The Final Shoots of 2024 -Joey Darke (the very last)

Once Brennan left, I started setting up the studio for my shoot with Joey. I replaced the Christmas backdrop with the new winter scene I had purchased, added the snow blankets to the floor, sprinkled a few more random snowflakes on the blankets, and got the next set of outfits ready for Joey.

Unfortunately, when I plugged my handheld steamer in to steam the wrinkles out of the new backdrop, I tripped the breaker to the studio again. That took a few minutes to sort out, but with Floofie's help, I was soon back in business.

Due to a miscommunication about the location of the shoot, Joey was running a bit late (entirely my fault), so I had plenty of time to move the unused gear and costumes to my car and grab some water to hydrate. So, I was ready to go when Joey arrived.

Joey is another model with whom I've worked many, many times. If you've read about her from my previous post, then you know she's a happy-go-lucky and free-spirited person who is always a joy to shoot. She brings a happy energy to our sessions and never disappoints. She's a nature spirit who is as comfortable naked in the woods as she is in the studio. In fact, I think she prefers to be naked in nature.

Our shoot was delightful, as always, and Joey had a great deal of fun with all the outfits. I think, however, she had far more fun with the fake snowflakes I brought for the shoot. I think we went through three or four handfuls during our session. She enjoyed so much that I gave her a pack to take with her after our shoot ended.

And so, I'm done for 2024. At the moment, I have only one shoot scheduled for 2025. Floofie and I have plans to go play in the snow in January. I have a couple of other concepts in the planning stages, one of which I'd like to shoot before Valentine's Day, and another which will require body stockings and sheer fabric. We will see what the New Year will bring, but I hope it brings you all, dear readers, a prosperous and happy year to come.

The Last Shoots of 2024 - Brennen and Joey (Brennen First)

After my last shoot with Nancy, I moved my lights to the back of the studio, packed my gear, and took a week-long break from shooting. I did a bit of editing, evaluated what I had recently shot, and ordered a new background. I also broke out a few more outfits for my next couple of shoots, prepped shoot plans, charged batteries, formatted storage cards, and printed the necessary model releases. 

When shoot day arrived, I packed my gear and headed to the studio. Floofie had informed me that she would be shooting that morning, and she was wrapping up her shoot when I arrived. The Christmas background still hung as Floofie was using it for her remote shoot, so it took very little time to set up for the first model on my agenda, Brennan. 

Now, if you know Bree, you know that she is hilariously outspoken, brash, and brooks no nonsense. She's a very experienced model with a heart of pure gold. I try to shoot with her whenever she's in Portland. I don't always get the chance, but I've shot with her enough that we work very well together, so we got right to it.

I had a plethora of outfits to shoot with her, and she even brought a few of her own. Because we've shot so often, we actually ran through the outfits pretty quickly and finished our shoot a bit early. Bree kept a running conversation going throughout the shoot as is her wont, and I really enjoyed catching up with her. She had a shopping trip planned with Floofie, so when we finished she headed off to see her, while I swapped out the background with the new one for my next shoot with Joey. 

The lighting setup for all my shoots this month was similar. My normal lighting setup is a beauty dish with a diffuser sock as a key light and a 60-inch umbrella as a fill light set about a stop lower than the key. I usually add a hair or rim light on a high stand to separate the model from the background. Sometimes I'll use my Newwer LED panels for lighting, but only to supplement the ambient light from windows. 

For all the shoots in December, I decided to go with much softer light to better emulate the weaker winter sun. For this setup, I used a 60-inch octobox with an interior panel as a key light, a 30x60-inch softbox for fill, and a 10x36-inch strip box on a high boom for a rim light. You can decide for yourself if the lighting worked or not. 

Nancy - Xmas Pinup Time

 

My last shoot for this week featured Nancy W., @ndu1 on Instagram, in a Christmas pinup theme. For this shoot, I purchased a backdrop I thought would go well in the studio. Now, I normally shoot my Xmas Pinups in front of the beautiful tree my wife decorates with a different theme each year. However, as I mentioned in a previous post, her adoption of an energetic (and zoomie) kitten meant no tree this year. The backdrop gave me an option to use the studio instead. 

I picked Nancy up from her hotel on my way to the studio. The lights and backdrop were set up from the day before, so we had a quick start to our shoot. I chose a few different outfits for Nancy since the theme changed to purely Christmas rather than Winter Pinups, and we had fun with all the variations. Of course, shooting with Nancy always means fun. 

I think the background worked well for the theme. In fact, Floofie liked it well enough that she asked me to leave it up so she could use it for a couple of her own shoots. I also noticed that at least one other photographer used it in one of his shoots. Nancy certainly loved it. 

If you ever worked with Nancy, you know that she brings a joyful energy to her shoots. That energy was perfect for this theme. She rocked the outfits and her smile made the theme complete. 

Afterward, I put the lights away for another day and Nancy helped me carry my extra gear to the car. On our way back to her hotel, we stopped for lunch at a local pub where we enjoyed cheeseburgers and we chatted for a bit. 

