Dachs Thoughts

For the last photoshoot before a long trip I worked with a model who was completely new and unknown to me, Atlanta based Eugenia Gonzales. While she does modeling, she is not primarily a model, but also does acting and circus arts performing for various events. She was out in the area for the birthday party of a local model and was doing a few photoshoots to help fund the trip. I had been referred to her by another local model with whom I’d worked about a month earlier. We worked with a variety of wardrobe and managed to shoot all around the house as it was a very pleasant day. I’m always amazed how fast the time goes by even when I think the options are constrained ahead of time.

Less than a week after I had shot with Erin Divine, I had another chance to work with Auroraa with whom I’ve worked many times. She was just back from traveling in Russia and Istanbul and she had rented a place in the Oakland hills. Unfortunately, I was suffering badly with my sciatica so it was a challenge shooting (including just getting down the stairs to the place where she was staying). Nevertheless, we managed to experiment with some creative ideas. I had brought my new LED which provided some interesting lighting variations. Also, Auroraa had started utilizing ChatGPT in an interesting way to suggest settings and poses after she had fed in pictures of the space and some prompts with esthetic goals we might try. It was a new experience for me. All in all a productive session even though I was pretty hobbled in my physical activity.

While she was still hanging out in California, and taking a break from her rock climbing, I had another chance to shoot with Tennessee based traveling model Erin Divine. The last time we had shot I felt that we didn’t really get through everything I was interested in exploring, so it was nice to work with her again. Unfortunately, the night before we shot I pulled something in my back and had major sciatica pain, but I managed to get through it taking it nice an slow. I think we were able to get some nice shots.

Just a couple of days after shooting with Magnolia I traveled down to the Santa Cruz area where I shot with frequent collaborator Jennifer Jones. We hadn’t worked together since Christmas time. We shot in an area not far from town referred to as the Garden of Eden. It’s a relatively popular swimming area for the locals, and is a beautiful area along a river at the bottom of a canyon. We shot late in the day and although there were a number of cars in the parking area we didn’t encounter anybody while we were working. We explored a handful of areas along the river an got some beautiful shots. Along with the nice scenery, it was also a nice opportunity to work with my new 135 mm f/1.8 lens out of doors with plenty of space to get a feel for its utility.

I had a nice (early) photoshoot with east coast based model, Magnolia. We had last worked together about a year earlier, on one of her first traveling tours. The weather was pleasant and we were able to shoot both in the house and in the back yard. We were able to explore a nice variety of setups. Since the last time I had worked with her she has gotten married and is about to take a break from modeling to start a family. Perhaps I will have one more chance to work with her before she take her hiatus.

I finally had a chance to work with well known freelance model Kristy Jessica. Kristy has been in the industry for a long time and has also produced a very interesting podcast highlighting the freelance modeling community. Many of the models I have worked with have been interviewed on her podcast. We had a wonderful photoshoot together starting a little earlier than my normal, however, the time seemed to fly by too quickly. I look forward to the opportunity to work with her again.

I had a terrific first shoot with local model Seraphina. She had reached out and we finally managed to get together. The time flew by much too quickly, but we still managed to get a wide variety of shots. I was also able to try out my new light panel and a new lens, which is always fun. It was very nice to make connections with another local model and I hope to work with her again many times in the future.

I had a chance to shoot with a model who is new to me, Tennessee based traveling model Erin Divine. She had reached out to me and we managed to get together. She has been slow traveling across the country with her dog, engaging in rock climbing along the way. Interestingly she originally had a background in academia before she got into modeling. We had a nice time working together before she had to rush off to another shoot on the coast.