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.

2008 Portland Pirate Festival

The 3rd Annual Portland Pirate Festival started yesterday. I've been attending the festival since its inception (I covered it for the St. Johns Sentinel newspaper the first year), and have enjoyed attending ever since.

The event is very kid friendly. There are many booths and games set up to amuse the children (of all ages) and several of the bands that perform there play music that is specifically geared to the little ones. My granddaughter has attended with me for the last couple of years, and she loves the bands and the atmosphere of the event. She always has a great time.

The event is essentially a big costume party for Portland with a pirate theme. Many, if not most, of the attendees come in costume or at least in outfits that with some sort of pirate paraphernalia. Quite a few of the costumes are not only quite elaborate, but are historically accurate.

If you're so inclined, you can easily buy a pirate costume on site as many of the vendors that set up shop during the event sell all sorts of pirate wear. It's really a photographer's paradise with all of the elaborate costumes and events.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay for very long this year. My youngest daughter came along with our new grandson, Ryker, who is only 10 days old, and she was tired and he couldn't sleep with all the noise. So we made an early day of it. We plan to spend quite a bit more time there next year, though, as we're going to get the whole family to dress up and attend in mass.

If you haven't had a chance to visit, you should do so. The festival continues today, and is held every September in Cathedral Park beneath the St. Johns Bridge in North Portland. If you decide to go, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun.

He's Here!

Ryker was born this morning after his mom was in 25 hours of labor. This is my first grandson and my 2nd grandchild this summer. Details will follow later after I have a chance to go to the hospital for a visit with my new boy!

Okay, more info:

He was 6 lbs, 15 ounces and was 19 inches long, and looks healthy and strong. He didn't breath right away when he was delivered, but the good doctor's and nurses took care of that and by the time I got to hold him in my arms yesterday, he was fine, if a bit hungry. His full name is Ryker Scott, but I already have a nickname for him.

His mom is doing fine as well. She didn't have to have a c-section this time, so she's very grateful for that. He and his mom should be leaving for home tomorrow and his big sister will get to spend some quality time with him. That should be interesting as she has been an only child and grandchild for most of her past 2 years.

Dancing in the Field

I had the distinct pleasure of shooting with K this past weekend. We had met several times planning this shoot, but it got delayed twice. First by her trip overseas, and then by a business trip of my own. But we finally pulled it altogether this weekend and completed the shoot.

K was a natural in front of the lens, and was a willing trooper throughout the shoot. She danced barefoot in a mown circle of thick grass and scotch thistle with a smile on her face and with commendable grace. She also climbed onto a makeshift platform designed to raise her into the air without complaint and still managed to balance carefully on the two planks while striking a graceful pose.

I was quite surprised to learn on the drive back to her apartment that this particular shoot was actually her first nude or semi-nude shoot. Given her composure and willingness to comply with my directions, I would never have believed it until she told me so.

I do hope to be able to shoot with her again in the near future, especially when I begin my pin-up project anew this fall. I think she would make a lovely pin-up model in the 1940's & 1950's pin-up style.

I have another shoot with a different model on Saturday, and I do hope the next model works out as well as K did in her shoot. On that note, here's another image to share:

Technological Frustration

My LG phone died yesterday. It had been having some trouble for a while. It all started when it took a bath with my granddaughter. I thought it was going to last until my next upgrade cycle, but it didn't make it. I had insurance on it, and it would have been covered for the loss, but I decided I wanted to upgrade to a phone that would be not only useful for calls, but that would be able to synch with my computer and help me manage my calendar and contact data.

My son and daughter-in-law have both been using Blackberry Pearls and loved them, so I decided I would try a Blackberry device. I chose the Blackberry Curve 8330 as my upgrade choice and paid all the additional fees and signed all the additional contracts needed to get the upgrade (what a racket the cell phone companies have going here). The Blackberry was able to take my current mini-SD card so all my images were moved, and my contact data was quickly transferred and I was on my way with a new phone and a simpler and more versatile way of contacting people....or so I thought.

Don't get me wrong. The Blackberry is a fine phone. It is not, however, an intuitive device when it comes to settings and the user interface. You would think that Blackberry would provide a comprehensive user guide with the phone so make up for this shortcoming, but all that comes in the box is a Tips, hints and shortcuts booklet (very lame) and a couple of CD's, neither of which contain a pdf file of the users guide.

