Sunrise Life - beyond skin deep conversations with freelance nude models

Dakota Lee - Reinventing, Gun brandishing at urbex shoot, No more nudes, & more!

I was a little starstruck to have the opportunity to interview Dakota Lee for the podcast! She is such a powerhouse! Her professionalism exudes from her online presence. Dakota has rebranded herself in many ways over the years. 
From becoming a professional photographer to quitting nude modeling and having new doors open for her as a result, my conversation with Dakota had me thinking about freelancing from a fresh perspective! 
Oh, and her photoshoot fail story was CRAZY!! It was a good thing her photographer had a gun with him!! You will have to listen to find out what happened! 
Check out Dakota Lee on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msdakotalee/
And on her website: https://eventswithdakota.com/
Cover image by Kevin Deal
This episode is brought to you by Model Society - the best website for figurative fine art photography! Check out http://www.ModelSociety.com 

Keira Grant - Nude Beaches, AI Nudes, Anti-glitter, Lost friends over nude modeling

Keira Grant is such a light hearted and beautiful human! Her first photoshoots were by her friend when she used to socialize at her local nude beach. After being photographed nude and eventually starting a portfolio, Keira entered the world of traveling freelance modeling!
Painting and music are also some of Keira's passions. She is somewhat mysterious about her music in her social media though, she says she likes it that way. 
Hear her story about why she doesn't do body glitter any more! It was pretty funny! Unfortunately, Keira had lost some good friends over her choice to be a nude model. 
Listen to the whole episode to find out more!
Check out Keira Grant on her website: https://www.keiragrant.com/ 
And on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/keiragrantart
Cover Image by Glimmermere
This episode is brought to you by Model Society, the best website for figurative fine art nude photography! https://modelsociety.com/ 

Bunny Luna - Ecosexuality, Modeled in a forest fire, queerness, self portraiture, & more!

Over the course of time I have known Bunny, they have transformed so much into someone who is very self aware and very conscious of what makes them happy. When we first met, Bunny photographed me in a very unique way: double exposures with me as a subject and nature as the second exposure in the image, and this is one of Bunny's specialties! 
Bunny Luna's photography came before their modeling career, and they modeled primarily with photographers who treated them as the unique individual they are, not the kind of photography that has a narrow depiction of humanity or a stereotypical vibe. Bunny was married to a man for many years, and in this episode you get to hear what happened after they separated, and the transformation that occurred after Bunny decided to grab life by the horns and delve into what truly made them fulfilled. 
In recent years, Bunny has created ways to be connected with others who have similar interests, some of these creations are in events for businesses Bunny runs or participates in, you can check out all Bunny Luna's projects in these links!
Bunny on Patreon: https://patreon.com/bunnyluna
Sol Harmony Fest Sept 22-24: https://solharmonyfest.com
Info about virtual nude gatherings: http://bunnyluna.com/virtual-nude-gatherings
Apply to join a virtual nude gathering: https://bunnyluna.com/virtual-nude-gatherings/virtual-community-guidelines/
Youtube w all ecosexuality videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkw2L6aYCpFduzAiiJbQv6mqPjeof4D5_\
Join Bunny's mailing list: https://bunnyluna.gr8.com/

Dane Halo- Almost sacrificed, photoshop ethics, relationship to sensuality, & more!

Between the crazy stories Dane shared with me, I also felt a bit like she was interviewing me too!! We both got down to the nitty gritty of how we relate to sensuality and to the world, how modeling has affected our lives, how we deal with photoshop, and more!
From her almost getting sacrificed early in her career to her navigating relationships with friends and lovers while being a traveling model, Dane Halo did not hold back on anything! You will thoroughly enjoy this episode! 
Check her out at her website: https://theredbomb.com/dane-halo-model-portfolio
And on instagram! https://www.instagram.com/theredbomb_model/ 

Shaun Tia - Redhead Beauty, Model turned photographer, Carpet & Drapes and more!

Shaun Tia had been successfully touring as an art model before me, and I always heard about how amazing she was at posing! I finally met her in real life and we became friends. On this podcast episode we talked in depth about what it was like for her to transition from modeling to primarily photography. 
She had some really funny and some rather effed up stories to share! Especially that one photographer who forced her to shave her pubic hair, that was so sad! 
Shaun Tia also went into detail about some of the unfortunate family dynamics she has had to deal with due to her nude modeling, and some people in her current city befriending her then ghosting her after learning about her artistic preferences. 
Check Shaun Tia out on her website: https://shauntia.com/
And on instagram! https://www.instagram.com/shauntiamodel/
Cover image by Evan Romine

Marcus Rasaan - Rising above gender and race stereotypes in modeling, consent agreements for nude & erotic shoots, & more!

