After sharing my experience winning the
Miss Peggy Sue Pinup Competition, I promised an update when I got a photo shoot under my belt. I am happy to report I have now done two photo shoots, and have a few more lined up, possibly a calendar shoot as well!
Do you think it's ok for a calendar I want November (my birthday month) and October (my anniversary, which also happens to be HALLOWEENNNNN!!!)? That's not greedy, right?? (I love Halloween… if you couldn't tell.)
One of the awesome prizes I won in the Pinup contest hosted at Peggy Sue Car Show was a photo shoot by
Ron Pearson. He specializes in pin up and vintage inspired photography, though he does everything!
He had some great ideas for location, and even had some wardrobe pieces for me to use!
But the first photo shoot that I did with Ron was for a local diner called Zee's Diner. This is not the shoot that I won, but an opportunity to model for the first time!
Ron let me know that I would be working with another model,
Bridget Codoni, who has done several photo shoots with him, and could give me some tips and hints.
What I found interesting is if the pose feels awkward, it's probably a good shot.
For example, swan neck is a real thing, and super important, and arching the back to the extreme looks great to the camera.
Ron told us where to stand, where to place our hands, which way to face, and asked us to smile, or look more serious. He made me feel comfortable, and his direction was clear, and friendly - "smile like you are happy to be here!" and "Put your chin down, and toward me - perfect!"
I next met up with Ron a week or so later at Starbucks to get some prints of that shoot. I thought it was super cool that the Barista gave him my drink free of charge, thanking him for his service - he served in Vietnam, and wears a hat with pins that shows his pride.
While we were there, Ron had me kiss, and sign a large print of Bridget and me, "to Zee's Diner, Love Miss Peggy Sue." How fun is that?!
We also discussed what I would like to do for the photo shoot I won. He let me know about other shoots he had done, even on a large ship with a navy theme.
He suggested we could go to nearby Schellville, where there is an
airport with tons of vintage planes. OMG, yes! So we set a date, and talked wardrobe. He had a few pieces, and several ideas.
I ended up ordering an outfit on Amazon,
Smiffy's Women's Wartime Officer Costume.
I wanted to look beautiful and sexy for the photo shoot, but as I said in my Q&A portion of the Peggy Sue pinup contest, I like that pinup allows me to be sexy without showing my entire body.
The feedback on this costume looked good, so I went with it - as a costume it's pretty good, and was perfect for the photo shoot. I only wish the skirt were a true pencil skirt - I had to do some awkward poses for sure to make the silhouette right.
I did this photo shoot with Terri Boyer - who, like Ron, is a military veteran! She is super fun, and sweet. She came over, I did her makeup, and assisted with her hair, then we got dressed up, and she drove us to the airport.
Ron had already set up lights, staged a fan and a smoke machine in the hanger where we started - we shot with an airplane mid repair, a helicopter, and a vintage jeep.
I kept looking at camera with my head too high, or looking too far to the left or right. Ron explained that when I do that, too much of the white of my eye shows. I understood when he showed me in the camera, and later when I got the proofs - don’t look too far off camera! Lesson learned!
When we were done in the hanger, we went to meet a couple of brothers who had a Fairchild plane that they pulled out of their hanger just for us to shoot with!
They were incredibly sweet, and offered Terri and I seats while Ron got the camera in the right mode to shoot in the sun light. Terri and I had changed and brought props (courtesy of Ron!) with us - hats, sunglasses, pearls, long gloves, a vintage camera and vintage Samsonite luggage.
Again, Ron let us know where to stand, what to hold, when to smile, etc. I enjoyed switching it up, some more serious looks, some cheesed up with a big smile! I also liked that Ron was open to suggestion on poses.
That morning, I'd spent hours getting ready in the morning, doing hair, makeup, and getting all my outfits together. We spent several more hours at the airport, shooting, and dealing with wardrobe changes, and yet more shooting.
It all seems so easy when you see the finished photos, and it certainly was tons of fun - but doing a photo shoot is super exhausting! When we were done, I was so ready for a cold brew!
Ron has already gotten me proofs, and prints, including one - Mechanic Jen on a piece of heavy tin instead of in a traditional frame!! I will cherish that keepsake forever!
I cannot wait to do more photo shoots, get more practice at being a model! It is a great confidence booster to see the finished result, and all the beautiful shots.
What is even better are the memories that go with the photographs. I see a picture, and I remember what we were laughing about.
I love that the people I was surrounded by were fun, and nurturing - this was a low stress environment, and all fun. It was not intimidating, or awkward - no one told me to make love to the camera like I have seen in the movies.
I did however take some lessons from when I used to watch Americas Next Top Model almost 10 years ago! Pretty hands, and pretty feet, and swan neck!
I will keep you all posted on this yearlong journey as Miss Peggy Sue 2017, and Lady Lipstick, my pinup alter ego. So far, it's been a blast!
