An Emotional Evening

So another concept I have worked with Dawn of Pink Dawn Photography was a very unique one. She wanted to go for a "rainy night in Portland/stood up date" glamor style shoot. Evening gown, accessories and night on the town makeup. Her set up was really unique and fun. She put up a plexi glass sheet in front of me and used a spray bottle to create a raindrop effect in front of me as I posed behind the glass. Again Qui did my makeup in a much more dramatic fashion. This shoot was really interesting as I could see my reflection in the plexi glass more than I could see the camera, In some of the shots it totally creates a "I'm lost in my own expression" look. Very fun. *all images expand when you click them*

 Couple of head shots to begin

 These two (above and below) had Portland Scenes Photo shopped in for a more artistic complete look

Alias

So, many people have asked about my name "Why Amber Araneae?" Some people think I need something more flashy, or less flashy depending on the person. Some people think Araneae is my middle name, others ask what my nationality is with a last name like that, I just laugh.

My nickname since childhood has been Spider. My uncle gave me this nickname because I was an awkwardly tall thin girl 'who was mean', it was a retaliation to me calling him Uncle Monkey cause he has, by far, the hairiest chest Ive seen ever. So Spider has been a family nickname for years.

Its followed me for a long time. I go by the name Liante on various things as that's the Lord of the Rings Elvish word for Spider. But when it came to me choosing a model name/alias it just seemed too exotic, too hard to pronounce. Plus Ive responded to Amber my whole life, why change it?

In short, I chose Araneae as its the Order name for Spiders.  Its a rare person who knows that, and a fun nerd fact when I tell them where my name came from.
It comes through in some of my shoots from time to time.

 Titled "Black Widow" by Jeff Mawer because of my tights

Titled "Webs" by Visioluxus

To be a bride again...

So one of the fun things about working with photographers is getting to wear crazy theme costumes/outfits that the average person only wear once. The biggest one being my wedding gown. I dont know many women who ever get a chance to wear their gown again and feel beautiful again. Maybe try that other hairstyle they werent so sure of on their wedding day or different jewelry that was the "second choice" on the biggest day of their lives.

Dawn with Pink Dawn Photography was so much fun. Total butch lesbian who loves wedding photography and all things girly, but in other people.  I showed up to her listening to an indie pop song about some woman singing about her vagina and just laughed. Odd, certainly, but amusing and full of personality. After seeing my gown she choose to put my hair up instead of down (which is how I wore it at my own wedding) and choose a completely different set of accessories. I worked with an amazing makeup artist named Qui and she did a look that was very unlike my own wedding as well.  Once I was all put together I felt like a princess again, a different sort of princess than my real day. (not to mention my dress is too big for me now! yay for loosing those inches on my hips and thighs) *all images enlarge when you click on them*

February Book Review: Sharp Objects

Sharp Objects
by Gillian Flynn

*short review without spoilers*

I got a giftcard for my birthday from a great friend and was faced with the difficult task of trying to decide what books to buy. My book list is never ending so this is quite a daunting task limited to what I'm in the mood for currently. This book caught my eye for about the millionth time and I finally picked it up to read the back.

At first skim these themes stood out: Horror, psych hospital recovery, murder investigation, overcoming personal demons.

In short the synopsis I got was: a recovered crazy person is investigating a murder that will cause her to question her own sanity.

I was sold. I love psychological horror novels

However I did not expect this book to be as good as it was. The cover has a the quote "keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction" -Chicago Tribune and this is all too true.

The main character, Camille, is a recovering cutter (not a spoiler, you read this very early on) sent to go back to her quaint  home town to investigate a serial child murder case. Camille is a reporter for a "little name" newspaper who wants to capture a big story in hopes of making a name for themselves and as Camille is from this town, its the perfect opportunity. However, we soon find out why Camille was all too reluctant to go back. Her family is far from functional and at times the reader has to question who the real crazy person is, our main character the clinically unstable one, or every other character in this story and town.

As a debut novel this book is phenomenal. Its dark, and haunting and the characters leave quite an impact on both the reader and the story. I think its rare for an author to truly capture a believable level of crazy that Flynn has here. I had, however,  guessed the ending ahead of time, but there were enough twists and turns throughout the story that kept me reading nonstop like a zombie till it was finished. Its a short read at less than 300 pages and well worth the time.

For a horror novel I give this 5/5 as I truly enjoyed this book, it gave me chills, and would recommend it to others

Creeptastic

Ive never truly toyed with the idea of being blonde. I bleached my hair once to immediately turn it red/orange but would never have kept it that color. However after my last shoot with Jeff and Luke, I had to do a double take at myself.

Luke did some infared photography shooting and removed color for my clothing and hair. Making me look eerie and blonde. Quite surreal, and very spooky. *click image for full size*

Wind, Cold and Fun

December 4th began early with an outdoor/on location shoot with Jeff Mawer and Luke Olsen in the FREEZING wind. As cold as this shoot was, it was amazing. I was shivering so hard I thought I would ruin all the shots and thought for sure I was turning blue. *luckily my black lipstick covered most of that*

Jeff got me his shots back with a mere 3 week turn around (due to holidays) and Luke would take almost 2 months. Here are some of my favorites from Jeff's side of things.

Lets do this, with strands of bead

So, It seems I need an artistic outlet. Ive begun doing some modeling gigs for fun lately and I really enjoy it. Last Saturday I worked with Visioluxous in the Industraial MLK area of Portland. We got a couple really interesting shots and had a total blast doing them. It was so refreshing to work with a real artist. I'm getting tired of people who only want to take pictures of pretty girls and bring nothing artistic to the shoot. Eliza is such a thrill to work with, I showed up to the shoot with absolutly no idea what concept we would be doing for the day. Once I arrived and she got a look at me she opened up a trunk full of fabric and literally made my skirt out of a curtain by safety pinning it to me. Then she hand cut each strand of beads and made my jewelry. She designed my makeup and hair and we set to began shooting in her new studio. Truly an artistic day.