| Review:
APRIL 2009 RE-VISIT
Well,
since
it's
been
over
FIVE
YEARS
since
our
last
visit
to
this
classic
site,
we
figured
it
was
past
time
for
an
update
(we
actually
first
visited
it
SEVEN
years
ago!).
Not
much
has
changed
in
terms
of
sensibility.
Abby
has
apparently
left
the
house,
if
she
ever
existed
(there
seems
to
be
some
debate).
But
the
content
is
very
much
the
same:
all
amateur
Australian
girls
with
an
emphasis
on
natural
locations
and
everyday
clothes.
Hairy
pussy
is
the
rule
rather
than
the
exception.
Action
that
isn't
dramatized
to
be
artificially
sexy,
but
meant
to
be
unscripted
and
real.
Some
girls
who
are,
frankly,
not
very
attractive.
But
more
than
a
few
diamonds
in
the
rough.
It
is
still
a
huge
site,
as
you
can
imagine.
It
was
huge
five
years
ago
and
updates
several
times
a
day.
They
now
have
some
3,000
galleries
and
4,000
movies.
The
basic
organizational
structure,
however,
has
changed
in
at
least
two
major
ways.
In
the
first
place
there
are
different
membership
options.
Gone
is
the
old
"Gold"
membership.
Instead
the
content
is
divided
into
three
areas:
solo
girls,
girl-girl,
and
intimate
moments.
You
will
notice
from
this
that
cock
has
largely
disappeared
from
the
menu.
Solo
girls
and
girl-girl
are
just
what
their
names
imply.
The
intimate
moments
are
masturbation
movies,
with
the
girls
setting
up
the
cameras
themselves
and
then
doing
their
thing
in
front
of
them.
You
can
get
a
membership
to
each
individual
area
for
$25
a
month,
or
to
all
three
for
$39
a
month
(with
rebill
option).
For
what
it's
worth,
we
thought
the
solo
girl
site
was
the
best,
with
the
intimate
moments
being
the
most
disappointing
(mainly
because
the
filming
of
these
scenes,
mainly
from
a
fixed
camera
position
throughout
the
entire
scene,
is
really
dull).
The
other
big
change
in
structure
has
to
do
with
navigation.
Gone
are
all
of
the
cute
little
icons
for
different
kinds
of
content.
Instead
the
main
driver
for
navigation
are
a
series
of
member
"lists."
The
effect
is
sort
of
like
Amazon
on
steroids.
But
. .
. it
works.
Maybe
because
there's
just
so
damn
much
on
tap.
But
allowing
for
a
basically
member-driven
organizational
structure
has
produced
a
really
effective,
and
unique
in
our
experience,
system.
The
site
still
has
a
very
advanced
search
function
(you
can
browse
categories
for
things
like
"meaty
pussy
lips"
and
"inverted
nipples"),
but
we
found
ourselves
mainly
using
the
lists
to
get
around.
The
rest
of
the
site
is
very
user-friendly
and
interactive
as
well.
The
only
other
site
we
can
think
of
that
does
so
much
is Twistys
(which
has
very
different
content).
You
really
feel
you're
joining
a
special
club,
right
down
to
the
daily
news
reports.
As
far
as
other
changes
are
concerned,
there's
good
and
bad.
The
good
to
report
is
that
the
photography
is
getting
better.
When
this
site
started
out
it
was
kind
of
snappy-happy
with
a
lot
of
the
pics.
They
seem
a
little
more
professional
now,
and
the
quality
is
excellent
(large
format
pics
are
4000
pixel).
The
not-so-good
is
the
video,
which
we
still
have
trouble
getting
into.
The
download
options
are
fine,
with
most
movies
coming
in
Flash,
HQ
mp4,
mp4,
Windows
Media
and
mpeg
formats.
The
videos
tend
to
be
short,
and
are
not
HD,
but
mainly
we
just
felt
that
the
"productions"
(deliberate
quotation
marks)
themselves
weren't
our
thing.
Again,
the
emphasis
is
on
being
natural
and
not
trying
to
be
sexy.
Which
is
OK,
and
can
work
some
of
the
time.
But
as
we
said
seven
years
ago,
we
wish
they'd
work
with
us a
bit
more
and
professionalize
the
filming
a
bit.
There
are
a
lot
of
odd
things
about
this
site.
In
particular,
despite
how
big
it
is,
the
sensibility
is
very
niche-oriented.
This
isn't
a
site
for
everyone.
It
is
not
generic
porn.
But
if
you're
into
young
girls
and
the
whole
natural,
anti-glam
aesthetic
they're
still
the
standard-bearers.
The
price
for
the
full
three-site
package,
which
is
probably
what
you
should
go
with
(otherwise
you'll
likely
just
find
yourself
wanting
to
upgrade
your
membership
anyway)
is a
bit
high,
but
for
the
amount
of
stuff
you're
getting
it's
not
bad.
MARCH 2004 REVIEW
By now most of you will have already heard of Abby Winters, an
Australian chick (her word) who decided to start up her own porn site in
response to all of the lousy adult material out there that "missed
the point" or was "boring and uninspired." This is the
origin of AbbyWinters.com, and it's important to keep in mind. It's
something we'll have more to say about later.
But first off we have to say this is a superb site. It was a great
site when we first visited in 2002, and it's only getting better. Navigation is
super user-friendly, but we advise you to go to the site map first to
see where everything is. In addition to everything else, this has become
a very big site with a lot of different areas. There's even a separate
"sound bites" section with files of the girls saying "You
have an e-mail!" and other such things in their Aussie accents.
Loved it!
At times the categorization seems to get a little out of hand though.
Is it trying too hard? "Backstage" and "Girl-Girl"
are self-explanatory. "Deviations" ("special sets
different from the norm") is more like a come-on.
