Shoot Plans for the remainder of the week and month (NSFW)

Well, so far, due to my forced bachelorhood, I've managed to:

Rake the yards, trim the bushes, clean up and rearrange the garage, edge the lawn, mow the grass, fertilize the shrubs and plants, fertilize the lawn and apply Scott's feed and moss killer. I also made two trips to Good Will, vacuum and shampooed all the carpets, cleaned up the three bathrooms, repaired the lower dish washer sprayer, wash all the linens, as well as all the laundry, filed the taxes, reorganized our filing system, cleaned out the refrigerator, cleaned the oven, completed one landscape field trip down the coast to Florence, as well as a 1 1/2 day photo shoot with a remarkable young model.

I've also worked full time at my day job, taken care of my grand kids 8 out of the last 12 days, as well as taken my youngest daughter and her children out for lunch on her birthday, So, I'm ready to do just a little more stuff for myself. So, I have three shoots planned for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow, I'm shooting with Ashley with the theme of the House Fairy, that magical creature who, with the properly incentives, will come to your house and clean up all the mess from the big party. Every home wants one, but not every home can get one. It takes strong belief and a welcoming attitude (as well as an open bar since House Fairies are notoriously thirsty). Still, they'll do any task that needs to be done, so they're great to have around. Fairies like Ashley are very easy on the eyes as well.

On Thursday night, I'm shooting with Krisa. Our intent is to add a variety of shots to her portfolio. Krisa is so much fun to shoot with, it's hardly work at all. She's very photogenic and full of energy. I have a broad plan for the shoot, but we're going to keep it pretty flexible to accommodate shots she wants to add to her portfolio.

Finally, on Friday, I'm shooting with a differnt Ashley, the young lady who was the first model of my fairy series. My intent to is do see if I can get more enthusiastic poses and expression from her in an outdoor glamour setting.It's a challenge to me to see what I can do to work the model as to achieve her very best.

Then, at long last, Wanda will be home and I will pleading with her to start posing for me again. She's my best model and the one I love to shoot the most. It's fun to work with new models and capture new looks on film, but no one can ever replace her in front of my lens.

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.

Last Shoot of the Summer

I have time for one more shoot before the weather turns gray here in the Pacific Northwest. I've been trying to find a model to shoot with me tomorrow. I thought I had a couple of prospects, but they have failed to follow up with me, so I don't know if I'll be able to pull off another outdoor shoot this week or not.

"My concept for this shoot would be to achieve a series of glamour and outdoor nude shots in a wooded and rural setting. The idea would be to compare and contrast the beauty of the nude female form with the beauty of nature for the nude images. For the outdoor glamour, I would want to shoot some images that used the smooth female skin juxtaposed with rougher materials such as weathered wood or stone."

These were the words in my last casting call posted a few hours ago. I wonder if I'll actually get anyone to join me for a shoot. As of late last night, I had no responses, and I also contacted a couple of models I have used in the past to see if they were interested, but got no responses. I do know the middle of the week is a hard time to schedule shoots, especially at the last minute, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Shooting with Sierra

I'll be shooting with Sierra again next week. We're doing a glamour shoot in the Columbia River Gorge at some of the waterfalls. They will be mostly bikini and perhaps some wet t-shirt shots, as well as some simple barefoot glamour images.

The weather is looking pretty good for the shoot, and if it holds, we maybe shooting on Sauvie Island on Tuesday as well.

It should be a lot of fun.

Woodland Fairy Shoot

After nearly a year and a half of not being able to shoot anything on my Fae Project, I have been lucky enough to shoot two sets of photos this week. I've already written about shooting Garden Fairy with London Andrews, and then on Friday evening I got to shoot Woodland Fairy with Lilly.

I did a test shoot with Lilly at the beginning of the month. I showed her the wings, the costume design and the shoot materials during our test shoot and we agreed that we would shoot during the next good weather day. That day took nearly two weeks to arrive.

Lilly had never modeled before, but was excited to experience her first shoot. We did the make-up (ferns stenciled on the legs and body jewelry around the eyes) at my home before we headed out to the rural location where we were planning to shoot.

We had wonderful weather and the drive out to the shoot location was through a wonderfully scenic part of rural Oregon. Lilly and I chatted on the way out and I learned she was planning to run a half-marathon the next day. As you can see from the image, she's a fit and lovely model and a great choice for a woodland fairy. Her dark hair, eyes and golden skin gave her a look that was both exotic and a natural fit for the forested environs where we were shooting.

