Fine Art Portraits with Raphaella - and a bit of Fashion !

I have worked once with young Raphaella for my Dancers in the Dark series last September and was real keen to work with her again, as always at the end of the shoot we grabbed a few portraits, always a good way to end a session as all the todo lists and rule books get packed away before picking up he camera.

Although we arranged to work in Glasgow on the Tues morning it was Tim Time again, the guy from England on his holiday with very understanding better half.... did I say holiday ? more like a mission !. So Monday eve, a couple of hours at a nearby castle, then a reservoir dam, then back to Wester Lix to use the Farmhouse for some indoor work. The castle is just a great location for scenic and arty portrait and figure work, have lived in the area 11 years and only bothered to check it out last year, better late than never, feel its been waiting for me all this time.
Anyway, this is supposed to be all about young Raphaella, a rather good looking and extremely versatile fine art model, and also such fun to work with, more energy than us old geezers, and the expression 'don't think I can do that' is not something she understands.
This was really Tim's shoot but he did let me take a few shots for myself so most were either portfolio portraits plus a few wide angles in my style of figures in remote places.
Up at the Dam Tim had already planned his main image, a long shot along the length of the top pathway with Raphaella as a nude in a square arch midway, it promises to be a winner !. Lucky for me we were constantly interrupted with sightseers so I could grab some shots pretending to be a pro on a fashion shoot, this is a great trick for making sure folk just keep walking by and not stopping to chat. Shame really as most folk you meet around Scotland are so interesting and appreciative of the scenery, with or without the artistic decoration of a stunning lass.
Now we are back at the Farmhouse and much more in my comfort zone, the building has small windows and is beautifully decorated by our artist neighbors, a combination that creates such a romantic setting for portraits.

Most of the session was done in he main bedroom window, plus a daring shot in the porch. Not sure if our rental guests were around but his is tasteful art anyway.Day 2 (feels like another Tim extravaganza !!!), we head off to Glasgow and good old Contrast Studio, but I had mentioned an idea for an image the night before and Raph in true form would not entertain the idea of not giving this a go ! You see, I had this idea of creating an image of a Mermaid on a Scottish Loch, had planned this with Holly back in april but the day we came to do it was a wash out. I am never one for getting damp and know models like Holly will suffer for my art but this would have been silly.

The only spot we found was near a car park with camper vans but everything else was ideal so 10 mins later the shot was done and we left a few guys with very fond memories of their breakfast views. Still need to photoshop the Mermaid images but really pleased with seeing the raw files.
We eventually made it to Contrast and had just about the best dancer session I could have hoped for, Raphaella has just so much energy I was knackered just shooting her !. Finally the cool down, she had this amazing bone necklass and so glad she did, with a very simple lighting setup, may fave just one large light, we did a series of 1/2 and 1/3rd portrait shots just for fun, which is what photography should be all about, and with lasses like this its easy !Thanks Raph, and to Con.