Silver Screen Siren Photoshoot

I cannot tell you how much I love working with lady! She has become a dear friend since I first met her at a dance class showcase, where I was performing burlesque and she was performing pole. She very bravely approached me and asked me if I would be so kind as to tape her underwear to her so it didn't fall out of place whilst she was doing inversions on the pole. It was inevitable that from that moment we would become firm friends 😂
She performs under the name Rebel Neff and would you believe is actually the same lady as in my Silver Body Paint post?!!! Such a versatile model! (Scroll back down through my blog to find her).
I've photographed Neff several times over the years, and each time she brings something completely different to the table, and each time I fall in love with the images we manage to capture.

Now usually Neff comes to me with some whacky creative idea in mind, but this time she wanted to go full classic Betty Noir style vintage glamour (I cannot tell you how long I'd waited for this moment! I just knew she'd rock it! And I was right, she totally nailed it!)
I set her hair in a classic pincurl set and gave her a dark smokey grey eye with silver highlights to compliment her dress, and of course red lips! It wouldn't be a proper Betty Noir vintage shoot without the red lips!

I shot against my plain white vinyl backdrop for the majority of the shots, and used my beauty dish to create the strong atmospheric lighting, with the addition of a snoot to highlight the hair in a couple of shots. In post production I added some texture to the background, and photoshopped in a cigarette holder for some of the images, complete with smoke (I do love a smoke brush! A quick search online and you can find so many different brush presets for free!) since I don't own a cigarette holder, Neff was actually just holding a pen, which meant we could get the correct hand shape. I've been meaning to invest in a cigarette holder for years, but I never remember to make the purchase, and then someone goes and requests it and I find myself spending more and more time on photoshop. 🤦🏻‍♀️

This final shot was taken in my living room (which also doubled up as my studio at the time). Again you may notice even more vintage decor. That's right! It's not just my bedroom that's gone back in time, my entire home is covered in vintage touches and trinkets found on eBay, in charity shops or at flea markets. The original Art Deco display cabinet in this image is my absolute favourite find, from an up-cycling centre that was just around the corner from me. I paid £50 which is an absolute steel for a display cabinet of this style and age. I may have to do a post sometime on some of my favourite vintage finds...or several posts! I may be a bit of a hoarder!

All images are my own.