"Mezzanine" totally eluded us (and the
definition--"models on another scale"--wasn't a big help).
Just browsing the site is fun (we love the little pee icons), but we
thought there might be room for a model search function where users
could search by hair colour, breast size, etc. We also thought the
proofreading was a little slack for a site that looks so damn
good. But we pick up on this for every site we visit and we're really
not sure anyone aside from us cares. No webmasters have offered to pay
us for our services as "porn proofreaders". But we could help
out with text like "both started slow and ended up having a fun
exploring journy of eachothers bodies [all sic]."
Site support is everywhere. There is a lot of personal
involvement in the site on a daily basis, with Abby and the rest of her
team (including some of the models) taking part in a very active message
board. The pics are full screen-plus and incredibly sharp, whether in
full body or super close-up. Total shoots can be
downloaded in zip files. You can save these pics as wallpapers. The
quality of digital photography on the Internet has gotten so good
lately, you have to wonder why more of the pros aren't getting with the program.
Why is stuff this good being done by amateurs (and there a number of
great amateur nude photography sites out there now) when the big boys
are still screwing us around with their little pics? And if you want to
know how Abby does it, just read her About page as she proudly
inventories the tools of her trade (that's her photographic equipment,
by the way).
You can check out the site stats anytime (and do take advantage of
the very generous site tour). When we last visited they broke down to
nearly 65,000 pics and 683 videos. All done by Abby herself. Wow.
The videos in the main members section are high
quality mpgs, looking great full-screen. Most of them run from 25-60
megs, which is a nice size. They aren't split up into tiny clips. After
some early experimentation and apparent legal hassles, the music has
been canned. Thank god! Who wouldn't rather listen to natural sound? In
the clips we watched the editing and camera movement was very
professional, reminding us of the movies at LittleMutt.com.
The pace is very relaxed, but erotic in a realistic, inoffensive kind of
way.
Overall the action is pretty tame,
though you do get a bit of toy play, shaving, peeing and quite a lot of
soft lesbian action. A bit of cock. Very little fetish (though the Gold Members area--which
comes with a three-month membership--does have a Deviations section where you'll find some basic bondage and other
slightly kinky stuff, including some pregnant chicks). You should also
plan on spending a lot of time getting to know the girls. Interviews
make up a substantial part of the video section. Not really sexy, but
charming.
Updates are
occurring seven days a week, with around 500 pics and three videos spread
out over the week. In all of this there is nothing to knock.
Our suspicions were raised somewhat by the two-tiered membership. But
again, a trip through the site tour will let you know exactly what you
are getting with a Basic membership and what you get with a Gold.
All-in-all, we didn't think holding out the gold was a scam. Basic
membership is a relatively cheap $17.50 a month, so a gold at $30 a
month or $45.00 for
three months isn't that big a deal. And for the Gold membership you
really get a lot more, especially in terms of video (another way
of putting that is to say that for a Basic membership you don't get as
much). There are a lot of movie files available for download now, including
plenty of "hardcore" lesbian action (we're never sure
what that term means when applied to two women, but suffice to say they
go at it). You will want to read the clip descriptions first however, as
there is also a fair bit of talk and the thumbnailing for the videos
just isn't happening. This needs to be improved.
Having said all this, we should point out that AbbyWinters.com isn't
for everyone. Remember, this is a site that set out to be a kind of
antidote to what, for lack of a better word, we'll call industry porn.
Abby's focus on the natural and the normal over the plastic fantastic
look of mainstream porn can be almost self-defeating.
Many of the models are very cute and attractive, but there are also a
number who are just average. (All are quite young, by the way. Abby
targets the 18-23 age group. Older Australian chicks can be found at Girls
Out West.) Eschewing
glamour and fantasy, Abby skirts a thin line with the unerotic. Forget
about the make-up or sexy outrageous clothes or "pornstar
hair." This is dismissed as "guff." Forget about sexy
fantasy shoots, those "high heels, stripper uniforms or dumb
doctor-and-nurse scenarios."
Well, yes, we'd like to say, but . . . work with us Abby!
There is a section of models who shave, but it is small and Abby tells
us "We don't do this much any more." That's what you call a
royal "We". Expect bush. Silicone boobs are definitely not in.
Clothes are very much what you wear around the house (many of the models
are shot in their own homes), including a lot of baggy,
bunchy underwear. Are thongs illegal in Australia? With all those
beaches, they can't be! And yet when Abby shoots girls on the beach
they are wearing bikinis that seem almost vintage.
We found ourselves returning to Abby's claim that industry porn
misses the point. But what is the point? Arousal? Abby's is an aesthetic
of naturalness and personality. Her models are "young and
natural, healthy and happy." It's like she isn't even trying to be
sexy, at least in a Stephen J. Hicks or Suze Randall kind of way. Her
photos and videos are indirectly or "unselfconsciously"
erotic, but they do work. In the end, we're not sure we'd call
Abby a great photographer, at least yet, but there's no question she
creates an atmosphere. She's found her visual "voice" and her
industry niche. Who knows? She may end up being recognized as one of the
seminal artists of the Internet.
And did we just get away with saying "seminal"?
OK, these are philosophical differences. And while our own prejudices
lean more toward fantasy and porn with a narrative, there's no denying
Abby's triumph in creating such a terrific site to showcase her own
vision. In addition, this vision is
front and center at all times. A quick tour of the site--and Abby really
has a great tour--will let you
know what you're getting. In terms of its technical accomplishment
there is simply nothing to fault. This is as good a production as you
will find anywhere. It may not want to be "glam", but it's
flat out impressive all the same. For those who like to keep it real, we
recommend it very highly. The basic membership is a good deal, but you
do get a whole lot more with the gold.
|
