Photo Shoot Fun!
My very supportive hubby (and bass-player) Ken and I headed out together a few weeks ago, armed with camera, props and the dress-up bag, to locations that have become some of our favourites in Scotland since we moved here 5 years ago from Australia. The weather forecast was sunny for most of the day, and you have to make the most of such rarities here in October, so off we went!
Our first stop was Odin’s Throne in the Artist Town of Kirkcudbright, one of the first places we ever performed at in the UK. We’ve had our eye on this fabulous piece of public artwork for awhile to shoot at, the ideal spot to get my inner Goth on! I posed in queenly regalia, Ken snapped away in his civvies and the tennis club opposite enjoyed some unexpected Wednesday morning entertainment.
We really wanted to include our beautiful ‘house mascot’ in this shoot. Barn owl in a former life, wee Fred gave me the fright of my life when we first moved into our Scottish home, waiting to be discovered under a layer of furniture that came with the house. Putting my hand on a stuffed barn owl was NOT something I was expecting and I screamed pretty loudly at the time! Fred turned out to be a lovely boy, though, and has overseen our new life here from a high bookshelf ever since. This photo shoot was probably the first time he’d been outside in the fresh air again for years. He looks pretty bemused about this in the photos.
After our shenanigans at the Throne, we then headed over to The Wickerman, an imposing willow/wicker sculpture created by Trevor Leat on a former Festival site between the villages of Dundrennan and Auchencairn. ‘Wicky’ stands sentinel and mysterious in a field just a few minutes from where we rehearse with the band every Wednesday and has become a familiar friend in the northern hemisphere phase of our creative adventures.
Sunny the day may have been, but an elevated, windswept Scottish field in October while wearing non-seasonal outfits up here made for some VERY quick-changes in the back of the van and an efficient shoot!
We had a lot of fun capturing these images and are now working up some of our favourites for the new album artwork. We can’t wait to share these – and some of the ancient magic of South-West Scotland – with you!
