One of the Best Test Shoots of My Career, pt. 3

LINK TO THE IMAGES:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7MlCEoEDaftYkkwbmprNE5Tb3c

One of the Best Test Shoots of My Career

Every few years I work with a new amateur model that somehow seems to be known by a wide majority of people in my hometown and the surrounding areas. Back in 2008, that was Katie.

How we met has become legendary among my friends, the same way Cherish’s meeting has, also. (Scroll down and find her great test shoot, which turns out to have taken place only two days before this one!!)

At this point in my new 4-5 year photography career, I was finally making a name for myself locally for working with amateur models, and soon the women I worked with were being bugged by their friends to be introduced to me in order to get free photos. I was starting to become jaded with it, which I know sounds stupid, but so it goes.

Well I had arranged a paid shoot with a classic car owner who wanted to pay me and a model for picks on his car. He had a specific outfit in mind, a red bikini, I think, so I acquired one and asked my model Sarah to come and try it on a few days before the scheduled shoot. As her car pulled up that weekday afternoon, I sat on my computer looking out the window and could see she had another girl in the car, and my eyes began to roll back into my head. I started dreading that I would now have to shine on yet another young woman that I had no interest in shooting, and ugh, I was not looking forward to it. But as I continued to look, the girl that came out of the passenger side was this gorgeous platinum blonde in a half shirt showing off her perfect midriff and a tight pair of lorries jeans that hugged ever inch of her. Suddenly, my mood began to shift.

When they came in, Sarah quickly introduced her friend Katie and then went into my bathroom to try on the bikini, leaving me with this stranger. Still on my guard, I asked about her, as I often do. She was local, born and raised, seemed down-to-earth and chill, quiet but not shy, and liked to smoke a lot of weed. After a few moments of silence I finally couldn’t take it anymore and said:

“So I assume you came over because you have an interest in modeling, huh?”

“Nah, Sarah and I were just hanging out and she had to come do this, so I came with her.”

Wait, so you don’t want to model?” 

“I dunno, not really, I guess.”

“But what if I asked you to model, do you think you’d be interested?” 

“I mean…sure, I guess. I’m pretty comfortable with my body.”

“Wait, would you be comfortable being NUDE?” which was still rare for me to shoot back then.

“Hmmm…I’d have to see how it goes, but sure, why not, it doesn’t matter to me.”

All of a sudden this woman I thought was going to bug me about modeling had told me she had no interest, and now she seemed irresistible to me! What a change of directions! Then she said:

“Sure, I can come over tomorrow to try it out, if you want. Just don’t tell Sarah, she might be a bit jealous at first.” And that was it, I was sold. They left without incident, and the next day Katie came over and I led her into my ghetto garage where my lights and my cheesy red background were set up. She was fun and sweet and easy, and immediately felt comfortable taking her clothes off with me.

This started a photo relationship that lasted five or six years, through the tragic death of her mom, family troubles, money windfalls from the insurance, and so much more. Every time I posted a photo of her on Facebook, Tumblr, Modelmayhem, or later Instagram, I would always get messages from guys I knew who had made out with her, slept with her, or had known her through mutual friends. Every woman had smoked with her, every guy had lusted after her. She was a local personality.

We were good friends for a very long time, and I even taught her about art, art history, and got her more into developing her painting talents. Sadly, I’ve heard she’s fallen down the rabbit hole of more serious rugs in the past few years, and the last few times I’ve seen her she’s seemed to have lost that spark I loved so much about her. I sometimes still think about seeking her out, asking her to model again, or simply reminding her how much she meant to me. But she knows. Our lives have just taken different paths, sadly.

But please enjoy these special, rare photos that have never been shared anywhere before. Let me know what you think, please leave comments or questions in my DMs or the comment sections!

Here’s that link again:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7MlCEoEDaftYkkwbmprNE5Tb3c