Third Shoot

Jack Fleming wasn't as well known as he is now when I first worked with him. Now he's had the chance to shoot with people like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicholson and Christina Aguilerra. Back then he wasn't nearly as well known.

I was married to a Blackwood when I first started my modeling, so that's where the name originally came from. Legally, I was actually Amanda Blackwood. Just to make sure things are perfectly clear, I'm not a Blackwood now, but the name lingers like the taste of a fine cigar accidentally inhaled - a memory from the past that is both heaven and hell...



My husband went with me on that photoshoot and I felt far more secure in going to an actual studio. Jack had some nice surprises in store for me.

Once more I brought my own clothes, including the jewelry and gloves I had been given after my episode of Extreme Makeover had been filmed. I also brought the red dress from the previous shoot. I was very much at a loss for nice clothes. I had to use what I had. Jack was willing to work with whatever I had. In fact, Jack had been one of the orignal photographers who had contacted me back when I was gearing up to do my first ever photoshoot. Looking back on the first shoot and the quality of photos Jack was able to provide, I often wonder how things would have turned out for me if I had shot with him in the first place.

He had an actual piece of the Red Carpet from the award ceremonies in Hollywood somehow. A friend of his worked in the prop section of some studio and Jack was always getting goodies from who knows where. I decked myself out in the 6 month old dress and stood on the carpet like a movie star. For two hours that day, I was made to feel like one.

My weight has never really fluxuated much, but for some reason in those 6 months there was a dramatic decrease in my weight. I had gone from 165lbs to 125lbs and my wonderful black dress was loose on me. Jack used black binder clips to hold it tight around the middle and the results were well worth the few hand beaded details I lost in the process. The dress was still magnificent. I kept it for many years.

The last few shots we took were on a solid white background and floor drop sheet. Though when they first were put on a CD for me you could still see the shoe prints on the white floor, they have since been photoshopped out. I wish I still had that CD of pictures, but they're long gone now. When I got divorced, Mr. Blackwood kept a number of my personal items, and I believe that CD was one of them.

Jack told me about a company in near by Burbank that would sign people up to be television and movie extra's. He said that I could possibly stand to make a go of it, and that I would never know unless I tried. My husband at the time was a stunt man in the industry, and though he encouraged me at first, that tune changed quickly later on. That's a story for another

Later, another photographer was working hard to convince me to shoot with him. Though I never did, this creation was one of the attempts he made to convince me. I loved the work he had created, but when B.T.P. started talking about wanting to do glamour nude photoshoots, I quickly backed out. There was no way I'd ever do it.


Below is my favorite shot from that day...