Classical

Through the desert… (My head soaked in river water)

ERWhittington 8 Comments
Hello! 
Just a quick update while I find my feet here in the desert…
I’ve just finished spending an amazing week in the company of wonderful people, a house/commune of girls who are all very different, yet all very like me, where going around nude is nothing out of the ordinary, beautiful art is created, and evenings were spent testing our tolerance for heat in hot tubs, then cooling off by slipping like whales – or, perhaps more flatteringly (possibly), otters – into the cooler conjoining pool, while sipping wine or water laced with freshly squeezed and freshly picked lime-tangerines (we couldn’t diagnose them; they crossed boundaries but tasted deliciously sour). What an amazing reality. So sad to leave that behind. I have now jolted my system into a city of fakery, artificial pleasure and sin; not my most natural habitat, but a wonderful part of the world from which to discover a nearby(ish) hole in the ground, I hear. And I want to wear feathers in my hair and pretend to be Pocahontas while finding the landscapes of the natives.
Here is a slideshow I made (and please appreciate that I am technologically retarded, in the truest sense of the world, and that this actually took a lot of effort). It shows various nude shots of me and is a good overview of my work so far in that genre. I amused myself by pushing the ‘English fairy’ angle quite heavily; hence the incredibly beautiful song by the incredibly ethereal Bat for Lashes, who spent a lot of time singing through my car’s CD system a couple of years ago and whose third album is going to be grabbed by me as soon as I’m home, as its being released while I’m away. Actually, I’ll just order it online now. 
//www.youtube.com/get_player

Thanks to all those photographers featured. You are great.

Purple Haze

ERWhittington 5 Comments

I had a visit from a photographer this morning – he’d come over to my house especially to drop off a memory stick of images for me before I go away. How thoughtful!!

You might have seen my work with Keith Cooper before, as I’ve modelled for him quite a few times now. The set I’m showing below from our second-most recent shoot back in April (at Cheltenham Film Studios) is an expansion on a theme of decadence, luxury and nudes with jewel coloured fabrics and drapes. I have since shot with him alongside Ivory Flame in an amazing setting with an exciting theme inspired by Waterhouse. See previous stuff here: http://ellarosestory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/luxury.html and here: http://ellarosestory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/pre-raphaelite-goodness.html. I have more to show from this shoot (from some other sets we did); will leave those for another time though.

Lots of lounging around here – need to pick a favourite! 🙂

Peaches and Cream

ERWhittington 4 Comments

I love the soft creamy peachy hues in these shots taken recently by Richard Lund, taken recently at Karen Jones’ amazing abode. A nice chance to use some new-ish pretty lacy lingerie and air my new ‘Robin’ autumnal scarf as well. Richard was very enthusiastic and fun to work with, as always.

Stay tuned for Karen’s shots, coming soon – we got some beauties, despite the three of us spending what felt like most of the time chatting and drinking tea, and there was even a visit from Cupid in front of the lens…! 🙂

When We Had Summer

ERWhittington 10 Comments

It’s feeling all autumnal now, which I absolutely love. The air is cooler and I have somehow acquired a brilliant selection of quirky and funky woollen knit ‘statement’ jumpers and scarves over the last few months, which definitely deserve a ‘casual fashion or portraiture’ shoot or two. I hope I get to do a brown, yellow and gold posing-in-fallen leaves type of shot at some point, though I’m sending myself off to summer (aka California) for October, so we shall see what I manage to achieve around that.

If you’d like to work with me this year, I’m taking bookings for November and December now. I may well be in Australia etc next year, if I can work a few things out, and I do hope to be doing lots of European trips again too (Plus Ireland and Scotland at some point), but that’s way off, so please do email me to say hello at ellarosemuse@live.co.uk if you want to arrange some time with me. I’d love to hear from you!

Some of the following shots were taken on a day which was just such an absolute pleasure to be outside on, with warm glowy light and a gentle breeze so perfect for beautiful flattering shots – so much so that I’ve spotted that photographer Max Operandi has named one of the image files ‘When we had summer’. 🙂

(Ian has also posted the colour version of the shot above over on his redbubble site, and I really really love that one. You can see it here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/maxoperandi/works/8895823-nude-with-a-raleigh)

And more Ian sent me from the day we shot together as part of a Yerbury Fine Art Nude masterclass at Pipewell Hall:

With Zoi:

And proof that I don’t always take things too seriously…

Red jellyfish & Black Tutus

ERWhittington 2 Comments

Evening! I’m back in England, where a bikini doth not an outfit make.

