Day 15 - Project 365

"Down on the Farm"

Day 14 proved to be a fun one when Kayla texted me and said she was free. I gathered up my things, skipped dinner and headed out to the farm(ranch or what ever they call it). Horses, cows and a blond, not a bad way to capture day 14. I drove down the one lane road leading to Kayla's family property, a large expanse of open country side just west of civilization. A cow, a calf, 2 horses and a pony call a wooden stable home. Complete with horse shit and bull shit and probably some dog mixed in. This gave the stable the distinct smell that can only be associated with "down on the farm" or Country living! I tease but after a while you get used to it. I love to be out away from the busy city and congested streets. I arrived just as the sun was starting to make its final decent, its final farewell for the day. The colors were deepening and the sky was starting to light up orange and yellow. My two favorite times a day are sunrise and sunset, and dinner time. As I get out of the car the family dog Annabelle a brown stalky boxer with a curious disposition greets me. I head to the house, kayla yells for me to come up stairs. She is finishing her makeup, I meet her friend Courtney, a thin brunette standing about 5'3" tall. Kayla had offered her up to the camera gods and I excepted the offer. I mention the quickly setting sun and hurry the girls along. We get out to the barn just as the sun is finishing its decent, the sky is now a beautiful orange to blue gradient. I set up the beauty dish and quickly realize this will be a two light shoot as I need a little fill on the right side. I choose a Medium soft box as my key light and set the beauty dish up as the rim light. Courtney, never doing a shoot before shows a little nervousness as I motion her into the spotlight. She quickly grasps the concept and with a little coaching she warms up. After about 5 min I ask Kayla to jump in and we start shooting away. I quickly make a mental note as to the top shots. When shooting with women I tend to take about 25% more pictures than with men. Mainly because I enjoy it but there is a more technical reason... what is is I'm not entirely sure yet. I knew that I had gotten the "money" shot early on but wasn't ready to call it quits. We changed outfits and position several times. Brian D (Knuckle Sandwich - Day 9) showed up to lend some support. He tends to just make everyone laugh. However, this time he was the one laughing as he walked up to me trying to coax a horse back into the stable. I had left the gate open and he had taken the opportunity to see just how green the grass was on the other side. He must have really liked the grass because I just couldn't convince him to come back in. I would give him a treat then take a few steps back and hold out another one. He would take the treat then back up back where he started from. he was definitely taking advantage of me ( a real city slicker moment). I gave up and left it to kayla to coral the horse. As we were heading back into the stable I had looked down and noticed Brian had showed up in pristine white shoes. with each step a potential disaster for his sneakers as the walk to the stable was a horse shit land mine field! We quickly jumped right back into shooting, I asked Kayla to get her cowboy hat out so I could get some real cowgirl shots. She reluctantly agreed and ran to the house through the mine field in 3 inch knee high heeled boots... Funny! in the mean time I started snapping more shots of Courtney. She had on a white cotton jacket with a fur rimed hood. I love these types of Hoods and always take advantage of the opportunity. I snap several shots of both courtney and Kayla when she returns. The last shots were of Kayla with the cowboy hat on next to the cows stable. This proved to be the funniest part of the night as the cow was extremely attracted to Kayla's breasts. Every time Kayla would lean in and pose the cow would ram his wet slobbery nose into her chest. We all laughed as she would yell at the cow. I asked her if she could still be sexy despite the cow attacking her chest. She seemed confident enough, so I backed up and watched as once again the cow made a move to snuggle up into her. She gave up and did a few goofy poses. She asked if I had gotten what I needed. I sensed she was getting frustrated with the perv cow. I tortured her for a few more shots for nothing more than sick humor! (sorry Kayla!) I called it a wrap and we all made our way back to the cars. It was now 8:30pm and I had to drive home, load, edit, upload, shower, dress and make it out to the movies by 9:30pm. I made it just on time. Day 14 was fun... Now to see what day 15 brings. oh look... its day 15. Here we go again!

Lighting:

AB800 Beauty Dish Boomed over head. at approx. 8:00 approx. 1/4 power (I used it as a back light today for a change of pace)
AB800 Med Soft Box 3:00 Level with Model approx. 1/4 power