Saturday 9 June 2012

Riverdance

Weeeelll, I'm feeling very lucky at the moment after getting back yesterday after another exciting trip to Paris (more on that soon!), then being taken out (post much-needed nap) to see Prometheus; I'll be modelling for the Yerbury Fine Art Nude seminar tomorrow at Pipewell Hall, then next week working with a well known children's book author and illustrator, plus modelling for a mainstream photography magazine front cover up in Manchester (still available in Manchester on the afternoon of the 13th; get in touch if you want to work with me there!), amongst other quick shoots during the week. Sooo busy!! At some point next week I also want to start working on an online course I've applied for so will need to carve out some time for that and begin a schedule for the next 3 months (when I have to complete it by). I am also on a self-imposed writing break at the moment to get my fire back for it and make the most of the bookings I'm getting; the idea is that I will also catch up on reading lots of good books in the meantime to feed my imagination, but I'm struggling to read more than 5 pages or so of the brilliant Love in the Time of Cholera every couple of days...! And I used to read SO quickly!! I am also determined today to watch an episode of Game of Thrones. (In one of my many alternative life fantasies, I would be an actress in exactly this kind of thing - something along the lines of Merlin or King Arthur stuff; a sultry, elegant queen or fairy-like peasant with magical powers, riding my horse through forests and commanding people to fight for justice. (not that I'm actually in any way war-inclined). Yeah... Anyway...)

Good job I am really loving my job (aka accidental career) at the moment! What with the endless non-actual-modelling work to be done (updating, responding, emailing, scheduling, organising flights, buying tickets, coordinating bookings, packing, unpacking...) I'm really not sure how models who work more often than I do manage to have a life at all! Yes, our hourly modelling fees might be more than the minimum wage.... but for all the time and emotion that goes into it, I reckon we deserve it! :-)

Anyway, I wanted to show some new figure shots from the Edinburgh-based photographer Britalicus, taken during my Scottish trip last month. There will be more to show from our session, but I have already put one of these in my portfolio (and eventually I will muster the extreme patience required to update my website via my crashy-McCrash Dreamweaver, with one of these plus millions of new recent shots I want to put on the various different galleries there; it's a case of one new image per week there at the moment.... yawn...), so I wanted to blog a few.

Britalicus was such a pleasure to work with; although hiring me, he asked me at the beginning what I wanted to do for my portfolio! I told him I really loved his dynamic dark figures against the white background, an ongoing project of his, and we ended up having lots of fun with these. I also mentioned that I really wanted to do some strong nude dance work with a dancer, as that's not something I've done yet (and Britalicus has some great stuff in that style), and so there is a potential second shoot in the making for this during my second Scotland trip in August/early Sept. When Britalicus first contacted me over on Model Mayhem (that was back in 2010!!! - I am a slow mover; I finally get to Scotland in 2012. Oops!) his message was incredibly humble and polite, and he described himself as a 'relative novice' and wondered if I would consider working with him; even then it was evident that he would do well, and as I said to him recently; look how his work has blossomed now that I finally have made it over there! Amazing! I have been so impressed with his passion and output, and he's worked with some incredible models along the way. So without further ado, a first round of funky figure studies:




I don't usually seek to give images titles (I think that's the photographer's job, anyway!), but I am calling the middle one 'Riverdance'.