Bettie Page, Mr. Spock and Photoshop

    

Bettie Page(photo by Bunny Yeager)

    A few weeks ago a friend posted online about how some guy in a mini mart wanted to know if she was wearing a Bettie Page tee-shirt. My friend in fact had been wearing a Mr Spock tee-shirt but she was wearing a jacket that had been zippered halfway up to where you could only see the top part of Spock’s head showing his bangs. After reading her post I thought maybe I could combine these two figures, both known for their bangs, with the joy of Photoshop.

    Since I had plenty of time thanks to Covid, I thought I could do a little Photoshop project. To me, projects like this are like puzzles to be solved. Could I find the elements I needed to bring about a finished composite photo? I scoured the internet for photos of Bettie Page. I wanted a photo that was large enough and one where Bettie’s head was turned to the left or right, highlighting one ear more prominently. I found 4 photos and ended up using 2, thus having 2 projects. The nude photo of Bettie is by Bunny Yeager, the photographer who took some of the most iconic shots of Bettie.
     After finding some good Bettie photos, I needed to find some good Spock photos, ones that matched, as best as possible, Bettie’s pose. I searched for Spock photos portrayed by both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto, ultimately choosing Quinto’s Spock. Then I chose photos of uniforms, backgrounds and other elements I thought I could add to the final photo. Once that search was done it was time to get to work.
     So this is one of my favorite things to do. Playing in Photoshop. I decided Bettie was not going to be Mr Spock, just a Vulcan. I worked on the non-nude Bettie photo first. I knew I wanted to put some background behind her. I thought about the bridge of the Enterprise or maybe just stars in space, but ended up choosing the background of Mr. Spock’s home as seen in the TOS episode, “Amok Time”. Then it was time for the fun of matching Quinto’s Vulcan ears to hers and getting her in a blue Starfleet uniform or top as it turned out. After making adjustments with her hair, as well as color, exposure etc, I had the first photo done.
     The second photo, the Bunny Yeager one, was much more challenging to me. The work on the ears was easy enough but working with the hair was not. I had to get rid of most of it because I wanted to make the hair short in this one the way Spock wears it. That meant I had to rework her right hand a bit as it was partially covered by Bettie's long hair. I used a few different textures to use over the photograph to go for a more science fantasy feel. Finally I added the Vulcan IDIC logo and a Starfleet insignia tattoo on Bettie’s backside. This Yeager Vulcan Bettie is my favorite of the two.
     Doing this work is very Zen like for me. That may be an overused term but it certainly fits here. I can get down with this work, with no pressure from the outside, without thinking about the sad state affairs of our times. I’m not judging myself or worrying about what I don’t have in my life. I am truly in the moment. Most of the time it’s just experimenting without a specific goal in mind. I’m just trying something and seeing where it takes me. I have a lot of these same sentiments when I’m doing similar work with other photos or when I’m actually taking photographs on walkabouts or at burlesque shows. I have no real expectations. It’s the journey not the final destination. And sometimes I really like the end result. That’s the cherry on top. So find something you love, something you can get lost or found in and don’t ever stop.