Though it was her first shoot as a model, she did quite well. We kept the costume changes and adjustments to a minimum and concentrated on integrating the poses and facial expression with the scenery on the hillside where we were shooting. Lilly was game to try most poses and was willing to pose among the ferns, tree stumps and various other vegetation. She did get cold toward the end of the shoot when the sun got lower and the breeze picked up a bit, but we shot just about everything I had planned and I was very pleased with our first shoot together. I have lots of images to work with and the one you see above was a very rough and quick edit of a random shot.

Garden Fairy

I got to shoot with the most amazing model yesterday. London Andrews was everything I had hoped for and more. She was extremely professional. She could self-pose with exceptional proficiency. She even did her own makeup and hair. And to top it all off, she was intelligent, fun to talk to, and a lady in all respects.
I wished she lived in Portland so I could use her as a model more often.

She was orignially scheduled to be my Summer Fairy and I was going to shoot her out in the woods in Gaston. But the weather was just too chancey, so we wound up shooting in my backyard, which is small but quite photogenic.

We went through several costume changes (and three sets of wings), and she was game for just about anything I asked of her. She's definitely a lady in all regards, and I'd recommend her to any photographer who wants a classy model for a photo shoot. Even the test shots for exposure came out great (see the image above and to the right).

I'm more than willing to shoot with her again, bu alas, she tells me that she's retiring form modeling at the end of this year. What a loss for us those of us with an interest in glamour photography!

Test Shoot with Lilly

I did a test shoot with a new model on Friday. Lilly is a lovely, slender girl with long dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. She has agreed to be one of the models for my fairy project and I think she's going to make the perfect woodland fairy.

We did our test shoot in Cathedral Park under the St. John's bridge. It's one of my favorite places to shoot, and I've shot several models there including Sierra, Autumn and Gabriell. If offers a great variety of settings which include a small beach along the river, several wooded areas, park benches, a dock, willow trees, an open fields, a concrete pavilion, and the bridge struts itself.

Since Lilly was test shooting for a woodland fairy, we stuck to the wooded areas and primarily concentrated on how she self-posed, how well she took directions, and how her skin and hair tones stood up against the wooded background. I have to say that everything was excellent. She also got into character and worked at showing me some fairy moods (curious, reflective, frightened, etc.). Her skin and hair tones stood out quite well against the green backdrops and complemented the dark brown of the tree trunks and limbs. She has a natural ability to pose, and can get into character quite easily provide a variety of expressions. She also has the ability to express emotions with her body language, which will help a great deal as we get into the actual shoot.

I brought all the costume materials to show to her, explained how we would proceed through the project, i.e. how the materials would be used, what kind of makeup would be involved, how we would progress from the fully covered shots to the final artistic nudes and got her opinions on the make-up and costume materials. She told me that after seeing the materials I had accumulated for the project, she was quite excited about moving forward with the shoot. Now it's just a matter of location, weather and timing.

My daughter's boyfriend has offered the use of his mom's property for my projects. His mom, a very lovely and nice lady name Shannon, has a lovely home on property out in Gaston. On the hill behind her home is a trail that leads through a heavily wooded areal with old trees, stumps, ferns and everything else one would need for such a shoot. Additionally, she has a large cleared area on her property that would work well for some other projects I have in mind.

There are other options too. There is a large wooded plot of land across from my house that might work well too, though not was well I think as the property in Gaston. Additionally, I have a friend, Mark, who lives up on Bald Peak, and I have permission from him to use his property for several shoots as well. In fact, the first fairy shoot (Autumn Fairy) was shot on his property. Another friend of mine, Dave, has offered me the use of his land as well, and I'm sure there are a couple more friends who would be willing to allow me the use of their property for a photo shoot. So, I'm lucky in that regard.

My only problem right now is a location for my water fairy shoot. I need a shallow steam of water that's fairly isolated. I have a spot in mind, but it's a distance away and is near a state campground, so it's not as isolated as I would like, though I have shot there in the past. You can see an example image from that location directly above. During the shoot where this shot was taken, the model and I were undisturbed and the closest people were three fly fishermen several hundred yards downstream. They didn't notice us at all during the shoot, or if they did, they sure didn't seem to mind. So, I'll probably go for a drive, despite the high gas prices, and make sure the area is still suitable before actually shooting there, but it would still be nice to find someplace closer, if possible.

