Shane&Austin’s Couples Portrait

I met Shane before the pandemic when I was dying hair for folks, and they came over to have some lavender gray done. They have a great sense of humor and style! A while ago I was looking to commission a mermaid painting, and we looking to support a queer artist of color. They wrote back, and I’m so glad they did! They made a fantastic mermaid with a lot of attitude, with lots of different materials. The tail is little mirror mosaic pieces, and the water has bits of iridescent tinsel. It makes me happy to look at it!

In exchange to the painting, I did a photo shoot, as well as sending along some money- I believe artists should be paid for their work! Shane’s partner Austin lives in Danvers, and there’s a grand park by the Peabody Institute of Danvers library. They brought their dog, Spirit, who they’ve only had for a little while! She was remarkably well trained, and it’s clear they put a lot of time and care into her. She was a great model, even for a canine!

I love giving people a chance to get dressed up and feel fancy. Austin looked sharp in a suit, and Shane wore a fabulous deep blue velvet dress. We got some classic late summer sunlight by the stream. Spirit started to get tired of modeling, so we took some jumping around photos. Next we wandered around the library and found some stone chess tables, which felt very “Alice in Wonderland” to me. We got a nice photo with the long evening shadows. Outside the library is a dog statue whose reading a book, and he looked a bit odd with a mask on, so we decided to take a photo with him so he felt less self-conscious. I like to get some individual portraits with couples and groups, so we got some of the sunset light for some dramatic shots. I ended the evening with a stunning portrait of Spirit. Thanks again to Shane for the wonderful mermaid and a fun shoot!