Henna Wings on t’ Moors (Photos)

(Please click on the images for an enlarged view)

Following on from the studio shoot and after an agonising two-day wait for mature henna stain development, lots of henna aftercare messages plus a final flurry of confirmation messages the night before, we met Louise early on Wednesday morning to travel to Baildon Moor for our outdoor photo shoot. Scheduled for the mid-morning, our aim was to catch the morning light for the photos. As it happened, that early morning turned out to be one with a gloriously yolk-orange sunrise that magically diffused across the sky – much earlier than we had scheduled our shoot for. There was much kicking of ourselves as we travelled together!

I armed myself with warm blankets, a hot water bottle and a flask of hot drink – Ah! The glamourous life of a photographer’s assistant! With all of us bundled up in warm layers (including gloves – yes, it was that cold!), we trekked up to the trig point on Baildon Moor to be greeted with a brisk breeze and stunning views across Bradford.

Blowing the cobwebs away with a walk on t’ moors on a bright Winter’s day.

Be not deceived by the composure of Sensei Adeeb – it was a very cold morning to be galavanting around, topless, on the moors! Many a dog walker strolled by, exclaiming shock and admiration for his resilience to the cold elements. Like a true professional, he was game for anything and was ready to showcase his henna wings!

I think these are my favourite shots from the whole session. The henna wings almost seem to be coming to life from within the skin…

Known within our Ju-Jitsu club for his acrobatics, kicks and jumps, Sensei Adeeb also suggested the following shots – much to the alarm of myself and Louise (both of us mothers, no less!) And as the very real fears of health and safety flashed before our eyes, he leapt to the ground for this fun action shot!

Finally, to wrap up the photo shoot we ended on the Angel Wings shot – perfect skies for this photo. We were so thankful the weather held up for us!

As my first henna stain photo shoot with Louise, this experience became an important lesson in the art of capturing henna body art. While the photo shoot itself was very challenging with winter temperatures nipping at the process and testing our resilience, we also faced a learning curve in the processing of the images – learning how to bring out the best of the henna art while remaining authentic and accurate in the photography, lighting and balance. It was through great communication and much respect for our respective trades that we managed to attain this finished batch of photos to our mutual satisfaction. And if there is anything I’ve learned from this entire experience, it is that a good working relationship is absolutely key to the creation of work that takes you well and truly out of your comfort zone and into new, exciting territories.

With thanks to Louise Rayner Photography and Sensei Mohsin Adeeb for their collaboration in smoothly unlocking this unique project from my imagination. I plan to have many more future projects for us to work on together!

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If you, or someone you know, would like to be part of a henna photo shoot – or maybe you have an exciting idea for some epic henna body art that could work brilliantly with a photo shoot, then please drop me an email and we can arrange a time to discuss and develop the idea in detail. I can’t imagine anything more exciting!

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