Sultry Saunter around Sutton Lake

Summer in New Zealand is mildly confusing most years that I've been here and this year is no exception. That being said, we have had a few stunning summer-like days in the last couple of few weeks and this photoshoot happened to land on one of them. My most recent muse, Caroline Bathory a.k.a. Lady Bathory and I decided to make a last minute trip out to Sutton Lake before I had to head over to the states for some wedding photography work early November. Sutton Lake is a place I'd heard about through friends and had been wanting to explore this area for a while. The days previous to this were quite blustery and filled with sideways rain which is not really ideal for the shoot we had in mind. We played it by ear and in the morning when I looked out the window and saw a calm harbour with blue skies and sunshine, I messaged Caroline and told her be to ready in 30 minutes. I quickly rustled around and packed my bags, grabbed the pups' leashes and out the door we went, heading over to scoop up Caroline and make our way out to the tussock country of Middlemarch and it's beautiful schist formations.

It was an awesome drive out to the location and when we arrived we were pleased to see that we were the only ones there. The sun was out and it was so nice and warm. We had a few hours to kill and sort of just sauntered around the trail as the pups frolicked about in the tussocks. We were beginning to wonder if we would find this lake and then it appeared before us. Excited and ready to begin the shoot, we started in the crevices of a tall curvy formation of rocks near the lake and as the shoot progressed, it got more sultry. When Caroline and I go out, we tend to do sort of what I call an outdoor adventure boudoir shoot. Highly recommended for those that want to run and wild and free in nature.... and maybe have a light tendency towards exhibitionism haha.

Today we were channeling a sort of sultry country girl in her element. Caroline's striking features of red mane, piercing blue eyes and pale white skin really added a stunning contrast to the soft golden tones of the country side. She was even brave enough to go for a dip in one of the ponds nearby which resulted in some sort of ethereal and surreal images. Luna and Saaschi even feature in a few of the photos, total hams for the camera. It was such a relaxing way to spend a Monday morning rolling around in the tall grass and getting a bit creative behind the lense.

Hope you enjoy the photos, this was a pretty fun set to work on and I look forward to going back to Sutton Lake for another visit soon. :)