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.

Summer is Definitely Over

Kira & the Rainbow

It's the beginning of the wet season here in the Pacific Northwest. That means rainstorms, rainbows, and the end of outdoor glamour photography. Of course, sometimes there are brave models who are willing to dare the elements for a shoot.

I do suspect, however, that I've done my last outdoor shoot for a while and while I may be able to get into the studio for a time or two before the end of the year, most of my time will need to be spent processing the images I've taken so far. A few of these you can see below:

Scout Audi

Wet Audi

Seasonal Changes

Summer got off to a slow start, but boy has it arrived in force lately. That means I've been busy with shoots and post processing and while that's good from the photographic perspective, it means I've been much to busy to write. So, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll give you a few thousand words worth of images to view.

Bathing Beauty

Keira

Lindsay

Alija - Trestle

Alija - Sauvie

And here are some images from the latest NWGP shoot at Scream at the Beach.

Magnificent Mackenzie

Barbarian Betty

Gorgeous Caity

Candy as Conan

Time for Shooting

Forest Sorceress

These days it seems I have to almost take vacation to get any photography done. Fortunately, we had a 4 day weekend for the 4th of July holiday, and I was able to take the remaining three days of the work week off for vacation for a little leisure time and some photography. Again, fortunately, there were several models available and ready to work with me that week and I took advantage of their availability by shooting with all of them as the opportunity (weather) permitted.

The first couple of days of the holiday were spent playing with the grandkids, and shooting with the Northwest Glamour Photography Group. The kids and I went to the coast for some fun at the beach, and the next day I went to a different kind of beach for a photo shoot with the Unchained Girls at Scream at the Beach in Jantzen Beach.

Snake Girl

Scream at the Beach is a horror house with multiple sets including a dungeon and a number caves. The group had arranged for a number of models from the Unchained Girls, a promotion group, to pose for us, and for airbrush artists to provide body painting for the girls. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay for the entire shoot, so I didn't get to shoot with all the models in all the settings, but I had fun shooting with the ones I did get to work with during the day.

In addition to the models and airbrush artists, there were several large snakes used during the shoot. Adding the snakes provided some excellent shots, but made the shoot technically more difficult since the snakes often moved their heads in and out of the depth of field. Also, the tight locations where we were shooting limited the placement of the strobes, so the setups were the best we could do for the situation given the lack of room for large light modifiers such as light boxes. Still, we made it work .

Queen of the Glade

Later in the week, I primarily shot at Dragonfly Landing focusing on my Swords & Chains project wrapping that series arc up with a couple of models. I also did a Barefoot Glamour shoot with Floofie using three themes - Bathing Beauty, Nude Artist, and Military Glamour. We had a perfect day for shooting those and the model was great - but very happy when the Bathing Beauty shoot was over as the water wasn't nearly as warm as we had hoped for when I planned the shoot.

I wrapped up the week acting as a photographer's assistant for my friend, Mark, and even brought him a model to shoot. The model had engaged me to shoot her as the Rain Fairy and since I planned to do it at Dragonfly Landing, I suggested they both take advantage of the opportunity to shoot together and I must say they put together some fine shots. I think she was a lot more comfortable shooting for him in the warm sunshine than she was shoot for me in the cold water coming from the oscillating sprinkler I used to simulate the rain.

I'll probably get a handful more shoots done this summer, but they'll have to be in my spare time in the evenings or on the weekends, as I'm saving the rest of my vacation time for a trip to Arizona to visit my family there and for the December holidays.

Jenn's First Time with a Sword

Bathing Beauty

Jenn's Magic Ball

The Rain Fairy

NW Glamour Workshop

Nude Photographer's Assistant

I had the recent and pleasant opportunity to attend a Glamour & Nude Workshop which focused on high key and low key lighting techniques. It has been quite some time since I attended a workshop and I thought it would be fun to get together with other photographers from my area to work with a couple of models and to explore some different lighting techniques.

One of my regular models, Kira, let me know about the workshop, and I share the information with my friend, Mark M. and we carpooled up to the shoot in Vancouver bright and early last Sunday morning. We got there just as the models arrived and the crew was setting up the shooting stations in the loft area of the building. The team brought lots of props and the shooting area included a pool table.

There were two models available for the shoot and a low key and a high key shooting area were set up with the appropriate lighting and backdrops. There were, I'd guess, about a dozen photographers at the workshop, divided into two groups. We buddied up in pairs, and each one of use alternated shooting the models for an hour at each of the station. The shoot was efficiently organized and I actually capture many more images that I would have expected given the time and duration of the workshop.

Kira on the Table

I've shot with lots of models and many different styles of lighting over the last three decades, so I was familiar with the lighting arrangements and and exposure settings, but what I found really interesting was watching the various photographers pose the models and come up with creative ideas to create unique images. I t was also a kick talking to other photographers, discussing tips and techniques, and sharing ideas about various projects and even locations  to shoot. Everyone there was friendly and more that willing to talk shop. That made it all the more enjoyable

Lunch was provided as well a copious amounts of water and it was just a great afternoon shooting with lovely models and a great group of photographers. With any luck, I'll be free for the next workshop and it will be just as fun.

Jenn C. - High Key with Fabric

Kira - HIgh Key

Hiatus

Kira and her Posse

I managed to get in one last shoot before a medically induced hiatus that starts next week. Since I will be unable to kneel or bear pressure on my left knee for the rest of May and into the first couple of weeks of June,  I took advantage of St. Merrique's visit to Portland to do a quick shoot Friday afternoon. She's a great model with a fantastic smile and some terrific poses and expressions and we had a fun shoot and she gave me some great images.

Merrique is a good friend of another model of mine, Kira (also known as Floofie), and I took advantage to that to shoot the both of them together and to get a few new images of Kira. You can see her with her posse of skulls in the image to the left. Kira and I have agreed to work together on a number of projects this summer, our mutual schedules permitting, and we'll be doing more conceptual work with some included social commentary.

I shot Merrique for my soon to be retired Sword & Sorcery project, but we also got some fun images in gypsy attire and with a large chain. Merrique is able to pull off a mysterious and exotic look that goes well with the project, and I hope that I'll be able to work with her again in the near future.

Merrique in her Lair.