Covid-19 made shooting difficult last year, but happily I managed to finish the 2021 edition of the Scandinavian Pinup Girls Calendar.
Three years had passed since I made my previous pinup calendar, «Scandinavian Pinup Girls 2018». It turned out to be quite a success. We were shipping it to more than 20 countries, and I know for a fact that some people still have it on their wall(!).
It was a lot of work, though. I wanted each image to tell a funny story – in the true spirit of Gil Elvgrens' classic paintings. It took a lot of time just to come up with the motifs, and then I spent four months to get all the right props. I realized I wouldn't have the resources to do this every year. I didn't intend to wait three years for the next, but, you know, time just flew. On the positive side, I had plenty of time to gather new props in the meantime, which made last years' process much easier.
I had the pleasure of shooting with a few of the models before, but most of them were new acquaintances. For several of them, this photo shoot was actually their very first, and I was most impressed by their performances. Pinup modeling is hard work, and there are many things to think about, but they all nailed it.
I'm already making plans two different series of pinup images.
When taking on a project like this, the ultimate goal is of course to make a calendar which is at least as good as the previous one – preferably a little bit better. All in all, I think we did just that, and I'm really proud of the result.
So, when will we see a new edition of the Scandinavian Pinup Girls calendar? In truth, I don't know. But I'm already making plans for two different series of pinup images, and they are both possible calendar material. I've gathered most of the props, and just launched a casting call for models, so I hope to start shooting soon. If one of the series ends up in as many as 12 images of different models, who knows what I'll do... ;-)
* Image on the top, from left to right: Miss Stormy Rebel, Serenity Siren, yours truly and Miss Sweet Vintage. (When this image was taken, there were no 3 ft. rule for social distancing)
* Image below: Firecracker Feely really made my day.
