Dream Forest

December 15 didn’t so much dawn as it did cascade, with torrential rain pouring from the uniformly grey pall standing in for the sky. I considered briefly calling off the location shoot arranged with local model Amber Rayanne. I messaged her to ask if she was willing to brave the weather — I’d bring the umbrellas.

A green light from Amber had me wondering if I should change location, where there was little shelter other than overhangs on the resident microwave tower. The main feature of Summit Park however is the copse of Garry oaks, beautiful even in winter. I’d sent Amber my post testing 100 megapixel panos, made there last winter. Could she see herself among the trees? She was eager to return to a location where, it turned out, she’d worked with another photographer earlier in the year.

The rain had eased as we met in the early afternoon. In fact, the low winter sun was doing its best to break through clouds to the west. We began our “warmup” in the lee of the aforementioned tower, using the colourful backdrop of the in situ mural, which I’d been wanting to use for some time.

Speaking of warmups (the air was frigid), I had Amber perform calisthenics for the camera while I lay on the muddy ground to accentuate the “lift” she attained on each “takeoff.”

The original plan was to bring along my location lighting kit, including a collapsable beauty dish, to shoot against the sunset, which had been spectacular the previous evening. I decided against mixing electronics and rain. But now the sun had really lit the clouds, turning the western sky into a giant beauty dish. I directed Amber to climb up on a rock outcrop and asked for more of the dance-like poses she’d executed previously in mid-air, as clouds billowed up behind her.

The weather gods could not have been more benevolent — this was just the kind of image I’d had in mind for a long time. I shot in black and white, using my Fujifilm X-Pro2’s ACROS R film simulation. Had I been shooting film I’d have applied a deep red or orange filter to the lens.

We finished up with a few shots among the oaks, hiding really from sunlight that had become a bit too harsh for this Englishman. I might have packed my lighting kit after all.

As for Amber, she’s brilliant.