Joie de Vivre

I find it serendipitous that when I find myself struggling to find inspiration, someone I've forgotten about reaches out and asks to work with me.  A couple weeks ago, I received a text message from Joy asking if I had time to shoot with her.  Earlier this year,  during her Spring Break we did a quick Little Red style shoot.  It didn't take long to come up with a couple ideas and organize the shoot.  As luck would have it, one of the first Make-up Artists I had the fortune to collaborate with was available, too. I photographed Heidi (a.k.a. The Makeup Monster on Facebook) back in November of 2011 and realized what a great person she is both in front and behind the camera.

I really wanted to do some "On Location" stuff, but with time constraints and one of the outfits we ended up shooting solely in the studio.  The last time I worked with Joy in the studio, was back in September of 2012 when she won the LUSH Model Search and figured we could keep her from freezing.

The lighting wasn't anything new, but what I found out while setting up and taking the first few test shots was that I was really rusty.  Egad, my lighting was sucking big time and I apologized to Joy for being such a hack.  Although some of my lighting is pretty easy, it still requires practice to dial it in.

After a few frames, I asked her to change and put on a different outfit so I could work out the kinks and shoot some available light images. I enjoy shooting tall models, since it makes easier for me and I don't need to squat down and make them appear taller.  Once we got the shots I wanted, we switched back tot he Angel Wings and finished up the rest of the shoot.

I have to admit that for the first time during one of my lingerie shoots, I was uncomfortable shooting Joy.  She is the same age as my youngest son and I just don't look at her in "that" way.  We still captured some quality images and had a fun time shooting.

Thanks again Joy for asking me to shoot with you, as it came totally unexpected and to Heidi for her willingness to work with me.