A fellow photographer we met at St. Louis came to town this past weekend and I set up a photo shoot for him to participate with us in using several of my models.  He is a former concert photographer trying to get a senior portrait business going in Tennessee and I've mentored him a little bit on the business, sharing what has been successful for us and giving him some ideas to implement for himself. 

Since he was coming, I wanted to do something creative, something that wasn't the norm for our business or his.  I came up with the idea of a "Warrior Princess" theme since we already had some items at the studio that could be used for the shoot.  I chose a black Jovani gown, a feathered collar and a masquerade mask for the model's outfit and the morning of the shoot, I found a pretty cool sword on Craigslist for just $15.  That completed the outfit and all we needed was some great hair and makleup.  I challenged our makeup artist to come up with a look based on my vision and she did not disappoint. 

For the location, I wanted something dark and a bit spooky so we used a local winery that has been featured on the television show, "Ghost Hunters".  The location turned out to be perfect, except for the mosquitos.  Our model did a great job for us and we captured some amazing shots.  Jodi has only had an opportunity to edit a few shots so far but here they are.  You can click on the images for larger versions to see greater detail.

For the afternoon, I had set up another shoot for us at a nearby farm and a Bohemian fashion theme.  "Boho", as it is called, is a hot fashion trend right now and we took our models shopping for outfits for the shoot earlier in the week.  The outfits would reside in our dressing room's closet after the shoot for others to use for their sessions if they choose.  The girls picked out some great outfits with the help of Jodi.

Back at the studio after the morning shoot, we had lunch while our makeup artist prepared the three models.  In the interim, I got crafty and cut up some fabric into strips to hang from a tree at the farm, to create a backdrop of sorts for a scene.  It turned out pretty well I think.

The farm was a great location for this shoot and it was a little wild too as we had chickens, cats, horses, hogs and cows surrounding us.  We used some of the buildings, equipment and fields for the backdrops and we finished near sunset with amazing golden light.  I don't think I've ever had so much fun on a photo shoot before.  Our models were fantastic and our new friend from Tennessee was a blast to shoot with.  Here are a few shots that Jodi has edited and I'm sure I'll have plenty more to past in the future.