So, we had just finished our railway photo shoot for the Fabric Anthropology Fashion Week Collaboration (see part 1 here) and I really wanted another option in case I wasn’t happy with the photos.  Or in case Melody from Fabric Anthropology wasn’t happy with the photos.  What if she didn’t like my blindfold?  What if my ‘thorns’ detracted from the fabric?  What if I just didn’t like any of the photos??

So, I wanted a Location 2.  The plan was to drive around and find an old stone building and shoot there.  We live in an area with a lot of heritage buildings from early convict days, but we didn’t have an actual building in mind. We had 40 minutes to find a new location and to shoot before needing to pick up my younger son from school, and after half an hour where all we could find were old wooden sheds, we had to concede defeat.  But I was determined.  Pete was flying out the next day for work, and I was laced into a corset NOW, I had thorns in my hair NOW, I was all ready to go and didn’t relish the idea of doing it all again in a week if we could possibly do it now.  SO, we dumped the old building idea and drove with my poor son in tow to the hills of our neighbourhood.

Location 2

The day, which had been so promisingly overcast for our dark and brooding Fashion Week shoot, had now rudely cleared up, and the sun was shining merrily.  Our location in the hills would have me facing the sun, so unless the clouds came over, the shoot would not be possible.  There was one cloud in the sky edging its way to the sun, and nothing else. “Quick!!” I said to my husband and photographer extraordinaire Pete. “We’re only going to get one shot at this, and the cloud is almost here!”

We leapt out of the car, I re-tightened my corset, strapped on the hoop skirt, and made a beeline for the tree stump we had used once before for a photo shoot.  We roped in our Always Patient, Resigned-to-His-Photography-Assistant-Fate son to hold a reflector and we got down to business.

(Note that he is still in his school uniform, poor kid.  No after-school snack, no time to relax after a full day, straight into helping photograph his lingerie-clad mother.  Someone call Child Protection Services.).

The cloud came over the sun, and we had a window of about 2 minutes for some photos.  And Peter, who works best under pressure, delivered.

What I love about these photos, compared with Location 1, is that the silhouette of the outfit is more noticeable against the lighter background.  Peter took extra care to position my head against skyline instead of hillside so that my thorny headpiece would be visible.

Two minutes later, the cloud had passed and our shooting window had closed.  Fastest photo shoot ever.  Luckily, I loved what we had captured.  Hurray!

We drove home and even though we both wanted to finish up, I had one more idea.  I knew I probably wouldn’t bother going for it if we didn’t do it now while I was still all laced up.  So we moved to Location 3.

Location 3

We have a little cabin that we built when we first moved to our property, so rather than submit our sons to further psychological trauma of seeing their mother in lingerie, we headed for the cabin.  The cabin has a loft, and I wanted Pete to shoot some images from overhead and do a slightly more risqué look.

I was really tired and achy from wearing the corset for so long (I have no idea how women coped when corsets were standard wear), and it was SO NICE to lie down.

Even though these don’t include the hoop skirt which I spent so long making, I really love them, too.

I love this use of my wire thorns.  I wish I’d thought to do one with the blindfold as well.  Very 50 Shades of Grey!

And then…we were done!!

All that was left to do was process the photos and wait the INTERMINABLY long time before I was allowed to share these photos with the public.  Which is now!  Hurray!

And also to play with effects, whee, fun!

Thank you again, Fabric Anthropology.  This was an incredible opportunity to try something different, and I love how it all turned out.

To see more of the incredible creations from this project., visit www.fabricanthropology.com or join the Fabric Anthropology facebook page.