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.

The Fairy of Photos?

One of the concepts I forgot to mention in my last post was that of the Photo Fairy. The concept statement for this series of images goes something like this: "The photo fairy is one of the fae muses. She inspires creativity and new perspectives, and oddly enough, she likes to get into lots of contorted positions while using her cameras." Keeping that concept in mind, and knowing the long lives of the fae, I extended to concept to conclude that this fairy would have quite a variety of cameras with which she could shoot. Fortunately, I have quite a number of camera bodies and lenses, some of them quite old, which can be used a props to support that particular theory. Above, you can see a photo of one a Polaroid Land Camera 100 - one of the first cameras with an electronic shutter and the first Polaroid utilizes pack-film. It was produced and sold in the early 1960's.

The camera you see to the right is a folding Medium Format Camera from Kodak. Based on my research, I believe it's a Kodak Vigilant Six-20 made in the years 1939-49. The Vigilant Six-20 has a folding frame finder incorporated into its top housing, and another optical finder near the shutter.

I've had both these cameras for over twenty years, as they were a gift from my mother-in-law. They've been part of the decor in my office for as long as I had an area to call my own. It's nice to be able to put them to use in one of my photographic endeavors. I'll need to clean them up a bit before the shoot, but both of them are in pretty good shape for their age.

Of course, I'll be using some more modern cameras as props in the shoot, but on Tuesday I found a camera that was quite affordable and was perfect for the shoot. It's a Kodak SpeedGraphic 4x5 view camera and it's in working condition. There's a small chip broken off the ground glass focusing plate, but the bellows is tight and the controls work quite well. The shutter works and though it took me a minute to figure out how to set the shutter speed and aperture.I think it's the perfect prop for the shoot.

The model wants the final images to be B&W and infrared, which I think is an excellent idea, though I'm thinking of editing the images to make them appear consistent with the images that would have been taken with the type of camera she would be using for the shoot. So, if we start with the older cameras and move to the more modern ones, the images would be come cleaner, clearer, and the final images would be in color.

The model for this shoot? Well, I think I've talked my lovely wife into participating with this one. She used to be my primary model for all my shoots, but since she's become a grandmother, she's much less inclined to model for me. But, this image was taken just a couple of years ago, and I still think she's good model material. :)

Planning Summer Shoots

I'm currently scheduling my summer photo shoots. The current of shoots include:

1. Woodland Pixie (tentatively scheduled for June 26th with Amy M. of Model Mayhem).
2. Dark Fae (tentatively scheduled for July 11th with Sarah T. of Model Mayhem)
3. The Reaper Fairy, tentatively scheduled for sometime in July with my good friend, Bridgett (note to self - get Bridge on the hook for a specific date - she gets too busy otherwise.)
4. Fire Fairy - I have to get this shot this summer. The model I want to use is currently not available but has told me she'll be able to shoot sometime in June. I have two models I want to use for this, but since it's a very complicated lighting setup, I'll need to schedule the two models on consecutive days.
5. The Forge Fairy (and his assistants) - which will get shot as soon as my friend, Mark, can spare the time.
6. Fashion Shoot - with Gabriell for her portfolio (to be determined).
7. Special Forces Fairy - with camo wings, a carbine, and an attitude!
8. Plus some barefoot glamour, fashion and other shoots as I can fit them in.

It's going to be a busy summer. Here's an image from my 1st shoot last summer.