I had the most beautiful photoshoot at the start of May, one that I’ve been desperate to do for a while. About a year ago I bought this cheap, but very pretty, deer mask off of Shein of all places. It had a very quirky feel, and reminded me of the Forest Spirit in Princess Mononoke (if you haven’t watched that film, go and watch it now!). I’d planned to use the mask for several photoshoots over the last year, but for one reason or another the shoots never happened. Then Fraser of TacetLens got in touch with me with some free time to shoot on a beautiful spring evening, I jumped at the chance to finally create a beautiful series of photos with this mask. The concept was a forest spirit, with pagan style vibes, maybe with a touch of The Wicker Man added in for good measure.
We used the country park near where I live for several reasons. Firstly, it’s my running grounds so I know it really well, and secondly it’s a fairly quiet park. A lot of people forget this beautiful little spot of nature exists, except for locals, which makes it perfect for art nude shoots. I can’t stress how much I love outdoor shoots so I was so excited to get started when Fraser picked me up. I put on a wrap dress so I had something easy to get in and out of and wore my sandals for a similar reason and we headed to the park at the back of 7pm, just in time for golden hour.
I almost immediately regretted the sandals that I wore when we went off the path, so I’m making a personal note for future Kitty to remember that leaf and pinecone forest floor is not a sandal appropriate place! Apart from that though, I was perfectly comfortable. The sun was not cooperating with us, but it was warm and the light was lovely, even if it wasn’t the level of golden sunshine we hoped for. Having found a suitable spot I disrobed and we got to work. I LOVE the feeling of the earth under my bare feet, but it was a little prickly directly under the trees, so I was careful moving around. We started with some low to the ground poses, so I could stretch my body and get into the feeling of being close to the earth. Having the mask on allowed me to focus more on expressing emotions through gestures and my body, which has provided some really interesting results in the final images!
Having got my knees, feet and hands proper mucky, I moved on to some poses behind a tree stump. This was a nice chance for us to attempt to get some photos that would be safe for sharing on platforms like Instagram or Facebook, since they have a stubborn aversion to the female body. They turned out really well and we got several in that pose before I moved behind a tree, so I could peak around and give that delightful nymph in the forest vibe that I live for.
We took a short break and then we moved to a beautiful fallen tree. It had been down for a while, and the bark had become smooth and mossy in sections. I won’t lie though, as much as I love climbing trees, getting on that tree trunk when I was naked was a little dicey. Thankfully Fraser was a gentleman and didn’t laugh at my terrible attempts, although I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had. If I’d had an extra person with us getting behind the scenes shots, there would defiantly have been a few bloopers of me almost falling off, flailing around and basically being an uncoordinated riot.
When I (finally) got up onto the tree trunk, we managed to get several stunning shots. The light was just perfect at this point, and the greens of the trees behind me made everything pop. My knees and thighs were scratched to bits, but it was so worth it to get so many stunning moments captured. Fraser not only has an amazing eye as a photographer, but he directs incredibly well. He’ll happily let me free pose, but if he has an idea, or something isn’t working, he communicates openly with me in a way that is really reassuring and direct. It takes a standard photoshoot to a level of collaboration that I find always produces the best results.
And that’s a wrap. After clambering back down off of the tree trunk (and gaining a few more scrapes and bruises on my way down) the wrap dress and sandals were put back on and we were walking back to the car. Overall, it was a really productive shoot that hit exactly the style I wanted to convey. I can’t praise Fraser enough for his skills, his patience and his willingness to just wing it with my crazy ideas.
When I got the images back I genuinely happy danced! Very little editing was required, but the little edits to lighting or tone just made every image that much stronger. We created exactly what I envisioned, which is always an amazing feeling.
To see the rest of the images, you’ll have to sign up to my spicy pages, or you can buy the photoset by emailing me or messaging me on my socials.
As always my darlings, play safe and have fun!
Kitty. xxx