I feel like Photoshoots have given me a medium to speak to people with. I cant help but realize b/c of my love of shooting, behind and infront of the cam iv met so many awesome ppl that I wouldnt have otherwise. It lets me go into a mindset where I dont feel awkward and hermity.It lets me surpass a lot of the anxiety I grew up and struggled with. I rarely want to go out unless its for a shoot. But when im shooting I feel like Im a better version of myself. I get trapped in the bathroom if a spider shows up in the doorframe. But iv had one touch me during photos and been okay. Im always so dizzy and have horrible balance. Im as graceful as a moose. But when im shooting I effortlessly hop about one footed in high heels on 3" diameter poles. Its bonded me to the very best of my friends. Without it I would have never met Nana Valtieland never had the "fountain experience" which ended up being the year Shannon McBride & I shattered all our socially awkward ice that had been there for YEARS! It lets me put all my anger and frustration into energy that is productive. And let me say, im a pretty pist off person inside. To be honest, its even part of whats making me want to learn how to get over my fear of driving so I can do more of what I love. I dont think im very good at business. Or that im the best at what I do.And im always faced with the fear that the older I get the less chance for success I have. But I know i cant live life without doing it. If something means enough to you- you find ways to make it work. Otherwise? You find excuses.
So lots of things to post today! The week is always so humdrum but weekends mean awesome hang out sessions and shoots. I get a lot of people saying I'm rather intimidating but others wonder how my shoots go. So hopefully this will answer a lot of those questions?
My beloved friend Nana Valtiel came out last weekend for some shoots and shenanigans and iv been rather video happy the entire time. So perk? I have them to share with you all!haha
Our first shoot was for My Geek Goddess . It was an odd cosplay - Ellen from Witch's House. Not the typical character you expect to get naked but it was fun to do a set with a more creepy air to it without being cheesie and over the top with it.Since its always hard for me to get indoor locations to shoot in I made this set out of my bedroom. The bg is done by flipping the boxspring against the wall and shining a secondary light into it's semi sheer overlay. The cushionless chair was dragged over and draped with some sheer tattered tarp (yeah, it was laying around the apt.). I used flour all willy nilly on the floor along with some empty bottles and netting to give it a "wtf creepy house" feel. Hopefully you guys will enjoy it! Its the first set shot for them that I got to use the new lights for my kickstarter. I cant show the set at all, but i can show you a DERP to get your..loins frothing ? uhh...
The next shoot of the night wasnt a strip set but rather a way to show off a lovely latex piece made by Bellatrixx Capella. I had been awake for 24 hours at that point and Nana was working off of 5 hours of sleep. So we were pretty nuts by then lol Our friend Shannon, owner and creator of : Creations from this prehistoric dance, came over to enjoy the insanity and help me get some video of our shoots. Downside of not having a plethora of tentacles : only 4 limbs V_V; Im usualy balancing lights between my legs with the cam in one hand, something in my teeth while trying to angle things with the spare hand lol It makes for an awkward not so glam sight!
This is probly the first latex iv shot that didnt invoke memories of the Ace Ventura Rhino ass scene when tryign to get into it lol Probly because its the only 2 part piece i had worked with up to now. So anyway, we got to lubing her up while she set up Rob Zombie radio on Pandora.
2 Things Worth Note :
A) FUCK its so cool they make spray on lube! Why am i late to the party?
B) Iv never worked with someone who didnt like metal music.
So check them out and leave a comment! Feed back is always
encouraging ^_^
We had a bit of an intermission where we just flopped around the apt watching Pat play Alan Wake. FF Loving this game! Its that creepy vibe survival horror should be. The unnamed darknes knocking down trees makes me think of a HP Lovecraft story as well so that pleases my face lol
Feel free to watch/listen to us MST the shit out of it lol
After some much needed sleep/death the next day we shot our second My Geek Goddess shoot. I piled my wig, dress, corset and stockings into a pile and got Nana all ready reletively quickly thanks to the votes on FB. We were sort of torn between three outfits to put her in but im glad we went with this one. It works rather well with the stereotypical V-day theme.
