8/23 Trash the Dress with Chris Adams (Photo-Modern)

I first met Chris Adams at a runway show for Atomic Daylight. He was quick to shoot (stealthy!), quiet, and very nice. I had run into him a couple more times during the runway shows for Dirty, and we began talking about doing a shoot together because he liked my look, attitude, and drive.

He wanted to do his own version of a trash the dress shoot. His style (if you have gone to his website) you'll see is very edgy and darker than other photographers I've worked with. I love this style, so I accepted his request.

We met, changed into outfit, and went around Portland. On a bridge, in a random industrial parking lot, down by the river, and next to a theater.

It was definitely humorous. It's a rare occasion that I get to model in front of the public, so it's always awkward at first. On the bridge, more than 100 bikers passed us and each group just had to say something, including but not limited to: "congratulations!!!" "you look beautiful!" "oooh, good job!" "how pretty!"

I got these images out of it:
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After the shoot, he mentioned he had an idea to spend one full day later in the month at the beach, same dress with perhaps a few different girls, but have the dress on fire.

It took Zero Seconds for me to agree. Whether or not I'd actually be on fire, I didn't care. It'd be an awesome shot!

So there I found myself, in the back of his car with his wife and friend/model, driving to Lincoln City. We stopped to eat first, then headed to the beach.

Chris' wife Kelsey did hair and makeup outside the car. It was a bit windy, but overall a really nice day. We wrapped ourselves in our sweatshirts and walked through the parking lot into the sandy dunes.

We walked a few hundred feet and found the ideal location; near the open waves but tucked away from everyone else. We happened to choose the one spot where the wind was fiercest (not realizing of course until after the shoot), but we managed by taking turns holding the lights and weighing the stands down with our bags.



The shoot was relatively simple: stand in one place but create dramatic poses and lines using our limbs. The dress had to stay in one spot so we could later duplicate the placement on a stand, so we could light it safely on fire. It's a composite photo which means in post-production, Chris would take the burning dress image and lay it over an image of one of us, giving the illusion of us being on fire.

I guess it's a little safer than actually lighting us up.




Burning the dress was exciting, but had no real climax due to is polyester nature of purely melting. There was a lot of smoke, though, so it seemed intense!

Fun, long day, with what I'd say is one of my favorite images of me thus far!

Total Time: all day