Jordan River - Winter Pinup

Jordan River was the next model in my Winter Pinup series. I have worked with Jordan several times in the past, but during the pandemic, she decided to take a hiatus from modeling. The last time we shot was in the summer of 2019, so five years later I noticed she was modeling again, and asked her to be part of this series. 

I've always enjoyed working with Jordan. We have done several studio shoots, a boudoir shoot, and three outdoor shoots. She works well in all environments, and I am hoping to work with her more in the coming year. 

She arrived at the studio ready to work and we quickly got to it.

We quickly worked through most of the outfits and then when we were almost done, I managed to pop the breaker for the studio and killed the lights. Since we were pretty much done for the day, I had Jordan get dressed and with the breaker reset, I changed the setting for the shoot for a Christmas pinup I planned to shoot with Nancy the next day.

Despite the breaker issue, which was entirely my fault, we had a fun shoot with some excellent shots to share.

Winter Pinups with Floofie and Jade

I've occupied my mind recently with the planning and executing a series of shoots. Normally, I shoot Christmas pinups this time of year, but I wanted to switch it up this year. 

Usually, I shoot the pinups in my home in front of the tree and decorations my wife designs.

Every year it's something different. One year the tree got decked out in blue and the windows were frosted with a glaze. Another year, a snowflake and snowman theme made its debut. She picks a unique theme almost every Christmas. This year, however, we adopted an energetic and curious kitten, so we decided to forgo a tree. So, I had to change gears.

I decided on a Winter pinup scene and went about gathering the material and costumes to turn Floofie's studio into a winter haven. With a backdrop, lighting from large softboxes, and a fake snow floor, it came together rather nicely. 

Floofie agreed to be my first model for this series. She and I have worked together so often, she can almost read my mind when it comes to posing and I know exactly what to expect when I shoot with her.

As always, she delivered, and by having her model the different outfits, I got a feel for how they looked in the light and with the background.  

After Floofie and I wrapped up our shoot, it was time for Jade. This was only my fifth shoot with Jade, but she has made amazing progress as a model in the year that we've been working together.

As I expected, Jade did a wonderful job modeling the scene as well. I had hoped to do Christmas pinups with Jade last year, but life intervened and we never got to shoot. When she started modeling again, I. told her we'd do a pinup theme this year, so she had to be first after Floofie. She really flexed her pinup muscles for me and we got some great shots.

Floofie kindly let me leave the scene set up overnight for the next model, Jordan, scheduled for the following morning. That made it much easier to get started the next morning. 

Since the election, I've been trying to distract myself by consolidating my images, optimizing my image libraries, and creating more efficient workflows for my editing. I've also been transferring DV tapes to my hard drives so I can begin sharing videos of some of my previous shoots. That will be an ongoing project for several more weeks.

The best distraction and most therapeutic for my mental health was a photo shoot with my long-time friend and model, Floofie. It was a simple shoot—a plain seamless black backdrop, a posing cube covered in black fabric, and a simple three-light set-up. There were no elaborate costumes, just some chain and crystal jewelry.

When Floofie and I shoot (this was our 51st session), we spend much of that time in conversation. We've been working together for fourteen years so we know a great deal about each other's families, and have several mutual friends. Our shoots are as much a chance to catch up as they are a chance to make new images. I joked with her that today's shoot was an "art therapy" session for me as I felt much better after our shoot. We are aligned politically and philosophically for the most part, so we share mutual concerns post-election. Sharing our thoughts lowered the angst a bit for both of us.

Art is therapy. Don't let anyone tell you differently.