Autumn Queen cont…

Well, I was going to write this yesterday, but the second I started typing, things got crazy busy for about four hours, and by the time I could sit down again, I didn’t really feel like blogging anymore. So, here I am giving it another go today.

I’m at work right now, so the usual disclaimers about coherence apply. I wanted to expand on the last post I wrote at some ungodly hour, which I kept super short because I was literally falling asleep at the keyboard.

So yes, I went for another photo shoot with Twilla on Friday. We were going for an autumn queen vibe. This idea had been rattling around in my head since last year, but I couldn’t find anyone who fit the concept, plus Fall only comes around once a year (funny that). This time, I was determined to make it happen. While I probably should’ve done it a couple of weeks earlier, I’m still really happy with how it turned out. Twilla got her hair done beforehand, and she did the makeup at the studio while I got all the gear prepped. I decided to bring my full camera kit and a couple of stands—something I don’t usually bother with, but since we weren’t straying far from the car, it made sense to have the extra equipment handy.

I considered getting some studio shots of the outfit but decided to skip it due to time constraints—no big deal. Once makeup and wardrobe were complete, we loaded up the Beetle (thank goodness for Volkswagen headroom) and headed out. Twilla’s hair was such a showstopper that people kept stopping us to ask what we were up to. One woman waiting to get into our building was downright disappointed to hear it was just a photo shoot and not some wild costume party.

Our first stop was the Provincial Museum, where I had scoped out what I thought would be a carpet of vibrant leaves a few days earlier. What I didn’t know was that Edmonton has these giant vacuum trucks that go around sucking up all the leaves. Who knew? I’ve lived here for years and had no idea this was a thing. So, instead of a glorious pile of multicoloured leaves, there was just a sad little patch tucked away in a corner that the trucks hadn’t gotten to yet. To make things more interesting, the museum seemed to be a hotspot for photographers that day—there were at least three other groups doing their own shoots, but, of course, none of them were as cool as ours.

We added some leaves to Twilla’s hair, and I got her to spin slowly in a circle while I climbed a tree and shot from above. At one point, I pulled out the light disk, propped it against the tripod, and used it to bounce a bit of light up into her face and hair. Looking over the hill towards the river valley, I spotted that Government House Park still had a good stash of leaves, so we headed there before the vacuum trucks could ruin our fun.

At the park, we found some amazing red leaves and branches to add to her hair, which was exactly what I’d been hoping for. I set up a couple of light stands and Canon 550EX flashes—one on a Manfrotto boom to get light directly overhead for a soft fill, and the other to the side to balance out the shadows. The sun was hitting from the right, so I didn’t want the flashes to overpower the natural light, just round it out a bit. Once everything was set, I climbed another tree (yes, I’ve spent a lot of time up trees for this shoot) and shot down at her while she spun and posed. The shots are turning out beautifully, and I should have a few more to share by the end of this post.

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On a completely unrelated note, I’ve given the bar below us (Called Bar One) a week to fix their sound issues. If nothing changes by Monday, I’ll be calling the city—or maybe the cops—every day, possibly twice a day, until it’s dealt with. I was up at 7:00 AM this morning, but I couldn’t fall asleep until after 3:30 AM. This wouldn’t be a big deal if it were a one-off, but it’s every single night (except Sunday). Let’s just say my patience is wearing thin.