Senior Portraits

A couple of weekends ago, I had the delightful opportunity to shoot some senior portraits for a young friend of mine. I have no idea why she chose me as her photographer, but I certainly tried to give her some great images for her final year of high school. She had to travel up to Portland from Florence to do the shoot, but fortunately, her step-dad was already attending a conference in the area, so her mom was able to drive her up the night before and we had almost a full day in which to shoot.

The shoot was quite enjoyable. She seems to be a natural at modeling and she obviously was having fun throughout the shoot, even though the weather was not very cooperative and she did get quite cool during certain portions of the shoots.

I was able to take her to several locations that I've used for my photography in the past; the PCC Rock Creek Campus, which has lots of interesting statues and structures that make great backdrops and props; an old railroad trestle with huge wooden beams; and Cathedral Park, underneath the St. John's Bridge. All the locations provided us with wonderful backdrops and she was able to have several outfit changes at each setting.

Here are some other images from our shoot:

This was taken under the St. John's Bridge

This was her "princess" shot for her mom.

New Models, Projects, and Frustration

I'm a member of several photography sites and forums. I have a portfolio on One Model Place, another portfolio on Model Mayhem, a Flikr account, as well as an account on Photo.net. I'm pretty well established as a photographer on several forums and in some print media as well. So, you would think that I would have too much trouble finding new models to work with as I develop new projects. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.

I recently put out a casting call for a series of projects that I plan to work on over the summer months. The casting call was for ethnic models, specifically black, asian and latino models, but of the 14 response I've gotten to the casting calls, only three models have actually taken the time to meet with me. Of those, one is actually moving away from Oregon in the next couple of weeks, so I'll be unable to use her in my projects anyway. The other two are in Salem, which is much more difficult, logistically, for the shoots, but because both models have acted professionally and have significant interest in shooting with me, I'm planning to use them for the project.

What I don't understand is why some models will respond to a casting all, indicate interest, and then refuse to meet with me to discuss the projects to determine if they would be a good fit for what I have in mind. I made it very clear in the casting call that I would work within the limits the models set for the images I wanted to shoot, but it seems every time I call or write the models that indicated interest, I get no response from the majority of those who replied.

It's really a shame because I would like to find two or three models I could use on a regular basis to explore different aspects of photography (Muses so to say). Sierra is probably the closest model to that right now. At least she's dependable. I think these other two models will work out quite well too, but I really do need another model with an African background to add to my portfolio as well. So, if you're a black female model in the Portland, Oregon area and you'd like to work with me, drop me a line please. :)

Lisa

I had the distinct pleasure of working with a new model today. Lisa was prompt, professional, and very classy. She takes direction easily, self-poses and understands the photographic process. She understands hot to quickly accommodates the photographer's needs. She collaborated completely in the creative process and provided excellent suggestions on how to make the shoot better. Her enthusiasm was invigorating and contagious and made the shoot one of the best I've done in a very long time.

We were able to get through several scenarios in about 2 1/2 hours of shooting and it was definitely enjoyable for both of us. Lisa is very photogenic, curvy and has great legs. We were able to have a great conversation throughout the shoot which made it even more enjoyable for us both. I certainly look forward to shooting with her again.

Sarongs

I really love the look of sarongs on a model. There's something so sexy, and a bit exotic, about them. The sarong is very versatile too. It can be wrapped in so many different ways and used to hide flaws or to accentuate the form. The fact that sarongs come is so many different sizes, styles and colors is a great benefit as well.

A few years ago, a gentleman in India saw some of my Oregon Country Fair photos. In the images, many of the fair goers were wearing sarongs of one sort or another, including several of the ladies in my party. He really enjoyed the photos and was kind enough to send me a huge box of sarongs from his factory in India for use to use at the next fair. Both of the sarongs seen in this posting came from the supply that he sent to us and I still use them for the fair and for use in photo sets.

Whenever I travel, especially to any place tropical, I always look for new sarongs to pick up for my photography sessions. In 2006, on a trip to Hawaii, we picked up several new sarongs, and even bought some for souvenirs to bring home to the family. These were very well received. they came is especially useful when we had our Luau Party in 2007.