I learned so many interesting things about Marcus Rasaan that you will surely find fascinating as well! Their career has been a progressive challenge because many photographers want to photograph Marcus in narrow stereotypes - either hyper sexualizing or characterizing them. Though Marcus is a trained dancer and flexible gymnast with a vast range of emotive posing and depth, so many photographers wanted to depict them as a super masculine black man, which is not Marcus' vibe at all!
Marcus Rasaan is no longer modeling, however they have remained active in the creative world. Anime style art is one of Marcus' passions.  Also they are now spearheading a valuable asset for the model photography community: a consent document for photoshoots detailing specific levels of clothing, nudity, comfort zones, and erotic limits. The purpose of this document is so that freelance models and photographers can come to an agreement in writing what specifically is being created together, and to reduce or eliminate coercion and unfair power dynamics at some photo shoots. 
Check out Marcus Rasaan on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcus_rasaan/ 
Also check out their art! https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-marcus-reignite-the-dream-of-animation? 
Also join the Consent and Boundaries Webinar Aug 27, 2023 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/consent-and-boundaries-in-model-photography-webinar-tickets-667186301187? 

Alice Antoinette - Sexy Fishing Shoot, Being goofy VS entrepreneurial, Transmuting trauma

I've been super curious about Alice for quite some time, now I finally got to ask her all the questions I was wondering about! She has been modeling since she was in high school (through Barbazon) and started her Model Mayhem account in 2016. 
Alice has had some traumatic experiences when she was younger, and modeling has become a way for her to express her beauty and interact with other people socially in a safe setting. Safety in the modeling industry is very important to Alice, she even started her own group photo events and model academy to help empower models to learn and work in a positive environment. 
Check out Alice on IG!! https://www.instagram.com/alicetakeover 
And her website has more on her too (Including her Moxie Academy) https://www.aliceantoinettemodel.com/
Photo credit: Robert DeVaul @devaulports

Roarie Yum - Photoshoot etiquette, creating with intent, rebelling from norms in modeling

Creating photos with intent in mind is certainly important, and my conversation with Roarie brought this into a more obvious space. It's fun to show up and "wing it" but sometimes you nail things better when you set an *intention* for where you want the creativity to be enjoyed.  
We also talked about how modeling has evolved over the past decade, shoot etiquette, and rebelling from norms in modeling! 
I was super happy that Roarie agreed to do this podcast with me! I had been following their work for SO LONG and so I feel like we finally "met" over the call ;) 
Check out Roarie on IG https://www.instagram.com/roarie_yum 
Cover image by Eva Zocher 

Jay Ban- Caught nude by crazy passerby, progressing from TFP to pro modeling, & more!

Jay Ban is a nurse as well as a nude model, she juggles both of these lives elegantly! We talked quite a bit about what it was like for her to just love modeling for the joy of creating art, modeling "tfp" (meaning unpaid) for so many years before deciding to take her efforts more seriously. Photographers offered to hire her frequently! So she made the shift into professional freelance modeling. 
My eyes were bugging out of my head when she told the story of the crazy passerby who caught her and another model posing nude for an outdoor photoshoot!! It was so fun and interesting having this conversation. 
Check Jay Ban out on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jaybanmodel/
She is also on Model Mayhem https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/3719216
Cover image by Jim Hagen

St. Merrique -The Secret FB group, Posing on Dangerous Cliffs, Learning to say ”No”

In the last decade, models have been privately sharing information with each other in secret invite only groups on FB and in IG group chats etc... Merrique was the sole moderator of a prolific group for traveling freelance models, unfortunately some horrible things outside her control happened within the model community and the backlash of it caused her to close that group down. It has been a few years now, and I wanted to chat with Merrique to see how she is doing since then. 
She has learned to protect her energy by delving into various creative methods - modeling being just one of her many creative passions. Though her thoughts have gone to dark places at times, Merrique has remained true to herself. It was really fantastic to chat with her through the podcast. I am happy to have reconnected and I hope you enjoy listening to us talk about some crazy stuff!
Check Merrique out on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/st.merrique/
Also, Merrique manages a Patreon page, check her out! https://www.patreon.com/SundayBest/posts 
Cover image shot by John Patton