It was the first time I was ever meeting my pod and I couldn’t be more excited! I had just made a new tail with black fabric and spiked studs, specifically for Halloween. It would be perfect for the zombie photoshoot we were doing.
It was a lovely day for taking mermaid pictures in a creek that ran through the woods. I am used to doing my photoshoots in creeks, as that is the only body of water readily available to me. This creek was much farther away though. I had to drive about an hour and a half to Lancaster to meet up with the Pennsylvania Mermaid Pod for our zombie-themed photoshoot.
I’ve really been embracing this season in all its spooky majesty. Halloween is my favorite holiday, which makes October one of the best months. I’ve been making Youtube video tutorials on different mermaid makeup looks and I was ready to get my zombie face on.
The plan was this: Sleep over at my friends house. In the morning we go there together, with her as the driver. I put my zombie makeup on while we’re on our way there. I meet the pod and we do the photoshoot.
Most of it went right as planned, although it was a little difficult putting on my makeup in the car, especially since my friend’s car does not have mirrors in it, which I didn’t realize until we were on our way. I did some makeup in the car, using my phone as a mirror, but then I decided I would do the rest at the park, which I assumed would have bathrooms.
I wasn’t wrong about there being bathrooms, but they were closed so that wasn’t an option. My friend and I decided to use the bathrooms at the Starbucks next door to the park entrance. Buuuut, that was also closed. I was disappointed because I was planning on getting a latte, then doing my makeup in their bathroom with a FULL mirror!
We had to walk a little farther to a grocery store. For once I was grateful for having to wear masks everywhere because that mostly covered the zombie makeup that I had already started.
I was only slightly panicked that I’d be arriving to the photoshoot half an hour late. I tend to be a perfectionist and being late to things stresses me out, but I told myself it was ok.
It was a bit of a walk through the woods to get to the meeting spot. It was like strolling through a haunted forest attraction, with all the photoshoot set ups that were made, featuring murder scenes, skeletons, big spiders and cobwebs, gravestones and other spooky elements.
Then we got there and I didn’t know a single one of them! But I was eager to make friends with them. I soon learned that they were all awesome and we all got along just swimmingly!
We soon got into the creek, which was so shallow we could sit in it without getting submerged. We posed our spookiest poses with props like bloody hands, a skull, and an skeleton animal. I embraced the zombie role. Call me nasty, but I pretended to actually be eating the hand, taking a big bite out of it. I loved making scary faces, and I couldn’t resist making zombie growls. In fact, the growls just kind of happened without me even trying. They helped me stay in character.
The photographers brought some little smoke bombs and things like that for some cool effects. At one point one of them threw a smoke bomb over to where we were and it was on fire! We threw wet rocks and splashed it with our tails to try and put it out. Someone with legs ended up stomping on it to extinguish it. I'm glad we didn't start a forest fire, but it gave me a bit of a rush, I'll admit!
The water was a bit chilly but only our bottoms and legs were getting wet. Although I couldn’t resist getting photos while being deeper in the water. I was having such a good time being photographed by real photographers that I felt like a star. A brave star. I thought we would get some cool pictures if I was actually in the water all the way so that’s just what I did. After a few minutes of being in the deeper water with two photographers focusing on me, I was beginning to get cold. I endured. Then I began to shiver. I endured.
Eventually the other mermaids and the photographers became worried by my shivering and teeth chattering. They joked about how they couldn’t tell if my lips were blue from cold because I was already wearing blue lipstick. Leaving the water with two towels wrapped around me I heard comments from some of the models and photographers who were at this event noting how I was shivering and saying “poor thing.”
I’m shivering just thinking about how cold I was. I joked that I nearly got hypothermia for this shoot but it was worth it. The pictures were awesome. My friend who drove me there got in on a few of them so all the zombie mermaids could pretend to be trying to eat her.
I got dried up and then was ready to take some more pictures in the other tail I brought. It was a red Finfun tail, which looked great with a bloody cloth background. I posed on a large boulder, and naturally I couldn’t resist saying “I like that boulder, that is a nice boulder.” A classic Shrek line!
That was the last part of the photoshoot that I participated in. I stayed a little bit longer to chat with everyone and exchange Instragam accounts. Then we headed out for our hour and a half drive home. I was in a good mood for the rest of the night, ecstatic at how much fun I had, how great it was to meet my pod, and how fabulous the photos turned out!
I haven't yet seen all the photos edited by the pros, but here are some that my friend took for me.
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