The sun dances and the moon kisses...

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This shoot follows from my previous blogpost, we pick up this story soon after that.

We’re still in the garden of dreams and the sun’s about to set. There’s a chill in the air and I find myself itching to capture something as the light shifts from warm yellows to cool twilight blues. It’s my favourite time of day. The magic twilight hour.

I pull out a dress that I’d ordered from ASOS. The silver beadwork reminds me of rivers and currents, always shifting and moving. I add silver leaf to Scarlett’s eyebrows and finger tips to complete the connection between garment and body. An indigo/purple wig transforms her and quickly, before the sun sets completely I know exactly where to place her.

A stone bench hides in the flower bed and as she shifts and settles into place I light a pellet releasing a wave of ever shifting smoke. I watch as it wraps around her and the flowers, and just like that, a moment in time was created. A young girl, a flower too, lost in a moment of still, as the wind given shape and form dances around her.

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There’s a pink/purple gypsophila bush beside us. I never know they could grow this colour. What a wonderful discovery!

Scarlett and I have been shooting ever since she was twelve and in our very first shoot, both of us nervous, admittedly her possibly more than I, we shot with gypsophila. I’d brought them along just in case and they ended up in the final selects. Gypsophila since then has been one of our sweet connections.

The sun had set and I knew that I needed to create in this bush and that it had to be with Scarlett. So in the fading light, with my friend perched precariously on the edge of a chair set up sideways and with just one Profoto A1 light setup with a soft box modifier, here is the floral story we created together…

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C R E D I T S
Model: Scarlett
Dress: ASOS
Wig: Eva Hair

Assistance: Alastair Jolly
Videography: Anton Lorimer

Retouching: Bella & Pratik Naik
Location: Euridge Manor

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A peek behind the scenes…

G E A R

Camera: Phase One IQ3 100MP Trichromatic
Lighting: 1 x Profoto A1 + softbox modifier

Programs used: Capture One & Photoshop CC


Check out the SmugMug film -


A Closer look…

Click on the image to view it larger -

“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.”
— Gary Snyder

Bella Kotak

Bella Kotak is a fine art and fashion photographer currently based in Oxford & London, England. An art lover from a young age she always knew that she would work within the creative industry. Photography changed her life when she picked up a camera and began a 365 project. From that moment she was hooked by this medium that translates thoughts and imagination into tangible form and has since been featured in several magazines around the world.