Vampirique - Shoot 2 - Mia Moore

At the time of writing, it is May 2025, 5 months into the year and so far, I have only two photoshoots completed for my Vampire inspired photography project, Vampirique. But, both of them have been very productive. The first was with model Volodina back in March, and this most recent photoshoot was with UK model Mia Moore.

All the models for the project I invited due to their particular aesthetic. The word "Vampirique" loosely means "traits of a vampire", meaning "like a vampire" or "suggestive of being a vampire". Now, that is not to say of course that all the people in my project look like Vampires!! Not at all. But, it means that I can tell that with the positioning of certain light at certain angles, and with certain styling and makeup, I know they can have those familiar traits we know of when we think of beautiful vampire figures from the movies of old.

Mia is the second model in this line up of around 12 models. I have about another 10 to photograph between now and the end of December. Quite a tall order! But I have 5 booked in, including one gentleman who is, helpfully, the brother of UK model sensation Jessica Wilcock. So I'll be photographing both of those creative souls at the same venue on the same day. And the remaining ones I hope to book in with somehow, somewhere, sometime, in 2025!

So Mia was visiting The Boardroom Studio in May '25 and I managed to secure a 2 hour block with her; a slot that she very kindly shuffled along for me as I was struggling to make our agreed time. She is a talented make up artist (MUA) too, which is helpful, because obviously I cant do makeup, and given I am financing this entire personal photography project myself, I cant easily hire a MUA either. (if any make up artists see this and would like to be involved on a TFP basis for some fun low pressure experience, do reach out to me).

She had already had explained to her the nature of my Vampire inspired photography project, but we spoke about it some more, and she fully got the brief as to what she needed to do. She had several outfits with her which was useful and suited the project perfectly. Her hair is quite a remarkable thing, and I was able to blast some light through it at certain times to create some quite remarkable portraits.

As always, the photoshoot was a great fun and very productive. I shot about 10 rolls of Kodak TMAX 400 film, and once again had a hard time choosing any particular favourite. I guess a favourite photograph depends on your perspective as the viewer and the context. Some of them were very obviously lit for the project, and some of them were as much for Mia as they were for my own profile. I always like to try and ensure a model who works with me has something she can use for more mainstream purposes, aside from whatever niche edge case I hired him or her for.

These photos of Mia, combined with what I have already captured of model Volodina, are already contributing to a very strong photography project. With many more models yet to photograph, I have high hopes for the project - I am manifesting in my mind the day when I have a large printed look-book made from it, and I present it to a future brand client at a meeting from one side of the desk. And they say to me, after pawing through it, "Yes Ted, we want this for our campaign. Please make it happen for us". That is the end game hope. And that is why I am doing this weird and wonderful thing. I might seem like a nut case, but there is intention behind everything I do. Always.