Toxic Rose with Savannah

This shoot with Savannah and Toxic Rose was first discussed back in 2012 when I saw the Toxic Rose collection in the Evolution Fashion show.  However, various factors meant it got put off several times.  Fortunately everything came together this December as Ed had a new line of clothes in for Christmas and New Year and Savannah was back on the island for the holidays.  As this was Savannah's first shoot I wanted to keep it simple and age appropriate so I decided to go for a studio shoot inspired by Teen Vogue / Nylon magazine .

Designs by Dean with Sarafina

I arranged this shoot with local designer Dean Williams when I found out that he was creating a collection for the annual Bermuda Society of Arts Fashion Show which took place in November.   Some of the items from the show had already been sold by the time we came to shoot.  Fortunately, some of my favourites were still available and Dean managed to borrow the already sold pants for the shoot.  I did a casting call for the model and we chose Sarafina from the dozen or so models that applied. 

Angels and Demons with Jessica Sinclair

The planning for this shoot started back in the summer of 2012 but was postponed for various reasons, mostly weather and availability.  The concept changed slightly from a whimsical white dress in a field with a castle in the background to what we have here which is a good versus evil concept.  The plan was always for Jessica to make the outfits herself which involved a big tulle skirt and a corset top.   We finished the look off with a some head pieces created specifically for the shoot by Avarie from paradise flowers and also  found some dried vines at the location which we ended up using as a crown for some of the evil looks.

Cosmopolitan (NSFW)

This shoot was Brittany's idea and was loosely based on Mario Testino's "Only girl in the world" shoot for V magazine (with Rihanna and Kate Moss).  Brittany suggested we use Alyssa as the other model and I asked Susan Thomas if she would be able to assist with the fetish style looks.  We needed a cool location for the shoot and Alyssa got permission to use Cosmopolitan night club.  Denny the owner, was great.   He opened up the premises on a Tuesday night, they are closed on Tuesdays, turned on all the strobe lights, turned on the music, provided liquid refreshments and then left us alone for 2 hours to do the shoot.

Avarie's Beauty Shoot

This shoot with Avarie was done at the end of August.   The concept was a collaboration between Avarie who created the head piece and make up artist Christopher Vee.
It was a fairly quick shoot to do, as there was just the one look.  With beauty head shots, there really isn't that much variety you can do in terms of different poses.
We did the shoot at whitespace* studios and I chose to use a coloured backdrop.  I picked Olive green which seemed to work best with the golds and purples of the head piece.

End of Summer Shoot with Sophie

This shoot with Sophie was done at the end of August and was the last of my outdoor summer shoots.  We wanted it to be an editorial style shoot and tried to collaborate with a couple of stores for outfits, unfortunately we weren't able to acquire anything suitable, so instead we pulled together a couple of simple looks from Sophie's own wardrobe.
The inspiration for the shoot was a simple beach and dunes shoot with a slightly desaturated/low contrast colour scheme.

Terrracotta Tones with Karina

This shoot with Karina was organised at very short notice.  I'd asked her for a shoot when we met at the meet and greet a couple of weeks earlier.  Then when she emailed me to set something up I was really busy, so I gave her a proposal. I told her that if she could come up with a concept, provide me with inspiration images and pics of all the outfits that she was going to wear,  acquire a MUA and find a suitable location, then I would consider shooting it, providing it was up to the same standard as all my other shoots.

Lillian's Surprise

Its been about 3 years since I've shot with Lillian.  That was back when she was still an amateur and still learning how to model.  Since then she's been working as a full time model in New York and is currently signed with Trump Models.   She was back on the island for a family visit and we managed to fit in a last minute shoot the day before she left.  Lillian had provided me with some inspiration images that were fairly commercial in nature and quite casual looks.

