More Weather Woes

Kim in Chains

Okay, having to cancel not one but two shoots due to weather in the middle of July just sucks. Usually by this time of years the skies are clear, the temperatures are in the mid-80's and the humidity is low. Along with the cold, wet spring we had this year, apparently we're having a cool wet summer to go along with it. I've already pushed through two shoots in cool weather and I'll shoot with overcast, but there's simply no way to shoot my concepts outside in the rain.

I was supposed to shoot with Kim again today, but we both decided to cancel after looking at the weather report on Monday. We're hoping to reschedule for sometime in August in hopes of warmer and drier weather. This shoot is one that I'd really like to complete as it would finish part of a three part arc of shoots and would be the only outdoor session of the three sets.

I've also had to reschedule with Lindsay for our barefoot glamour shoot. She was one of the models that pushed through a shoot earlier this summer despite the clouds and the cold, but I was shooting her in tandem with another model and I really want to shoot her one-on-one so I can concentrate on her expressions and her poses as I think she is an excellent model and can provide me with some compelling images when we next shoot. Alas, it looks like the earliest that can happen will be the end of August.

The weather forecast calls some improvement later in the week, but I have many other commitments later in the week and even the first couple of weeks of August looks pretty busy with non-photographic activities.

Time for Shooting

Forest Sorceress

These days it seems I have to almost take vacation to get any photography done. Fortunately, we had a 4 day weekend for the 4th of July holiday, and I was able to take the remaining three days of the work week off for vacation for a little leisure time and some photography. Again, fortunately, there were several models available and ready to work with me that week and I took advantage of their availability by shooting with all of them as the opportunity (weather) permitted.

The first couple of days of the holiday were spent playing with the grandkids, and shooting with the Northwest Glamour Photography Group. The kids and I went to the coast for some fun at the beach, and the next day I went to a different kind of beach for a photo shoot with the Unchained Girls at Scream at the Beach in Jantzen Beach.

Snake Girl

Scream at the Beach is a horror house with multiple sets including a dungeon and a number caves. The group had arranged for a number of models from the Unchained Girls, a promotion group, to pose for us, and for airbrush artists to provide body painting for the girls. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay for the entire shoot, so I didn't get to shoot with all the models in all the settings, but I had fun shooting with the ones I did get to work with during the day.

In addition to the models and airbrush artists, there were several large snakes used during the shoot. Adding the snakes provided some excellent shots, but made the shoot technically more difficult since the snakes often moved their heads in and out of the depth of field. Also, the tight locations where we were shooting limited the placement of the strobes, so the setups were the best we could do for the situation given the lack of room for large light modifiers such as light boxes. Still, we made it work .

Queen of the Glade

Later in the week, I primarily shot at Dragonfly Landing focusing on my Swords & Chains project wrapping that series arc up with a couple of models. I also did a Barefoot Glamour shoot with Floofie using three themes - Bathing Beauty, Nude Artist, and Military Glamour. We had a perfect day for shooting those and the model was great - but very happy when the Bathing Beauty shoot was over as the water wasn't nearly as warm as we had hoped for when I planned the shoot.

I wrapped up the week acting as a photographer's assistant for my friend, Mark, and even brought him a model to shoot. The model had engaged me to shoot her as the Rain Fairy and since I planned to do it at Dragonfly Landing, I suggested they both take advantage of the opportunity to shoot together and I must say they put together some fine shots. I think she was a lot more comfortable shooting for him in the warm sunshine than she was shoot for me in the cold water coming from the oscillating sprinkler I used to simulate the rain.

I'll probably get a handful more shoots done this summer, but they'll have to be in my spare time in the evenings or on the weekends, as I'm saving the rest of my vacation time for a trip to Arizona to visit my family there and for the December holidays.

Jenn's First Time with a Sword

Bathing Beauty

Jenn's Magic Ball

The Rain Fairy

A Throne in the Woods

Last December the photographer I was renting studio space from lost his lease when the building that contained his studio was sold and redesigned. After my last shoot in the space, I dropped by to pick up some props that he had been storing for me, and acquired this very heavy, metal throne that he had stored in one of his back rooms. I had used it a few times in my studio shoots, but I decided I would use it this summer for some outdoor shoots as well.  This past weekI finally got a chance to do so.

This is Lindsay and this is from our first shoot together at Dragonfly Landing.  I thought the throne worked rather well for this shot I've titled "Magic in the Glade." I've left it in place for now (covered by a tarp), and I hope to be using it for a couple of more shoots in the very near future. After that, I think my friend Mark has some rather wicked ideas to use with it for a bondage shoot.