Clothing certainly helps to determine a mood, and sometimes a sense of location, in photography and the sarong suggests an exotic tropical locale, especially used with water and direct sunlight. Add a bit of sandy beach and a model shoot done is Alaska can be made to look as though it was shot on a tropical island.

I used a sarong for this model shoot with Sierra in September of 2007. Even though we were shooting along the Willamette River in Oregon, the sarong and the framing makes it appear as if we were shooting in some exotic tropical location.

So, if you enjoy shooting glamour, or enjoy just want a different look for portraits or other shots, pick up a few inexpensive sarongs and experiment with them. I think you'll find they're a lot of fun for both you and your model.

Exxageration (NSFW)

Back a few years ago, a Harley Davidson Drag Racing team came to me with the idea of creating a t-shirt they could sell at their drag meets. They lined up the girls, the graphic artist that would convert the photos into the final t-shirt graphic, as well as the t-shirt printing company. So early one Saturday morning in July, a big trailer pulled up in front of my house, and this very interesting bike was rolled out of the back and into my garage where I had set up a back drop and some studio lights.

The backdrop didn't matter a great deal since it was going to be cut from the final photos when the images were turned into the t-shirt graphics. The interesting part was that the bike, with it's extended front rails was much, much longer than I had anticipated, and though I thought that I had more than enough room in my garage studio, the front end of the bike stuck out of the garage and into the driveway a bit - which prevented closing the garage door.

This really wasn't a problem until the models showed up, and I realized that what the team had envisioned was a couple of nude girls on the bike with their "bits" to be covered by the team banners when the graphic artist did the final work later. To top it off, my 13 year old niece and my 65 year old mother were visiting from their small hometown in Georgia. I wasn't too worried about my mom and my niece, though they were quite curious about what was going on in the garage, but I didn't think it was the best idea to be shooting nudes in my wide open garage on a Saturday morning in the summer.

So, I got the bike team to help me rig another set of backdrops over the garage door to add some privacy and we started shooting. The team had several ideas, and we tried a number of variations, which did include some bikini shots. The rider had to dress up in full leathers and a helmet, and this meant we had to take several breaks to let him cool off (both physically and mentally).

At one point, my niece eluded my wife and manged to get out to the garage to get a drink from the beverage refrigerator, and her eyes got quite wide when she saw the shooting activity. She just had to run back inside to tell my mother that "Uncle Mark has a bunch of naked women and a biker gang in the garage."

Of course, that meant Mom had to come out for a look herself. She just chuckled at the site, and then she started chatting up one of the bike team members. Soon enough the shoot was over, the models hung around to get a few shots for their own portfolios, and the bike team loaded up the equipment in the trailer and got ready to leave. While I was burning the raw images to a disk for the team, the girls got dressed, the team finished their loading and my mom invited them all out to the back deck for a cold beer. She must have kept them out there talking for the better part of an hour, and when she got back to Georgia she bragged about how she had beers out on my deck with a biker gang and a bunch of naked women.

Favorite Models

I'm writing a series of articles for my personal website. The articles include lens reviews, places to shoot, tutorials for photographic techniques, and other subjects photographic. I finished a couple of articles yesterday; one on the Canon 85 f/1.2 L lens and another on the Canon 135 f/2 L lens.

I illustrate my reviews, of course, with photos taken with the lenses or at the places of which I'm writing. In the case of the two lenses I wrote about yesterday, the model here was used prominently to illustrate the lenses capabilities and to provide example shots to draw the readers' attention. As you can see, Christine would draw anyone's eye.

Christine is an aspiring model, and I worked with her for a couple of years assisting her with some shots she needed for her portfolio and for some modeling applications. She works hard, shows up on time, and really contributes to the creative endeavor. I really miss working with her. It has been over a year now, and I do hope she is doing well with her career.

The last time we worked together was in August of 2006. We were working on getting her a portfolio established on one of the major online modeling publications. We had gotten several shoots completed for her outdoor glamour portfolio and were about to start working on some more generalized fashion and activity shots when she abruptly told me she wouldn't be modeling anymore for very well thought-out personal reasons. It's really a shame, because she was truly my favorite model and I do miss working with her.

When I was writing yesterday, I found the photos of her best illustrated the particular concepts forwarded by the articles, and that got me to thinking about Christine and how she was doing and how much fun it was to shoot with her. I miss her energy and her willingness to try new poses and concepts, as well as her ability to look at the positive.