Desiree's Tribal Tribute

Now that my schedule has eased up a little, I'm finally getting chance to catch up on the backlog of the summer shoots.  This shoot with Desiree was shot back in mid July.  We had originally planned to shoot this concept back in March and April but had to cancel about 5 times due to bad weather or someone on the team feeling unwell.   In the end we put it off until the summer and hoped for better weather.  Which we got, it was as hot as hell.

The concept was Desiree's, she had several outfits that she wanted to shoot that were African inspired and she wanted to shoot it in the woods at Southland.   I'd never shot in southlands and knew it was going to be a quite challenge to try to balance the contrast between the really dark shadows and the strong rays of sunlight that come through the gaps in the canopy above.

Androgyny by Rayneisha

When I asked Rayneisha if she was interested in doing a shoot this summer,  she told me that she
really wanted to do something with an androgynous theme.  So I left it up to her to find the clothes and inspiration images and I pretty just had to turn up and shoot it on the day.   Afroditi offered to do the make up and between her and Rayneisha they came up with a look that met the theme.

Rochelle - Airport Dump Shoot

Rochelle was one of the first models I ever shot with, way back in 2008 when I was still learning about lighting and had minimal retouching skills.  Since then we have shot at least once every year until last year when she won Miss Bermuda 2012 and wasn't allowed to shoot with anyone other than on official Miss Bermuda business.
So now that her reign as come to an end we get to shoot again.  Congratulations also to Katie Arnfield, Miss Bermuda 2013. (Katie - looks like we'll have to put shooting together on hold for a year)

Goodbye Crazy July !

This blog post is just a quick update on what I've been up to in July and will explain the lack of recent blog posts.  I predicted at the end of June that July was going to be a hectic month and so it turned out to be.  It started with the Evolution Fashion Week.  The schedule was bigger than previous years, with additional weekday evening shows leading up to the main event on Saturday night. 

Jesenia - Beach Shoot

Jesenia was visiting Bermuda last month, she was here with her boyfriend who was teaching the Bermuda Mens Rugby team whilst she was teaching the Bermuda ladies.  In her spare time she is also a competing fitness model.

She contacted me and asked if I was available for a TFCD shoot.  As it happens I had just had 2 shoots for that coming weekend get cancelled, so I had a free weekend and agreed to do a quick shoot on Saturday morning.

Christopher Vee offered to do the make up and Jonathan decided he could spare a couple of hours away from his studying to help assist.

Eva - Dip in the Pool (NSFW)

WARNING: CONTAINS NUDITY

This is the final set from the shoot that I did with Eva last month.  After the shoot at the beach we returned to the house where Eva was staying and she wanted to do some test shots in the water, with the intention of doing a full under water shoot at some point when she returns (and assuming I buy an underwater housing).  We also did some statuesque style shots at the side of pool just before we wrapped it up for the day

Eva - Lets go to the beach (NSFW)

WARNING: CONTAINS NUDITY

Following on from the sunrise/silhouette shoot with Eva that was posted earlier this week, here are the shots from the next series that we did once the sunrise had lost its warm colour.  I admit this set lacks a little continuity, there's a mixture of lighting techniques, and compositions that don't really flow as one series and one black and white, that sticks out like a sore thumb.  The intention was to do some landscape shots and also some close up body shots, there was quite a bit of experimentation and a technical issue that we had to work around.

Eva - The Race Against The Sun (NSFW)

WARNING: CONTAINS NUDITY

Eva contacted me a couple of weeks ago asking if I'd be interested in
collaborating with her.   She's a fine art nude model from the USA and was here visiting a friend.   As it happened I'd taken a couple of vacation days to watch the US Open so I was free in the mornings, other than my intention to be editing the surfer girl shoot.   Eva mentioned that she wanted to shoot on Bermuda's beautiful beaches so we chose a remote beach and an early start time (6am sunrise)

Kira's Enchanted Forest

The inspiration for this shoot with Kira was from an Emily Soto behind the scenes shoot with ANTM
model, Jaclyn Poole.  I needed a concept that was interesting and also age appropriate and Emily Soto's work fits the description really nicely.   I was in the process of trying to create the look for the shoot when I saw shots of the head pieces from Paradise Flower Crowns (made by Avarie).  I thought they would make for the perfect center piece for the shoot so I contacted Avarie to see if she was interested on collaborating and also styling this shoot.   Thankfully she was as excited about the concept as I was.

