On Black with Verronica

 

Verronica and I shot again this past week. She contacted me earlier this year to inquire about shooting again. Of course, I was delighted to arrange it.

 Our last shoot was from last summer when we shot the Goddess theme. This month's weather hasn't been conducive to outdoor shoots, so we had to work in the studio. I decided to revive my On Black theme, using harnesses and camisole dresses to give it a bit of a twist. With Verronica's platinum hair and fair skin, I knew the images would pop.

After the last two studio shoots and the issues I had with my strobes, I totally overhauled and tested all my strobes and triggers by replacing batteries and lamps with fresh ones. And, I brought two spare strobes and fresh batteries with me to the shoot.

Fortunately, everything worked well, and Verronica provided me with her usual professional performance. She seemed to enjoy the shoot, as she was singing along with almost all the songs playing from my set list. She even did a little dancing between costume changes. We both had fun with the session, and that's what matters. 

We finished right on time and Verronica bade me adieu while I remained to set up the studio for my next shoot with Caralynn, one of the new models for this year. More about that shoot later.

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. 

Floofie on Black - Shoot #44

Colorful Necklace

With the exception of my wife, Floofie is the model that I've been shooting with continuously for the longest period of time. Our first shoot was in March of 2010 and this is our 44th shoot in those thirteen years. We've shot in a variety of places during those years throughout Oregon and Washington. I don't know how many times we'll shoot this year, but I'm sure that we will do at least a couple more shoots this year as the only year we've missed shooting was 2020 during the pandemic. Most other years we've shot at least 2 or 3 times.

For this shoot, I had realized we had never shot her for the "On Black" series and so we used my home studio to close that gap. I also decided to use different pieces of body jewelry and chains to provide a glittering contrast to the skin and black backdrop.

Lighting was simple––a beauty dish, a 60" umbrella for fill, and a gridded hairlight/rim light to separate her hair from the background. I use a black velvet material as a backdrop because it absorbs far more light that seamless paper and gives me a blacker background that I would otherwise get in my small shooting area.

The shoot was excellent as usual and we both enjoyed the process of creating these images. As I tell all my models, "If you're not having fun, I'm not doing it right."

Nude with Pearls

Fresh Model in March

I had a great shoot this week with a lovely model that I hadn't had the pleasure of working with before. Isobel came to my home studio for my "On Black" series and we seemed to hit it off right away. Once I explained the concept I wanted to shoot, we got right to work and I could easily tell she was well-experienced as a model and quite comfortable with her body and nudity.

We shot a variety of jewelry pieces and I have to say Isabel has a huge repertoire of poses, She has an exotic look and a lean, fit body that lends itself well to art nude poses. 

I have shot several models for the "On Black" series, and I expect to shoot several more before I complete the series. I enjoy shooting a variety of skin and hair tones against a black backdrop. It's also interesting to see the poses the models can provide me in the confined space that I use for the concept. They are posing on a small table against a black backdrop that is only eight feet tall by seven feet wide. That means the poses have to be compact and yet still remain elegant. Some models are better at this than others.

I hope to use Isabel for a few more shoots this year. So, you'll see more of her in the coming months. She does, however, travel quite a lot. In fact, she's quite the world traveler so it might be tougher to schedule with her than with others, but I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, enjoy these shots.

Come November

 Only two shoots in November as the weather was rapidly turning cool and wet. We removed and stored the outdoor decor, stacked the chairs and tables, covered the grill and smoked, and brought in the cushions and umbrellas. The cool, wet weather and dying blooms meant backyard boudoir and outdoor shoots elsewhere simply weren't feasible. Also, winter is when  I break (mostly) from shooting and begin editing my images for the year. I thought the two shoots I planned were quite successful, so it was a good month regardless of the number of photo shoots.

The first shoot was part of my "On Black" project. Shawna enjoyed wearing the custom chains during our Sauvie  Island shoot in October, so I decided to use her for this project as well. The "On Black" project is simply the model posed in various positions against a pure black background and on an elevated platform. I light the model with either strobes or LED panels, as I did with Merrique. For Shawna's shoot, I used a diffused beauty dish for the key light and a large umbrella for fill. 

The outfits for the shoot were simply different chainmaille outfits but we did through a set of pearls into the mix. For the next "On Black" shoot, though, I'm going to add a gridded strobe and a backlight/hairlight to provide some rim light and separation between the model and the backdrop.

Shawna On  Black

November's second and final shoot involved a traveling model making her way down the West Coast. Copper is a petite model with short red hair and a sparking personality, despite her lack of coffee which I quickly remedied with a fresh pot. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours shooting boudoir around my living room studio area. As it was a rare sunny day for the time of year, I opened all the blinds and curtains to let in as much sunlight as possible. I then used a bounced fill flash with a  reflector card to provide fill and to create a specular highlight in the eyes. That small spark of light makes the eyes sparkle with liveliness. 

Copper &Pearls.

I have a couple of Xmas pinups scheduled for next month. I try to do at least one or two every year. They're always fun to shoot  and I'm hoping to use Shawna and Floofie for those shoots.