Shot at golden hour on February 18th, in Waikiki, Oahu, for my book Hapa Moods. The room was completely dark except for a sliver of drapery cracked open to let in natural skim light from the late-afternoon sun. Handheld Nikon Z 7 with the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S at 1/60 sec, f/1.8, ISO 320, exposure pulled −1 EV to hold the shadows.

Elizabeth had never modeled before. She was about to start a new job as a NASA engineer in Southern California, and the session was a chance for her to try something outside her usual world before the move. We talked science fiction for most of the shoot, which turned out to be one of the more enjoyable jobs I'd done in years.

As we were wrapping up, she mentioned she'd been experimenting with DIY shampoo recipes and pulled a bottle of vegetable glycerin from her bag. I asked on a whim if I could shoot a few more frames with it dripping across her breasts. She agreed, and the image here came out of that improvised final set.

* Please note that the model was 20, at the time of image creation.