Come November

 Only two shoots in November as the weather was rapidly turning cool and wet. We removed and stored the outdoor decor, stacked the chairs and tables, covered the grill and smoked, and brought in the cushions and umbrellas. The cool, wet weather and dying blooms meant backyard boudoir and outdoor shoots elsewhere simply weren't feasible. Also, winter is when  I break (mostly) from shooting and begin editing my images for the year. I thought the two shoots I planned were quite successful, so it was a good month regardless of the number of photo shoots.

The first shoot was part of my "On Black" project. Shawna enjoyed wearing the custom chains during our Sauvie  Island shoot in October, so I decided to use her for this project as well. The "On Black" project is simply the model posed in various positions against a pure black background and on an elevated platform. I light the model with either strobes or LED panels, as I did with Merrique. For Shawna's shoot, I used a diffused beauty dish for the key light and a large umbrella for fill. 

The outfits for the shoot were simply different chainmaille outfits but we did through a set of pearls into the mix. For the next "On Black" shoot, though, I'm going to add a gridded strobe and a backlight/hairlight to provide some rim light and separation between the model and the backdrop.

Shawna On  Black

November's second and final shoot involved a traveling model making her way down the West Coast. Copper is a petite model with short red hair and a sparking personality, despite her lack of coffee which I quickly remedied with a fresh pot. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours shooting boudoir around my living room studio area. As it was a rare sunny day for the time of year, I opened all the blinds and curtains to let in as much sunlight as possible. I then used a bounced fill flash with a  reflector card to provide fill and to create a specular highlight in the eyes. That small spark of light makes the eyes sparkle with liveliness. 

Copper &Pearls.

I have a couple of Xmas pinups scheduled for next month. I try to do at least one or two every year. They're always fun to shoot  and I'm hoping to use Shawna and Floofie for those shoots. 

The End of Autumn

October was another busy month for shooting.  First was an indoor/outdoor Autumn Boudoir session with Joey who had come up for a visit. We tried out some new colors and styles and I felt like we got some fun images from the shoot. We did a variety of poses using both indoor and outdoor locations. Joey is a delightful model in all regards, but she really shines with her pinup poses. 

Autumn. Boudoir with Joey

A couple of days later, I had my first shoot with Shawna, a local model I found on Model Mayhem.  Since the weather was still warm, I decided to do a mix of indoor and outdoor images with Shawna as well. Shawna is a very experienced model and is also a boudoir photographer herself,  so it was very easy to work with her. She had great poses and understood the lighting requirements of each shot. 

Backyard Boudoir with Shawna

The following week I had the pleasure of working with a traveling model by the name of Riann Nova. She was completing the last few legs of her journey around the United States. She had contacted me earlier to inquire about shooting with me and I was quite agreeable to the idea. She is a petite redhead with a gorgeous smile and a very happy attitude. For a couple of hours, we shot indoor and outdoor boudoir in various outfits and in different settings. I enjoyed working with her and should she return to my area I would happily work with her again. She is quite comfortable with her body and poses and is a fun conversationalist.

Red Lace and Jasmine - Riann

A few days later, I had a shoot with Merrique. I recently purchased a set of Neewer LED light panels and wanted to use them in a shoot. Merrique and I had worked together on several projects, so I knew she would enjoy the challenge. The LED panels are capable of a range of colors and I intended to experiment with bi-color lighting. The lights worked well enough, but as with most LED lighting lacked the power to shoot still photography without a significant boost in the ISO setting. I decided then I would use the panels for accent lighting and then use one of my AEOS LED lights for the key light.

Merrique Under LEDs

We also shot a few Backyard Boudoir images since the weather was still warm and sunny.

A couple of days later, Gwen did her first boudoir shoot with me. She had taken to heart all the tips and recommendations from our shoot at Sauvie and she seemed much more comfortable during this shoot. 

Gwen in Lace

During our previous shoot, Shawna had expressed an interest in shooting in some of my custom chainmaille jewelry outfits. These are body jewelry pieces made with various crystals and chains and have a thematic consistency for each set.  Shawna posed in three sets of chainmaille outfits - Raven, Dewdrop, and Valkyrie. We also used pearls, a black bikini, and shot some simple nudes. Shawna rocked the shoot in every outfit.

Raven Chains

I wrapped up the month by shooting with Floofie again. This time we shot in her garage studio and I used the new setup with the LED panels and the LED key light. The theme was goth boudoir and as usual, Floofie nailed the makeup, hair, and mood. 

Goth Girl

Catching Up

Belle in Chains

Shooting really picked up in August after all the home renovations were complete. As I mentioned in my last post, I managed to get away to shoot with Joey in the lovely little valley where she lived. But even before I went to visit Joey, I had a shoot with Belle. Devereaux on Sauvie Island. 

It had been three years since our last shoot, and her look had changed drastically in the interim. She went from having short, straight, dark hair to an entirely different look of curly, red hair. She still had those beautiful eyes and that big smile. The shoot was fun and very productive. 

