My volunteer was the lovely Charlene, a friend of a friend. This was the first shoot I did with her and, can I say, she was amazing.
We were helped out by a mutual friend, LaReina, who was wonderful enough to help with makeup and be my extra hands.
The Concept: I had this idea of my subject looking like a bas relief or a sculpture coming to life. I loved the idea of using the shape of the body and less of the face for the focus point, and also to create texture and movement for the picture.
How I Did It: I happen to have on hand a ton of chiffon-like drapery because I am forever collecting large swatches of interesting and pretty material. (I too often use the justification "I don't know how or when, but I know this will eventually come in handy") I pinned it to my backdrop so that my model could move behind it.
I knew that we would need some fan action to get the material to wrap around her but when we pulled out our two little fans, the air flow was piddly, it barley made a breeze. My husband was gracious enough to make a Wal-Mart run for me to get a bigger fan while we did hair and makeup, but that's not what he came home with.
I got a call from him while he was at the store, "Hon, I don't think any of the fans here are powerful enough to do what you want," a moment of silence as my discouragement began to set in, "but I am looking at this leaf blower." (Insert Tim Allen power tool voice here)
The leaf blower was exactly the right tool for the job. At first I was slightly afraid it would blow away the silk, model and backdrop to smithereens, but after a few power adjustments, it worked great. I was very grateful to have an extra set of hands to man that bad boy while I clicked the camera.
How It Turned Out: Sometimes I get very specific ideas in my mind of what I want. A lot of the times I get something close, most of the time it comes out even better. When I went into this, I thought I would end up with a lot of black and white (because that is what I had envisioned) but the original color pallet was so beautiful, I knew it had to stay.
The only thing that I wish to have done differently was to iron out all the silk. As we were taking the pictures and even on the camera feedback, I couldn't see the wrinkles. Once I got to the editing they became troublesome. On the other hand, they sort of work for the pictures, adding to a smooth and tough feel that I love.
All in all, I was extremely pleased with how they turned out. It is always an amazing feeling to envision an image, put it into action and then see it take on a life of its own. Its funny because sometimes I don't even know how it happens, like the image just jumped into existence without my help at all.
I am excited to revisit this concept sometime soon to try some other ideas I have for it. Plus, i need to make the leaf blower earn it's keep.
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