Calendar Girls: Miss February

Miss February

Vicki working her magic on Leigh's curls

Miss February was our first shoot, and my first test of skill.  There were a few of the calendar shoots which were going to test my mettle photographically, mostly because of lighting.  This one was probably the most challenging.

Leigh is one of those women I can relate to.  She has her fingers in pies, and is juggling those balls up in the air of all different shapes and sizes, yet somehow manages to keep it all together.  A very admirable trait!!  While she is just about to launch her eagerly awaited marketing business upon the world, she is also a consultant with Scentsy - a company which sells wax warmers & melts as well as other delicious smelling products.  Leigh was also amazing in volunteering her time to help organise myself, Vicki, all of our lovely models, and all of the advertisers for the calendar.  She did such a terriffic job, that I am keen to work with her on another project I have my hot little hands on ;)

Vicki's magic brushes!

To convey the subtle, sensory beauty of Leigh's Scensty business, we decided that her image would capture her looking soft and romantic, nestled amongst her products and lit only by candlelight.  People who have kept up with the Scarlet Harlotte blog would know just quite how accident prone I am.  So challenge number one was not to burn Leigh's house down!!!!

Putting on the final touches

Vicki worked her beautiful magic.  Firstly, the curls which I thought were pretty to start with, until Vicki got her hands on them after the makeup was done, and transformed them into the most gorgeous soft curls I have ever seen.  Ohhhh they were luscious!!!  Then the brooding smoky eyes, which were done to perfectly compliment the candlelight they were being shot in.  Soft lips, for that luxury pouty look.

Then it was on to the finale!  I really wasn't sure how I was going to go with the light levels.  As it turned out, just fine thank you very much!!  The candlelight was exactly the look I wanted, making it soft, beautiful and maybe even (don't kill me Leigh!) a little seductive.  I had to break out the trusty tripod  (30 bucks on ebay - I am far from a brand queen!) to keep things nice and steady with the long exposure required.  Leigh was the perfect model, making sure she didn't move until I said she could, and then being very subtle in her movement as I constantly asked her to put her chin down more, and more, and just a bit more.  It was a great shoot to get our hands dirty with, and two very lovely ladies to work with.  I even managed to get some cute shots of Leigh with her kids which just ended things on a great note!

Candlelit loveliness