We managed to shoot several different looks and moods as we moved around the beach and adjacent woodlands. As usual, we shot nudes, implied nudes, and non-nudes with various props such as a fishing net. I like to shoot in the mornings at Sauvie because the light is better, but also because fewer people are there.  

A week after I shot with Joey, I had a chance to shoot with a new model (to me). Thistle is a lovely person whose primary job is as an arborist. Due to her work, she's in excellent physical condition, Again, we shot on Sauvie Island and used a variety of outfits and poses. 

Thistle has a very natural look with long brown hair. She was perfect for the outdoor setting on the island and I really enjoyed shooting with her. Here's one of the best shots from that morning.

Thistle on Sauvie Island

I spent quite a bit of time on Sauvie in August, for I had three more shoots there before the month's end. On the 16th of the month, Floofie and I met there for our 37th shoot. I've been working with Floofie since March of 2010, so I knew we'd get some great shots. This wasn't our first shoot at Sauvie and I'm sure it won't be our last either. We had great fun that day playing with silks, chains,  hats, and other props. 

Diamond BikiniShot

The following week Keira Grant came to town and we managed to put a shoot together at Floofie's own studio. I hadn't shot with Keira since Studio Serano shut down back in 2016, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to shoot with her again.  Floofie has a wonderful little studio set up in her detached garage with natural light available through some double glass doors. I supplemented that with a daylight-balanced LED light for a soft, dreamy boudoir setting. 

We also did some outdoor shots in Floofie's backyard, so I managed to get a variety of images in different settings.  Keira is a natural beauty with a lean physique and gorgeous curly hair. It's always a pleasure to shoot with her and I hope I get the chance to do so if she returns to my area next year.

Soft Light with Keira

 

A week later it was back to Sauvie Island for a shoot with Vivian Cover, a model with whom I hadn't worked before. There was lots of curly hair in August because Vivian had a head of blonde curls and a dancer's long, lean body. She had poses galore and we used most of them during our time at the beach. My favorite images are shots of Vivian dancing against the morning sky, river in the background and silhouetted by the sun. 

Vivian Against the Sky

The. very next day, it was back to the island again, this time for a shoot with a new model in her very. first outdoor nude session. Gwen was just starting out with modeling and she was unsure of the process. She had done some figure modeling for art class so she was comfortable. with nudity, but glamour and nude photography is quite different from figure modeling where the models assume a pose and hold it for as long as it takes for the artists. to sketch them. For me, she was going to need to move around, change body positions and expressions as well as change poses with each click of the shutter. She actually did quite well for a neophyte model, though she did tell me she was more comfortable without clothes than when she was fully dressed.

Gwen in Sheer Brown

To end the month, by shooting three days in a row, I did a shoot at a new location with the lovely Bree. Bree often comes to the Pacific Northwest and I usually shoot with her during her visits. This time we shot along Johnson Creek on a forested bit of property belonging to another area photographer and his muse. It's difficult to find new locations for nude shoots anymore.  The population of the area has grown so much that what used to be relatively unpopulated and unfrequented areas are rare in the metro confines. Even the areas further out have become more visited. and. lots of "No Trespassing" signs have been erected due to disrespectful visitors. So, it was nice to shoot in a new location. 

Bree is hilarious and talkative.  She kept me chuckling during the entire shoot. We shot about a half-dozen different outfits plus some nudes in different spots in the forest. This included some shots in the creek itself. 

Bree in Red

That pretty much wrapped up the month of August. It was busy, but fun, and was the most shooting I had done in the past three years (thanks, Covid).  But I had one more shoot left before I would take a break. On the first day of September, I went right back to where Bree and I had done our shoot for a session with Floofie. Hey, when you find a good spot, you make the most of it. 

I had another reason for shooting with Floofie, though. I had just started working with a new camera and lens combination. In August, I updated my equipment bag with a Canon R5 mirrorless camera and a new RF 24-105 f/4 L IS lens. The R5 provided many new features, including in-camera image stability, as well as new focusing features that I thought would make shooting easier. One of the biggest draws for me, though, was the ability to continue to use my collection of expensive EF lenses using an adapter that kept all the features of the camera and lenses functional. 

The specific lens I wanted to try was my favorite outdoor portrait lens, the EF 135 f/2 L prime lens. Floofie was the model of choice for this test because we had worked together so many times it was certain I would get the poses and expressions I wanted for the test. As expected,  both the model and the lens worked perfectly.

That was the only shoot for September, so I had plenty of rest before my first scheduled shoot in October.

Floofie

In Johnson Creek

Home renovations took up most of my time for the remainder of June and all of July. My 2nd shoot of 2022 didn't happen until the early August when I managed to get away for a day long shoot with my friend and fellow artist, Joey. I traveled south to her lovely stomping grounds along the Siuslaw River and she proposed we shoot with her mermaid outfit. I agreed and we traveled to a lovely little spot where cascading water and deep, dark pools abounded. The trek from the small parking lot wasn't bad, but there was a steep set of steps that descended to the actual falls. Not good for my bad knee, but hey, you gotta go where you gotta go.

