The Last Shoots of 2024 - Brennen and Joey (Brennen First)

After my last shoot with Nancy, I moved my lights to the back of the studio, packed my gear, and took a week-long break from shooting. I did a bit of editing, evaluated what I had recently shot, and ordered a new background. I also broke out a few more outfits for my next couple of shoots, prepped shoot plans, charged batteries, formatted storage cards, and printed the necessary model releases. 

When shoot day arrived, I packed my gear and headed to the studio. Floofie had informed me that she would be shooting that morning, and she was wrapping up her shoot when I arrived. The Christmas background still hung as Floofie was using it for her remote shoot, so it took very little time to set up for the first model on my agenda, Brennan. 

Now, if you know Bree, you know that she is hilariously outspoken, brash, and brooks no nonsense. She's a very experienced model with a heart of pure gold. I try to shoot with her whenever she's in Portland. I don't always get the chance, but I've shot with her enough that we work very well together, so we got right to it.

I had a plethora of outfits to shoot with her, and she even brought a few of her own. Because we've shot so often, we actually ran through the outfits pretty quickly and finished our shoot a bit early. Bree kept a running conversation going throughout the shoot as is her wont, and I really enjoyed catching up with her. She had a shopping trip planned with Floofie, so when we finished she headed off to see her, while I swapped out the background with the new one for my next shoot with Joey. 

The lighting setup for all my shoots this month was similar. My normal lighting setup is a beauty dish with a diffuser sock as a key light and a 60-inch umbrella as a fill light set about a stop lower than the key. I usually add a hair or rim light on a high stand to separate the model from the background. Sometimes I'll use my Newwer LED panels for lighting, but only to supplement the ambient light from windows. 

For all the shoots in December, I decided to go with much softer light to better emulate the weaker winter sun. For this setup, I used a 60-inch octobox with an interior panel as a key light, a 30x60-inch softbox for fill, and a 10x36-inch strip box on a high boom for a rim light. You can decide for yourself if the lighting worked or not. 

Nancy - Xmas Pinup Time

 

My last shoot for this week featured Nancy W., @ndu1 on Instagram, in a Christmas pinup theme. For this shoot, I purchased a backdrop I thought would go well in the studio. Now, I normally shoot my Xmas Pinups in front of the beautiful tree my wife decorates with a different theme each year. However, as I mentioned in a previous post, her adoption of an energetic (and zoomie) kitten meant no tree this year. The backdrop gave me an option to use the studio instead. 

I picked Nancy up from her hotel on my way to the studio. The lights and backdrop were set up from the day before, so we had a quick start to our shoot. I chose a few different outfits for Nancy since the theme changed to purely Christmas rather than Winter Pinups, and we had fun with all the variations. Of course, shooting with Nancy always means fun. 

I think the background worked well for the theme. In fact, Floofie liked it well enough that she asked me to leave it up so she could use it for a couple of her own shoots. I also noticed that at least one other photographer used it in one of his shoots. Nancy certainly loved it. 

If you ever worked with Nancy, you know that she brings a joyful energy to her shoots. That energy was perfect for this theme. She rocked the outfits and her smile made the theme complete. 

Afterward, I put the lights away for another day and Nancy helped me carry my extra gear to the car. On our way back to her hotel, we stopped for lunch at a local pub where we enjoyed cheeseburgers and we chatted for a bit. 

Nancy had another shoot that evening so we didn't linger after finishing our meal. While we talk during our shoots, it was good to have time to chat and learn more about each other outside of the studio. I'm sure I'll be working with Nancy again in the near future.

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!

Xmas Pinups

I hope all who read this (both of you), enjoyed your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday you celebrate.  I had a wonderful time with my family and enjoyed seeing my grandchildren open their presents, delight in their treats, and share their joy with me and my wife.  Most years I do a Xmas Pinup Countdown on Tumblr, but this year I kept to Instagram and DeviantArt.  I thought I would share a few here before the end of the year and the start of a new decade.

Audi - Xmas 2014

Here's a lovely shot of Audi from our very last shoot.  I think we did three shoots that year, and this was the very last of the year.  We had planned another shoot for 2015, and even did some scouting and concept building for the year, but it just didn't work out and not too long afterwards she moved away from the Pacific Northwest.  We still chat via text from time to time, but she is enjoying the warmth and sunshine of her new locale and it's extremely unlikely I'll get to shoot with her again.

Still, I have many unedited and unpublished images of her in my archive and I'll still have plenty to share in the years to come.  Audi was a wonderful model when she was working as such, but she's definitely retired from modeling and pursuing other endeavors. I'll always wish her the best in life and great success in her future endeavors.

Zoe Xmas 2014

Zoe was another model that decided to retire a few years ago. She left modeling to focus on a new job and to continue her education. Again this shoot was from 2014 when the decorations were all blue.  Zoe is an elegant model with long legs, a lengthy torso and a lovely smile.  She started modeling for me when she was just starting the endeavor, and we did many shoots over the several years that we worked together.

Again, we still stay in touch, and who knows we may yet shoot again, but both her schedule and mine preclude much at the moment. Once again, I have many unedited and unpublished images of her that I have yet to share anywhere.

Joey Xmas 2018

Joey Darke posed for me the first time in the spring of 2017 and we've worked together many times since.  She lives in a beautiful rural area east of Eugene, but travels frequently to Portland and other parts of the state.  She is perhaps the best pinup model that I've worked with in recent years.  She has both the body, attitude and the poses that make the pinup style her forté. We shot in the scenic areas around her home multiple times and in my home studio several times.  

There are many other lovely locations where I plan to take her to shoot when the weather is warmer and the opportunities are there. It's quite likely we'll get at least a couple of shoots completed in 2020 since there are multiple concepts I'd love to shoot with her. She's always a joy to shoot, and when we've wrapped up, I always have a smile for the rest of the day.

This year I got to shoot Xmas pinups with two ladies fairly new to modeling.  Orion and Jacqi did very well for the first pinup shoots, and it was fun teaching them how to use the classic pinup poses. They seemed to enjoy the shoots as well, and perhaps I'll get a chance to shoot with them again in the new year. 

Orion Xmas 2019

Jacqi Xmas 2019