I’ve just had a really lazy summer holiday in my parents’ apartment in the south of Spain, where temperatures were, of course, predictably and gloriously HOT, the outdoor pool glitters in the sunlight and makes the perfect arena for weird and watery races and acrobatics (I rarely actually swim), floaty dresses were reluctantly donned to walk around unbelievably beautiful white mountain-backed villages, and hazy sunsets and star-filled nights were the rule. I am so lucky to have that little part of the world to escape to!

(Although, shock horror: I got stung by a jellyfish!!! I couldn’t believe it!! My boyfriend spotted a couple of these small red, alien floaty creatures bobbing around and swam a little way towards them to peer at them, delighted (BOYS!!!). I, cleverly, backed away, only to be lanced in the ankle by one floating around behind me!! It hurt SO much!! I really panicked, as I’ve been to Spain many times but never seen or experienced this there, and I have no real ‘jellyfish knowledge’ (other than on the east coast of Australia, where jellyfish = bad) and didn’t know if it was a serious situation or not… And does ‘red’ not equal ‘I will poison you’ in nature?…

…All this panic was going through my head while my ankle began to feel stiff and swollen, I felt all wobbly, and the pain kept shooting through me over and over again. I think my loud English swearing caused a bit of fuss, so the water quickly cleared, and then was slowly filled up by gallant men with fishing nets, who seemed determined to empty the sea of all possible jellyfish and display them on hot rocks on the beach. Urgh. Anyway, it was all fine, I didn’t die, and my red double-tentacle swipe tattoo has now mostly disappeared completely.

By the way, it was a nudist beach. (Well, tan lines are disallowed in this career, are they not?) Yes, the swimmers absconded quite quickly.

*Sorry to all the people who’ve emailed me over the last couple of weeks* – I allowed myself hardly any internet time while on holiday (there is none in the apartment), but I will be replying to all messages soon now! It’s good and healthy to have time separated from the world of online activity, but it’s been so nice to catch up today on all the many and varied blogs I follow. I’m also planning a few new things and projects to get started with (or wrap up) over the next few weeks – don’t you just love that fresh perspective and buzz you get about your home life after ever just a short time away?

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I had a really fun and productive shoot with Richard Spurdens last month, a long-awaited second shoot, while on my trip to Stockport, and the following images have kindly arrived in my inbox, made at Hallam Mill Studios. We shot quite a few different styles, and I think there are many more ideas in the planning.

I have many more photos lined up to show here, as always, including some I love and should have posted weeks ago, and get so excited by seeing the results from the shoots I’ve done! Stay tuned! …And it’s always nice to hear which shots stand out most to my blog readers, so do speak up if you feel the urge! 🙂

My newest black tutu, with my lingerie leotard and pointes:

Stylised portraits:

Shot from above, making the most of a floor:

A new blue skirt I love, and window stories:

Some posing around:

🙂

Public Service Announcement: a Book!

ERWhittington 1 Comment

I’m so excited to have in my hands the fruit of several months’ coordination and the physical result of some extremely generous and kind photographers. I’m holding (well, not while typing, I suppose, but it’s here on my desk) a collection of some of my favourite images taken over the last three years, during which I’ve been practising my happy deviation into a life of art modelling.

I’ve mentioned before that I thought it was sad not to have many actual prints to show for my hard work, unlikely adventures and gloriously fun modelling frolics so far, and that computer files didn’t really cut it; and that I had decided to put together a photography book for myself to look at when I’m old (or anytime between now and then…). I’ve now managed to finish this project.

The book focuses on just one theme; it uses shots from one of my twelve website galleries, ‘Faerie’, and collects 29 natural, gentle, romantic and pure shots of me as the nude, female figure in a loose ‘garden’ setting; in tall grass, entwined in trees, in pools of water, surrounded by flowers, in faerie queen headdresses, in pre-Raphaelite forest guises, in the cool, shady dappled light of Mediterranean gardens and against huge, jurassic plants. I’ve never made a book before, so this is a great feeling, and just so wonderful to be able to own!

