“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
― Rumi
Watch the behind the scenes in the SmugMug Film!
How we brought “Golden Flower” to life…
A couple of years ago, while wandering through Pinterest I came across the beautiful goddess paintings of chinese artist, Zeng Hao Dun Huang. Drawn to the beauty, personality, and evocative flow that he captured in his subjects, I’ve wanted to create a piece of work inspired by the feeling that his pieces evoked in me.
The headpiece we used here is by Ivy Design and from the moment I received it I knew this picture had to come to life!
I reached out to Jaye Hicks, a freelance model here in the UK. We’ve known her and her husband, Jake Hicks for years now and for this concept I knew she would be the perfect choice.
This shoot took place on the same day as the shoot with Isaac which you can read about in my previous blog post.
By the time we’d finished Isaac’s shoot the sun had set and the summer light was fading gently. We all had to work quickly!
With Scarlett’s help, Jaye got ready in the woods and I quickly did her hair, and since we both didn’t bring makeup with us Jaye actually went makeup free for this shoot. I think she looked beautiful and didn’t mind to be honest as I love it when I see the natural skin texture… plus there’s always Photoshop ;)
I worked fast with Safia to set up for this piece. We reused the flowers from Isaac’s shoot mixing them with the fresh ones we’d set aside for this shoot.
I used a green wig because I wanted to connect the character we were creating with the ferns and foliage around her and to amplify her connection to the earth and otherworldly nature.
The dress is from ASOS. I loved the embroidered flowers on the sheer fabric. I felt it was perfect as it gave her some coverage while also not hiding her beautiful form.
A few days before while wandering in an antique shop I came across two beautiful vases that I felt would work so beautifully for this piece. We positioned them in a way to imply that the flowers spilled out and something beautiful and wild was born from it.
I also like the thought that no matter how we may try to control and confine nature/ life… ultimately it will always break free. I felt that the spilled vases might help me translate that visually.
Other details I included were the golden “flowers” I created from pistachio shells. These were inspired by my friend Shirley. You can find them sprinkled around in the scene.
I embellished these finger guards with some jewellery bits I had as I wanted them to feel more ornate and opulent.
I included the flute as I wanted to weave in my love for music. Music influences everything in my process from birth of an idea, to post production, the color direction I go in, and even the words I write here.
And finally I wanted to add some golden movement coming from the hands as she plays the flute and allow this gold detail to dance playfully in the scene as it wraps around her leading the viewer’s eye down the image.
To achieve this I used the dried twig that i’d covered in gold leaf for Isaac’s headpiece in our previous shoot. After confirming how beautiful it looked in the scene I quickly set Scarlett and Isaac to work to wrap as many twigs as they could find in gold leaf! Thank goodness for extra hands!
By this time it was past dusk but not quite dark yet. I prepared now to capture this scene we’d so painstakingly set up. I remember that at this point my heart was pounding as the pressure of honouring everyone’s hard work was all on me now. We were only here once and I really, really did not want to mess it up. In times like this you just have breath and trust that everything that you’ve ever gone through has prepared you for this moment. I just focused on that thought and pushed every other thing out of my mind leaving no room for fear to slide in.
I asked Jake to hold the light (Profoto A1 with a softbox modifier) above Jaye and as I moved around with the camera I asked him to move the light with me.
Since I forgot to bring a ladder, I shot with my arms above me which I’ll be honest was a little bit of a gamble. Shooting untethered and only relying on the image on the back of the camera was incredibly unnerving, especially since I was already in pressured circumstances. I relied on my knowledge of this camera and what settings it performs best in. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to shoot regularly as only then would you get to know your equipment.
By the time we were done shooting it was pitch black. I have to say that I’m genuinely always impressed with how this little A1 light performs when out in the field. This was all pretty much lit with just the one light!
The phone light that you see Isaac holding in the photo below is just there to help my camera focus.
Here’s a little Photoshop timelapse for you giving you an insight into how much work went into post production! (Yes, yes, I know… I really should learn to bring a ladder with me)
G E A R
Camera used: Phase One IQ3 100MP Trichromatic
Lighting: Profoto A1 + Softbox Modifier
Programs used: Capture One & Photoshop CC
C R E D I T S
Model: Jaye Hicks
Headpiece: Ivy Design
Dress: ASOS
Florist: Safia Floral Design
Lighting Assistance: Jake Hicks
Assistants: Scarlett & Isaac
Skin retouching: Pratik Naik
SmugMug team: Alastair Jolly & Anton Lorimer
““Just look around! This immense universe is functioning so perfectly well that nothing can be added to it. It needs no improvement. Seeing this, one relaxes. If stars can go on dancing and flowers can go on blooming and birds can go on singing, why not you? You also belong to this universe. You are part of it. In fact, you are the most valuable part of it, the greatest flowering is going to happen in you—the flowering of consciousness, the golden flower of being.”
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