I'm pretty technologically savvy though. I operated and maintained nuclear reactors for the Navy for 20 years, before retiring and starting work for a computer chip company. I've also owned all sorts of complicated electronic devices and had a home computer many, many years before they were popular. I was fairly certain I could figure things out.

My first stop was the Blackberry website where I downloaded a pdf file of the user manual. That was simple enough. The problem is that the manual doesn't match up with anything on the phone. For example, I wanted to set speed dials for each of my contacts. The manual told me to press the menu button, choose the speed dial list, and add the contact to the list. Guess what? You can't choose the speed dial list from the main menu, and lets not even get into the instructions for adding a custom rings tone (so I know which if my family members is calling when I choose to ignore them).

I did manage to get the damn thing to synch with my computer calendar and contacts - once! Since then, none of the updates I've made have synched at all. I've tried two different programs in an attempt to make it work and one of them cost an additional $40. At one point, I got so frustrated, I packed the phone and accessories up and went back to the store to exchange it for a different device. Once there though, one of the techs showed me how to access the correct menus for what I wanted to do, so I decided to keep it for a while longer to see if I can get it to work for me.

I still haven't figured out call waiting or call forwarding though, and I'll probably spend most of my evening trying to figure out how to get the damn thing to sych with my computer again. I think I'd rather be starting up a reactor.

Life Goes On

I got to finally meet my new granddaughter this past weekend. Jocelyn is a little cutie as you can see. She's quite small too, at only a little over 5 pounds in this image. My son and daughter-in-law live in California and weren't scheduled to visit until the end of September, but we couldn't take that, so I bought them tickets to come up for a visit as soon as the baby was okay to travel. It was money well spent.

Now that Makayla is two years old, I realize that I had forgotten how small newborns actually are. You can see how well Jocelyn fits into the crook of her Papa's arm. I had a lot of fun shooting with her and I consider her my latest female model.

Unfortunately, she left yesterday and it will be the end of September before I see her again. It will be interesting to see how much she grows in that short interval of time. Fortunately, we have a web cam set up on the PS3 so we can "see" her occasionally between visits.

We won't get too lonely for little babies, though. We have a grandson due in the next couple of weeks - and it could be any day now. His mom and dad still haven't named him though, so I'm calling him Rumplestiltskin (Rumpie for short) until they do in an effort to get them to make up their minds. It's not working, and I think the nickname, Rumpie, is going to stick.

Makayla did quite well with her little cousin, though she did want her own attention as well. I think she'll be fine with her new little brother as well when he finally arrives, though it's quite possible there will be some jealousy at first.

My son is quite the doting father and both he and his wife are going through that giddiness of being first time parents. It certainly screws a bit with their perspective, but that's true of all new parents.

I do now realize how hard it must have been for the grandparents of my children. When our children were born, we lived more than 1200 miles away from them and during most of their lives, we never lived any closer than 500 miles away (Charleston, SC to Atlanta, GA). We tried to visit often, but it's not the same thing as having your grandchildren close by so you can see them often.

Of course, technology shrinks the world a bit for us - we can see her on the webcam, call just about anytime we want, and we can hope on a flight down to Oakland whenever it gets just too unbearable for us. Still, it would be nice if all our grandchildren were close by home.

In Memorium

Granny, as my mother was called for the last 28 years of her life, passed away a year ago today. I miss her as much now as I did on the day of her funeral. I used to call her every Sunday morning and while I had my coffee, we would chat for at least an hour about the family, our lives, politics and a myriad of other subjects. She loved jokes and always had a new one to tell me every week.

Granny was frank to a fault, but loved with all her heart. She was definitely not a perfect person, but she loved her kids and her grandkids and would have done anything to make us happy. She used to spend hours and hours down in the floor playing with my kids, and they always loved it when she came to visit us, even after we moved to Oregon and they grew up.

She gave me my love of books and classic movies. When I was young, I can remember sitting in her lap and watching old movies on a small B&W TV while she explained the plot to me.

I was standing beside her as she was ironing clothes on the day that JFK was shot, and I remember asking her why she was crying...and she told me someone was trying to kill hope.

She was the artistic person in our family. She could sew, paint, and she loved to handcraft decorations for all her children's homes. Once she got onto a kick of making stuffed rabbits in cute outfits and sent so many to my house that I swore the things were breeding when I wasn't looking. She painted a mural on the whole side of my aunt's shed and though she didn't start painting until very late in her too short life, she had a great flair for color and a wonderful sense of perspective.

The last time I saw her, she called me her angel and told me she would meet in the next life. She was my mother, my friend, and I miss her.

