A Studio Weekend

I was able to spend all day Saturday shooting in the studio and I had a great time. I was able to shoot with my good friend and model, Bridgett, for two shoots and got to work with a fun new model for the last shoot. All in all, I was able to get in about 6 hours of solid shooting, including a couple of hours of shooting with my wife.

I was able to work on two of my projects. Bridgett posed as the Reaper Fae for my Fae in All of Us project, and Bridgett and Wanda both posed for my Women in Chains series. After those two shoots, we went out to dinner in St. Johns with Bridgett, Mark and their son, Morgan, and had a nice time just chatting and catching up with them. Afterwards, Wanda and I went back to the studio to set up for the next shoot which was a reshoot of my Fire Fairy set.

The photos you see here are from the 1st shoot. These ladies weren't the primary models I had planned for the shoot. In fact, they were my back-up models. The primary model was to be shot later the same day that these pictures were taken, but the model was a no show. This was especially frustrating because this model had been planning to shoot this particular set for over a year. Whenever we would plan to shoot, scheduling issues would prevent us from getting together. At the time, I didn't consider this a major issue, since I felt that I had plenty of time to complete the shoot this year and I also knew I could easily get another model for the shoot. Also, the scheduling issues were on both ends of the equation, so I felt I owed her an opportunity to do the shoot.

Finally, this summer, it seemed things were about to come together for the shoot. I found a studio that I could rent for a reasonable rate, although because of the large windows and skylights it would require the shoot to be at night. I was also able to complete a test shoot with the model and she was ready on time and worked well with the camera. She was able to self-direct well, and was also able to take directions easily. Based on her test shoot, I reserved the studio, gathered the needed props, and paid the deposit for a day of shooting.

As you can see from the images above, the lighting for this shoot is quite elaborate. It involved 5 strobes. A large softbox on camera left, a gridded hairlight with a red gel on a boom above the model, and three gelled strobes below the model with barndoors. The model posed on a plexiglass platform with two strobes with red gels lighting her (them) from below, and the third strobe with a yellow gel was set to illuminate the smoke from an industrial fog machine. Additionally, a black velvet background was used to absorb the light and the softbox was flagged to prevent any light spill onto the background.

Earlier in the week the model wrote me (she doesn't have a cell phone or land line) to say she wasn't sure she could make it and asked me to reschedule. This was after confirming two days earlier that the shoot was on. After I told her the studio was reserved and paid for and I could not reschedule, she told me she would be there and we made the final logistical arrangements for the shoot (I was to pick her up at the Max station at 7 pm and she would be bringing her sister along as an escort). That was quite fine with me, but I did have a unsettling feeling about this, so I arranged for the two other models just in case. I also had arranged for a makeup artist for the shoot, but when the MUA called me earlier in the day to confirm, I told her to wait until I was sure the model was going to show before she headed to the shoot.

As it turns out, that was my best move in the whole situation. I figured I could at least use these models to set up the lights and fine tune all the elements of the image so that when the primary model showed up, I would be ready to go for the shoot. Due to the setup time and the time it took the two models to get into makeup and costume, we only got to shoot for about an hour and a half, at which time we all went to the Max station to pickup the third model and her sister.

Since that model had no cell, there was no way for me to call her and confirm she was on her way - so we got to the station early and waited for two trains (a half an hour) before I decided to take the two models to where they needed to be. I came back by the station after dropping them off, and waited for two more trains. At 8:30 pm, I gave it up, called the MUA to cancel and then went back to the studio and spent the next two hours breaking down the studio equipment and stowing it in my truck.

During all this time there was no call at all from the model to explain the situation. In fact, it wasn't until 5 days later that I got a note from the model. She told me she had been in a car accident on the way to a cookout before the shoot, and although she didn't get hurt, her friend who was driving bumped his head and had to go to the hospital and so she had to stay there with him.

I have no idea if this is true or not, but I did tell her in my reply that there was simply no way we'd ever be able to work together given what happened and that a call would have been the most courteous thing to do in the situation.

Fortunately, my shoots this weekend helped me to move forward and I'm just going to chalk this up as a learning experience - never shoot with a model that isn't able and willing to maintain multiple lines of communication. The hassle just isn't worth it!

Completed Shoots

I've completed processing a number of shoots lately, but I"m still working on several more. I have three shoots scheduled for this weekend, and just finished one more yesterday evening. Photographically, I've been quite busy, but I've been having a blast and enjoying stretching my imagination and skills for each of the shoots.

I've been processing images for the models as they've picked them out for their TFP (Time For Print) sessions, but I'll still have plenty of images to processes over the winter, as well as a couple of other shoots that will occur during the cold season when we actually have snow on the ground.

