Xmas Pinups for the End of the Year Wrap

 I wrapped up the photographic year with a couple of Xmas pinup shoots featuring Floofie and Arya. Floofie and I had shot our first Xmas Pinup shoot way back in 2011 and we needed an update. Arya had also expressed interest in shooting the Xmas pinup theme and although I had offered the other spot to Jade, she failed to get back to me, so Arya got the spot. 

I'm not going to write a lot about the shoots, I'm simply going to let the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy!

First Shoot with Arya

Arya in Knit

 I had my first shoot with Arya yesterday. I've not had any shoots for the last three weeks, and I'll soon be wrapping up for the year and starting my seasonal editing. I mean, when it's wet and cold outside, it's much better to be editing than during the warm, dry months when I'd prefer to be shooting.

Anyway, I had previously contacted the first week of August, but we weren't able to schedule anything until this past week. Since the weather has turned for the season, by necessity our shoot was in my home studio. 

Spangles and Skin

For our first shoot, I chose to go with my On Black project which requires a simply three light setup (key, fill, and rim) and a black, light absorbing backdrop. 

For this project, I use various types of jewelry and body chains. I like the contrast of textures––shiny metal and jewels against the skin made to really pop by the light. In most cases, I use also use a table or ottoman on which the model can pose. This requires the model to use compact poses, but one look at Arya and I knew that wouldn't work. 

Arya is a lovely girl with long legs and arms and a torso to match. Given her height and frame, even with compact poses, keeping all of her and the background in frame would be tough without using a short focal length. A wide angle lens distorts the face when used close to the model, so I chose instead to use standing poses. 

Punk Metal Masks

Arya brought an escort with her, primarily because she doesn't drive. He mainly kept to himself and browsed his phone while we shot. Arya posed well and we kept up a nice conversation as we worked. I enjoyed working with her and we definitely got some good shots. She was the first model to pose with my new cyber-punk metal masks and made them look good. 

February Fun

 I had three shoots this past month. Two shoots were with new models, local to my area, and the other was with one of my favorite models, Joey Darke. The first two shoots were a continuation of my "In Black" project and the last was an iteration of my "On Black" theme. And, when I say new models, I mean that I hadn't shot with them before, but they were both experienced and needed little to no direction during the shoots. 

Sunnie was the first model of February. Tall and slender, she primarily had worked as an alternative model and she cultured that look well. I planned to use her images for composites as well, but for this shoot I wanted t to create some dual-use images. I wanted images to use just as they were with a normal background, but then I also planned to extract the subject from that background to create composites. So this shoot was an experiment of sorts. And, it worked. 

Sunnie in Black

Composite Shot

Two days later, Joey arrived in town and the experiment continued. This time, I decided to shoot the model against a neutral background–light gray for this shoot. My thought was that the neutral tones would be easier to remove for compositing, but also provide a nice backdrop for unaltered images. This worked quite well, although my compositing skills still need a lot of work.

Joey in Vinyl

Vamp Hunter

The final shoot for February was with Olga Hersh. Olga is a vivacious blonde with a great attitude about art nude photography. She was quite comfortable with her body and came to the shoot ready to get started. She was attentive to the details of her makeup and hair and she was most adept with her poses. 

Due to her skin and hair tone, I planned to shoot here as part of the "On Black" series as I knew the contrast would work well.  With that in mind, I chose exotic jewelry and pearls as the sub-theme for the shoot. The jewelry I provided included torso chains, chainmaille jewelry, and gold chains that draped across her torso. 

Olga - Dewdrop Chains

Olga - Pearls

And that was that for February. I have only one shoot scheduled for March, with another new model to me. I haven't completely decided on the theme and props, but given the portfolio I've seen from the model, I think whatever I decide it will be a fun and productive shoot.