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.

Jade on the Beach - Erotic

A couple of days after the duo shoot with Angel, Jade and I headed to the beach again for a solo shoot. This would be the fourth time Jade and I had shot along the Columbia River. Our very first shoot took place at a different spot upriver at the Sauvie Spaceship when Jade was just starting to model. She has vastly improved since that first shoot and has become a well-sought-after freelance model in the intervening two years. 

During our two-hour shoot, Jade's versatility was evident. Efficient in her moves, expressive with her face, and comfortable with her poses, she nailed every request I made of her. She posed down in the sand, in the bushes, and on driftwood logs. She climbed up a large root bundle and managed to get away with no splinters, a feat I couldn't manage.

Once again we had a fun and successful shoot.

Autumn Glamour

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Maupin Shoot

Saturday started and ended well.  My wife and I had a lovely breakfast together at our local pub, and then I headed out to Maupin, Oregon in the early afternoon for a shoot with the lovely Cayleigh.  The drive through the Columbia River Gorge to Eastern Oregon then down to Maupin passed quickly with beautifully scenic views and a good, loud playlist on the stereo.

I arrived in town a bit before Cayleigh so I could do a little landscape photography and some scouting before our shoot.  We planned to meet around 5:30 pm and the goal was to shoot several concepts in the deserted areas around the river.  We planned the shoot several weeks before, but due to an unfortunate accident, delayed the shoot to allow for healing and recuperation. Cayleigh had several costumes to shoot in, and I brought along several props and outfits myself.

Though thunderclouds threatened the beginning of the shoot, Cayleigh found us a perfect spot right along the Deschutes River that remained dry and sunlit for the time we needed for the shoot.  The desolate hills made the perfect backdrop for several concepts, and the river itself provided scenery for the remaining images.  Our plan to do light painting was cancelled when the thunder and rain finally arrived, but all in all, it was a most successful shoot.

Handmade Leather Skirt - made a great costume

We were exceptionally careful with the smoke sticks.

A Failure to Communicate

Tumblr continues to fail as a site for artists, especially any that choose to depict the human form as anything but a fully clothed, puritan ideal (only a slight exaggeration).  I've explored other social media platforms and sites so I can continue to share my glamour and nude work, but they mostly fail for a number of reasons.  The Tumblr interface was simple, connected to other platforms, and provided an easy way to quickly share images with a little bit of commentary.  The upload process was easy; the interface clean and simple; navigation was intuitive. But, the censorship became draconian, and frankly, ridiculous after Verizon purchased the company.  There are rumors that Verizon is looking to sell the site to a much less puritanical company.  I can only hope.

In any case, I've done a few more shoots since my last post, so I thought it would be appropriate to share some images here that would no longer be acceptable on Tumblr.  I hope they find an audience here:

Selene in Lace

Amy in a Micro Bikini

Ellie in Spring

Belle in Pearls

Oh, come on! Let me catch a break!

I can't seem to catch a break, photographically this week. I had scheduled for two shoots during the week, and both of them got canceled at the last minute.

Today's shoot, was literally at the last minute. I had been scheduled to shoot with Bambi, one of the lovely bartenders down at the local pub, for several weeks now. She was to be a flower fairy and we had picked out a killer costume for her to wear during the project. I had arranged to take the afternoon off from work to prep everything and to get us out to the shoot site while we had good light. Everything was going as planned until the clouds rolled in and the bottom fell out.

Fortunately, I managed to catch her before she got out the door to her place, though I did ask her if she wanted to be a Rain Fairy instead. She decided to reschedule, which I think was a wise idea given the buckets of rain that were dropping out of the sky. Since we were supposed to be shooting in a field of tall grass, it would have been a cold, wet and unpleasant experience even if the rain had stopped (which it didn't).

Of course, it also meant that I had to tell my friend, Mark, that I wouldn't need to shoot on his property after all. At least, I hope he got the message, since he hasn't been on YM all day today.

Earlier in the week, I was scheduled to do a fashion shoot with Gabriell, the lovely young lass in the image to the right. Everthing was on schedule right up until the morning of the day of the shoot when she fell ill. Apparently, she hasn't felt very well since. She was going to drive up to Portland for the shoot, stay here for the night, then drive back down the next day. We have also rescheduled.

I have a couple of shoots planned for next week. I hope the weather and the models' health cooperate. I haven't shot anything significant since the end of July and I'm getting a little anxious to shoot. If I have to keep rescheduling shoots, then they'll all pile up further into the summer and there are only so many days of good weather here in Oregon. It also means, that even if I'm able to get all the shoots in, that I'll have to put off post processing the images until the winter time. Oh well, such is life in the Northwest.

Canon 135mm f/2.8 SF lens

This image was taken with my Canon 135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus lens. When I bought my Canon 135 f/2L lens a few years ago, I almost sold this lens. My thought was that I didn't need two prime lenses in the 135mm focal length. After some additional thought, though, I reconsidered and kept the lens because of its unique soft focus feature. I'm glad I did as I find that I still enjoy the effect of the lens, which despite what anyone says, cannot be exactly duplicated in Photoshop. The effects are too subtle and deep for the average Photoshop used to emulate, and even attempts by advanced Photoshop users seem artificial compared to the use of the actual lens.

