First Shoot with Astrid

Astrid and I had our first shoot yesterday. I had been following her work for a while and we had been discussing shooting for a few weeks. She had recently moved to the Pacific Northwest from Atlanta, and when I mentioned that I grew up near Atlanta, she knew exactly which town I mentioned.

I kept our shoot simple. I try to do that for first shoots, especially if I haven't met the model beforehand. We used minimal props, just a hat and a few pieces of jewelry. The primary focus of the shoot was the model's face, body, and poses. That way, I can better learn the model's best positions and expressions.

We shot at a spot well populated with driftwood logs on a sandy beach. The location also had easy access to woodlands and a field of grass, so we had plenty of options for backgrounds. The river made a nice background as well, and I included it in many of our shots.

Astrid has years of modeling experience and it showed in her poses and expressions. We worked well together and we easily conversed during the entire shoot. She segued from pose to pose with ease and elegance. Our two hours passed quickly and we got many fine images from the shoot.

Celebrating the 4th with Caralynn Rose

 

I always try to do at least one shoot each year that is a tribute to the 4th of July. This year, I had doubts about shooting the theme. I try to keep this blog apolitical, but I am so disgusted with the actions of this administration that this year's Independence Day seemed hollow. Despite my reservations, I decided to shoot it anyway in the hope that I could use the shots in the future when, and if, America regains its sanity.

I chose Caralynn for this year's tribute. She has a beautiful face, an outgoing personality, and I thought shooting with her would cheer me up since she was so delightfully cheery during our first shoot. She did a great job.

We met on Sauvie Island in the early evening. Caralynn left work a little early so we would have plenty of light for the shoot. I usually shoot on the island in the early morning to avoid the crowds, so I had concerns the beach would be too full, but fortunately, only a very few people remained.

As usual, I brought a selection of outfits to use in our shoot. Caralynn wore them all well and made the shoot fun for both of us. We not only shot a variety of patriotic costumes, but we also did a couple of military-themed concepts, as well as some nudes with the graffiti on the Sauvie Spaceship. 

I finished the shoot in a better mood than when I started, and we left the beach before the worst of the mosquitoes started biting, and we totally lost the light. Fun shoot!

Free Spirit and Animal Magnetism with Joey

 

At least once a year, I take a trip down to the Siuslaw River Valley near where the river flows into the Pacific to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and work with my friend, Joey, in the area where she lives. I always pick a theme for the shoot, and in the past, we've shot fantasy glamour, autumn glamour, 4th of July, and even a mermaid shoot. For this trip, it included animal print and hippy girl themes. 

Every year, Joey finds us lovely new spots in which to shoot, and this year she found us a steep, fern-covered hillside to start the animal print portion of the shoot. I had to shoot from the top of the hill with my longest lens to get the right perspective. At my age, I certainly wasn't climbing down that steep slope either. After shooting there and at a spot across the road, we continued the shoot in a few other locations.

A small beach along the river was our next stop. We had used it before for a previous shoot, so I felt it would work well for several of the outfits I had planned for the day. We spent a good hour there, moving from spot to spot to find the best light for each of the sets I had planned.

Afterwards, we broke for an early dinner and waited for the light to change for the better in the open fields we planned to use for the next portion of our shoot. Joey recommended a Japanese fusion restaurant, the Pono Hukilau, for our meal.

An excellent choice, the restaurant served a delightful mix of Japanese and Hawaiian cuisine and had interesting decor that included full-size surfboards suspended from the ceiling. 

After a delicious meal, we headed back to the river. On the way back, we stopped at a field of foxglove to shoot an outfit that Joey had picked for the shoot, along with some nudes. The road along the river is not well-traveled, so shooting nudes in a field adjacent to and in view of the road was no problem. 

For the final portion of our shoot, we used the field behind Joey's cabin. Full of wild daisies and surrounded by trees, the spot made the perfect location for the concepts I wanted to shoot. Joey had a blast with the outfits and really got into character; not hard for her since she has that hippy persona as a natural part of her personality. We continued shooting until the light faded away and twilight reigned.