Documenting the creative process; from fantasy concept to photo!

Good evening, Steemit friends! I’m working late tonight, editing shoots from Viva Las Vegas, but I needed a mental break. Sometimes these trips take up blocks of my mind, body and soul. At times, editing photos from those trips begins to feel like I’m reliving them. I recognize the hotels, or the time I spent with the clients. What music was playing, or the conversations we had. Most of the time, that’s a good thing, but even during marathon trips like Viva Las Vegas or my annual fall shoots for NOIR, I need a mental break. While I’m on the road, I don’t get that opportunity, but when I’m home editing, I do. When I feel that coming on, I’ll dig up older shoots that’ve been neglected for more pressing deadlines and projects. Tonight’s post is one of those shoots.

Years ago, I dreamt up this concept of a beautiful woman, like a princess, huddled in a old, abandoned space. Something that looked forgotten, like a basement or an attic. In there, she was with a mannequin of sorts. The shape of a prince, but constructed out of vines and sticks. He would loosely hold the shape of a person, like s scarecrow, but adorned in a prestigious military wardrobe and metals. She’d lay with this false prince, kiss him and eventually attempt to bring him to life with spells or a seance. The visuals would be incredible and they were the most driving factor in finally bringing this shoot to life.

I tried to pull this shoot off on two separate occasions, and both times I called it off because of the demanding talents for the hair/make-up and special effects artists. The head for the prince is made up of twisted vines and flora. It needed to be roughly the size and weight of an actual human head. It needed to resemble a man’s head but couldn’t look too accurate. Those grey lines are difficult to convey to a SP/FX make-up artist. I tend to be somewhat of a micromanager when executing concepts for shoots, and although I feel I could have built the practical effects myself, I didn’t have the time with my regular work and travel schedule. As such, it got put off year after year.

Eventually, I met an incredibly talented MUA/SP/FX artist here in Minneapolis named Kaci Wegleitner. She contacted me through Facebook and said if I ever wanted to collaborate on a project, she was at my disposal, which beckoned this long awaited dark beauty shoot. I met with her for coffee and pitched the entire thing. She looked contemplative as I explained it, and she immediately began problem solving how we could pull it off. She showed me her portfolio at www.kaciwegleitner.com and we committed to the shoot. I told her I’d draw up a rough concept sketch to illustrate the overall idea. I then ordered approximately $100 worth of supplies. We decided on a model, my friend Jordan, whom I’ve shot with several times before. She has a faery tale look and is a practicing Wiccan […she also supplied some of the set props].

Our shoot location ended up being Kaci’s attic, which was a perfect compliment to the original concept. Unlike most my shoots ending in close to 500 frames, I only took about 250 photos. It was mostly setting up the scene, Kaci meticulously correcting hair and Jordan’s surroundings, positioning the prop dummy and then finally take a few photos. For the most dramatic scenes of the shoot, Jordan, our princess, held burning sage under the chin of the would-be prince, kissing him as the smoke weaved it’s way through the vines that made up the head. Exactly the shot I’d envisioned so many years ago.

This was a stand out shoot for me. Bringing something at this scale to life was an art high I’ve felt few times in my career. As I was shooting, I made it a priority to document as much as I could for this Steemit post. I just finished the remaining edits in this blog tonight, so I hope you enjoy them. I post daily. Follow me at @kommienezuspadt for more photography, art, illustration and thoughts! Thanks so much!