Anna’s Experience at a Shoot
Today was my third shoot. The interesting thing for me on these shoots are the technical factors - the costumes, the lighting, the rigging. I love going through my slowly accumulating closet and finding things that are useable for these shoots. It’s surprising how much stuff you can gather in a couple of years. The first one was the patterned black halter dress - I bought this a year or so ago, but never got the chance to wear it before. That combined with the pretty white ropes wrapped around me from head to toe (yes, even my hair was bound lol) and a pilllow underneath my head, I was happy and content and almost ready to fall asleep. Thank you daylight saving time, making me so tired! The video was awesome - I kept wriggling my toes so much, the ropes around them had to be retied a couple of times, then I got my toes loose during the video. I cannot wait to see when that video gets onto the website to see it - I wonder what I look like wriggling around! I am also excited to see the rigging on my back - the only problem with being tied on your stomach is that even though it is incredibly comfortable, you cannot see the exquisite art on your back. I had to rely on the photographer and Uncle M’s words that the dress and ropes went well with my tattoo.
A story about my tattoo - just a brief one. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it is a dragon coming out of a broken heart with a tear. Most people who try to analyze it think that it is a sad story behind the tattoo because of the broken heart. Actually, I got this tattoo a while back when I was feeling really broken hearted after one of my ex-boyfriends broke up with me. Dragon is the direct translation of my name in chinese, and the tattoo is a symbol of a transformation I felt that I was going through after the whole experience of not only that breakup, but also my life up until then. Basically, a dragonness, I guess you could see it as a form of myself, rose out of a broken heart and became stronger.
The second outfit of the day was actually something Tea picked out of my closet. Something along the lines of a dancer’s warm up wear, I guess. I didn’t actually look at myself in the mirror with the outfit on, but it got a pretty good reaction out of everyone present, so I guess it must have been pretty nice. Anyways, I was happy with this outfit, as I’ve always had an obsession with dancewear and such, which contributes to my constant begging to be dressed as a ballerina for one of the future shoots. Today was also the first day I experimented with theatrical and film makeup for the shoots. I got a degree in theatre arts from UBC right out of high school, and never thought the skills I learned in university would one days become useful again. Guess you just never know!
In all, even though I was pretty tired today at the photo shoot, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. As usualy, I am looking forward to the next one!
Anna