This is a little story about two sisters who discovered a curious looking chest in their old house. The older girl excitedly convinces her little sister that they should open it and see what wonders lay inside!
Just as the sun sets, the chest opens and to their surprise out appears a magical creature that was trapped within!
Fierce and beautiful, she invites the girls to join her and explore her world. The youngest leaps at the opportunity but the oldest is a little more apprehensive.
As she leads the way the girls follow, but the oldest can’t help but wonder... who is this creature, where does she come from, and why was she trapped in the chest?
Stepping into the faerie world is stepping away from our human one. The girls were transformed into butterflies as no humans can enter in this place. They spent the rest of the twilight hours exploring and gazing upon the land in which they’d wandered into.
As dusk slipped into night, and the moon rose in the distance, the creature settled onto her throne. Removing her mask she reveals herself as Queen of this world. A powerful creature within it.
With her little butterflies fast asleep, she places her hands delicately yet almost possessively onto their sweet little heads.
And it’s here where we leave the strange trio. A wild creature released, and girls who are not quite girls anymore.
What do you think happens next? Do you think the girls ever made it back home, or will they forever be trapped in the enchanted garden?
T E A M
Models: Emily (Queen) + Scarlett, & Yasmin (sisters)
Emily Dress & Mask: Agnieszka Osipa
Nail: Onyx Nail Design
Butterfly Wings: Costurero Real
Photography: Bella Kotak
Assistance: Alastair Jolly
Videography: Anton Lorimer
Retouching: Bella & Pratik Naik
Location: Euridge Manor
A strange connection…
This was the last shoot of that SmugMug week. Here’s a little reminder of what we created the very first shoot of that week, way before I’d even come up with this story or before we’d even considered this shoot!
Goes without saying that I now have my own theories on the fate of the older sister…
I’d love to hear yours!
You can check out the rest of that set here!
Created for my SmugMug film!
Check out the video for behind the scenes footage of this shoot
Close up details
Behind The Pictures
This shoot came together quite quickly as changing weather patterns that week had forced us to reassess and shift things around.
I personally thrive under pressured conditions with quick turnarounds. Emily (our queen character) reached out after seeing a shout out for models in my IG stories two days before.
The moment I confirmed her and spotted this dress hanging in my room, the idea for this shoot began to form. I reached out to Scarlett and her sister Yasmin, I think it was literally the day before to see if they were free and interested in being a part of this story and I’m so thankful that they were just as excited for it as I was!
The story for this shoot pieced itself together the night before as I was trying to sleep. Needless to say I got so excited about it that I didn’t sleep much that night!
I wanted to play with the contrasting energies between the characters. The older, wiser, harder, yet gentle (or possessive?) Queen, and the sweet, soft, naive, and free spirited young girls. A little nod to the journey we all experience as we grow.
Then there’s the energies between the sisters that I enjoyed playing with. The younger being more adventurous and headstrong and the older holding back but letting herself be pulled forward, and ultimately embracing this new change.
I decided to style this story myself. I was curious to see how far I could go. I did all the hair and makeup and was pretty much in control of everything else that you see.
Scarlett’s dress is from eBay, and Yasmin’s is from a vintage clothing fair that I went to once upon a time. I wanted the girls dresses to feel soft and playful and give that summery feeling.
Since Emily’s character was a dominate one, I wanted that reflected in her styling. Her dress and mask are from designer Agnieszka Osipa.
Those who’ve followed me long enough, know how much I love to bring attention to hands, I decided to use these nails that were specially made for me by Onyx Nails design.
I brought along some gems to add to her hands and face. Scarlett and Yasmin took over for that and I hope you agree that they did a great job at making it look so wonderful!
The butterfly wings are from Costurero Real. They’re so beautiful! What I don’t have is a proper behind the scenes shot of is the antennae I made for the girls from some flexible bamboo I had for when they were in butterfly mode.
I shot this story with the Phase One IQ3 100MP Trichromatic camera system. I used natural light whenever possible. Once the sun was down, I used the Profoto A1s to light the scenes.
BTS photos by Alastair Jolly
Thank you so much to SmugMug for creating a film on my process! It was a really wonderful week and I hope you all enjoy what we created together! Here’s the link to the video & an interview I did them - here.
Thank you so much to everyone who worked with me that week!
It was honestly one of best experiences of 2019!
Check out the rest of blog posts in the series!
The Secret Garden
The sun dances and the moon kisses...
The Greatest Rhapsody
From you the flowers grow…
Golden Flower
❤ Thank YOU so much for reading, following, and supporting my work! ❤
J O I N T H E C L U B !
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