Megan is a senior with just a few weeks left before graduation. On Friday, she went to her senior prom in what has to be one of the most gorgeous dresses, ever. She met up with me on Sunday for a post prom shoot. Prom pictures are great and everything but they aren't as fashion forward as this dress deserves. When we met up she brought along a second vintage dress that she had found recently. Seriously, slay is the only word that comes to mind.
Congratulations on graduation Megan! #Classof2016
Paige is a D.C. native currently in school for Epidemiology. Being a college student with two jobs, and a boyfriend, very surprised she had time after work to go on a photo adventure. We met up at the metro station in Fairfax and went to Union Market for waffles and then back home. Here are a few snaps of our adventures.
I found the whole sound to be cinematic, the kind of music where your mind makes up vivid stories as it goes along
DC stylist Casandra Marie channeled a 70's vibe while still incorporating modern festival style. Make up Artist Rachel Lane, kept the makeup 70's simple with a natural skin and a bold lash...
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to shoot my first festival, I wanted to share some of my favorite moments or highlights.
Hand Rolled Cigars
There were many cigar vendors at Shamrock Fest but I got to spend time with one in particular by the name of Castaneda Cigars. I watched him take a tobacco leaf and turn it into a cigar. The whole process was beautiful and you can see he really enjoyed the art of making them.
You can see more images from the process and the other series I will share her in the album on Facebook.
The Music
It's no secret that I love the artistry of music and generally speaking music is what drives my fashion and personal projects. I have a few musician friends who I have taken photos of but nothing on a festival scale so I appreciated the challenge that came from the experience and I learned a few things... like how I need new glass if I am going to continue to do this. But here are some stage shots from a few performances from Shamrock Fest, again more on the FB album.
But seriously my favorite part was 100%....
The Audience
To see all the different forms of human emotion in one place... of course that would have to be at a music festival. And again the FB link above has more images, these are just a few faves.
So much to see.
Until next time!
It's pretty cool how the first makeup artist I started following when I moved to the DC area now only lives 10 minutes from me! I was very pleased when Rachel Lane agreed to come help me test lighting in my new "studio" space. Really it's just our guestroom/ my office with a single window and no overhead lights. But we did a lot with a little space.
Even when my cat crashed our shoot, she rolled with the punches. Honored to be working with Rachel on a few upcoming projects. Keep your eyes peeled and check out her work in the link at the top of the page.
Finally starting to shoot again after a two or three month hiatus.I was jonesing to shoot. So when my stylist friend Casandra (Speak Vintage, DC) contacted me about shooting her boyfriends band while they recorded their album, I got really excited.
It's been a few years since I've been with my musician friends in a studio space. Being so new here, I haven't explored the music scene yet. When I heard the band name, I totally thought they must be one of those Folk bands which are so popular and common in the DC area, they really got a kick out of this when I told them being that they are very clearly an Oi! Band (punk sub-genre).
The guys of Oldham Boys welcomed me into their space at Invisible Sound Studios while they hammered out 8 or 9 tracks.
Below I am posting a few of my favorite photos to see the full album check out their facebook page. And if you are in the DMV come see them live at Raw Ink in Gaithersburg, MD on March 4th.
I love it when friends from the low country contact me when they roll through DC. Especially beautiful models like Halo Models and Talent's (Savannah, GA) Caroline Molloy. We got together with make up artist Rachel Lane and stylist Casandra of speak vintage to make some edgy imagery. While the styling centered around vintage attire we wanted the images to feel very L.A. meets D.C. with the modern edge.
We played around on the rooftop at Vintage Vagabond Wardrobe House.
After being the house all week with a broken bottom I was dying to get away from my family and go hang with someone else's. The Lowekamp family invited me into their home a day after moving in, and with all of the chaos of unpacking they still managed to take a break to make brownies. The Lowkamp twins had obviously done this before, even in their new home the manned their station while baby-wearing mom directed the the chocolaty baking so elegantly.
Here are a few of my favorite photos
I didn't stick around to see how the brownies had turned out but they were smelling amazing. Thanks again Lowekamp's for letting me crash your Sunday morning.
As many of you know I spent some time in front of the camera professionally; modeling on and off since I was twelve actually. At about 15 year old I met a real big leader in the Asian market. My peers from my mother agency piled into a hotel room and stripped down to our swim suits as the casting agent picked us apart one by one, pointing out each and every one of our flaws right out there in the open. My flaw, my hips were far too big and my chest too small.
The chest thing I knew about, I had been getting teased for being flat chested since 5th and 6th grade, but the hips too big (translation: ass too fat) confused me to no end. Being our group of models were all from the south where the populace is notorious for being more plump, and we were constantly being told to eat, and other ignorant insults. Our agent prepared us to hear these types of things when going to open calls. Rejection for any reason at all was pretty standard.
As I got older it only got worse, too big, too small (while I was pregnant), too old (at 24), hair too short, on and on. Through it all I remained pretty confident. I loved my body, I took care of it, watching what I put into it and worked it out to keep it strong. Then i gained 30 pounds in one year. I did not work out, I did not watch what I ate. The weight of the world, my marriage, the brothers death, stresses of relocation, and being a parent became the weight under my flesh. I did not feel confident.
As I praised other women who wore their curves with pride, I spent time being a whiny baby getting used to being in the category of a medically healthy weight. I tried to stay out of photos, selfies became face only, and shopping became the most depressing because the weight is never where you want it, and every time I would put something on and look in the mirror the little comments that family and friend have made about the gain would linger.
I started staring at the mirror as I would get undressed, I would say mean things about my body, sometimes out loud. Then I would reevaluate that as if I heard it from someone else. Oddly enough when I imagined mean things coming from someone else, I didn't take them to heart. I remember compliments. If you know me in person, I am always complimenting women. It was time for me to practice what I'd preached. I started noticing things I liked about my new body (I love my new, even bigger butt) and thinking if I wanted to I could change what I didn't. After looking enough times at myself I realized I like it all.
I have remembered the boudoir and nude photos I have shot of other women throughout the years, knowing what I know now about lighting and most importantly the power of shadows. I let go of the past body and the fear of the new one and stripped down for myself. I am only sharing because I feel good. And as a photographer I think I can do this for other women too.
When shooting boudoir comfort is key. If you want to go full nude, implied, or t-shirt and boy shorts. whatever makes you feel sexy is sexy. For me basic all black, and a silk robe. Then there is lighting, lots of shadows, lots of mystery. Lastly, soft hands, fingers on your own skin shows you are comfortable in your skin, it also leaves a lot to the imagination if this is something you are doing as a gift to your s.o.
We shot the series with a canon 6D with a canon nifty fifty (1.8), shot both in monochrome and faithful mode. We used both self timer and human tri-pod (husband). We brought the remote trigger but I swear I can only get it to work half the time. Manual settings are key, you want to have the ability to change exposure and really bring out the shadows (i'm not a do it in post kind of girl)
The power of monochrome: everyone always wants to change in post but I feel shooting in a high-contrasted mono can help you better understand light. Enough shadow and the right highlights can make something with more coverage that a bikini seem so provocative by providing hints of curve and skin. B/W images also tend to be more timeless than whatever editing style is currently in season.
