The Bloody Bride
Model: Kiri Thomasson Photography/Design: Sabrina Nielsen
After I made the black Unseelie gown with the crystal blood droplet earlier this year, I honestly couldn't help myself and dream up a white version of this, and thus I had to make one.
I have half a mind to shoot the two dresses together one day.
I found some gorgeous tulle fabric with lace appliqués and beading and my heart was sold. For years I've wanted a cage skirt, so this was a wonderful opportunity to make one. It was actually a lot easier than I anticipated.
Overall, I wanted the costume to have a very gothic feel to it and I loved the idea of keeping the skirt see through, so you can see the cage skirt underneath.
The idea behind the character was a bride who'd died on her wedding day and was now haunting this old castle ruin. Lots of ghostly and vampiric feels. So of course the location had to be an old ruin in the forest. This was my first shoot with Kiri, chosen from dusins of applicants from the casting call I did for this shoot. She's a stunning young girl and perfect for the role.
On the day of the shoot, after getting ready, Kiri drove us to the location and we started prepping her there. It didn't take very long before we had a very enthusiastic and curious audience of young girl and her mom. They wanted to take pictures with Kiri. On shoots, I often experience people coming up to us and wanting to know what we're doing and what's it for and so on. The answer is always the same: "It's just for the sake of our own pleasure". Because who doesn't want to stand in a see-through dress in the forest on a cold November day? ;)
Yes, it was a cold shoot, which is also the reason why I did spend time shooting any video during the shoot. I figured I'd better just focus on the photos, what with poor Kiri freezing in that thin dress. So we actually ended up only shooting for about half the time I'd normally do. And then it was back to the warm car and the drive home.
For the editing of the photos, I added some extra winter and ghostly elements. Winter (without snow) has always been the most difficult season for me in terms of photography. The light is either so harsh or barely there, and without foliage everything looks so bleak. It can look beautiful in person, but it's hard to translate to photos sometimes for me.