Writing and Blogging

I enjoy writing articles about photography and events. I've written several lens reviews, a series of articles on composition, and some reviews of various events around Oregon and Washington. I've been so busy this summer, though, that I've fallen behind on the list of articles I've been meaning to write, but I'm sure as soon as the winter rains set in, I'll be able to catch up pretty quickly.

I have review articles on the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS, the EF 16-35 f/2.8L and the 24-70 f/2.8L lenses pending, as well as a review of the Canon 40D and the Canon 1DsMK III camera bodies in the works. As I've never reviewed a camera before, that should be a fun challenge.

I'm also planning to write an article about Crater Lake (if I can ever get back down there to shoot), an article on Barefoot Glamour, and maybe a basic studio lighting primer.

Other plans for the year are a potential Glamour Workshop, some pin-up shoots in the fall and winter, and at least one fair or festival. I might also hook up with my friend, Jim, and see if I can do some band venue shooting. That's quite challenging and he's been practicing for a few years now and seems to have it down to an art. I want to learn some new tricks from him.

I'm also open to suggestions about new writings. If any of my readers (all 3 of you) have any ideas of what you'd like to see me write about, please, by all mean, let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas and concepts.

A Little Break

I've been taking a bit of a break from my photography projects. I shot quite a lot in March, June and again in July completing several shoots in those months. But I had so many images I needed to process, that I decided it would be best if I worked on those instead of shooting new material.

My plans were to begin shooting again this weekend, but I was unable to schedule a shoot with one model and I had to cancel a shoot with another as I had an unexpected business trip out of town that left me with no opportunity to adequately plan the shoot. It was probably fortunately that I rescheduled as the weather this weekend has been quite hot and humid and I'm sure the model would have wilted during a two hour shoot. She was very gracious about rescheduling and aware that I only did it to make sure we would get the best images possible from our shoot.

I did manage to make it to the POTN (Photography-on-the-Net) shoot in the Columbia River Gorge yesterday. It had been planned for several weeks and it was quite fun to meet some of the people with whom I've been chatting with online for so many years. There was 8 of us total from across the Northwest and we met at 7 am at the Vista House at Crown Point State Park. From there we had a wonderful view of the Columbia River Gorge. Our next stop was Latrourell Falls and then we made our way down the Gorge to Sheppard's Dell, Bridal Veil and Wahkeena Falls before heading out to Hood River for lunch and what we hoped would be some kiteboard shooting. In the image above you can see all of us (well, except me) shooting at Latourell Falls. I also got to experience the thilling adventures of the "Boring Boys" and their no holds barred approach to photography. I think they managed to dunk a good bit of themselves and their accessories (though not their cameras or lenses by sheer luck) before the shooting day ended.

The image to the left gives a bit of insight into the Boring Boys' approach to waterfall photography (wetter is better).

Lunch was good, but alas, there was no wind so our time together ended after lunch and we went our separate ways. although it seems I've been asked to host a glamour and nude workshop for some of the guys sometime this September. That should be fun to plan and execute.

In the meantime, I'm trying to schedule at least three more shoots before the end of the year for this year's projects while at the same time, planning lots of time to spend with my current and future grandchildren! Wish me luck.

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:

Continuing the Project

The Fae project is continuing, although at a slower pace. I was supposed to meet with the next model yesterday, but had to cancel at the last minute due to a family emergency (all is under control, so no worries there). The next shoot should be quite fun as the model is both lovely and enthusiastic and the Dance Fairy is the concept we're planning to shoot.

I have two other models who have expressed interest in the project, but neither one have been available for setting up the final logistics, so I'm unsure with those images will be shot, but I'm hoping to get at least 3-6 more concepts shot before the end of summer, including a reshoot of the Spring Fairy.

The image to the left is from my Art Fairy shoot. I have quite a few more images to process from that series, but I'm quite pleased with the ones that I've processed so far. I've made several prints from that shoot for my portfolio and they work quite well as part of the series.

I think for the future images, I'll cast and interview for a specific concept, meet with the model at least twice before the shoot, and have a more detailed script and at least one assistant for the shoot. That will go a long way toward making the shoots more productive and easier to post process the images.

I'm a Grandpa (Again)!

My son, Jeremy, and his wife, Kristin, had their first child this afternoon. Jocelyn Serenity weighed in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces and is 17 inches long. She looks a lot like her daddy when he was her age, but only time will tell if she keeps the resemblance.

