So I decided three days before I was due to restock the Celtic Manor hotel with my jewellery for the highly anticipated Ryder Cup, that I needed to shoot some fresh jewellery photos, preferably on a model in order to provide the backdrop for my jewellery in the glass cabinets whilst masking the unsightly holes & messy electric cables of the hotel wall behind! But with a budget of say, er zero, I had to call in some favours.
Late in the evenings of many house parties, I tend to get my camera out and pretend I'm a fashion photographer and practice photographing my friends in artistic styles. During our last (of many) New Years Eve parties, I snapped my dear friend Rhiannon, who had a few too many of my infamous Mojito's as she pretended to play my husband's guitar. She looked fab in a silver sequence one shoulder dress, that for the first time, I could see what "they" term as model material. Yes, she is tall, thin and long in all the right places, but there is more to modeling as we found out...
On several occasions I threatened to photograph her donning the jewellery for a model shoot and she showed signs of interest, but nothing concrete. So it was only a matter of time til I would play my wild card.
Three days before I was due to deliver my jewellery, the weather was shockingly miserable, setting the scene for a muddy golf tournament ahead, no doubt. But with news of a short break in the skies, I decided to cash in my wild card ask a huge favour. During our usual school run catch up, we discussed Rhiannon's availability and put her to the test. I advised her that I needed to catch the break in the weather due, er tomorrow! Was she really going to go through with the photo-shoot?
Like a true professional, Rhiannon arrived made-up and on time, whilst I was still wiring some last minute earrings, like any hardcore designer working over deadline. We grabbed the camera and some nic naks for props and headed down the footpath to a quiet green spot nearby.
As the Autumnal sun seemed to beat down along with nosy dog walkers, we got a couple of good shots, but it was clear Rhiannon was getting a little flustered. We took the decision to pack up and head back home and into the junglesque bamboo infested tropical greenery which is, my back garden. There, with the fence shielding any onlookers, I immediately saw a complete change, from a normal women into a model, as Rhiannon relaxed into the role and stepped up to the challenge. All of a sudden, we were snapping shot after quality shot of a model tantalizingly searching through the jungle in Borneo, and made the jewellery come to life. I had clocked over a thousand shots and was amazed at how each scene felt different, even though we were only moving slowly around the garden following the last light of sun as the kids were doing the same screaming and yelping at each other, scoring for our attention.
With a little bit of direction and ad-hock styling from yours truly along with that perfect Sienna light of late afternoon sun seeping through the foliage, Rhiannon really worked it and was, as Tyra Banks says all too often, FIERCE!
Thanx to Rhiannon, it was job well done. Phew!
The above photo is my favourite shot and numerous photos of Rhiannon can be seen around my website and on this blog...
