Lost in the Woods

It was an outdoors shoot and the weather man was calling for rain.  The day before it had come down in buckets.  The rain was so heavy that traffic was slowing down to 40mph just to see because the windshield wipers weren't keeping up.  A shoot in that heavy of a rain means a very wet model so I decided to tote around an umbrella and a change of clothing, just in case.  It was raining hard at my house, then just a bit drizzly ten minutes away, then only moist and overcast. It did rain quite bit in the valley but the shoot was up in the mountains and we rose above the rain and had a very nice shoot.

We took a path from city to ocean via back roads and forest service roads.  This is Oregon, western Oregon, so it’s green and hilly and beautiful with plenty of evergreen trees, ferns, vista of snowcapped mountains and because it is in the rainy season, there are small waterfalls all over the place and the low lands are getting somewhat spongy. I love it here.  It's so beautiful and being in the woods gives me a great sense of peace and of belonging.

We shot down by the river at first.  There was a large log partially in the water.  It was all moss covered.  I was wrapped in a sheer cloth and played my flute a bit.  I also had brought an earthenware pitcher and poured water on myself.  It was a good thought but I am sure the image won't come out.  Sometimes that's how it is.

We walked over to some Aspen further down and I waded and leaned on the trees.  It was simple and comfortable.  The cloth I was wrapped in this time was darker and shorter so the feel of the shoot will be very different than then previous one.  This was a little wilder, an untamed woman watching for danger or perhaps a fish to catch or just listening to the rushing of the water behind her.  This photo will come out well, I am sure.

We moved on.  I had shown the photographer a shot that I wanted to try.  It was of a woman simply garbed leaning against a very large tree as if the tree had wrapped her in its loving arms, as if she was clinging to its skirts as a child will do with its mother.  It's very strong and she seems so in tune with the tree, a druid perhaps, a wood nymph.  I hope I captured the feel for this one.

A few more sets and we started just wandering in his car along the deserted road.  We took a few less travelled roads and really got "lost"...as much as you can get lost when the GPS is telling you which way the road will turn next.  It was amusing though, she would tell us to turn right and we would look at a small path and think, "This car is not going to make it through that way!" and laugh.

The whole day was fun.  We talked and talked.  For perfect strangers we really connected quickly and I quite enjoyed the day.  It was a relief, as always, when at the end of the day, he said, "ok, well I can't wait until we can shoot again!"

Gift to Military Spouses

His casting call said "Gift to Military Spouses" and so I replied.  It was a number of weeks before we were able to schedule a shoot.  That one got cancelled due to my illness.  Finally, the day before the second scheduled shoot, I realize that I know little to nothing about the genre and haven't even considered what clothing to bring! I sent a panicked email to the photographer and he calmly replied, "Don't worry...we have sizes 2 to 16 already here."  Ack!  I was a size 16 once.  So I looked around and tried to find things that might work.  I love making last minute costumes for Halloween so it really was very much the same thing. I pulled a rabbit out of my hat and felt as ready as I could be for the next day.

When I arrived at the industrial building, I could not figure out where to park so I call him and he met me out front and showed me where to park.  When I got parked and got out, I felt incredibly flustered.  Usually I am fairly self assured but the concern with my size and age and wardrobe choices had me a mess. Also, my hair and makeup was being done there, so I was a blank slate, so to speak. There I was, older, heavier and uglier than he expected. I was not feeling self assured.

I did have a few ideas ready.  The shoot would be pinup and Hollywood glamour.  The pinup had me most worried about costuming but I had a few military pinup ideas and outfits.  For the Hollywood glamour I had a nice basic formal gown.We went inside and looked at my ideas book and the clothing that I had brought along.  He liked the ideas and we discussed which would work best and how he can make changes as needed using photoshop. He showed me some of his current work including one cute Statue of
Liberty photo that he was about to enter into a calendar contest.  His work was phenomenal.  It was interesting looking at the before and after shots.

The hair and makeup artist arrived looking like a pinup herself.  She was simply adorable and I said so.  The photographer piped up agreeing and complaining that she never let him shoot her.  He also mentioned that she really needed some photos of herself on her Facebook advertising pages.  She got to work on me.  Hair was first.  My hair doesn't take a curl well so I warned her and she used extra styling gel.  When she started working on my makeup, I suggested to the photographer to "quick, get a shot now while she is busy concentrating!" We bantered back and forth like that a bit and she finally agreed to a couple photos of her in action.  She was afraid she would get distracted and ruin my eye liner or something but she didn't. 

Once I was all dolled up, she left and we got to shooting.  We did a bit of military pinup, a bit of silly pinup using and outfit from the studio and finally some Hollywood glamour in my formal gown.  When we were finished we took a cursory glance at them on his computer and he edited one that needed very little work and emailed it to me right then.  There are more coming and I can't wait to see the ones he decides to finish.  I am having him print one of the glamour shots for my husband.  I think he will like it.