Bend, Oregon Photographer: Personal Project – Body Painting!

In addition to ijk Productions I’m also a partner in Studio 3. Studio 3 is located in The Old Ironworks District in Bend. The whole complex is made up of artists, artisans, and craftsmen. Its an amazing community of talented folks. Each month on the last Saturday of the month the district has an artwalk where people show their wares, there’s music, drink, and its generally a wonderful time. At Studio 3, in addition to showing what we do, we feature different artists each month.

This month I was charged with finding our artist. I recalled a young lady at a previous artwalk handing me her card and saying she’d love to show with us if we were ever interested. That young lady was Natalie Fletcher. I contacted her and she agreed most enthusiastically to show her amazing work. She also mentioned that, in addition to painting on canvas and other traditional media, that she did body painting and wondered if I might be interested in shooting one of her subjects. Hmmmm, take pictures of incredible art on a beautiful scarcely clad model….I pondered this request for what must have been a nanosecond! Uh YEAH!

We discussed the concept: A girl in a vintage car (beautiful Ford Fairlane) broke down by the side of the road, dressed in 50’s era clothing (painted on). We agreed to meet on a stretch of pavement called China Hat Road at 6:45. While I was on my way the sky began to turn dark, the wind picked up, and I started to get rained on. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I crossed my fingers and pressed on. When I arrived they were just finishing up the painting. The wind was starting to howl and the poor model Lisa Marie was covered in goosebumps. I had serious doubts that we’d be able to do the shoot as planned. The car hadn’t even arrived yet. But I thought at least we might get some interesting shots in the rain.

The car finally arrived at about 7:15. We positioned it and starting shooting. Suddenly the wind calmed down and actually became an asset. And the light became gorgeous! Everyone had a great time and I got some great shots of the artists work and our lovely model. Well, don’t take my word for it. Here, you be the judge:

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