There was a small group of swimmers downstream, but they paid little attention to us as settled our bags on the rocks. I suggested we start with some bikini shots and as Joey changed I evaluated the location and the light. I determined the best place to start and very quickly we were shooting. Joey, as always, gave me some great poses and expressions and we even found an isolated area where she felt comfortable shooting some nudes. 

After about an hour of shooting bikinis and nudes, we walked back over to the base of the stairs and Joey donned the upper half of her outfit. The lower half was a realistic mermaid tail made of silicone and fabric. She took to the water with the tail, swam over to the opposite side of the pool, and donned her lower half. She moved carefully and her poses were lovely. She moved along the far side of the pool from log to rocky outcrop to mossy boulder with ease. After a while, she swam back to my side of the pool and took off her tail. 

We were, however, not completely done. I had noticed one of the young swimmers from downstream of us, move around the fish ladder and go over to the cascading falls and I thought Joey could do it as well. Knowing that it would make for some great shots, she agreed to give it a shot. You can see the results below.

Afterwards, we searched for a place to eat and eventually managed to find a small cafe where I grabbed a burger and some fries and Joey had a hot sandwich (a Philly cheesesteak if I recall correctly). With bellies full and our spirits fortified, we headed off for a few more hours of shooting. More wonderful poses at beautiful spots ensued and when the day was done we relaxed with a cold drink then said our goodbyes for the day. I can't think of a better way for a photographer to spend a day.  

A few more shots from the day:

2022

Floofie as a Flapper

My first shoot of 2022 began with a studio shot with two of my most reliable and steady models. I've been shooting with Floofie and Merrique for over 10 years now, and they've never failed to delight me with their poses and the images I get from the shoots with them. The concept for this first shoot was a 1920's Flapper Pinup. They both nailed the look and the poses. It was a great first start to the shooting year.

My wife and I had been working on remodeling our home for most of the first six months of the year, and we really didn't finish with all the remodeling until the end of July. So, the shoots I've been able to complete have been a nice reprieve from the hard labor at home. So far this year, I've been able to complete five shoots so far this year with several more planned before the end of September. Including two with models I've never worked with before. 

I've already worked with one new model this year, and did an initial test shoot with another. Gwen, the model I shot with for the test, has a lot of potential, and I'm hoping she'll develop into a new regular model for me. Her experience in modeling is primarily in figure modeling for drawing classes, but she has a good look and an strong interest in photography and modeling. Unfortunately, she was waylaid by the Covid virus and so has been unavailable to shoot for the past couple of weeks, but she has recently recovered and will be shooting soon, I think.

As my continue my posts, I'll talk about each of the shoots in more detail and I hope that it will give any readers some inspiration or at least some ideas for different concepts and techniques. My goal is to post at least once a week until I've caught up with this year's shoots, then perhaps return to semi-regular postings about glamour photograph, editing and shooting techniques and general photography concepts as well as some new equipment reviews. In the meantime, enjoy these additional shots from the 1920's Pinup Shoot.

Merrique

More Merrique

 

2021

Joey in 2021

When summer break (and my freedom from school arrived) I was sure I'd be able to get out and do some glamour work, but if you read my last post you'll already know that the shoots I was able to accomplish were done before the summer break. No one was going anywhere that year - we were wearing cloth masks and gloves to go to the grocery stores to survey the sparsely stocked shelves and very limited and rationed supplies of toilet paper, paper towels, and sanitizer. Models adapted and remote shoots became a process. It was not a great summer. 

When the school 2020 -2021 school year the school district was far more prepared and the online school work was far more structured and interactive and we all became super proficient with Zoom meetings and submitting lessons online. Those lessons included written assignments, videos, photos and believe it or not, nature walks. The lessons were time consuming, starting at 8:30 am and finishing up usually after 5 pm. Of course, everyone was still social distancing and very few, if any, models were posing in person. In December, when vaccines became available, I hoped things would get back to normal, but the limited supply meant younger, healthy people (like models) were the lowest priority and so for modeling and glamour photography nothing changed. 

Bree Summer 2021

Fortunately, as 2020 segued into 2021 vaccines became more and more available and in the summer near the end of the school year, things were looking a lot better for glamour. I managed to get five shoots done in the summer of 2021 - examples of which you can see in this post. Only one of the shoots was with a new model, Cat, but three of my favorites came to my rescue with their willingness to shoot. 

Unfortunately, in the late summer, early fall, the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus became predominant and out of an abundance of caution, my family decided I would continue to coach my granddaughters until at least Christmas, and then until Spring Break, and then, ah, heck, just finish the school year. Now, I won't say things are back to normal by any means. Vaccines and boosters are readily available to those who need and want them, and while I try to be apolitical in my blogging, the anti-vax idiots are keeping the virus dangerous with by incubating new mutations of the virus in their bodies, and yes, continuing to fill up hospital beds and morgues. 2022 is looking a lot better, though and I've been shooting pretty steadily for the past few weeks. More about that in my next post.

Cat

Joey in September

Floofie (Kira) in her Studio