Her mommy went into labor early this morning, but managed to deliver after only 11 hours. Our youngest daughter, who spent 29 hours in labor with her first one, was quite envious, and she's quite proud to finally be an auntie.
She's due with our first grandson in a few weeks, so maybe she'll have a faster and easier labor this time. For her sake, we certainly hope she follows her sister-in-law's fine example.

Mother and daughter are doing fine, and there's a proud new daddy in our family. Of course, Papa and Grandmama are pretty delighted too and quite anxious to get our hands on the little one. That will have to wait a bit though as she is several hundred miles away in California.

They're all planning a visit to Oregon at the end of September, but we just might not be able to wait that long. I think there might just be a road trip in our near future.

War

I finally got back out of the house to shoot this weekend. I drove up to an SCA event just north of here to visit with some friends and do some photography. It was a rather small event, but fun to shoot.

Several friends of mine are members of the SCA and they invited us up to camp with them, but unfortunately Wanda wasn't feeling too well, so we had to decline. We did make the attempt to go together on Saturday, but she couldn't stand the twisty ride to the site, so I wound up going alone.

The event was held at a park where the old Trojan Nuclear Power Plant used to be. It's a very lovely park right on the Columbia River and several nice ponds and fields on the grounds. It was a very good site for the event. The only drawbacks were the mosquitoes, which weren't too bad while I was there during the day, but I imagine they were much worse at night, and the continuously flying fluff from the cottonwood trees that surrounded the site. The fluff as so bad that at times it almost looked like it was snowing in July. If you look carefully at the photo to the left, you'll see some of it in the air around the fighters.

The event centered mainly on combat between armored groups, though there were a number of other smaller activities on the schedule. I hung out for the afternoon, watched some of the events, visited with some friends, and then called it a day. It was nice to get out of the house, but I sure wish I had been able to take Wanda with me.

The Art Fairy (and Bubble Fairy 2)

I had the opportunity to work with another lovely model this week. Ashley helped me with my latest shoot, the Art Fairy. Our initial plans were to shoot River Fairy on Sauvie Island, but I opted for this more logistically simple shoot due to time constraints and since I had already shot two water based themes recently. This shot is one of the infrared images we did during the session. The full color images were quite lovely too.

I reshot the Bubble Fairy as well, since I wanted a 2nd version with a different look and a different model. While the images with the original model were quite good, they weren't quite in line with the rest of the images in the series.

Ashley was quite fun to work with and very professional. She's been modeling for over 4 years and brought the look I wanted to the session. Her long, curly hair gave me a different look to work with, though I had to remind her a few times to uncover one of her ears so I could give it a fairy point in post -processing. Toward the end of the shoot we were joking about "give me some ear."

I have no other shoots scheduled for the rest of July. That's not to say that if the opportunity arises I won't shoot, but rather that I need to catalog, back-up and begin post-processing the images taken so far. I do plan to do several more session in August, and I'm especially looking forward to shooting Dance Fairy with Krisa and another concept with Megan K.

The Early Bird Get the Light

Sometimes you just have to get up early to get the right light. These images were taken at 5.03 am last Friday morning as I was traveling east along the Suislaw River leaving the coastal city of Florence and driving inland. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Nymph in the Waterfall (NSFW)

I was driving out toward Tillmook today and I decided to stop and do some photography at a little waterfall I know of that sits quite a bit off the highway. It's easy to get too and is quite beautiful. As I started to shoot, I noticed this lovely creature just in the edge of my vision. If I tried to look at her directly, I simply couldn't see her, but fortunately I had my infrared camera with me and a round of wide exposures caught this image.

Of course, this is the lovely model Holly posing for my Waterfall Fairy. We had quite the fun shoot today at this little secluded waterfall, and Holly was quite brave, even to the point of braving the very cold pool of water at the base of the waterfall and getting quite soaked in the process.

We got a lot of great photos and I look forward to processing them when I get home from a short business trip. In the meantime, I'll just have to settle for downloading them and viewing the thumbnails. The image above is a very quick edit. The final image will look much better.

Rest and Relaxation (NSFW)

I've needed to take some time today to rest my knee and recuperate from 5 straight days of

shooting. I also get to spend the evening keeping my granddaughter and so I had to move a project interview to accommodate that as well. I'll have to say the model was very nice about it. I try very hard not to reschedules shoots or interviews unless I absolutely have to do so, and this was simply a day that it was required.

