A few blog posts back, I introduced Elina, who has been in Nagoya working with the Cirque Du Soleil production of Totem. As mentioned in that post, we had tried to go to Noritake Gardens (ノリタケの森) to do the shoot, but after realizing it was closed, we ended up going to Sakae instead. Well, we decided to give Noritake another shot, and this time I checked to make sure it was open. Alert readers of my blog will remember the photo shoot I did at Noritake with Risa, Nanaka and Kyoko. Noritake is a tableware company with over a hundred year history. Noritake Gardens is a park area that was opened in 2001 at the site of the former factory grounds. While only a ten minute walk from Nagoya Station, once you enter the park it feels like you are in a European village. They have preserved the factory's brick buildings and added gardens, a creek and a fountain, making it a great spot for a photo shoot. The brick walls and fountain provide an elegant and unobtrusive backdrop and it is spacious enough to frame shots that are not cluttered with other people. As with the first shoot, Elina came prepared with her suitcase full of clothes. She is so photogenic and comfortable in front of the camera that she is a joy to work with. She is leaving Nagoya now to travel with Cirque to Fukuoka, so we won't be having any more photo shoots, but it has been great to work with a real pro. You can see Elina's Facebook pages here: https://www.facebook.com/elinayofie  https://www.facebook.com/elinaninja