Fantasy(ish) Photoshoot!

I present to you, the fantasy(ish) photoshoot to end all fantasy(ish) photoshoots!

Well, not really. Mostly it was 45 minutes of clambering around in a tree and trying not to whack the camera on branches and sweating and laughing and swatting mosquitoes. But my epic writer friend Grace and I came up with a few shots that may or may not be any use to anybody. ;) (Read that: 174 photos exactly that I had to pare down a lot to figure out which ones to post.)

I'm going to spam you with all of these, which I might mention are under Creative Commons so you may use them for stock if you like. If you want any of the full-size, unedited versions, comment asking for whichever ones you'd like. (To do that, click on the photo - it should give you a bigger version. Hit "view image" and it should give you the image all by itself in a tab with the file name at the top of the tab; mention the file name and I'll send you the picture. Or you could just describe the picture. Extensively.)

So first we posed in her really, really cool house. And huge. Did I mention huge? It has this amazing chain of staircases where you can stand at the top and watch whatever's going on at the front door, and it makes for some cool angles. I was a bit distracted when I took these or I would have experimented more. I'll have to do that next time.

Yes, that is Grace down there, not me, though our moms mistake us for each other. Same height, same hair, same dark author brains...

Oh, yeah, and Grace's cool sword! Which is actually a replica of Glamdring a.k.a. Foe-Hammer, only with the alphabet on it instead of runes. Which is kind of slightly strange, but ok since we didn't really have that many close-ups of it.

Then we went up to the top of the staircase and posed there. We were a little backlit by the window, and we had to keep telling each other "Tilt the sword this way. No, not that way. This way. No, no. Your other right. Your OTHER - I'm coming up there."

After that, it was outside. It was lovely breezy and humid with a goodly helping of bugs, but like the tough authors we are we trekked around in our leggings with our hair blowing all over our faces and posed.

 The grounds are almost as cool as the house. And three times as huge. She took me into this little pathway where I had to step carefully past dying poison ivy and duck under branches that wanted pieces of my hair.

Once past that, we came out into this little sanctuary under the trees. I couldn't resist.

Yes, that's me acting dramatic.

After that, we came out and found a more open path with a neat little spot where you could crouch down and see a miniature forest under the hedge. 

And some pictures on the path:

After that, the tree. They call it the Spider Tree or the Avatar Tree, and even though it doesn't glow like the Tree of Souls, it's just about as cool.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of it from farther away. It looks like a huge bush - the whole thing is just one big mass of leaves from the outside, and you can hardly see into it. You have to part the branches to get through. But once you're inside...

It's one huge mass of a tree in the middle, with other trees adding to it on the outside. Ivy carpets the ground under it and you can hardly glimpse the sky through the leaf roof.

Even better, the tree is wonderfully climbable. You can just walk along the branches near the ground and (even with a big heavy sword throwing you off balance) not be afraid to fall, they're so thick.

At this point, Grace had to run off and console the baby, who was crying for her. So I kept myself busy with the sword for company.

When Grace came back, we spent almost the rest of our visit clambering around the tree, playing Bored Elvish Rangers.

Staring out from the watch post...nothing new today...sigh.

 Smiling cockily down at an intruder.

Could it be - gasp! Something happening??

 They're HERE! They're here at last! (Not sure who it is, but she's excited. xD)

I have more pictures of me on the ground than in the tree, because once we got up there Grace  seemed perfectly at home. Way more like an elf than I felt. Maybe because it's her tree (not that I would mind having it at our place at all.)

 Me with a slightly weird look on my face.

 Me climbing. My brother said I looked like a frog.

On the watch...

Closeup time!

 Aaaand another! Frizzy hair for the win!

Bonus: Blooper shots...

 This is my "Grace, stop it!" face. Also the shot where I have a fantastic moose headdress.

 If you look really close, you can see a mosquito on my forehead. Great capture, Grace. ;)

 Best handlebar mustache. Ever.

"I'm gonna drop the swo-ord!"

So, sorry for spamming y'all, but I will probably do it again, next time, with different outfits. ;) If you end up using any of these, link me so I can see, please! :D