Not much

By Tracey Padron 

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, but the modeling has been in a bit of a lull...both in art and in photography.  It will pick up again very shortly ( and has started all ready)

Shoots coming up are a death metal corps makeup/ glamour shoot with Absinthe photography ( I LOVE mixing things up and playing with concepts like this) , a shoot for a calender ( 2 of them actually- super hero and Gothic)

Stuff in the works...Phoenix tattoo with Ms Gingersnap and Michael Barton Art, Yoga ( not fitness, more art with deep shadows and lighting)

Ideas I have floating around include peacock and urban primitive....

The art modeling will REALLY pick up in August, when I am pulling quite a few double shifts, and working 4 or so weekdays.

Wine promo hopefully is ALSO picking up.

So, as with many things, it is merely the calm before the storm....and I will have lots to share when it hits!  

Parking, Bathrooms and Heat

Photo by Bill Rock

Had a shoot on Tuesday with a photographer I have not worked with before, by the name of Bill Rock. Super nice guy, architect and started photography doing architectural work...he was looking to expand  with "edgier" models, I was looking to do something with architecture.  Worked out for both of us, I hope.
We met downtown (not to self, remember to check when festivals are starting so as to know when roads are closed...turned out to be the day before Taste of Chicago- so the roads around Grant Park were closed, making my planned parking, more complicated than it was supposed to be. another note...when downtown, ask for parking money 32.00 to park, whooee!  )

Chicago is such a great city for architecture, had we time and the feet for it there are PLENTY of other great buildings/ places to take pictures ! But we went from The Art institute to the Auditorium Theatre, to the El and the riverfront- so  a good walk and great places to work.

People, which I thought would be an issue, just weren't. They would wait for the shutter to click, us to wave them through or go behind Bill, so not to impact shots.  Some watched, but not obtrusively,and not for long. The people were nice. had a man with quite possible the lowest, most gravely voice I have ever heard, tell me I looked good, and several compliments of wardrobe ( shoes especially)

The problems we ran into were wardrobe changes ( a restaurant restroom, isn't the best, but it worked.  Could have been worse, I don't think I could have handled a port-o-potty ) Make -up touch ups...well we did the best we could in the bathrooms, and with the heat ( it was almost 90) I will tell you, leather shorts may be shorts, but they get STICKY...how my face was not totally flushed from the heat, I don't know.   Hair had to remain simple...I started with it up, and gradually took pins out , a little teasing and spray was all I could manage in the time and space ( and wind) I was dealt.

But overall, I think it went great. Bill seemed really happy with the images he got, I certainly am happy with the sneak peaks he provided.
All in all, another adventure, another different experience, with images  to prove it.  

Storms , hotels and Wolves

Photo by: Laura Dark

So on Sunday I had my much anticipated shoot with Laura Dark.  ( I have admired her work for a couple years now- and when presented with the chance to work with her AND wolves, I jumped!)

The hubby came with me as Columbus is a bit of a drive, and we had decided because it was we would drive down on Saturday, shoot on Sunday and drive home on Monday.
We took the "scenic" route, through little towns and two lane highways.  It was a nice, cloudy day ( we had to go through a couple rain bursts, but not awful ones)

Driving through the Midwest, off highway is for me, a very "homey" experience.  We went through places that look like childhood homes, family neighborhoods, place where my childhood was spent.

The shoot with Laura started at 10 am and makeup and hair ( 3 other women were shooting in that session) so there was 2 make up and one hair person ( thank you ladies, you did a stellar job on all4 of us!)
The shoot itself started a bit after 1, when the wolves and their handlers came to the studio.

Cana, the wolf for the shoot came in, and quickly eased my mind on how stand offish she would be...which  she wasn't at ALL.  She immediately came in, smelled, and started rolling around on the floor, on our feet, begging for belly rubs and kisses. During the shoot, it was harder to get her to not lick your makeup off, than anything else.
I am well aware that Cana is a human socialized wolf, and trained in "ambassador" work.  That a wild one would be far more shy, and timid, especially without the rest of her pack.  I am also aware that wolves do NOT make good pets...they are NOT the same as dogs, despite their similarities.  But working with her, was totally amazing, I do have to say.

The shoot itself was not long. Laura is a very deliberate shooter... she waits for the shoot, shoots, then waits again.  She is  looking to have 10-12 good images of which she usually pulls 6 or so.  Cana, made it take a little longer than I think is normal for her...but you have to work around the animal...she won't work around you.

( and by Monday evening I had gotten my finished images back)

When the shoot ended, the wolf had gone home, we had gotten out of wardrobe...hubby and I went back to the hotel. He was tired, as he had not slept well on the marginal mattress.  He said something like" I wish I was home" even though we weren't scheduled to go home until Monday, and had prepaid the room for another night.  It wasn't as though we had plans...so I said "why don't we go, if you are up to it?"  He perked up...and off we went.  Again on the scenic route , the weather was even nicer than on Saturday...my only downside, that I ran out of reading material on my kindle .

Made it home, slept in out own bed, made the kitties ( Chemo, Rogaine and Venus) happy.
Monday was a lazy day...then the Derecho blew into town.  With it's lines of severe thunderstorms , rain and wind.  It turned out well, us leaving early, as we would have been driving in that mess, had we left on Monday.  Instead we watched it safely through our own windows.  As I write this,  there are still many without power and many areas with much flooding and tree clean up today.