a conference call or how soft your skin feels right after shaving. Maybe it’s the whiskey, the safety of your long term love or the thrill of getting caught. Is sexy bright and colorful or dark and brooding? Is it loud, soft and melodic or silent and muffled with a hand over your mouth? The better question is how are we going to photograph that for you? Edgy, sweet, powerful, understated, thrill seeker, secret sexpot, girl next door, or new grandma. Bring me your sexy. I will photograph it. Everybody is capable of giving and receiving pleasure. Every Body.

Disclaimer, random armpit, not Andi’s sugarpiehoneybunch. 

July 1, 2016August 5, 2016 by pinkcrush1112 Categories: PortraitTags: Contemporary, empower, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Marietta, MOV, Ohio, Photography, Self Care, sexy, West Virginia 2 Comments

The BIKINI Project

The Hot Tomato crew has been in a full tilt bikini discussion all Spring! We send selfies of our current stock and share links to cute ones on sale. It’s become a little bit of a habit with some…(Jocelyn, I’m looking at you!)

You see, once you have been running with this saucy crop of tomatoes for a while, your view of an acceptable body, well, becomes such a non-issue that you’re not even sure how to complete a sentence about it!

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Wayne Dyer

Body acceptance doesn’t stop with you. When you learn to love the skin you’re in, ALL bodies become beautiful! You are no longer comparing yours to someone else’s or waiting for it to be a different size or shape! Your body, in this moment, is absolutely perfect *EVEN if it’s undergoing a transformation. Plus, you will ONLY improve upon your shape from loving it. It will never be hated into a shape you desire. Get ready to CELEBRATE it!!

Tess Munster KILLING IT in a stunner of a bikini!

The Goal: Everyone that books a summer session (available dates below) will have the option to add a bikini shot to their session, free of charge, and be part of the Hot Tomato 2017 All Bodies Bikini Promo with our whole staff!

The Dates: 

June- 17th and 18th, 24th and 25th

July -7th, 8th and 9th and 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th

Aug- 19th, 20th and 21st

BEGIN HERE to get on the BOOKS!

 

 

 

June 11, 2016 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: bikini, Contemporary, empower, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Marietta, MOV, Ohio, Photography, Pinup, Self Care, sexy Leave a comment

Card-Carrying GDHT’s

Chances are pretty good that you first heard about Hot Tomato from a friend… ya know, that cute, sassy, rebel type. See, it’s this great part of the human experience to immediately feel compelled to tell your besties that they simply MUST do the awesome thing you just did!

 

Get a fabulous massage? Have a scrumptious dinner at a fancy restaurant? See a heart-pounding action thriller on the big screen? What did you do next? You told a friend to make and appointment, book a reservation and get in the popcorn line!

 

“Clients adore the referral cards! Anything that gives their girlfriends that extra push to come and do a session, makes my job a piece of pie!”-Jesse Hyde

 

We’re so grateful that you’re doing this bit of legwork that we threw in some Hot Tomato credit as a little wink and the gun to all you sexy Hot Tomato alumni. Here’s how it works!

You get 5 of these cards after your session. (We give you more if you run out.) We write your name and the year on each one and tuck them into a cheetah-print box. You hand them out to your sassiest friends and when one of those cards finds its way back to The Parlor and your friend books her Hot Tomato session, bam, you both get $50 in the Hot Tomato bank!

The sassiness has to start somewhere!! If you want be be the first Hot Tomato among your friends and you’re ready to jump in with both feet, click here and let’s start the conversation!

We can’t wait to meet you!

 

 

May 2, 2016 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: Contemporary, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Marietta, MOV, Ohio, Photography, Pinup, referral, sexy Leave a comment

A Different View

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Wayne Dyer

Some women hate their bodies. I dearly hope you are not one of these gals, but if you are, or if you know someone struggling with body image, please read this short post.

Do you know that when you look at a thing, anything, you change it? Yep. Quantum Theory. Hot, huh? Good or bad, your vibes are affecting that amazing body of yours so send it some “Damn, Girl!” and a little “Hello, Sweet-Ass!”

Ok, baby steps…

If you are constantly looking in the mirror and pummeling your frame with thoughts of too fat, too bony, gross wrinkles, weird mole, sagging this, puckering that, grey hair, no hair, hair THERE?? Body is totally like, I’m ON it! More of the same, coming up! And believe me, your body will defend your truths till the bitter end no matter how many crunches, lunges and wheat grass shakes you put it through.

I saw this quote on Facebook last week and it really struck home for me.

“You will never positively change you body because you hate it. Positive change only occurs  from loving it.”

So, try this on. You are perfect this instant. You will also be perfect after micro-derm abrasion, a 30lb weight loss, a margarita and 4 tacos, a triathlon or a shower! The point is, you’re lovely (love, actually) and it’s only through a serious of beliefs you have adopted at some point from a guru like Kim Cardashian, Maury Povich or the Pillsbury Doughboy, that have you riding the body hatred train.

