Every picture tells a story

First, look at the picture:



Now, the story...

Saturday morning, in a room at the Sheraton Colony Square in Atlanta. I'm attending the Southern Comfort Conference, the 2004 edition. I had thought I knew what I was going to wear that morning. But then I looked at the leather corset in my suitcase. The one I had gotten a year, custom made by Paul C Leather. Paul had taken my measurements, crafted leather into beauty, charged me a fortune, and gave me something gorgeous. And even comfortable.

Who could resist? Even though I was at a tranny convention, more mainstream than fetish. Why not? My Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt, which is aways perfect with a corset. A long black broomstick skirt that I'd ordered from Australia years before; something long enough to reach my ankles but always looked nice and was comfy.

Out the door, into the world. And I looked good, felt good. Went to classes, lunch, ran into friends, got lots of compliments on how I looked.

By the late afternoon, it was time for the Southern Belles social. The Belles are a social group, with no dues or requirements other than to go out and meet others. I can get behind that...

Trannys and cameras are made for each other. More digital cameras are sold to transgirls for their own Flickr albums and MySpace profiles than any other reason. Combine cameras and social occasions, it's a perfect mix. After getting some snapshots, I wanted to get a few pictures of my outfit. Which is when I ran into Emma.

Emma is a friend, who I met online years ago on AOL and kept in touch with. She is one of the most creative people I know; artist, decorator, designer. She makes her own outfits. Oh, did I mention she's one of the nicest people I know?

I handed her my camera, she looked at it for a moment, then photographed me. Not snapshots, real photos. There's a difference. She knew how to bring out the best in me, and she took the photo you see here. One of the best ever taken of me.

Highlight of the day? Close to it. When I got to see the shot later, I smiled. Because that's Zelda you see there.

Is that a thousand words?