Nancy had another shoot that evening so we didn't linger after finishing our meal. While we talk during our shoots, it was good to have time to chat and learn more about each other outside of the studio. I'm sure I'll be working with Nancy again in the near future.

Jordan River - Winter Pinup

Jordan River was the next model in my Winter Pinup series. I have worked with Jordan several times in the past, but during the pandemic, she decided to take a hiatus from modeling. The last time we shot was in the summer of 2019, so five years later I noticed she was modeling again, and asked her to be part of this series. 

I've always enjoyed working with Jordan. We have done several studio shoots, a boudoir shoot, and three outdoor shoots. She works well in all environments, and I am hoping to work with her more in the coming year. 

She arrived at the studio ready to work and we quickly got to it.

We quickly worked through most of the outfits and then when we were almost done, I managed to pop the breaker for the studio and killed the lights. Since we were pretty much done for the day, I had Jordan get dressed and with the breaker reset, I changed the setting for the shoot for a Christmas pinup I planned to shoot with Nancy the next day.

Despite the breaker issue, which was entirely my fault, we had a fun shoot with some excellent shots to share.

Winter Pinups with Floofie and Jade

I've occupied my mind recently with the planning and executing a series of shoots. Normally, I shoot Christmas pinups this time of year, but I wanted to switch it up this year. 

Usually, I shoot the pinups in my home in front of the tree and decorations my wife designs.

Every year it's something different. One year the tree got decked out in blue and the windows were frosted with a glaze. Another year, a snowflake and snowman theme made its debut. She picks a unique theme almost every Christmas. This year, however, we adopted an energetic and curious kitten, so we decided to forgo a tree. So, I had to change gears.

I decided on a Winter pinup scene and went about gathering the material and costumes to turn Floofie's studio into a winter haven. With a backdrop, lighting from large softboxes, and a fake snow floor, it came together rather nicely. 

Floofie agreed to be my first model for this series. She and I have worked together so often, she can almost read my mind when it comes to posing and I know exactly what to expect when I shoot with her.

As always, she delivered, and by having her model the different outfits, I got a feel for how they looked in the light and with the background.  

After Floofie and I wrapped up our shoot, it was time for Jade. This was only my fifth shoot with Jade, but she has made amazing progress as a model in the year that we've been working together.

As I expected, Jade did a wonderful job modeling the scene as well. I had hoped to do Christmas pinups with Jade last year, but life intervened and we never got to shoot. When she started modeling again, I. told her we'd do a pinup theme this year, so she had to be first after Floofie. She really flexed her pinup muscles for me and we got some great shots.

Floofie kindly let me leave the scene set up overnight for the next model, Jordan, scheduled for the following morning. That made it much easier to get started the next morning. 

Since the election, I've been trying to distract myself by consolidating my images, optimizing my image libraries, and creating more efficient workflows for my editing. I've also been transferring DV tapes to my hard drives so I can begin sharing videos of some of my previous shoots. That will be an ongoing project for several more weeks.

The best distraction and most therapeutic for my mental health was a photo shoot with my long-time friend and model, Floofie. It was a simple shoot—a plain seamless black backdrop, a posing cube covered in black fabric, and a simple three-light set-up. There were no elaborate costumes, just some chain and crystal jewelry.

When Floofie and I shoot (this was our 51st session), we spend much of that time in conversation. We've been working together for fourteen years so we know a great deal about each other's families, and have several mutual friends. Our shoots are as much a chance to catch up as they are a chance to make new images. I joked with her that today's shoot was an "art therapy" session for me as I felt much better after our shoot. We are aligned politically and philosophically for the most part, so we share mutual concerns post-election. Sharing our thoughts lowered the angst a bit for both of us.

Art is therapy. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

Erotic Boudoir with Selene

Before the pandemic, Selene and I shot together regularly. The shutdown broke our ten-year streak of multiple shoots per year. We stayed in touch during the pandemic, but when I eased back into shooting in 2021, Selene had decided to pull back from modeling. She had startd a new job and wanted to focus on other activities.

Recently, though, I convinced her to join me for a final shoot and I chose a boudoir theme. I had originally asked her to pose for a bikini shoot out on the island, but ironically, a bout of COVID-19 delayed our shoot until the weather cooled too much for an outdoor shoot. 

I chose a studio downtown that I had used before with another model, Jade. I loved the quality of light from the large windows and the variety of props and backgrounds in the room. This allowed us to shoot each outfit with several different setups. The large windows meant that I needed very little supplemental light, just the bare minimum from a flash to put a catch light in Selene's eyes.

Despite not having modeled for the previous five years, Selene fell back into her poses like a professional. It was great having her back in front of my camera for a final shoot.  I've always enjoyed shooting with Selene and this day was no different. We got a chance to catch up while shooting and I always enjoy that part of the photographic process.

We shot for three hours with only a short break and then the light started to dim. It was already an overcast day, and this time of year the days are already short. It was a productive final shoot and I'm glad we got to do a planned final shoot and I'm sorry to see Selene give up modeling. 

Autumn Glamour

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