Exploring New Concepts with Floofie

 I've been shooting with Floofie for about 15 years. She has become my model of choice for exploring new concepts. For this shoot, I decided to work with bodysocks and low-melt wax. Floofie happily agreed to pose for these concepts, and we used her garage studio for the shoot. 

We started with the bodysocks. I brought four of the outfits in different colors: nude, pink, red, and purple. I set up a black background so the model and stockings would stand out clearly. Two strobes with large light modifiers were set at forty-five degrees to each side of the model. They were placed close to the model to wrap the light around the subject, and their power was set for an aperture of f/8.

For each bodysock, Floofie spent about ten minutes attempting various poses. The socks tightly conformed to her body, and it took real effort for her to push against the fabric's confines to extend her arms and legs. She got a good workout with each set of poses, sweating and short of breath by the time we finished all four socks. We started with the nude bodysock, then shot our way through the colors.

After she had had a chance to cool off and dry off, we started the second phase of our shoot–dripping wax on her body. This required the use of special low-melt candles made of a mixture of paraffin and soy. 

The candles were unscented and came in various colors. Through experimentation, we discovered that the best drip patterns started with the darkest colors and progressed to the lighter ones. The candles also had to be held at the right angle to get the best flow and reduce the heat of the falling wax. 

For most of the shoot, Floofie held the candle and directed the drips onto her body. I used the candle when she could no longer reach or see where the wax fell. We started with her left breast, then moved to her hip, and finally to her derrieré. 

After the shoot, the wax peeled off easily, leaving only a faint trace of color on the skin. This washed away quickly in a hot shower.

Just Another Hippy Shoot

 

I had a shoot scheduled for today. While on my way to pick up the model, I got a text from her saying her partner would drop her off at the shoot location. After waiting there for almost an hour, I gave up and came home. So, instead of shooting today, let me tell you about yesterday's shoot with Floofie.

Kira and I had planned this shoot since before my roadtrip to Georgia and back. We had asked our friend, Dan, to use his property for the shoot, and he graciously agreed. It fit well with the hippy concept of the shoot. On his large acreage, Dan has a field, woodland trails, a flower garden, ancient trees, and even an outdoor shower. We made use of everything but the outdoor shower. 

I planned to use two cameras, one with a 24-105 zoom mounted to it, and another using a recently purchased RF 135 f/1.8 L prime lens. Unfortunately, I left both my Speedlight flashes sitting on my filing cabinet at home. I use them during my outdoor shoots at about -1/3 FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation) to lift the shadows when shooting on bright days. That was the first technical glitch of the day.

Despite my lack of Speedlights, the shoot went quite well. Floofie did her usual fantastic job as a model. She has the perfect look for a 1960s-style hippy with her long hair, lean torso, and attitude. She brought a few costume pieces with her that we incorporated into the shoot, and the items worked quite well.

We had only one costume kerfuffle, and that was with what we called the impossible dress. A tie-dyed, asymmetrical wrap-dress, it was nearly impossible for us to figure out how to don it. Even with a picture of another model wearing it, we never quite got it right. We made it work, but not without some frustration. 

Otherwise, the shoot went as planned. We wrapped up after about 2 and a half hours of shooting, thanked Dan for the use of his property, and headed home. I gave Floofie the impossible dress in hopes she could figure it out and use it for another shoot in her future. 

Unfortunately, only after I had downloaded and started viewing the shots did I realize that the camera with the 135mm lens had an SD card that failed to download its images. My normal process is to copy the images to an external hard drive, put the shots into individual descriptive folders, rename the file within the folders, then import them into Lightroom by copying the files onto another hard drive. This way, I have a copy and a backup of the original files before I format the camera cards to be used for the next shoot. 

I finished my process and formatted the cards before I realized I was missing the images. Lesson learned: review everything before formatting the cards. Fortunately, the bulk of the images were on the first card. Here's hoping Friday's shoot has no glitches, technical or otherwise.

Jungle Babes

 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of shooting with two of my favorite models, Joey Darke and Kira (Floofie). The shoot had been planned for several weeks to sync with a time both Joey and Floofie would be in town. Joey sometimes drives up for the week and schedules several shoots during her trip, but Floofie travels a lot for her modeling gigs, so scheduling them together isn't difficult; it requires a bit of planning.

Unfortunately, Joey had a bit of car trouble the day of the shoot, but since she was staying nearby, I picked her up on my way to the studio. Joey and I planned to shoot first, then Floofie would join us for a bit, before I wrapped up with Joey and started working individually with Floofie.

We had another bit of trouble before the shoot. After I'd set up the backdrop and the material covering the floor, the flashbulb on one of my studio lights failed. Usually, I bring three strobes with me, but for this shoot, I needed only two and I didn't bring a spare.

Again, fortune smiled, and Floofie had a large ringlight available in the studio. By adjusting my settings, I managed to set up the ring light as my fill, and we got on with the shoot. It wasn't the best situation, but it worked. 

The shoot's theme was "Jungle Babes." Animal print outfits, a jungle print backdrop, and a number of artificial and real potted plants provided some realism for the concept. I prefer to shoot outdoors when possible, but the Pacific Northwest weather precludes that for much of the year. Sometimes the studio is the only choice for certain concepts.

Joey did her usual great job. We managed to shoot several different outfits and poses during our allotted time. Floofie joined us for the duo portion of the shoot, and although the lighting wasn't the best, I managed to get many good shots in as well. 

Floofie, of course, nailed the concept with her poses and the three of us had a good chat while Floofie posed, I shot, and Joey tried on different outfits that Floofie was giving away. 

Models around here often trade or give away outfits they no longer want to use, and Floofie had recently hosted a swap meet for models. It seemed Joey had a lot to choose from, and she came away from the shoot with a bag full of different outfits. I even got a new piece for my djinn concepts.

After the shoot, the models helped me pack up my gear, and I dropped Joey off at her next location. I plan to shoot the concept outdoors when the weather is much warmer, but I'll probably use different models and props for the next shoot. If you want to see more images from the shoot, they'll be published soon on my Deviant Art account.

The Winter Fae

 

My second shoot of the year was a culmination of a years-long project. The Winter Fae has been the one concept in my Fae in Us all series that has eluded me for years. I purchased the custom wings for the shoot over a decade ago, along with boots, a tiara, and many other items I planned to use. Unfortunately, weather and locations, as well as road conditions, didn't cooperate. 

This year, I made plans to shoot it yet again. Kira told me of a location she had recently used for a snow shoot. It was at a high enough elevation that we'd have a good chance of snow, but it was also right off the highway so we wouldn't have trouble getting to the spot. Unfortunately, despite our plans, the mid-winter weather didn't cooperate, and a warm front moved through a couple of days before the shoot, erasing the snow with a cold rain. 

Determined to finally get the shoot, I suggested to Kira that we move the shoot to her studio and use one of the backdrops I had previously used for my Winter Pinup series. She agreed, and here are a couple of the results. 

Kira was also my Summer Fae, so having her as the Winter Fae created a nice bookend to the project.

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.

Fifty Shoots of Floofie

Floofie and I completed our 50th photoshoot together this morning. Shot in her backyard and studio, we had a fun session with a mixture of boudoir, barefoot glamour, and celebratory cake. Rather than bore you with a bunch of words, I'll let the photos speak for me. 

The End