I did a couple of photo sessions featuring three different models using a military theme. The first one, featuring Jennifer and April, was shot at Dragonfly Landing with the assistance of my good friend Mark, who shuddered with dismay each time I set my 5D MKII or my 1DsMKIII on the ground, and his girlfriend, Rainbow. That shoot went quite well, and the models were quite fun to work with, though a bit inexperienced and not used to taking directions or self-directing.

The other military glamour session was with Gabriell as part of her portfolio development, which is mostly complete at this point - at least as a starter portfolio. Shooting with Gabriell was both planned and not planned. Originally my idea was to shoot landscapes in the morning, starting and Ecola Point and Cannon Beach, then meet Gabriell later in the day in Newport and do more of a fashion shoot in Newport or Lincoln city. The day we were supposed to shoot, however, it was quite cloudy and cool; not exactly a day for shooting landscapes, so I just shot on down to Florence and spent the day shooting with Gabriell.

We did several themes that day. We started with the military shoot, then found an abandoned rail car and did a gypsy shoot. Nearby was a old gate where we did a country girl shoot, and then we used the abandoned rail line for a nude shoot. Finally, we finished up the day by shooting Gabriell as a pirate.

Gabby has come along quite well as a model. With a little effort she could do quite well as a glamour model and I think she would do especially well as a promotional event model since she has an outgoing personality and a girl next door look. Here are a few more of her looks from that day's shoot:

This is from our gypsy glamour shoot with the abandoned rail car.


And one from our Pirate shoot:


Tomorrow I have three shoots planned. I'll be shooting the Reaper Fairy with Gabriell's mother, Bridgett, ladies in chains with Wanda and Bridgett as the models, and in the evening the final Fire Fairy, with Melanie. Of course, I have more images to post from some of my other shoots as well, so there will be a number of future journal entries here show-casing those images. Right now, though, it's time to for bed so I can get an early start setting up the studio tomorrow.

Summer Shoots

I enjoy shooting in the summer. College is usually on break and the high school graduates are in that halcyon period between then end of high school and the beginning of college when their worries are few and their dreams are great. It's during this period that I generally work with a number of new models eager to try modeling for both fun and, they hope, profit. Usually, I'm always willing to work with new models trying to establish or expand their portfolios, and I especially enjoy working with ones who are on top of their game and who meet their commitments and come prepared to get the best images from the shoot.

So far this week, I've had the opportunity to work with two such models. The first new model, Miranda was to be my Rain Fairy. Our plan was to shoot in my backyard during the early morning hours so as the catch the morning sunlight on falling drops of water from an oscillating sprinker which would look likes streaks of rain falling on the model. I had a full shoot plan with costumes, wings, and filmly white material to use for shoot. The model called the night before to confirm the shoot and get directions to my house, sent me her address and a copy of her ID so I could have the model release ready to go prior to the shoot, and she arrived 30 minutes early and eager to shoot. I was ready, the model was not only ready but happily eager, on the other hand, the sun was no where to be found. A thick layer of clouds hung in the sky and diffused the sun'a light to a weak, soft, and nearly shadowless version of summer sunshine.

The diffused soft light would have been great for a beauty and glamour shoot, but we needed strong sunlight to back light the falling water and produce the silver streaks that would fall on he model. So, we quickly had a conversation, discussed some changes, and improvised a new shoot using the same location but with a different concept,

So out went the white wings, white material, white tule, white crystal face jewels and light blue sheer material that was our main costume materials for the shoot, and we quickly put together an outfit of purple, green and pink materials, purple wings, and silver body chains. The model was quite willing to go with the changes, and we had a great time winging the shoot. The image above, quickly edited this afternoon, is representative of that fun.

An even more invigorating shoot occurred this afternoon. While I was in California over the weekend for my granddaughter's 1st birthday, I was contacted via my blog (this blog in fact), by a lovely young Pacific University student who was interested in my projects, and was especially intersted in my ongoing Barefoot Glamour project. We agreed to meet for a cup of coffee on my return and to discuss a potential shoot.

We therefore met for a coffee and a chat on Tuesday evening. I let Cathy peruse the photos in my portfolio and made sure she was comfortable with my style and my work and offered her the available times I had to shoot for the next several days. She was quite happy to get started shooting right away, so after my morning meetings this week, I took the afternoon off and we drove out to the Tillamook Waterfall to shoot. We discussed the clothing and the materials that we'd use for the shoot and had a decent shoot plan going in to the shoot.

Cathy was a fun and adventurous model. She easily met any request I had for her with regard to poses, and even walked deep into the pool at the base of the waterfull to submerge herself to her shoulders and then slowly rise from the waters while getting heavily sprayed from the falls. None of my previously models had been willing to do that. It was a fun shoot with lots of great images, and I think Cathy enjoyed the shoot just as much as I did. I hope I get a chance to shoot a few more times with this lovely young ladie.