Time to look at that amazing system with a fresh perspective, especially if you want to make a change! Smile at your reflection and watch it smile back!

FYI, this is kind of our thing over here at Hot Tomato ;) Let us know if we can help.

It all starts with a Parlor chat…click here to experience a “Different View”

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: Contemporary, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Marietta, Mother's Day, MOV, natural light, Ohio, Photography, Self Care, sexy Leave a comment

Dirty Thirties HANDLED

“Stella, I’m 37. What a completely lame age to be.” I said out loud to my golden retriever this morning as I slurped shrimp-flavored ramen for breakfast at 11:15am.

I stayed up really late last night migrating images from my personal Instagram with the business name to a business Instagram with the business name per the instruction of my cousin slash best friend slash marketing consultant, Rachel Hyde. She thinks my personal life is too tied up in the business and it’s difficult for first-time clients to navigate the social media platforms. She’s right.

So, to completely defy all reason, I have decided to use this particular platform to … tell a completely hypothetical story about something that could happen to anyone (it’s totally about me.)

A stand-out, sure fire way to tell that you’re plummeting into the depths of mid-life crisis is looking in the mirror to find that the head of hair that frames your face is grey. NOT the natural kind that you get from living a pure and decent life but a grey that started out grey but was covered up with brown followed by a more striking black, stripped down to a ginger color, tortured into an ashish blond, covered in royal purple, faded to a yellowish lavender, bleached of all remaining dignity and strength, tapped, foiled and woven into a frenzy, coaxed back into a periwinkle color and finally DYED grey for the low, low price of roughly $1,300. THAT is when you re-evaluate your beauty standards. And your life.

March 7, 2016March 7, 2016 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: Contemporary, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Instagram, late thirties, Marietta, MOV, o, Ohio, Photography, sexy, vintage 2 Comments

CAN it, Sister!

“I can’t.”

“I just can’t.”

“I can’t find any clothes!”

“I can’t ever find time for me.”

“I just can’t shed these extra pounds.”

“I’d love to do a shoot but I can’t afford it.”

“I can’t possibly relax when I’m being photographed.”

“I can’t imagine what I would do with sexy photos of myself.”

Well lookie there! A pyramid of can’t in the pale website! See what I did there? It was a reference to Alan Jackson’s Chattahoochee song. I’m not saying it was a good one.

March 6, 2016March 6, 2016 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: Contemporary, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Marietta, Ohio, Photography, Pinup, sexy 1 Comment

The Pattern of You

Pattern is an excellent word. It’s one of my favorites actually.

~a regular and intelligible form or sequence discernible in certain actions or situations.

 

To me, it feels safe and beautiful. It sounds soft yet remarkable. It cues up memories of a childhood so new, it was wordless. “Patterns” I would learn later, was how I made sense of myself and my world.

The aim of this post is to talk to you about bodyscapes. This is a type of image that uses shadow and light to capture crisp curves and etched structure, long lines and soft dimples, polished scars and baby fine hairs that stand at attention ready to receive the lightest stroke and encourage the body to rise and meet it.

Telling the body’s story with images almost always evokes powerful emotion. It connects, it guides and it always belongs. It’s the pattern of you.

Let us help you tell your body’s story.

March 6, 2016March 7, 2016 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: bodyscape, Contemporary, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Marietta, MOV, Ohio, pattern, Photography, sexy Leave a comment

Let’s Get Real, a Valentine

Let’s get real for a moment, shall we? A real effing Valentine moment. A moment that will likely be interrupted by a small, slimy child, a text from your boss outlining a {mandatory} opportunity for you to get some extra hours on your only scheduled day off or the unmistakable yack/splat sound of dog vomit hitting the floor.

I’m just going to go ahead and assume that you clicked on this post because you relate. Or because you know me personally. Or that it was quite by accident. However it happened, just understand that I’m about to get real honest.

Sometimes life is a complete shit show. Also, February is a HORRIBLE month to focus on love. You’re sick for the billionth time, freezing your ass off, fatter than you’ve ever been and perpetually in another financial month of NOT recovering from Christmas. “What’s that ?” asks the Universe. “Your life needs to be a bit more challenging? Allow me to pop your teenage daughter’s car in a creek and give your dog worms. Also, as a special bonus, I’ll let all the stink bugs in the world know that your home is a perfect place to get out of the cold.”

Then you see an ad. It will say something like this:

“Spice up your Valentines Day with sexy portraits of yourself without a bad attitude, damaged hair, scaly skin or ass zits!! Only one miiiillllion dollars”

February 12, 2016March 6, 2016 by hottomatopinupacademy8 Categories: ContemporaryTags: Contemporary, Hot Tomato, Hot Tomato Pinup Academy, Marietta, natural light, Ohio, Photography, sexy, Valentine, Valentines Day Leave a comment