Christine, wherever you are, I hope you're doing well and that you've taken up modeling again.

Montana

I took a longer lunch today and did a photo shoot with a long-time friend of mine, Montanna. I've known Montana for about 5 years, I think. I met her through another friend of mine, and we've done a few photo shoots together. After modeling for a while, she took a break, but is now looking to get back into the business. She has a portfolio on One Model Place and I'll be helping her build and expand her portfolio over the next several months (I hope).

The photo shoot we did this afternoon was fairly quick. We shot under the St. Johns Bridge and it was quite cool down by the river. Montana is a slender young woman, and I could tell the chill was getting to her when we weren't in the direct sunlight. She was quite game and very enthusiastic about the photo shoot, though, so anyone that hires her as a model would be very pleased with the results, I'm sure.

New Models

I had the distinct pleasure of working with a new model a couple of weeks ago. Sierra is a lovely young lady who obviously enjoyed posing for the camera. Although she is just starting out as a model, she has a natural ability to move for the camera and to strike poses that show off her lovely smile and physique quite well. I particularly like her eyes and her smile. I am looking forward to working with her on several more projects in the very near future. She has expressed an interest in working with me on my light painting and fairy projects, and we may very well revist Cathedral Park under the St. Johns Bridge (where these photos were taken) when the fall colors become more prominent.

In addition, I met another lovely young lady this week for coffee and a discussion about photography. She's done some pretty good work herself, but she's also interested in working with me on a couple of projects as well. We'll be setting up test shoots in the very near future, I hope. She has some great ideas for us to shoot as well.

Unfortunately, with the onset of the wet Northwest winter, much of my photography will be curtailed. There are very few fairs, festivals and other outdoor events during the wet months, so usually this means I don't take the cameras out much during the winter. This year, though, I'm planning to do more during these months. I have a friend who is building an indoor studio and I'm sure that with my help and the ability to use some of my studio gear, he'll be more than happy to trade me for studio time. I also plan to get out more and do some wet landscape photography, and perhaps even some model photography in the rain or the snow. So, I do have some planning and some work to do this winter.

Winter Blues

It has been a long, wet winter so far. The Northwest is always cloudy and wet during the winter time, but this has absolutely been the wettest winter I've encountered in the nearly 10 years I've lived in Oregon. Storm system after storm system have been hitting the West Coast with only a scattering a clear weather between each system. I swear I can see each new system looming over the mountains of the Coastal Range to the west, yet when I look to the east I can see the remnents of the last system lingering in the Cascades.

At least it has been fairly warm though. Most mornings it's about 44 degrees, and during the day the temperature creeps up into the high 40's or low 50's. I guess that's not bad for the middle of winter north of the 45th parallel. I do wish it would clear up for a couple of days though. I'd love to get my camera out and shoot in some decent light. I have a couple of new L lenses I've been wanting to use, but the heavy overcast and continuous rain (plus the early sunsets) give little opportunity for interesting subjects.

The photo to the left was taken a couple of winters ago when it was drier and colder. These clouds were the remnent of a storm that dumped quite a bit of snow at moderate elevations. Above a thousand feet there was lots of snow, but at about five hundred feet and below, it was just rain - hence the lack of snow on the roof of the building.

It would be fun to get away to the coast for a weekend to shoot the stormy weather and the ocean waves. Newport Bay is always fun for that, but Florence is nice too (besides there are friends there). Life keeps intruding though and weekend plans never seem to work out. Maybe I'll get some good rain gear for my birthday next week and that will help me gather the nerve to challenge the elements. I'd love to shoot Ecola Point and Canon Beach in stormy weather.

I'd also like to find a couple of new models. I'd like the challenge of learning to shoot someone new. After working with a model for a while, you learn their best poses and which poses work best for what situations and settings for them. You develop a rapport with the model that allows the shoot to proceed with minimal verbal communication and the model learns to anticipate your requests and to move smoothly from one pose to another. Shooting a model in the rain is fun - shooting by yourself in the rain isn't so much fun.

Spring begins next month, so with any luck we'll get an early break from the rain. With all the winter precipitation, the mountain snowpack is heavy and that means wonderful waterfalls during the spring melt. Winter Falls at Silver Springs State Park should be great this year. So maybe I should stop complaining and start planning.