The inspiration for my shoot with DC-based alternative model Vanity Kills came from several unrelated sources. First, some months earlier I had grabbed a casual photo of my son Connor in front of the large wooden door in this gallery, which exists in Baker Park, my city's largest downtown park, and I realized how beautiful it would be as a backdrop to a Gothic-themed shoot. It was the second of three locations (each about 10 miles apart from the next) we used that day. The first location, the cemetery, was the deciding factor to do this shoot. Burkittsville Cemetery was a featured location in the sleeper hit horror film The Blair Witch Project. The film, one of my all-time favorite horror movies, was released some 11 years before I ever considered moving to Maryland.When I moved here and discovered my new home was mere minutes from this cemetery, I immediately hired Vanity Kills from her response to my casting call for this shoot. We added the door as the second location, and the historic ruins of Catoctin Furnace north of the city as our third location. That final location was a challenge, as the ruins are about an 8th of a mile into the woods along the same interpretive trail as the Mermaid Sora shoot. Vanity Kills was a trooper, hiking that distance in that beautiful dress and a pair of platform boots.
