LTPhoto: The Great Weekend of Chocolate
Lessons learned this past weekend...

1. 13.5 gallons of Hershey's chocolate syrup is very heavy. Get help when loading into vehicle. (See funny story and picture below)
2. Hershey's Chocolate syrup burns when it hits your eyes. A lot. Have cottonelles / baby wipes always handy.
3. You cannot stand in a tub full of Hershey's Chocolate syrup.
4. No matter how hard you try, Hershey's Chocolate syrup is cold, even at room temperature. Especially in vast quantities. The upside to that is that ice cubes and nipple twisting aren't necessary to "perk up" for a shot.
5. Even after a shower, the smell still follows you.
6. Apparently you can drop your strobe shoe adapter into chocolate and not damage it.
7. The only thing better than watching one nude model roll around in 13.5 gallons of Hershey's Chocolate syrup is watching two nude models roll around in 13.5 gallons of chocolate syrup... at the same time.

So my shoot for Skin Two was this past Sunday. My MUA had a great idea about a shot a few weeks ago. The only problem was that it required a vast amount of liquid chocolate. I researched what alternatives I could use, and there were very few. I thought about buying solid chocolate and then melting it, but keeping it hot would be an issue. I thought about buying fondue chocolate, but apparently you can't buy the stuff in mass quantities anywhere. Hershey's Chocolate Syrup was the easiest solution, and while it was also the most frugal option, it still cost a lot.



I went to a local wholesale club store, bought a membership, and loaded up a shopping cart with an excessive amount of chocolate syrup. I thought about buying a widescreen HDTV while I was there, but I didn't want to look like weirdo.

As I headed to checkout, I was relieved to see that there were Self-checkout lanes. Explaining why I had this much liquid chocolate would be awkward if I had to talk to a cashier. Apparently there isn't a way to tell a self-checkout counter that you have 14 of the same item. So I stood there while this 7 year old girl watched me in curious amazement while I scanned every bottle one at a time. I loaded up the chocolate into 2 empty boxes and headed to my car. The only problem was that I seriously under-estimated the sheer weight of 13.5 gallons of chocolate syrup. 1 Gallon of liquid = 128 fluid ounces = ~8 lbs of real weight. Needless to say, my nerdy computer geek physique was put to shame.

So I walk back inside and ask for some help. A scrawny kid working the door offers and walks back with me to my car. He helps me lift boxes inside the trunk with a few grunts and silent curses. While we're loading the second box in he asks, "So you really like chocolate syrup eh?"

I shrug. "As much as the next guy I suppose."
He raises an eyebrow. "Oh? So what are you going use all this chocolate for?"
"To dip a naked model into it of course."
"Oh..."

I smile and get into my car while leaving the rest of that mental image for him to create. Somehow I don't think that's the weirdest conversation he's had while working there.

The third biggest problem with sliding a completely nude model into a tub of chocolate is that you only get to use said chocolate once. Its not exactly a prop that you purchase and can use over and over. The second biggest problem with this situation is finding a model who is willing to do said act in the name of art. And finally, the biggest problem is finding 2 models who are willing to do said act, together, in the name of art.

Thankfully I know some models who are really great, patient, and understanding friends. They stood around for a couple hours jumping into and out of a bathtub of water while we painted them while the AC was on full blast. They also rolled around in chocolate together for about an hour. Did I mention how awesomely patient they are?

Overall though, I got some great shots. A lot edgier (dunno if that's a word) than what I'm used to, but I think it'll be awesome once I've taken the shots into post-process.