One of my favorite aspects about photography is human connection. Being able to come together with another person, or even multiple, and create something is very gratifying. Paris is a traveling model from southern Oregon who consistently shoots here in Portland. She reached out to me a couple months before writing this post wanting to shoot. I was in Chicago at the time, but made a point to contact her when I arrived back home. With our matched love for dark beauty and moody portraiture, I couldn't let this opportunity pass. We set a date for middle of November.
Fast forward two weeks, she contacted me on a Thursday night telling me she would be in town the next day. This was about a month or so earlier than we had scheduled. She asked if I would be down for a last minute shoot since she'd already be in town. I wasn't busy that day and everything kind of just fell into place. We linked up in the afternoon, grabbed a quick snack then headed to my apartment to look through some photo props. At home, I have a box of stuff for photo shoots. Anytime I'm looking to involve something extra for a shoot, I go to the box. I had never shot with body paint before and neither had Paris. We both decided it would be fun to try out. We grabbed some black body paint and headed to the forest.
I love using my friends and strangers as subjects, but working with experienced models is totally different. They've done this before. They know how to pose, they know when to switch poses and they know what works best for them. They have a confidence in front of the camera that is very admirable. It allows for more photos (and more keepers) to be taken away in the same amount of time or less. After a couple hours of shooting we called it a wrap.
Paris and I are scheduled to shoot again in a few weeks. You can expect to see more work with her and myself. Until then, please enjoy this set I've put together.
You can find Paris on Instagram via @paris_call
I have put other photos from this set on my website.
Hope you enjoyed reading :)