I had a great shoot on Thursday with Adonna. We went out the the Oregon Coast Dunes Overlook in Florence. Her mom acted as my assistant and we managed to shoot for about and hour despite the 30 mph winds and the subsequently blowing and abrasive sands. Adonna was a very game model, despite the cold wind and the harsh environment. We tried every pose I asked her to shoot, and although I didn't get as many shots in the session as I normally do, I think I got more than enough to choose a great Sand Fairy shot (and create and gallery of excellent images). I'll also be managing Adonna on OneModelPlace and I hope I will be able to help her establish herself and a model in Southern Oregon.

On Friday I got to work with one of the best models on Model Mayhem (well, that's at least my opinion). Wolfpup modeled for my Water Fairy. We had a great time shooting in the shallow waters of Spruce Run Creek and she was absolutely accommodating and easy to work with throughout the shoot. She contributed her own ideas to the shoot and moved easily from pose to pose to pose.

Although it was quite the drive from her location to where we got her into makeup and another significant drive to our shoot location, she kept up her end of the conversation along the way and make sure I was comfortable shooting with her. I certainly hope and expect to use her again for another Fae aspect and for my pin-up projects that will start in the winter as well.

Today I found my Autumn Fairy for the re-shoot. Autumn Fairy was the first of the sets that I shot back in 2006. At that point, I had not completely determined all the unifying elements used in the photo sets, therefore I intend to reshoot that particular session using a different model and bringing in the new elements (tule material, body jewelry, and artistic nudity). I've also found a better pair of wings and garland to use for the images.

Tomorrow I shoot Waterfall Nymph (Fairy) with Holly Johnson (who did just a fantastic job with her test shoot), and on Thursday I'm have a shoot planned with Ashley Haven from Model Mayhem. We were originally scheduled to shoot River Fairy, but I may have changed up my plans somewhat - we'll see. River Fairy seems like a very attractive shoot to me, but that will be my 3rd water related shoot in a week, so I'm might want to try something different. Ashley seems to very laid back and willing to shoot whatever I like. In any event, her portfolio has some very professional images and I'm sure we'll have a great shoot.

Of Bubble Fairies, Spring Fairies and Teenage Girls

I shot today with a couple of young ladies in Culp Creek Oregon. Heather contacted me via a castings call on Model Mayhem and wanted work with me - she especially wanted to be part of my Fae Project. I was hesitant at first because she is only 17, but she assured me that her mother was all right with the nature of the shoot and would be there during the shoot itself. Her enthusiasm for the shoot got her the gig and I agreed to travel down to her area to shoot as it was on my way to Florence where I would be shooting tomorrow anyway.

Last night, Heather contacted me and asked if I could find a spot in the shoot for her friend Morgan. Although it was a very last minute shoot and I had almost no time to arrange a costume and define the poses for the shoot, I agreed and told her we would meet in her area for lunch today and I would brief her, her mom and Morgan (who is 18) on the project and the concept as a whole.

During my talk the girls listened and I thought they understood what was involved with the project as a whole and the elements that interlink each of the photo sessions to the project as a whole. These are the materials used for the costumes (tule is used as fairy garb), jewels on the face and sometimes the body, and some degree of tasteful nudity in that the Fae are not clothes conscious and where whatever comes to hand. Heather's mom certainly understood and it seems she was reasonably impressed with my portfolio.

I'll give the girls credit. They did a great job in applying their makeup to my specifications, including the jewelry, the art crayon on the eyes, and the false eyelashes. I carefully went through the materials that would be used for the shoot and how they would be draped on the body. This is the part where it appears they stopped listening and came up with selective hearing because when we actually started shooting they balked a several of the costume changes I requested and for which I had pre-briefed them ahead of time. It seems they had their concept of the shoot and it almost but didn't quite mesh with mine.

We continued to shoot, nonetheless, and I worked hard to make sure we got some wonderful image. The shoot didn't start well either and the girls had planned to shoot down on the river which would have required a hike down a steep bank with all my gear, nevermind me being able to get down the bank and back up with my bad knee. So after driving about 15 miles to their shoot site, I had to call a nix on that and we had to drive 15 mile back to where we started (about 3 minutes from the hotel) to Morgan's parent's property where we ultimately conducted the shoot.

I had Heather run through several variations of the bubble fairy. It didn't quite work the way I planned because neither of the bubble machines I brought with me was able to work in the wind that was blowing. Morgan had to ultimately blow bubbles with a wand while trying to judge how the wind was blowing so as to get the bubbles to float toward Heather. It wasn't an easy job at all, but she doggedly kept at it and I'm pretty sure we got some good shots.