The lens provides the ability to dial in a degree of softness on a scale of 0-2. At the 0 setting, the lens is quite sharp. At the 2 setting, and with a large aperture, it provides an amount of softness that is reminiscent of vintage field cameras. The effect can be overdone, as can any photographic technique, but for some images it just works, as it does with the image above and the one to the right. It gives an image that "dreamy" effect and compliments images that have areas of significant contrast and strong lighting. I'm sure some photographers would disagree with me, but all of my models have loved the effect. Perhaps one or two will chime in here and let me know what they think.

Shooting as Fun and Therapy

Wanda is away for a couple of weeks. Her mother took a severe turn for the worse and she made snap decision to make the trip back to Georgia. It was certainly the right decision, given the circumstances, as her mother almost died before the doctors got her stabilized. She's out of the hospital now, but Wanda needs to remain with her parents for a while longer to assist with setting up her mom's home therapy and to help get both her parent's affairs in order.

Her mothers sudden turn was precipitated by a fire that destroyed both their outbuildings, included her father's woodworking shop and resulted in the lost of several thousands dollars worth of equipment, as well as many precious family heirlooms. The stress of the event (which has been determined to be arson), was just too much for her mom who has been chronically ill for several years now.

I have, of course, had more time on my hands with Wanda gone. We talk every morning, and I'm doing a lot of on-line research and paperwork for her parents, but given the three hour time difference, my evenings are mostly free except when the grand kids are here (a couple of nights each week so far). To get my mind off things and to give me something to work on while she is gone, since I've cleaned the house, the yards and the garage already, I took a road trip on Sunday and then shot with a young model I'm helping to get into the business on Monday and Tuesday.

The road trip was quite relaxing. I took Hwy 26 and Hwy 6 to the coast and it was a gorgeous spring day for the trip. From Tillamook, I took the Three Capes Scenic Route and did some photography out at Cape Mears and the lighthouse, then drove down the coast to Florence to meet my model and spend some time with her parents.

The model, Gabriell, is a lovely and talkative young lady, had expressed an interest in modeling part-time to earn extra cash. She is quite photogenic. I've known her for several years and Wanda and I are great friends with her parents. I photographed her for her senior portraits last year, and she was the Sand Fairy for my ongoing project. I definitely wanted to have a discussion with her parents before the shoot to keep them in the loop and to explain what we would be shooting, especially since I expected that Gabriell would be interested in the more lucrative areas of modeling (glamour and artistic nudes), based on her previous history. Of course, it was just fun spending the time with two good friends and chatting about life and family as well.

On Monday we got an early start shooting per our shoot plan, and headed out to Collins Beach, on Sauvie Island. As you can see from the image to left, Collin's Beach is a Clothing Optional area. The look on Gabriell's face was something to see when she saw the people on the beach, but she was quite game to get started and we got some great shots. The day was beautiful with a clear sky and wonderfully, warm weather and we had great views of Mount St. Helens and other peaks in the background. We spent about 3 hours shooting there in various outfits, and I think we got a number of great images for Gabriell's portfolio.

Here are just a couple of shots from that session:



Over the remainder of the day and the following morning, we got quite a number of additional images, but I haven't had the opportunity to process any more of those (the grandchildren have been staying with me since Tuesday), but I certainly think that this young lady has potential and with some hard work, she could make some real money as a glamour model for local artists and photographers.

Past Glamour

I've been seriously shooting for about 30 years now. I bought my first SLR camera, a Canon AT-1, in late 1978. I have always been interested in photography, though. I can remember running around my neighborhood as a kid and shooting images with a small camera given to me for a birthday. Of course, back then it was all black and white and I doubt any of the images have survived the intervening years. In the late 70's, before the birth of my first child, I got very serious with my photography.

I can't say I was any good back then, but I sure enjoyed it. I bought all the books I could find that explained the basics of photography. I took courses from the New York Institute of Photography, and though I had a young family to support, I managed to acquire a decent set of lenses and a 2nd body.

Even back then I primarily enjoyed shooting outdoor glamour and nudes, and I worked with quite few models over the years. I got my first break with models when I moved to Upstate New York and I was able to work with several young ladies from the local area. I was able to get a few of those images published, though the tear sheets are long gone from my portfolio.

I did have one advantage that helped me improve my photography. I had, and still have, a lovely wife who was alway willing to pose for me. In fact, the image you see here is from 1986 (well after our third child) and taken along a rural river in Georgia. She was 26 at the time and this was taken at about 7 am in the early morning light. Back then she didn't mind getting up very early and jumping in a river for me. She's not so keen on it these days, though if I beg enough she'll do it.

In any event, I still love shooting outdoor glamour and nudes, and I still love shooting with my wife. And here she is 20 years later: