A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with Melissa Troutt, a model from the DC suburbs of Virginia.  She has officially retired from modeling now, so I was one of the last photographers, if not the last to have the opportunity to work with her.  And it was my pleasure.

 

We started off around two in the afternoon.  We spent a few minutes taking care of paperwork and looking over wardrobe options before heading out and about downtown.  I wanted to try to get some professional/lifestyle looks, and we selected two outfits to try.

 

         

 

These three were taken in front of the courthouse and city hall buildings.  The blouse is pretty sheer, so I had her put a cami on underneath so we wouldn’t get arrested.  As you’ll see later, things don’t always go according to plan.  No, we didn’t get arrested, but we very well could have.

 

 

After a change of clothes, we went back out, this time heading the other direction.  I had just a little black and white film left in the camera, so I planned to stop by a little bistro to shoot some more business style before we went over to the switching station where there were pillars I could use to play off her red skirt.  It started to rain a bit on the way over as you can tell by Melissa’s slightly damp hair and the rain spots on her skirt.  She was under an awning, so she wasn’t getting any wetter, but we weren’t going anywhere else without getting drenched.  And by the way, I’m not under the awning, so I am getting wetter.

 

Eventually, we decide to do it anyway, not without a little nervousness on my part.  After all, I don’t have an assistant to keep my camera dry, and there is some lightning about and the last thing I need is a fried model.  I ask her if she’s sure, and we go for it.

 

    

 

Needless to say, Melissa wasn’t wearing anything under this blouse.  That was actually by design.  I wanted to get a few shots that showed a bit of cleavage, in a sexy-business sort of way.  I’ll show you what I mean later when I write up a previous shoot.  We never had time to get the shot I had intended.  And for the record, rain was not on the agenda for the day, much less a downpour that left three inches of water running through the alley we were in.

 

It was fun to do, but in the future I need to figure out a way to keep the camera dry while shooting.  I had a horrible time keeping water off the lens, and had some potentially good shots hosed because the lens focused on water spots.

 

Next, it was indoors to dry off and continue with the shoot.  This was the only photoshoot that I’ve ever been involved with where the photographer needed a wardrobe change.  I made a quick run home while Melissa dried off and redid her makeup.  I brought my clothes to the shoot location because, well, if I didn’t I’d be soaked again, eh?

 

 

We did a quick three or four shots in the CherryBomb uniform before moving on to a blue corset.  And then it was the artistic nudes.

 

 

This is one of the “safe” ones, and by that I mean one of the ones where the outcome is a known result for me rather than an experiment.  I followed the black and white session with a color session, which may be revealed at a later date.

 

 

This little dress here was something I’d actually wanted to shoot in a garden or park, but, you know, the rain.

 

And now we get to the entire reason that I wanted to work with Melissa in the first place.  Her headshots.

 

         

 

I just love that look.  I’ve seen many headshots of Melissa, and there’s just something about her that inspires, I think.  The last headshot in the row looks like she’s not wearing a top, but she was actually wearing this piece of lingerie:

 

 

And yes, she is bottomless.  Actually, she’s bottomless in the first two headshots as well.  Sometimes it’s best that I not ask questions and just shoot.  This was one of those times.

 

All in all, quite an enjoyable experience if you ask me.  I’d recommend working with Melissa, but alas, that’s no longer possible.  I’m just glad I got the opportunity.

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