Portalprivado.com – Lisbon Escorts - One Snake in Alentejo

We're here!

I turned off the car and opened the trunk to start unloading.

On that hot afternoon of April 27, 2015, the silver Fiat Punto was at the limit of its carrying capacity.

It was Barbie's twelfth photo shoot at PortalPrivado, an escort with an eternal girlish air. Barbie's relationship with the camera was so natural, so light-hearted, that it was impossible for me not to smile too when she cracked her huge smile while doing the most intense poses of the session. It was very easy and fun to photograph Barbie, an escort from Lisbon who has always been very successful.

I'd been imagining a shoot in the countryside for several weeks, in the style of a hill in Alentejo, but right in the middle of nature. A lot of grass and pine trees with a wide horizon. The main feature of the session would be the color of the sky. I wanted a session after sunset but before night falls.

Over many years of sunset sessions for Portal Privado, I've always been fascinated by the 30 or 40 minute period when the sun has disappeared over the horizon but still brutally influences the light and color of the sky. Gato Fedorento talked about 7 minutes, and I wanted to photograph that famous twilight :)
I called Barbie and she immediately accepted my proposal.

There wasn't a cubic centimeter free in the Punto, faithful companion of hundreds of outdoor sessions, stories and late afternoon clichés. Among the photographic equipment - 4 flash heads because I also wanted to work on the scenery as well as photographing the model, 2 generators, tripods, cables - I brought a pile of white-painted wood (broken fences, old pallets) to try and make it stand out against the greenish brown of the scenery.

It was impressive to see this pile of material piled up and dumped in the dirt next to the car.

We had left early, it must have been about 6:30pm. I've never been an organized person, but that day I really wanted to make sure nothing went wrong, I was going to make it happen!

I started organizing the wood, I wanted a sort of central white wooden stage where the model could move around at will, standing, lying down or sitting. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult, the wood fitted in just as I had imagined.
I moved on to distributing the light. Even though I knew that the final position and power could only be set at the time of the shoot, in the twilight, I decided to position the flashes and generators - two flashes for the model and two flashes for the backdrop.

My obsession with the scenario was due to the fact that I had chosen a location with two large pine trees at the top of a hill (I often passed this national road on my way to Montargil and had fun imagining sessions along the way - fortunately I did many). I was going to try to light up these pine trees to contrast with the sky and put on a show, I hoped.
I placed the generators (similar to car batteries) in position, hidden in the middle of the herbs so that it would be less work later on in Photoshop.

Okay, all done!

By my reckoning, it was an hour before sunset. We sat and chatted.

Barbie talked a lot and always had funny stories to tell. Or it was the way she told them that made them so hilarious. I don't know. But I always found them hilarious.

It was warm, a spring warmth. Perfect for someone to be in lingerie... And without lingerie, in the middle of the woods.
I could already feel the adrenaline. Addictive.
The sun disappeared over the horizon.

Let's go! It's time! I said without hesitation. We've got 30 minutes until it's really dark!

Escort to the "stage", let's test the lights.

I went to the first generator, the one closest to the model, and turned it on. I turned on the respective flashes.

I went to the second generator. I bent down to turn it on.

It moved!

In the middle of the grasses, in that late evening light, the generator moved!

I jumped back, it was a snake! Coiled on top of the black generator heated by the sun was a snake.

Unlike my brother, I've never been very comfortable with reptiles... I was startled.

With a loud laugh, Barbie reacted with curiosity. I wanted to see it. Where is it?

We stared at her for a few minutes. Quiet, about 50 centimeters long, curled up... Enjoying the warmth of the generator.

Well, we have to work. I said. We're losing the light!

I grabbed a branch and started nagging the innocent snake that was taking a nap on our generator. Carefully, but at the same time annoying it enough to see if it would get fed up and go away. I had to start the generator and with her there I couldn't.

After a few seconds she understood and got fed up. She rolled off and danced on top of the generator until she disappeared over the hill.

We still laughed at how scared I'd been.

I turned on the lights.

We did the session.

A great session! (That's how I felt at the time and how I still feel today)

A huge thank you to Barbie for her friendliness and, above all, for her patience in putting up with me for 14(!) photo shoots.