I would not say it was the ideal shoot. Between traffic, mosquitos, and losing a pocket wizard in the tall grass at the beginning… well, the millions of mosquitos that landed on us never bit either of us, apparently, but still.. that’s a mood killer.

Working on my own projects is much more difficult, honestly, than working a wedding or family session. Or maybe it’s just new.. but the ideas were all in my head and every model I’ve spoken with wants to know what I want. Finding a way to convey that but also still feel creative freedom has been tough. Patricia wanted to know.. but she let go and let me do my thing regardless of whether I was able to convey it well to her or not.

Patricia is also an artist, and if I was to commission a painting, I’d go to her. I actually.. well, I have brought it up. Her abstracts are really lovely, soft blends of color and line.

Most of what I do in camera mood making— either with my camera or lighting. Because I lost my pocket wizard, I threw out the idea of using extras lights and pushed forward fast. I think we spent about a quarter of the time I normally would, because of those crazy mosquitos. Oh, disclosure, the first image lightly combines another ghostly image I shot of her.