Rita Lazarus: Pin-Up to Vamp ~ Behind the Lens of a Unique Photoshoot

Doing a pin-up or vintage-style photoshoot is very much like being a contortionist.

Me in my mind: (make yourself as uncomfortable physically possible, yep, got it)

But the end result is glamorous photos that take you back to the 1940s and 1950s. If you have seen those pin-up paintings done by Gil Elvgren, I bet you didn’t know that those models had boxes propped up all around them so that they could rest their arms and legs and not have to hold that pose. We don’t have that luxury because we would have to pay to have the boxes airbrushed out.

One of my favorite and most memorable photoshoots was the vampire photoshoot with Ava Dae Photography. Melissa Salvatico Cherry is the photographer behind Ava Dae Photography. When I saw she was offering a vampire photoshoot, I jumped at the chance—Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I love vampires.

It was a warm Sunday afternoon in September (I think) when I arrived at the location: a house in Pennsylvania with a field and two hearses. Models were going in and out; some were outside posing with the hearses. Melissa found me and introduced herself. She was super nice and had amazing positive energy—this is someone who is doing what she loves.

I was excited to see that her hair and makeup artist was Claire Marie, whom I knew through the pin-up world. I usually do my own makeup but had seen Claire’s work and let her create her art (it also helped that my hair was black and my bangs were cut in a v-shape).

I was then taken to a rack of clothing and given a white tank top and white skirt. After getting dressed, I was told to come out back. Once outside near the hearses, Claire and Melissa doused me with fake blood. I was in my element.

Melissa directed me to pose near and inside the hearse. I decided to fully commit and did not speak, acting as a vampire the whole time, never breaking character. I immersed myself in being a vampire. Melissa said to me, “You are really freaking me out.” I snarled at her to stay in character.

Another model came over and started taking video. One wonderful thing (besides getting to be a vampire and knowing you’re doing such a good job that the photographer gets freaked out) is that vampires, you see, do not need to be contortionists. Melissa let me move around and pose on my own since I was “in the zone.”

Once your session is complete, you deal with the aftermath of getting as much fake blood off as you can. Then, you drive to a McDonald’s because you’re hungry and wonder why the person taking your order looks terrified. You catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and realize there’s still some fake blood on your chin and neck that you neglected to remove.

As the person handing me my food stared, I pulled down my sunglasses and said, “Sometimes vampires get hungry for other things besides blood.” Then I drove off.

The end result? Amazing photos of you as a vampire. Even though you weren’t wearing teeth and it wasn’t nighttime, the photos have a dark sky, a full moon, and you with vampire teeth. We landed the cover of Hell on Heels magazine.

This photoshoot will always have a special place in my heart because I got to be a vampire for a day.