Finally, A Shoot (Outdoors)

Finally! The clouds and the rain stopped long enough and within an available period that I was could shoot an outdoor session with one of the models I've been working with for some of my projects. Cindy had posed for me earlier this year for my Women in Chains and Sword & Sorcery projects in the studio, and we've been trying to get an outdoor shoot completed for some time now. I think we scheduled and rescheduled the shoot at least five times before we were finally able to do it. Even then, while the morning was mostly sunny and dry, but the time I was able to wrap up my work week, pick her up at the bookstore, and travel to the shoot site (Dragonfly Landing), the clouds were already rolling in again and we only had about two hours of shooting time before we started to lose the light. As it was, I was shooting a larger apertures with moderately high ISO settings in order to keep my shutter speeds up.

Cindy was a real trooper though, willing to go into the brush with me, even though the ground was pretty soggy and there was no scarcity of biting insects. We shot mostly in a small clearing cut into the wooded area by the property's owner. The ground, though pretty wet, was reasonably firm and covered in small flowering plants. The small trees made a wonderful backdrop and when the sun broke through the clouds, we had some terrific lighting available, but those opportunities were few and far between. Still, it was great to be outside and shooting again. Usually, by this time of the year, I've done several outdoor glamour shoots, but certainly that hasn't been the case this year.

After shooting in the woods with swords, chains, and kukri knives, we moved out of the woods and onto a paved path near the lower part of the property. For this shoot, we used military style outfits and props and worked on creating some military pin-up type images. Cindy truly excelled at this type of imagery and we were able to get some great shots.

She worked hard on giving me some great expressions, and this shows quite well in the final images. I think she had a lot of fun with the pin-up shots and I know I had fun shooting them.

We're planning on shooting again in August when I return from a couple of trips to Belize and Mexico, and I think during our next shoot we're going to concentrate more on Barefoot Glamour style shoots with water and waterfalls and the settings. In the meantime, here are some images from our studio shoot earlier this year:

Dual Blades with Shadowpoint Chains

Shadowpoint Chains with Battle Axe

Statue with Skull Katana

Dual Blade Dance