The forgotten photoshoots with Neena

I tend to shoot many hundreds if not thousands of images when shooting a model. I then sit at my desk sifting through the apparent "keepers" and end up thinking all the rest are rejects, destined to sit on my hard drives gathering digital dust.

I then open up the same folder a few years later and wonder why in the heck did I not use an image. There's nothing technically wrong with what I shot but there must have been something that my three year younger self saw that didn't like it. Roll forward three years and my older but none the wiser self saw something I did like!

I reckon my reason for rejection could also have been because I shot too many images. Hundreds of images, all very similar to the next one, with something I deemed incorrect or "not quite"

Another thing that made me look at these images with a fresh pair of eyes is what I've learned since I shot these. Nowadays I have better lenses, a better camera and bit more of a grasp on post processing.

So with the experience and hindsight of my older but none the wiser self, this is a few of the images I've shot with Neena which have never been published anywhere.

Neena on fire!

I've shot with Neena a few times and she is currently unavailable on account of the fact that she has 2.7 kids (she's currently pregnant). I still chat with Neena occasionally and see her thriving in her FB posts and it's good to see she's not quite as bonkers as she may appear here.

I think maybe I rejected this image of Neena at the time because it looked a little noisy in the RAW file. Nowadays I worry less about the noise and focus on the composition or subject. Neena here isn't actually on fire but she sure does appear that way!

Railway Sleepers and Smoke

This was Neena stood in front of a wall of old burnt railway sleepers where I had placed a smoke pellet behind and lit the smoke with a flashgun. The smoke crept through the cracks to make this effect.

Neena in the carriage

On this abandoned farm was an old pullman railway carriage. It was decaying and looked precariously about to collapse. We ventured inside and I backlit Neena with a flash with a white reflector from the side. I remember thinking this shot was a bit over-exposed or too bright in places. Roll forward three years and a Photoshop Preset took care of that.

Smoking in the barn

This is a shot I rejected but with a Photoshop "Black" Preset I made recently, this image of Neena looks way better than the unseen original.

Tall

Neena is at least 6 feet tall. It showed when I had the bright idea to pose her in the doorway of this old pullman railway carriage and it immediately became obvious she wasn't going to fit! I'm always looking for something different so deliberately cut off her head!

They say that copying someone is the ultimate form of flattery but since I shot this no-one has ever copied it!

Twisted

This is one of my favourite images of Neena I've actually posted before. I guess it was time to wheel this one out again with a Photoshop Black Preset.

Cover yourself up my dear

My three year younger self was obsessed with trying to get images which were social media friendly. As much as I like to see a pert nipple, I can't use the image on Facebook or Insta. I remember the mischievous Neena laughing at my expense while I was trying to make her look family friendly! This must have been one of those moments!

About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex, landscape and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; the social side of photography is always good!

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