I am not the kind of person who normally runs around naked taking photos 100 yards from a busy highway. I am not the kind of person who runs around naked at all. I am 71 years old, and women are not generally lining up for a peek at my nakedness, nor do I have any illusions about what I look like.

On occasion, when it is early or there is a thick mist shrouding the pasture, I will run out naked with a camera to catch the light before it disappears, light is never static, it is moving every second, and it is shy, it can disappear in a flash if you don’t move quickly and I hate to lose a picture when the light is good.

The other morning, as Maria recounts in her blog, Maria and I had come downstairs to take our showers, and then she goes upstairs to get dressed and I usually bring my clothes downstairs. It takes Maria about three seconds to get dressed, it takes me longer these days, my knees have their own idea sometimes.

When she came downstairs, I could see something was up, she was dressed in her belly dancing clothes and there was an almost mad gleam in her eye. She shocked me by asking me if I would take a photo of her dancing in this purple belly dancing dress and Choli.

Maria has never asked me to photograph her in any belly dancing dress, and never when her belly was showing. For some unaccountable reason, Maria has always thought her body was ugly. Belly dancing is helping her to shed this falsehood.

I’ve always thought the same thing about my body, I still do most of the time.

So when Maria asked me to take a photo of her, I knew this was a difficult thing for her to do, and I grabbed my camera. The light in the backyard was just perfect, and I knew it would be gone in a flash. I wanted the light to shine on her face and body, I wanted it to be a backdrop against the house or the barn, whichever was better.

I knew the photo had to be just right or she would never put it up or show it. And I had to move quickly.

So I just ran out naked. I didn’t care if I was naked, and I knew I had to take my time to get her to move into the light and show me some of the attitude that is so important in belly dancing.

I had the right lens on my camera, the Canon 14 mm wide-angle lens that is sharp and fast, especially in the right light (when it is behind me at an angle).

I was adjusting the aperture and shutter speed as I went, the morning sun was too strong at first, and Maria  moved into the shadow. So I took my time and took about 30 photos until I was sure I had four or five good ones.

We both loved this one shown above. A good and lucky shot.

I was outside naked for about 10 minutes, Maria was much more rattled about my being naked than I was, she kept trying to shield me with her purple skirt, which was in itself, hilarious. Maria is a bit of a prude, at least in public.

One of the good things about being older is that the little things that upset so many people don’t bother me any longer. I am who I am, take it or leave ie.

So how, Maria asked me when I came inside, was I able to shed my inhibitions and caution and take these photos naked for so long right out in the yard?

I had to think about it.

For the longest time, I tried to hide my body from Maria, I was afraid if she saw me, she would no longer love me. I think she was afraid of the same thing.

The thing is, love is something of a tonic. It transforms people.

Over the years, I have come, warily but steadily to the realization that Maria loves my body, she thinks it is beautiful, she thinks I am handsome, something that shocks me every time I hear it. She loves me the way I am, just as I love her. I don’t have to worry about that any more, I trust it, and that is a wonderful gift.

I still have a hard time believing it.

But I think it is true. In our relationship, we love the heart and soul of each other, the spirit, and while I love and admire Maria’s body, it has always seemed beautiful to me in every way, from her feet right up to the vulva, belly and chest. I love the smile I see in this photo, I love her radiant spirit, creativity and strength. I love her inside and out.

I think she feels the same way about me, reluctant as I am to admit it, and even at my age. So I wasn’t afraid at all to go outside naked to get her the photo she needed and wanted of her in her purple belly dancing skirt.

It was a big moment for her, thus a big moment for us.

We work that way, we each know a creative moment when we see one.

I didn’t think a thing about it, and I am no longer afraid she will not like what she sees of me. I learned this other lesson, when you’ve shown it all, you really have nothing much to fear, in life, in soul,  in body.