Winter Queen

Llywellyn

Inna was in town from NY, accompanying her husband while he was here on business. She reached out to a few local photographers to schedule sessions, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. Somewhat rushed planning and, of course, nothing went to plan.

I've just started processing while waiting for her to choose her top picks. :deal

1


2


3 - I pulled out some Christmas decorations for her to play with as props. This one made the shoot turn more Queen Elizabeth than Winter Queen. :giggle


The eyelashes stopped cooperating eventually and we moved forward without them.

4


5 - Outtake near the end of the session (love those unguarded moments). :lust


Thanks for stopping by! :thumb

divamum

Oooo! Oooo! Oooo! A Llywellyn shoot! I've felt deprived without more of your pix around here!

LOVE.

I think my favorites are 1 and 5, but they're all fantastic. #5 somehow looks like an outtake of a 17th century period drama - there's something terribly Poldark-ish about it.

What lens? The bokeh and dof are yummy!

Post more... pretty please???

jethibod

Wow! These are fantastic! This is so inspiring!!

Sam

Very nice! I love #2.

Sam

Llywellyn

Thanks, all. I'm happy with what's come out of it so far considering how thrown-together the shoot was and how much it fell apart because of the @#$! white make-up.

Diva, I was using my 50 1.4 most of the time. I fluctuated between 1.4 and 2.8 for a while, then I think I settled on 3.2 or so for the rest of the shoot. A couple times I switched to my 18-200 so I could get really close on some shots, like #4. Not the best lens for it, but all I have at the nonce.

JulieLawsonPhotography

When I first saw the photos (subject rather), I was like, "Oh . This type of photography is not something that I'm used to seeing. I love the details that you can see in the eyelashes. Very interesting. When the lashes come off, I am amazed at how different she looks. Good job on all of these.

lisarhinehart

amazing shots
I really like your compostion and great idea on the christmas ornaments-- her make-up is amazing with those long lashes, so dramatic.... and you really play them up. I really enjoyed looking at this gallery.

Tim Kamppinen

Very cool shots! Made me think of Jadis, the "White Witch" from the Chronicles of Narnia...

heatherfeather

What an interesting set! You really nail the concept shoots, Kerry.
Love these!

saurora

The 'outtake' #5 is my favorite and then #2. I like the angle, dof, and the way she is glancing behind her. The makeup is pretty wild! Looks like she could step into a Tim Burton movie. So how much time for planning did you have? Did you have any idea what her expectations were ahead of time?

Richard

Wow! These are great, Kerry. clap

Llywellyn

Thank you for all the kind comments, folks.

saurora wrote:

So how much time for planning did you have? Did you have any idea what her expectations were ahead of time?

I had about five days' notice, but only half of one day to actually get prepared because of previously laid plans plus business travel. I returned to town the afternoon before the shoot, grabbed lunch, then ran about trying to find fake fur.

I sent her three concept ideas I had in my head to shoot and she chose the winter queen theme. I'd given her a quick brush of the idea—close-up beauty portraits with a white face and fur stole—so she had some idea. (I try to give models a really good idea of what they're getting in to when shooting with me.) But the make-up didn't cooperate and surprised both of us. I spent about two hours trying to get her face covered and hair done.

Thankfully, she had a great attitude about it and we were both giggling throughout the process.

divamum

Llywellyn wrote:

But the make-up didn't cooperate and surprised both of us. I spent about two hours trying to get her face covered and hair done.

Don't know what you were using (and given your theatrical background you may know this already, so forgive my redundancy if so!) but IME for flat, dense white the way to go is Kryolan pancake stage makeup, available at any theatrical supplier. Most folks can wear it easily and comfortably (I am one of the very rare people allergic to it so if I MUST wear it, I have to have a barrier layer under it so it doesn't touch my skin directly), it's not expensive and it does cover and covers fast. If you really want to treat your models, then go with Mehron brand (similar product, just slightly higher quality and consequently more $).

In any case, it may have taken you a while but you did a great job on it, so the hours were well spent!! I've been coming back to look at these over and over since you posted them - I really think they're a great series!

eL eSs Vee

Fantastic work, Kerry! Why no one before me has commented on number four baffles me. I think it's the best of the lot - eyelashes or no. Fantastic composition and I love her in-your-face stare back at the viewer. All of them are great, but in my opinoin number four is outstanding! Absolutely beautiful!!

Llywellyn

divamum wrote:

Don't know what you were using (and given your theatrical background you may know this already, so forgive my redundancy if so!) but IME for flat, dense white the way to go is Kryolan pancake stage makeup, available at any theatrical supplier.

Thanks, Diva, I'll have to keep the recommendations in mind. Since the shoot happened quicker than usual for my planning purposes, I didn't have time to order what I wanted or find a theatrical supply store within driving distance (which I likely wouldn't have driven since I'd driven three hours back from Chincoteague that morning and had enough of my car :giggle). The blessing in what I did use is that the model was able to wash it off quickly and easily with very little mess.

eL eSs Vee wrote:

Fantastic work, Kerry! Why no one before me has commented on number four baffles me.

Thank you. Funnily enough, my favorite is #3, which is also sans comment. I enjoy reading the varying views and opinions of other photographers whenever I throw stuff out there. I always learn something from it.

NeilL

I love <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/iloveyou.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > what you are doing here, Kerry.

Brought to mind these lyrics of a song of mine (why do your pics always make me go poetic??!!:D)...


Sashenka's Song (c)

From her window Sashenka sees<o:p></o:p>
all the trees are bare.<o:p></o:p>
Winter has taken all the green<o:p></o:p>
that was there.<o:p></o:p>
The street sweeper comes,<o:p></o:p>
Sweeps the dead leaves away…<o:p></o:p>
And still Sashenka sits and waits!<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
The face at Sasha’s window<o:p></o:p>
reflects the pale moon’s light:<o:p></o:p>
Two white winter flowers<o:p></o:p>
in the black winter night…<o:p></o:p>
She watches and sings,<o:p></o:p>
“Should I grieve for the leaves<o:p></o:p>
Or pray to see next summer’s green?”<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
“Ilya, Ilya!<o:p></o:p>
Ilya, I love you!”<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
“The day that you left for the war<o:p></o:p>
in the East,<o:p></o:p>
I brought you the last<o:p></o:p>
of the flowers from the fields…”<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
“Your face became sad,<o:p></o:p>
you said as we kissed,<o:p></o:p>
‘Oh! Summer’s last flowers...<o:p></o:p>
Oh! Should they be picked?’”<o:p></o:p>