I then had Heather do a version of Spirit Fairy with elemental jewels. I'm sure I got a number of good shots from that set of photos. Heather changed wings a few times and I even got to do a couple of costume changes.

Then it was Morgan's turn. She got to wear the most elaborate wings for her Spring Fairy outfit and I worked to get several good backlit images for her. Heather's mom spent most of her time helping me with the reflectors and watching the girls costumes and wings while I concentrated on the composition and lighting. There was some pretty good teamwork in place for the entire shoot.
Of course, the girls at first told me there was no time restraints on our shoot, but then told me they needed to be somewhere a 8 pm, and then it was no, we need to be finished by 7:30 so we can get dressed, and somehow that turned into we really need to be finished by 7 pm so we'll have time to get back, dress and put our make-up on. I raised a couple of daughters myself, so I can't say I was surprised. I do hope they had fun with the shoot though. I'll have to say, I probably won't do a two model shoot in the future unless I'm working with older, more experienced models. This isn't to say the two girls weren't good models, but rather it's much more logistically challenging and time consuming to work with multiple models, especially when they have only just started modeling and haven't learned the ropes and unstated rules of professional shooting.

The images posted above are just quick grabs from the shoot. I picked them at random just to show some of the looks we were able to capture. With proper post processing on the skin, wings, faces and background, there will be some great images out of this set.

Tomorrow I have an afternoon fashion shoot and then a Sand Fairy shoot in the evening. Wish me luck.

Summer Fairy

The Summer Fairy shoot went quite well. Ashley made a superb fairy and was quite comfortable in the costume. She's a little body shy, but was able to overcome her reservations with some exposure. No doubt that she will be an excellent figure model in the near future.

It was a great shoot. Not only did my friends Mark and Gabi generously allow me to use their property, the came down during the shoot to offer us cold water and assistance. Ashley's friend, Anessa, did a great job with the make-up and the reflectors, then Mark took over as my "Camera Bitch" making sure I had the right body and lens close to hand during the shoot.

Afterwards, Mark, Gabi and I discussed the shoots that they would be participating with - Mark as the Forge Fairy and Gabi as the Combat Fairy. We also discussed my concept of Wanda as the Earth Fairy rising from an earthen pit. Without a doubt, they are some of the best and coolest friends we have ever had.

I'm off tomorrow for some shoot in Southern Oregon. So it's best that I'm off to bed for now. I need to get an early start tomorrow as I'm expecting to get two shoots in during the day.

Busy, Busy, Busy - Photographically and Otherwise

After not shooting for my fairy project for over a year, it seems things are picking up. So far this year I've shot Garden Fairy and Woodland Fairy, and I'm scheduled to shoot Summer Fairy, Bubble Fairy, Sand Fairy, Water Fairy, and Waterfall Nymph this week, as well as River Fairy next week. Additionally, I have models lined up to shoot Dream Fairy, Dance Fairy, Earth Fairy, Forge Fairy, Rock Fairy, Combat Fairy and Spring Fairy in August. After that, I'll probably need to take a break for a while to process the images and decide which ones should be included in the book and the calendar. In the meantime, I'm definitely staying busy with the shoots.

I did a test shoot with Holly yesterday afternoon. She is going to be my Waterfall Nymph (Fairy) which is planned to shoot on Sunday. I also interviewed Jane, who has some great ideas and the look for the Rock (Music) Fairy, and with Krisa, who had some great concepts for her Dance Fairy. I actually had a beer and was able to have a long and entertaining conversation with Krisa whose enthusiasm was quite contagious.

The photos you see here are some infrared shots from my test shoot with Holly. I'll be incorporating infrared into the future fairy shoots for an alternative look to give a more ethereal feel to some of the images. I'll be trying that out this afternoon when I shoot Summer Fairy with Ashley (a new model). Ashley is actually in the downstairs bath with her friend putting on the makeup for the Summer Fairy shoot as I edit this entry.

So, I have a very busy week ahead and with any luck I'll be getting some great images for the project and will have a lot of fun with some great models as we work together to create some exciting and fun photos.

Unfortunately, my right knee is still giving me significant issues (severe pain and muscle spasms which are exacerbated by walking), but I'm trying to bull through the pain and the limp with my trusty cane until I can get back to see my doctor on the 18th. Unfortunately for me, I'm one of those photographers that just loves to kneel or squat to shoot low angles of their subjects and my knee just doesn't work that way right now. Nevertheless, the shoots must go on.