Raven at Shell Beach
Added 2015-12-16 00:07:27 +0000 UTCI had worked with Raven twice before, making her a cover/feature model for an issue of my publication, NSFW Magazine, as well as the poster girl for a series of Dia de los Muertos images for a gallery show I had in 2010. Those previous times she had a bright, vibrant pink mane of hair and wasn't nearly as delicate as her pixie appearance conveyed, which I liked.
Now, in the summer of 2014, she had begun suffering through a tough time, a break-up, financial loss, and more, but I still found her as enjoyable as ever. Her neon hair had faded to an even lovelier soft, platinum pink on that afternoon when she texted me, asking if she could crash on my sofa for a few days due to having no other place to go. Her father had passed away down south and it would be a few days before she could claim his effects, yet she didn't feel like driving all the way back to the Bay Area where she was living. She felt a bit stuck, so of course I said I'd help out.
Over the next few days she basically slept off and on, I'd buy her dinner and we'd chat as I processed pics, and on one of the last nights, we decided to take a few photos. Eventually we ended up at the beach where a high tide ruined my ideas for shooting on a specific rock formation I had in mind. Still, we took less than fifteen minutes to shoot a quick series that ended up being more meaningful than anything I could have planned. Here is my favorite image from that set.
What do you think?
