Fantasy Photo Shoot

With live performing at a COVID-lull, I'm having to find new ways to exercise and indulge my creative spirit. The perfect opportunity for that happened a few weeks ago when I met up with the photographer-extraordinaire, Al Martinez, for a fantasy inspired photo shoot. Check out the fruits of our creative labor below, and be sure to check out Al's other photography work on his Facebook page. 

Don't Forget Your Mask!

It's the new thing, the new normal. When you feel your house you have to don a mask or face covering.

Wearing a mask might not be the most enjoyable thing ever: it can make you feel overheated on warm days, lead to undesirable breakouts ("maskne"), fog up your reading glasses, and generally be a pain trying to remember when you leave your house. But hey, if you got to do it, might as well try to make it a bit more agreeable.

So here's my nod to having a bit of fun with our new mask couture. Photos by Fred Dimaano.

Back to the Studio

While I usually prefer to do creative, fantasy or belly dance inspired photo shoots, sometimes it can be nice to just keep it simple. I did just such a shoot with Nick Rodriguez back in 2019. Here are a few of the images we captured in that session.

Blustery Bikini Photo Shoot

As many readers know, in addition to belly dancing, I also do some modeling. And I love to share the creative outcomes from photo shoots that I participate in on the blog, which is the topic of this month's post. Back when the weather was "warm", I did a bikini photo shoot with Phil of Donley Photography out at Golden Gardens in Seattle. I put warm in quotation marks because while it was July, being Seattle, it was overcast, a bit misty, and super windy. So it was a standard beach day in the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, we pushed through and ended up with some pretty good results.

Modeling in Magnolia

If you've been reading the blog for awhile now, you might know that in addition to dancing, I also do some modeling as well. I was recently asked to be part of a fun collaborative portrait project coordinated by Mary Cartwright of SmartSkinRN and Claudia of Magnolia Village Studios. The pictures were featured in a local art walk here in Seattle back in July, and will later be combined into a printed art book. The core of the project was portraits in soft flowing gowns. However, I was told I could bring my dog and a belly dance costume as well. So you better believe I didn't hesitate to grab both! Here are a few of my favorites from that shoot. Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering why my dog Zeke is looking so intently at the camera, it's because the photographer is holding cheese. Yeah, she's got his number!