I’m sad to say that this was my last model shoot for 2010 …… and for this last shoot, Ellensburg graced us with it’s cold and windy weather! We started later in the day so by the time we got hair & makeup done and the clothes fitted, it was about 3:00 pm and the wind had begun to pick up. I chose an old barn that I had photographed at several times before just a few miles out of Ellensburg. The barn is fairly dilapidated so it makes for interesting shapes & textures and it’s surrounded by grassy fields and fences. I always like to have a couple chairs or props with me and we used several in the tall grass. All the girls were really tuff. No one complained even though the wind was howling and it was freezing cold. Flirt owner had decided to show her spring dresses so all the models were sporting short dresses and boots. I worked quickly and was able to finish 3 of the girls and then photographed the group shot but the weather kept getting worse and we all finally decided to head back to my warm studio to finish. Once there, we were able to relax a bit and get some great shots of my last two models. Like I said, I’m sad to be finished with my model shoots. I really enjoy the creative freedom with these kinds of assignments. I look forward to seeing all these girls and guys again at their senior session.
Archive for April, 2010
Model Shoot “Ellensburg Barn”
April 28, 2010Model Shoot “Funky Old Building”
April 28, 2010I loved this photo shoot. I was able to get access to the upstairs of a very old building in downtown Ellensburg. This place was amazing and hadn’t been used since the 50′s. There was a huge dance hall, several smaller rooms and a good section of it was an old hospital. In the middle part was an enormous skylight with tons of natural light pouring in and plenty of windows to light up the smaller rooms. I used this light to backlight one of my models. I had her lay & kneel on the old hospital beds and let the light fill my lens and I love the effect I got. In the darker rooms of the building, I ramped up my ISO and drug the shutter to let in the ambient light & add grain, then added just a pop of flash from my Quadra battery pack. It was really fun working with different lighting techniques and I love what I got. All my models were from West Valley High and they were very natural and easy to work with. We all got a little creeped out in the hospital section of the building but nothing out of the ordinary happened! All of us emerged from the building safe and sound with lots of fun images. Thank you to all my models and also to Mango’s Salon in Ellensburg for doing the hair and makeup and to Flirt for suppling the clothes. Both these Ellensburg businesses are worth checking out!
Model Shoot “Flirt”
April 19, 2010I’m having so much fun this year with my model shoots. I took a lot of time to prepare and make each one different and original. For this next shoot I thought of working in my studio, but it’s under construction and was taking longer than I anticipated. Flirt owner, Mia, suggested I use the loft in her store. We hauled out her old ladder and I climbed up to the platform above her door. The light was amazing. It had floor to ceiling window down the front side of the loft with small pillars. Everything was painted white. I just loved it. My good friend from Seattle, who is also a photographer, came over for the day to work with me. He just happened to have in his car, his homemade reflectors that worked perfectly. I had 3 models that day and each one had to climb up the rickety ladder to the platform where we were working. Our guy model is in a band, so we had him bring his guitar. We all thought he looked like Justin Timberlake with the hat on. There was also a gigantic basket up there for decoration and I couldn’t resist. I had one of the models climb in and we got some really cute photos(above). I really liked working in this location and all models were just fabulous and fun to work with. Thank you to Mango’s and Flirt for contributing their talents, clothes and ideas.
Model Shoot “Roslyn House”
April 18, 2010The house is actually in Ronald. I know…….where’s Ronald? So I’ll just call it Roslyn for now. Last year I was hired by a client of mine to take some fashion images of their son. I decided to travel to their home because they live in an old mining town and I thought it would be the perfect place to get some unique images. After I got to visiting to them about locations, they told me they had this house that has been in the family forever but they said it wasn’t very clean and it was really old. Ha, a photographer’s paradise!! I had them take me there and I absolutely loved it. The house is very small with lots of natural light coming in the window. It has old furniture and a kitchen stove that uses wood. I’m just amazed at how well they’ve maintained this little house. Anyway, I had to use it for one of my model shoots this year and they were gracious enough to let me. So after hair and makeup and a trip to Flirt, my five models piled into cars and off we went. I throughly enjoyed all these girls. They were very complimentary to each other and just really fun to be around. They never complained even though the temperature inside the house was colder than outside. Poor little Mela, who has 0% body fat, was shaking. We’d take a few shots and then my assistant, Sara, would run in and wrap a blanket around her and then we’d try again. I did some cool images of Mela and Kelsey behind the glass in the door and I really like how they turned out. I treated the girls to coffee on the way home to help everyone warm up. All in all it was a very successful shoot and a lot of fun.
Model Shoot “Choppers”
April 12, 2010Last year I photographed one of my model shoots with scooters from D&M coffee and we had a lot of fun but this year I wanted to step it up a notch. Jason and Chuck from ‘White Trash Bikes’ were nice enough to set us up with a couple choppers that were way cool. I scouted an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Ellensburg. I loved the texture of the corrugated metal siding and I thought this would showcase our models on the bikes nicely. Mia, from Flirt decided to go with a fun fresh look and dressed our models in party dresses. Our hunky guy model sported designer jeans and a black biker jacket. Mango’s outdid themselves with funky hair and makeup that completed the look. Now it was my turn to create great images. I pulled out my Elinchrom power pack with soft box attached. I was going for a high fashion look with punchy lighting. The models really outdid themselves. They all pulled of the glam look perfectly except of course our token guy who was very buff and handsome. I worked with each model individually and then photographed the group shots. Overall I really enjoyed the shoot and feel we got some great images. Thank you to all our models and the moms that came with. 
Model Shoot “Bed in the Meadow”
April 12, 2010We have some great fashion shoots planned for this year and I’m really excited to share some of the images from the first shoot. The concept for this shoot was “something out of the ordinary”. I came up with the idea of hauling a bed into a meadow and photographing five of our photonuvo models on and around it. The weather was cold but with 1 inch of snow the day before and pouring rain, I was just happy that it was dry. I’m partnering with Flirt clothing store located in Ellensburg to outfit the models for each fashion shoot. Mia, Flirt’s owner, came up with the idea of soft flowing clothes in white and off white and had her distributor send over a clothing line that we could use. Mango’s hair salon did a great job with the girls hair and makeup. We kept the bed linen light using different textures of white and I borrowed an old antique bed from a friend of mine. The hardest part of the whole shoot was getting the bed into the meadow, which was about a 100 yards from the road. It took about 2 hours to set it up and we had to haul it in piece by piece. We got the funniest looks from people passing by and I was asked several times if I was camping for the night. Can you imaging all that work just to sleep in a meadow overnight?? Well I guess most people couldn’t image all that work for a photo shoot, so there you go. We all have our own priorities! Anyways, the girls were completely awesome to photograph and we all had a great time. It was so cold, some of the girls toes were completely blue but you sure can’t tell in the photograph. These girls are true models! The finishing touch was the mosquito netting that I found at Ikea. My neighbor made a pole that we could suspend it from and it really added a great effect to the images. All in all, this shoot was very successful and thank you to all the girls who braved the cold weather! Now all that was left was to haul this bed back out of the meadow before dark. Boy was I tired the next day.
