Beauty In Bloom : Jacksonville Beauty Photographer

I've always wanted to collaborate with and illustrator on a shoot. I tried it once in the past where I had the artist paint on the model's body and it didn't quite come out the way I had hoped. This time however, I got together with my stylist and good friend, Argie, who also happens to be a visual artist and we came up with a concept for this shoot. This shoot is one of our many shoots that incorporate fresh flowers. Every spring for the last few years we have incorporated floral elements into our shoots. Whether they are in gardens or the models are wearing handmade floral headpieces, its a constant theme with us. Holland and Erin also joined us on this shoot, I love working with these two as well. They are part of my dream team!

We took this shoot a step further and added the element of hand drawn flowers on to the finished images. This gives this photos a very unique and feminine flare, which contrasts nicely with the very 90's grunge styling/makeup. The shoot ended up being published in CoCo Magazine. 

Beauty in Bloom for CoCo Magazine

Model: Courtney Beach

Hair: Holland Morgan

MUA: Erin Foster

Stylist/illustrator: Argie Mitra

Shed Hunting Weekend : Georgia Travel Photographer

This weekend my boyfriend, Allen, and I went on our annual trip up to Pine Mountain to visit one of our good friends, Richard. Richard owns property up in Pine Mountain which he has an archery only hunting club. Allen is normally up there every weekend from September to January for deer season, so when that's over we normally head up there together to hike the property and hang out with Richard. Since February is normally the time that deer shed their antlers we decided to try and find some shed antlers! We able to hike about 10 miles on Saturday in different areas with in Richard's property and we had a couple of his dogs accompany us as well. Allen and I each found a nice sized shed, but didn't up find more than one a piece.

The whole weekend was a blast and I'm hoping once I'm out of school I'll be able to travel much more than just a couple times a year. Here are some images from this weekend's trip.

"Feel Right" Shoot Jacksonville Fashion and Beauty Photographer

This week I wanted to write about a shoot that I did for designer Weston Gray a while ago.

Weston is an awesome local jewelry designer that I really wanted to work with. Once the opportunity arose I was very excited to hear that he agreed and he made some really great head pieces for my team and I to use in this shoot. The woman who modeled for me actually inspired the shoot. Her name is Lauren and we had worked together in the past, She had recently dyed her hair this beautiful rose color and I wanted to do a beauty shoot with her to focus on her new hair color. 

Nicole was her hairstylist and offered to come on board as hair and makeup for our shoot and Weston provided head pieces that he designed. I shot the images at Grafton Studios in Jacksonville Beach.

The lighting was a one light set up, but I wanted to incorporate V-flats to help bounce the light on to the sides of the model as well.

The lighting set up looked like this. You can see part of the 80" octobox.  I used the V-flats on either side and the reflector placed beneath the light to help light underneath the jaw line as well. I used this lighting technique to create a soft and even light cast on the model. I didn't want any harsh shadows.

Here are a few more shots from the behind the scenes with Nicole Kaleel on hair and makeup and Argie Mitra Styling the shoot.

Here is the finished product, We got some awesome photos or Lauren, her hair, and Weston's head pieces. We were able to get them published in Institute Magazine over the summer last year!

"Eye Dream" Jacksonville, FL Fashion Photographer

My stylist and friend Argie Mitra and I keep a small notebook of ideas and this is something that we came up with some time last summer.On my drive home everyday I take Main Street, painted on the walls of some old buildings are these crystals in vibrant colors and different shapes by local artist Shaun Thurston. They inspired me to do a sort of "street style of a millennial" shoot. While discussing our plans for the shoot, Argie suggested we use her friend Mickey.

Fast forward to last month we finally had everything in place for this shoot. Mickey ended up having a plethora of wardrobe for us to choose from and we had a blast shooting that day. We had a couple of strange encounters with homeless people, but that's what happens when you shoot in Downtown Jacksonville. Over all everything turned out perfectly. We did venture out from just using the crystals to find different textures and colors to compliment the looks. I had Jill Rae Bogers do the makeup for this shoot.It was exciting to see her work her magic with all the beautiful colors she used on Mickey. It ended up being one big dance party with these beautiful and talented ladies! I look forward to working with this team again in the future!

Here are the final images! Hope you enjoy!

"Eye Dream"
Model: Mikey Payne
MUA: Jill Rae Bogers
Wardrobe Stylist: Argie Mitra