Sadly Nana's legs were being dicks and she was having a hard time standing up.
But im afraid,
The Show Must Go On.
And it did. She pushed through the pain to smile and work the fuck out of her poses. I think this is one of those things that make me so excited to shoot. Seeing someone push past everything for that great image. Shoots have gotten me through a lot of things as well. Its just spectacular to see when someone is serious about something they love - what they are capable of.
Despite the health problem shes still a blast to shoot with! Im always down for keeping a fun atmosphere when we shoot so long as im getting the images we need. If i stop joking around its probly something to be nervous. Though to this day iv only told one model if they didnt get it together we would go home then and there lol
So to lighten the mood, have some traditional derp photos!
Since we shot this next to my PC I was able to record a lil clip of the start
of this strip shoot as well. Though I forgot about recording more once
she said she wasnt feeling well. We just focused a bit more on forcing the shots
out to get it done, ya know? No point in babying a person if you both understand
what needs to be done. If anything I think i was harder on her for this shoot to
make sure we could get it done as quickly as we could.
HEY FUCKERS! I need you to read this & give some feedback! I made the cover artwork and if your a fan of gritty, victorian-ish, almost steampunk like horror - youll be all "omg kassandra thanks for the suggestion your my heroe!" So with rambling done, here is a small Snippet to wet your palette :
“Pure Mnemosynetic fluid with a Tinctura Antiperiodica and Ticture of Opium.” He took a longing, amorous breath. “Mnemo-Vitae. The blue comes from the poppies you know?” The phial twirled in his hands as he smiled at his little creation. “You see, it's two weeks since our little arrangement was made and it's about time that you should have gone out to get more of the Mnemosyne. And from what I see in this vile, you haven't gotten any like I told you to.” Hammond's mind fumed at the non-nonchalant attitude of the Resurrectionist. With such a casual and cold temper he would have a Marshal of the Edicts go out and simply jab a needle into an innocent victims neck and draw out the stuff of their very memories. The bastard was insane and a wave of equal parts rage, revolt, and regret crashed on his weary shoulders.
So I finally debuted my Morrigan Darkstalker cosplay! For those of you who missed it on facebook, here are a few shots taken with my brand new lights. It was fun to work with the new equipment though let me just say how cumbersome those wings are in small quarters!!!Ugh.
"I want to see your tears and hear your shouts of anger! Everything that is yours, I will make mine! " Now come show my first complete cosplay of 2013 some love my critters! And do admire the craftsmanship of the wings by Crone Designs. SEE MORE AT: https://www.facebook.com/Unseelie.Allure
I also announced my next cosplay for the new year - with its epic train, diva hair and ridiculous amount of detailing.
Aside from cosplay Iv had a few times to practice with the strobes for other shoots. The softbox i got was... alot larger than i anticipated so its hard to fit in my car or even in some small rooms so I havent been able to try it out at work just yet. I did use it as a backlighting setup though.
This weekend ill be giving them their first true test shooting a sizable marathon of images: 2 geek goddess strip sets and 2 portfolio pieces. The strip sets often are very long because you need at *least* like 75 solid shots and im very pushy about having pose variety in them. I HATE sites that post a large set of images with poses that look almost the same shot to shot. At that point, cull it to the best pieces and just be okay with it being a smaller set. If you did it right, ppl will still be masturbating ya know?
Anyhow, all this will have to wait till my lovely model, Nana Valtiel arrives! She slept in and missed her first train and the second train so we are waiting on the third to arrive and ship her my direction. Downside? Im still awake from yesterday so unless i keep active i tend to lose my sleep deprived energy rush lol
Today's features youll find on FB. Since we all spend so much time on there haha
First up is Urban Fantasy Photography: https://www.facebook.com/UrbanFantasyPhotos .
Their work is something I can certainly get behind - with bold and fun themes from steampunk to cosplays. Youll also notice, they had the chance to work with my huge fan girl crush, fetish icon Ulorin Vex! SO GREEN WITH ENVY!
Next is Ground Nine hat clips! Well, they say they sell hat clips on their FB page but after looking at their pics i think they sell a range of merchandise.