I’m so grateful to the photographers whose images are printed in this book, and although this was definitely created just as an indulgence for myself, as something to keep, I do have permission to make this book available for others to purchase. If anyone would like to buy themselves a copy, some money from each book bought goes to Amnesty. If you agree with me that physical prints are sooo much more satisfying to look at than online virtual ones, and you like the idea of owning a version yourself, having it adorn your bookshelf and perhaps provide some visual and artistic inspiration, you’re welcome to preview it online and see what you think.

Huge thanks to the following. Click on the links below to see more of their work:
Rebecca Parker
John Evans
Paul Bartholomew
Rayment Kirby
Voyages2004
J H
DB Images
Dave Aharonian
Keith Cooper (website pending)
Imagesse
Robert Farnham
Gregory Brown
Michael Cordiez
Sean Buckley
and Pat Brennan

…I hope you like it. I’m so glad I finally did this and am already thinking of making a second book sometime in the not-too-distant future… Just need to choose a gallery/theme and start to gather my favourites!

Yerbury Fine Art Nude Masterclass

ERWhittington 6 Comments

I’m just back from a very enjoyable shoot with a photographer and his wife, a couple I’ve visited quite a few times now and love to see. We did some really nice un-posed and natural, expressive nudes (inspired by Jonvelle) in their beautiful house, and it seems a fitting time to now blog about a recent day spent with another husband and wife team.

I love working with Trevor and Faye Yerbury – they produce such beautiful, classy work and are lots of fun to model for, so I was happy to be chosen to model for one of their Fine Art Nude Masterclasses the other day. As always, the photographers taking the course were all a pleasure to meet and seemed to enjoy themselves very much, snapping away with big smiles all round! The location was Pipewell Hall, an old country manor house in Northamptonshire. I was mainly stationed indoors with Faye, making the most of the building’s incredible features and furnishings, while the other model, Zoi, spent the day outdoors in the grounds with Trevor. It was really nice to meet Zoi after we’d tried but failed to meet up in Holland (where she is based most of the time, though she frequently visits the UK still) and we had a good natter over lunch. 🙂 We made a good contrast as photographic subjects; Zoi with her beautiful Greek/’Amazonian’ look and me with a more ‘pre-Raphaelite’/serene style (well, that’s what Trevor said anyway!).

See here for more info on the range of workshops currently on offer by the Yerbury team: http://www.yerburystudio.com/

A few of the photographers attending have very kindly sent me some of their shots from the day. It’s interesting to see some of the different takes on the same poses. I was really happy to give my first airing to my new pointe shoes (ribbons to be sewn on very soon; old ones to be dyed black!) and although I’d only mentioned to Faye in passing that I’d brought them along while she was doing my hair at the beginning of the day, ‘ballet’ ended up being quite a strong theme for my posing, with lots of happy skirt swirling in front of the window. 🙂

These first shots are by Andrea (Pink Lily Photography) – read Andrea’s blog post about the day here:

By Maria Tanner (Lace Market Photography – see Maria’s blog post here!):

By Ian Parry AKA Maximus Operandi:

And last but not least, by Faye:

Zoi and I posing together outside at the end (first shot here by Ian Parry; colour snaps by Faye)

Trevor overseeing all:

 And a group shot (Zoi and I being silly in the middle)! 🙂

Thanks again to everyone who has sent me shots – it’s much appreciated! And to anyone reading, please feel free to let me know any favourites… Your feedback is always fun to read! 🙂
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In other news, I’ve recently re-jiggled by portfolio on Model Mayhem (click here to go there) – trying to organise it so that, by clicking on the relevant galleries, photographers who are less interested in nudes can see my fashion/commercial/editorial work all in one place without having to wade through all the more artistic shots, while photographers interested in figure work primarily don’t have to wade through shots of me grinning and running blissfully along beaches in sportswear… Wonder if it works well like that as a way to show versatility without having them all mixed up and it looking too eclectic – why not pop over and take a gander?