I was waffling on about how I would one day love to shoot with a lion (as is often the case, other waffle-themes sometimes involving tigers, llamas, lambs, peacocks and sometimes unicorns; and lack of animal-cruelty allowing) and David came up with this spot, half way down the Australian coast… Well, we work with what we’ve got… 🙂
Evening!
New images made in France, where I stayed at Don and Trisha McCrae’s photography school/B&B. Much recommended. I modelled for a couple of days while Don taught/assisted, and on the final day, before I left for the airport, we went on a very determined hunt for some poppies. It rained, but there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity, and Don kindly obliged. Lens Babied for dreamy effect…
I’m off to Wales tomorrow, and after saying at the beginning of the year (to myself) that I would be travelling less and focussing more on other things, in reality I’m modelling as much as ever. It’s hard to turn down jobs and great opportunities. I don’t think it’s in my nature to just do ‘one thing’ though, as I was discussing with someone the other day, so I’m carrying on with my usual style of aiming in several directions at once (and gathering more plans as I go). I think it’s OK if that also involves jetting around and frolicking in front of creative-ly wielded lenses/paintbrushes, though; upcoming plans (beween now and October) include Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Cornwall, Scotland, Vienna and more, alongside ongoing/new projects in my ‘local’ area of the south/midlands of England.
Unrelated (and you may have seen this on my facebook page recently):
For a possible new project, I’d be interested in hearing any (sensible, non-pervy) questions you have for art (/nude) models that you’d quite like the answer to; anything you’ve wondered about, however specific or vague, practical or philosophical. Please email any questions to ellarosemuse@live.co.uk (I don’t mind if it’s anonymous) and I’ll respond to acknowledge receipt. Thank you!
Until quite recently I’d never posed alongside a male model except for during fully-clothed commercial/wedding work. The idea of doing nudes had vaguely interested me on and off, but I was intrigued by the possibility of doing so without creating a body of work which is overly sexual or, well, porny. Having looked around for inspiration in the world of photography I found surprisingly little that inspired me – there’s a lot of modern erotica, some of which is beautifully done, but very little which is more classical, like the kind of thing you’d see in the work of certain painters or sculptors (obviously there is also plenty of explicit erotica in any medium, old or new, but I was looking for something else). I began to see it as a challenge…
I wanted to see if I could create something sensual, loving and intimate without being too erotic; depicting pure love and romantic pleasure, desire and playfulness… all while still keeping a mood of innocence. And yes, the line is so fine in part because it is so vague and perhaps dissolves completely on too much consideration.
Having been in touch for a while with Joel Hicks (who currently stars in the brilliant Harpic ad on TV, amongst many other things), we decided to see if we could find a photographer who might be interested in shooting us together. I asked ManCave, who I’d shot with twice before, if he was interested; and he was, so we made a plan. I waffled looong involved theories (about love versus lust, etc. etc.) at them both, and I couldn’t be happier with the results! ManCave planned these classical sets and arranged everything beautifully, and Joel was absolutely perfect in both looks and professionalism. His facebook page is here, and is well worth a ‘like’ in my humble opinion; he’s inspiring both within and without his modelling work, and competent male models are massively under-hired in the freelance world.
Anyway, to the images….
Quick plug: We think we worked quite well together and make quite a good combination, so just in case anyone is interested in booking us as a duo this summer, possibly in a beautiful outdoor location (Joel happens to live on a 13 acre plot in the Midlands, which incorporates a fully-equipped studio as well as the lake, ponds, stables and wood), please let me know. I’ll be available to model there alone or along with Joel, for commercial/wedding images, classical or a mix. The opportunities there mean some really amazing images could be made, and as a photographer himself, Joel is also able to mentor any beginners.
Thanks for looking!
‘I must be a mermaid. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living’.Â
– Anais Nin
I was so glad I’d decided to pack my raqs sharqi costume (which I generally call my ‘mermaid’ outfit) for my trip to Norway. I can’t imagine a better scene in which to show it off than at this rocky coast in moody weather; the colours worked so beautifully. I wrote a bit about Norway on my last blog post so I won’t repeat myself here – but here’s a little update on some edits I’ve kindly received!
By Hakon Gronning:
Back from Norway! Can’t wait to show some results here ASAP. I think my record for ‘coldest I’ve ever been on a shoot’ has officially been broken. You can’t argue with arctic winds. But the midnight sun is so spectacular!
For now, in between booking trains, listening to Dolly Parton and planning shoots for tomorrow and beyond (I’ve got a commercial healthcare booking tomorrow; quite a change from nude mermaid-ing in Scandanavia!), here are some romantic, soft portraits taken recently by (not the) David Bailey. This was such a lovely shoot, with soooo many images. 🙂 I think they are almost a bit ‘bridal’; and we are well and truly into ‘wedding season’ after all! Some are edited a bit, some not.
I had a really fun morning today in London at a costume fitting for a new pilot I’m going to be in. It’s by the people behind Breaking Bad and Mad Men (neither of which I’ve personally seen, because I am never on top of these things), and I was (hilariously) picked out specially to be in a particular scene. I suppose I’d better shut up there, as I’m not allowed to discuss anything, but anyway, I get to wear a beautiful dress. 🙂
In catch-up news, I really enjoyed a flying visit to Belfast in February, organised by the lovely and very talented Ross McKelvey, who I’d modelled for once before in Dublin and once at a Yerbury workshop. A two day booking at his studio (part workshop, part group thing) expanded into 4 separate shoots, and it went by in a bit of a blur! I definitely hope to return at some point. In the meantime, I’m probably coming to Cork in August, which should be really nice!
Here are a few images from Ross McKelvey, which I really like:
and one from Hugh Wilkinson (hair and make up by Julia Clements):
Ella Rose - Photo actress, Muse & Dancer 