"Ground Nine is inspired and modeled in part by the classic writings of The Nine Grounds from 'The Art Of War' by the warrior-philosopher Master Sun Tzu, and all the Rap and Hip Hop artists grinding it out night after night with all their heart and soul trying to push their music to the top and the people who can appreciate the effort it takes to make it."
When people's main complaint is "it could have been longer", its a good sign youll gobble this book up. The dark and sarcastic humor of these ladies will most likely resonate with fans of Laural K Hamilton's strong female lead character, Anita Blake. Overall, thats where the similarities end. While LKH's novels are more of a paranormal edge fans of a thrilling film nior read will love this even with the added action elements.
"Francesca "Frankie" Fairholm is tapped to enter a super-secret society of contract killers fresh out of high school, a society she enters without a qualm - she's never quite fit into her oh-so-proper family, and Osiris seems to provide her with the job she was born to do. When her cousins Kat and Addi become involved, the whole thing gets a little more complicated. What's Osiris' master plan for the Fairholm family? And can Frankie control her killer instincts when it counts?"
TWO DAYS TWENTY-ONE HOURS LEFT UNTILL I CAN GO ON FB AGAIN WOO!
Welp, I *WAS* going to do a video for you guys on all the updates as of late but I just got wailed in the face with one hell of a bug. Im pretty sure i caught it while at work doing the open casting call. SO MANY PEOPLE *facepalm* anyhow, ONWARD! Onward with cold medicine induced rambles!
Iv been working a lot on costuming for all sorts of things from shoots to events.
Sort of last min ( for me anyway, im rather fond of planning ahead) I got invited to Wicked Fair and their VIP event, The Goblin Market. Certainly cant go a victorian stylized alternative changeling-esque atmosphere in your skivvies! So iv been trying to put together three outfits for that event. The only preview I can show atm is a very wintery earth tone gown that makes me think of Mrs Lovitt's gown in the market scene of the movie lol Tattered browns, fur trim, feathers etc Im looking forward to bringing along a light with me so i hope people are also putting together some epic things to wear come Feb!
My DarkStalkers Morrigan Cosplay is pretttty much DONE!
I just need someone to stencil on some bats to my ass and
the back of my legs. Other than that its all ready to go!
I think if im feeling better before someone can lend me
an artistic hand ill do the preview shoot of her and just
Pshop the back view. Though im still wondering where
I should shoot her?
On other notable things of epicness - the UPS guy left about 8 boxes of various dimensions on my doorstep this morning. I opened the door and practically got uppercutted by my own rock hard boner seeing them haha Thankfully my mail carriers think im nuts to begin with but the look he gave me as i started loading almost all of them on my shoulders like the hulk would have been telling. ( Believe it or not, carrying around 5-6 fully beaded ballgowns in your arms all day is pretty fucking heavy. But it pays off when trying to creep out your mail man it seems lol)
Psst here are some off the cam raw test shots iv been doing tonight to distract myself from being sick. I cant wait to play with the bottom center set up!
Amongst the mighty bounty were my first ever strobes! I got 2 Alien bees - a AB400 & 800. A 48" softbox that doubles as a puptent, barndoors, gels of every color, honeycome grid set, a portable power pack, some vintage lingerie, a mink hat, silver Mylar paper, vintage German officers WW coat(complete with old blood stains in it) and a new tripod.
Im still expecting some untold tools of great and wordly domination. Gowns are under construction already but one has to wait to get started untill the tailor Kaito Milk gets back from Katsu Con! Boo! Though on the more fetish end, im a bit conflicted. Latex Sailor Mars or Latex Military Uniform? What do you guys want to see more?
On the note of Kickstarter, I just sent all the print orders in to my shop!
And I splurged a bit on everyone's prints and upgraded them all to Metalic paper.
*throws confetti!*
Okay. Im gonna go dream of the one (Rob Zombie's "Living Dead Girl" just came on Pandora as i was writing this. So make it 2 things that can make me feel better atm LOL) thing that makes me feel better when im sick, Monster energy drinks! *gnaws on her last can*
