Little Red Riding Hood

As many of you know, I am trying to do more concept shoots with my Sacha Surprise packages. They make me happy to style and they feed my creative appetite, not to mention the results are always so fun and original. I have been longing to do a little Red Riding Hood shoot since Indigo has this adorable red coat. It was a hand me down from my Godson, Gabrielle, to Oslo, and then to Indigo. I have been planning for years to do a shoot but just never seem to find the time. So finally made the time and booked an afternoon in my diary. But the night before the shoot, when we tried on the complete outfit I had been dreaming of for so long, the coat's hood just seemed too small when up. I finally looked at the label on the coat and it was for a 24 month old!! Indigo will be six this summer! I have a tendency to keep dresses that then morph into shirts etc, but this was definitely taking long wearing to a new level!! It looks totally fine if the hood it not up, but for this shoot, the hood really is the key feature. Luckily, our beloved nanny, Tin Tin, came to the rescue as she had a friend's red riding hood costume and it was perfect - just a little pinning and it fit Indigo like a dream and was so much more dramatic than the wee coat I had planned for and much more like in the story book too. I have said this before, but it never cesases to amaze me what one can find around the house for dress up and they always actually looks so much more genuine than the shop bought costumes. 

I was hoping to do the shoot in a forest but of course the day arrived before I'd had time to properly scout so next thing I knew, we just decided to do it in my back garden - it is amazing how it looks foresty though all the same - and amazing what a little garden neglect will do for creating the perfect setting for a photo shoot. All those manicured gardens are actually hopeless for shoots as they make the background too angular and not organic enough - but somewhere wilde and over grown (like my garden!!!) is the dream location. And I can even mask these weeds for proper flowers!

So after the inspiration came from the existing red coat, I knew I needed a wolf. I posted a request on facebook and had quite a few people email pics of their delicious dogs. But this pup, Savvy, could not have been better cast. Apparently, these dogs are bred to look like wolves. She is part German Shepard, part Husky, and part Malamute. Amazing result and her temperament was just dreamy. I was a little worried at first at the idea that perhaps I was putting Indigo in danger. And Savy was even a little skittish at first with the vibrant red of the cape. But then she grew accustomed to it and the garden and was very relaxed. It was actually quite funny as it was a bit of an effort to make her look sinister and wolfy as most of the time, she was bouncy and happy and panty - definitely not at all scary looking. But with the temptation of treats, her mummy managed to get her into the positions and looks we wanted

After the garden, we decided the story would not be complete unless we had Savvy in bed dressed up as Grandma. She was incredibly tolerant as we put her in a nighty and bonnet, though it was not staying on those pointy ears!

"My Grandma - what big teeth you have!" Indigo was actually saying these lines the whole time and it was extremely funny.

"And what big eyes you have!" The wolf instantly squeezed them as small and tight as she could, insisting they were not big at all, but all the better to see her with just the same!

"Grandma - you are sort of scaring me - you look a lot like that wolf I just met in the woods..."

"Grandma - why won't you look at me???"

Thank you Indigo for being such an amazing model - I am never as professional with you as I am with official clients and I don't seem to remember to do for you what I do for other kids to help them relax and have fun so you are such a trooper for putting up with all my crazy ideas! And thank you Michelle for bringing over Savvy and helping her to be such a star performer - I am utterly thrilled with the results! xxxxxx