(Making of) Forest Queen


Forest Queen

Forest Queen

They say three is a lucky number... well, this was my third shoot of the year and I'd say luck was on my side! A fabulous team, no rain and some of my favourite images from my shoots so far. 

Emma was one of the first models to contact me about shooting together and we'd been planning it for a while so I was super hyped when the day finally came around. The weather had been threatening all week (again!) and I was dreading having to cancel last minute but thankfully, it remained dry all the way through! The rain did eventually come down, but not until we were long finished (thank you weather gods!)

I was so fortunate to be able to work with Najat once again, an incredible make-up aritst, fabulous assistant and overall genuinely lovely person! She is such a joy to work with, even more so as our creative tastes seem to very closely align! Najat and Emma came to my flat for the make-up and wardrobe as the location is only a few minutes drive from me. My lovely husband kept us supplied with hot drinks and snacks whilst Najat worked her magic and I checked and double checked all my gear, props and accessories. Once Najat was finished, Emma changed into the outfit and wig and we headed for my car. 

Forest Queen

Menacuddle Well is an absolutely stunning location, a hidden gem of St Austell only minutes from the town centre and usually empty. There were a few visitors during our time there, but they very kindly gave us a wide berth so as not to get in any of the shots (thank you kindly strangers!). It's a magical place, the perfect backdrop for the look we were shooting. The overcast and gloomy skies of the day gave the whole place the exact atmosphere I was hoping for in these images, the white wig a sharp contrast against all the lush greens and muted browns. 

Forest Queen

Najat kindly acted as my assistant once again for the shoot, coming up with ideas for the fabrics and posing, working the reflector, holding the fabric and helping to carry and move all our collective stuff! Emma was an absolute dream as well, bringing so many ideas and interesting poses to the shoot and completely trusting my bizarre requests - I'm sure she must've thought I was losing it when I started hanging strands of the wig against the foliage!

Forest Queen

I recently discovered the incredible work of Bella Kotak, whose work I completely fell in love with and would name as my second biggest inspiration photography-wise, second only to the legendary Tim Walker. I'd seen an image Bella had shot where the hair had been hung around her model in the leaves, giving her an ethereal and angelic appearance and I wanted to do a twist on that - making it look a bit like cobwebs, as if Emma were a part of the woodlands, something ancient and magical. The wig, due to it's length and material, behaved exactly as I hoped and tangled itself into a complex web around her with only minor coaxing from me.
Forest Queen

I could've easily spent several more hours there with this team shooting, but it was beginning to get late (and not to mention cold). So we decided to do just a few more images before calling it a wrap - it was at this point I remembered I had bought my ornate mirror as prop which had spent the whole afternoon in the back of my car forgotten!! Najat very kindly grabbed it so we could get at least a few more images with it included. I'm glad we did as this led to one of my favourite images of the day, using my trusty crystal and prism of course! 

Forest Queen

The above image is actually two images spliced together, as the prism gave a reflection on only the left side of the image. Using a combination of the transform tool and layer masks in Photoshop, I brought in the reflection on the right side to balance the image and give it the above dreamlike vibe. I used a different image for the right side to give it a more natural feel, anything too symmetrical wouldn't fit the theme I was going for. It came out even better than I'd hoped!

Forest Queen

As we were only minutes from my flat, we returned for a warming drink and for Emma to change back into her regular clothes. We were just in time before the rain came down! As I had my laptop all set up, I immediately loaded up Lightroom and imported the images, giving Najat and Emma a chance to review them with me and pick out our favourites. I found the process really reassuring as we all picked out the exact same images! 

Eventually it was time to say goodbye (for now), and I of course set off to editing immediately. I'm lucky to have a very supportive husband who took care of dinner and kept me topped up with tea - I'd be lost, not to mention hungry, without him! The other treasured member of my household is much less tolerant however, and regularly demanded my attention... 


Onto the next shoot now, already in the works of course! 

Full set of images on my portfolio




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