Two Traveling Models, Two Consecutive Shoots

Aim in Linen

This week started off with a bang! Earlier in the month, I had gotten requests from two traveling models that wanted to work with me. There schedules and mine were such that I had to work with one on Monday and the other on Tuesday. Each was a three hour shoot and at my age and with my knees, I simply can't do two shoots like that in a single day anymore. My knees are shot from too many years of steel decks and vertical ladders from my time in the submarine force, so it's difficult for me to walk in the sand or kneel for very long. Getting up from kneeling is even more difficult and I need a helping hand or a cane for that. Photography is, however, a passion so I continue to work through the pain. 

Aim in Lavender

Aim from Australia worked with me on Monday. Given the time of year and how close the river is to where I live, I chose my usual location for outdoor glamour and arranged to meet her near the shoot site. As usual, I chose early morning for our shoot and used a variety of outfits to show off her beauty.

Aim has a slender build, long hair, and an intense look. Her angular poses suit her body type and provide a sensual, provocative look. She would look right at home on the runway or on the red carpet, but was completely comfortable on the beach with me. I had a good time working with her and I was very pleased with the images we produced.

Jessa as Circe

On Tuesday I got to work with Jessa Ray Muse from Colorado. Jessa spends a lot of time traveling as a model and location scout. She runs the Muses of the West Adventures  photo tours as well as models. Jessa is that girl-next-door that you always wanted for your neighbor. She has a vivacious personality, a sweet face, and a lovely body. I truly enjoyed talking with her as we worked and her experience as a model made itself evident with her poses, expressions and easy movements.

Jessa

She offered great suggestions for our shoot and I incorporated her ideas into my concepts. One of her suggestions gave me an idea I'm going to try with my next model. I really can't say enough nice things about her. I'd truly love to work with her again if she comes my way. If you get a chance to work with her, don't hesitate to do so.

So, a lovely week for shooting has ended, and I don't have any more shoots planned for at least a month as I have some family event's schedule and then the wife and I are headed to Banff National Park in Canada for a couple of weeks, a trip we've been trying to make since before the pandemic. In the meantime, enjoy some more photos of Aim and Jessa:

Krisa Koture - Beach Babe and More

I've been shooting with Krisa off and on for about fifteen years. I first started working with her as part of my "Fae in Us All" project back in 2008. I know it was her first nude photo shoot, and it may have even been her first photo shoot ever. Despite having never posed nude before, she did a fine job as the Dance Fae and we've been shooting projects together ever since, many of which I've written about in this blog. Krisa became a mom a couple of years after we started shooting, so there have been some breaks from shooting over the years, but we always seem to pull back together for new shoots from time to time. 

Our previous shoot had been way back in the summer of 2019. The pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 had kept most of us from shooting and in 2022 I had done only a handful of shoots due to other commitments. Krisa hadn't been feeling great of late, so I wanted to make this shoot kind of fun and special for her. I planned a beach site shoot with some fun outfits––a little bit of California, a little bit of Arabia, and a whole lot of sexy. 

Pacific NW winters are cool and very wet, but our summers are dry and we sometimes get extreme temperatures that last for days. Late July through August and sometimes into early October can be nearly cloudless. When shooting on a river beach, that means the sand can get hot enough to burn bare feet and skin. That's another reason for shooting in the mornings before the sun gets too high. 

For this shoot, I picked an area of the beach with easy access to the woods and plenty of shade. The spot included a nice view of a wide stretch of the beach and river. We could also easily step into the wooded areas or use the adjacent grassy spots for standing or kneeling shots. 

The morning of the shoot was pleasantly warm with not much wind and luckily, mosquito free. I always take repellent just in case (a lesson learned the hard way), but we remained unmolested without the bug spray. Despite not having worked together for three years, everything clicked and we had a smooth and leisurely shoot. I think Krisa really enjoyed herself, and I certainly enjoyed working with her again. And we both enjoyed the great summer morning on the shore. 

Butterflies and Lace - Floofie Shoot #46

Green Lace

I received so many positive comments on my butterfly shoot with Joey, that I decided to shoot a different version with one of my other great models, Floofie. For this shoot, though, instead of driving up to Mount St. Helens, I decided to use the property of another local model and her photographer partner as the primary local.

Nicole and Corwin have a large piece of property in the city that is sometimes available for use to other photographers and models. A creek runs through the property and divides their large field from a wooded area. Near the house, there as set of wooden stairs that lead to the residence from a small greenhouse, while a copse of trees at the north end of the field makes a great background for outdoor glamour as well.

I have used both the wooded area across the creek and the creek itself for a couple of previous shoots. In fact, Floofie initially put me in contact with Nicole and Corwin and suggested their property as a shooting location. For this shoot, however, I decide to use the field for the butterfly setting and the copse and the greenhouse area for the glamour images. 

Sheer Delight

I like to shoot in the mornings or in the evenings for the better quality of light, and I also prefer areas of open shade when possible so that I get some bounced light from the surroundings without the harsh direct light from the sun. We planned our shoot to take advantage of the morning light and the open shade. If we had been shooting in the wooded area, the time of day wouldn't have mattered quite so much due to the heavy canopy filtering the light. 

We started our shoot near the copse with lace, denim, a colorful dress and a couple of other outfits, then moved to the field to shoot with the butterflies. Since I had worked with the butterflies before, the prep went much faster leaving more time to explore poses. Floofie did a wonderful job, adeptly shifting from one pose to the next without losing any butterflies.

After the butterfly shoot, we moved to the greenhouse and the staircase and wrapped up our final minutes before the sun got too high and the shadowing disappeared. The greenhouse allowed for some excellent framing, and I think the staircase made a terrific background for some delicate outfits.