Isabella Stryker wrote:
A photographer is coming to my area to do a photo shoot with me for a men's magazine.  It's going to be nude, suggestive, implied nude, pin up style, that sort of thing. 

He told me to pick the location since he is not from the area.  I can't do it at my apartment. 

I live in Oakland.  Does anyone have any ideas where we could do this?

Does he have any ideas at all? Typically there is a need to coordinate wardrobe with location -- swimsuits for the beach, clubwear for a bar, a mechanics uniform for a garage, a stewardess' uniform for an airplane, riding gear for a horse stable etc. Typically you will discuss a theme or themes, which will narrow down the choices considerably

If you're just going for elegant lingerie hanging around the bedroom, I would suggest a very fancy but not overly-identifiable hotel suite - perhaps at a resort.

In the LA area, I know there are a lot of houses that can be rented for a day at not-too-bad a cost -- I assume you have a similar situation up there. Any friends with an amazing house? Then there are nightclubs, bars and restaurants. You could shoot on a large sailboat or motor yacht. You could rent a private jet and shoot in the hanger. You could do it in the back of a limo, or in a big caterer's kitchen. You could do an office theme and shoot in somebody's cube land. Shoot on a farm or in a horse stable. Rent an RV for an afternoon. Shoot in an antique airstream trailer. Rent a cabin in the woods, or a really, really bad motel room at one of those drive-up motels.

I have to admit -- I'm surprised that a photographer would just ask somebody else to pick a location. I mean -- you might be the best location scout in the world -- or the worst -- and how is he to know? If I was going to travel somewhere to do a shoot for a paying client, the last thing in the world I would do is have someone I don't know pick out the shoot location. If he has a big budget -- he's going to be picky. If he has a tiny budget, he's still going to be picky, but in a different way -- trying to leverage personal connections to get a "deal" on something. You sure this is on the up and up? Could this just be a GWC who wants to see you nekkid? Have you checked up on the "men's magazine?"

Regards,
Paul