Victorian dark pinup captured through glass and tea w/ @lovejoy!

Good evening, Steemit! It’s another late one. I’m finishing up  a few things before crawling in to a Minnesota cave topped with a heating blanket. Some nights, I have photos that are already finished and edited. It’s just a matter of writing a few paragraphs and making a post. This is one of the nights I had to retouch a few for a client that’s been patiently waiting through the holidays, then post to my Steemit blog. Tiring, because both use a different part of my brain, but a nice send off for the day knowing I was productive.

This morning, a big gang of Minneapolis Steemians all met at Kyoto, one of my favorite […and @wcpublishing’s favorite] restaurants in uptown. All you can eat ordering right off the menus. What a great idea. It was great to catch up with friends post holiday madness. We were even invited back to @wolfcat’s to share tea, hosted by @lovejoy. There are legendary stories of young entrepreneurs doing peyote with Steve Jobs to find enlightenment. I imagine one day, 20 years from now, young blockchain upstarts looking upon me with wide eyes saying “….you, you drank tea with @lovejoy?!”, to which I’ll quietly reply “I did. I did.”.

Alright, tonight’s photography is of a fellow Minnesotan. I’ve said “…she came to me through Instagram” more times than I can count because that’s typically how I’m discovered and hired for private sessions. This was no different, other than the fact that Eloise was right here in Minneapolis. Shooting at home makes me so happy because I don’t have to get on a plane […which at this stage of my career, I’m really over].

She did most of the heavy lifting, hiring a make-up artist and finding us a beautiful old home to shoot in. That falls under “dream client” for me. I wanted to get her some really outstanding photos. She had recently suffered a horrible family tragedy and I knew this shoot was an effort to start a new chapter of healing in her life. We shot throughout the evening, using candles and a series of low light arrangements to create dark, beautiful images.

Her last look was beautiful, white Victorian gown, wrapped in a corset. Large lace frills against her caramel skin was only made more beautiful by the warm candle light she was holding. I brought her to the front of the building and found hints of porch light to illuminate the dark areas of her face. We shot through the glass window which gave just the right amount of refraction to bounce a reflection of the candles and gold walls. Truly beautiful, and a set up I couldn’t have planned for. That’s the best part of shooting on location. When those elements just “happen”, they’re remarkable.

Thanks for reading. I post daily. For more photography, art, illustration and the stories behind the work, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!