Sophie and Riley as Surfer Girls

The concept for this shoot was a day in the life of two Californian surfer girls.  The intention was to bring the kind of vibe you might find in pics posted on their facebook wall.
From chilling out at the bar, messing about in the ocean and beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

I was fortunate to have a dedicated behind the scenes stills and video photographer at the shoot, so I will make a separate blog post explaining the planning process, more on the inspiration, mood boards, styling, lighting and execution.

Alyna's Bikini Shoot. (NSFW)

WARNING:  CONTAINS IMPLIED NUDITY

Alyna Silva is a model from NYC, with quite a big Twitter and Facebook following.  She has been a HBO ring girl at some World Championship fights.   She was in Bermuda for a vacation and messaged me via Model Mayhem to ask if I was interested in collaborating in a shoot.   Fortunately for her my shoot for that weekend with Riley had just been postponed, so I was free and able to shoot.   We had originally planned to shoot early on Saturday morning, but Alyna had to cancel, so we rescheduled for Sunday afternoon.   

Beauty Shoot with Melissa

In March Afroditi, Pinky and myself decided to collaborate on a beauty shoot.  Its been a while since we have all worked together, mostly due to Pinky and Affs busy weekend schedules.  So it was great to find a date that we were all available.  The inspiration was based on 2 necklaces that I bought for the shoot.  I got them from Guilty Pleasures in the Washington Mall.  They have some nice merchandise that will work well as shoot accessories.   I'm going to have to visit the store again in the near future.
Once we had the concept ideas, we decided on asking Malyssa to be the model.  I've worked with Melissa twice in the last year or so and she has a great face for beauty and the perfect hair for what we were looking to do.

Chisa's Boudoir Shoot

At the beginning of the year I purchased a couple of Creative Live courses by Sue Bryce and Jen Rozenbaum.  Both photographers have developed successful Boudoir businesses and they tend to shoot with natural light.   I decided to try some of their techniques of lighting and posing.
I asked Chisa to be the model, we had chatted about doing a shoot for a couple of years so this was the perfect opportunity as she wanted to do something with a sexy edge.  I put out a casting call for an MUA and Marcia offered to help out.

The Fire Shooting Crew

Last weekend I got invited to a photographers get together with 3 photographers, that a few days earlier I wasnt even aware of.  These guys (Jack Thomas, Chris Ingham and Adrian Cunningham) are amateur photographers who have been experimenting with night photography, shooting with long exposures, light painting and also shooting fire in various forms.  I saw some of their work and when I asked how the shot was executed, Jack told me that they had another shoot planned on the upcoming Saturday and I was welcome to come along and see for myself.

Jessica Sinclair - Make up by Marcia Adiutori

This is the third of four shoots that I did with the Make-up artists at the MAC store.  This is the second look done by Marcia, with Kira being the first.   The model is Jessica Sinclair.  I first saw Jessica when I was shooting behind the scenes at the Evolution fashion show rehearsals.  We had agreed to shoot in the fall of 2012 but that shoot was postponed as I decided to take a 4 month break.  Hopefully we will reschedule it for this summer.

Ashanti Gibbons by Paloma Pernica

This is the second of four shoots that I did with the Make-up artists at the MAC store.  The make-up for this one was done by Paloma, who has recently joined the team.   The model is Ashanti Gibbons.  Just like Kira in the first shoot and also Jessica in the one that will follow shortly, I scouted Ashanti at the Evolution fashion show rehearsals

Kira Doran - Make up by Marcia Adiutori

This is the first of four shoots that I will be posting from a shoot I did with the Make-up artists at the MAC store.
The shoot was discussed last summer when I was visiting MAC on a regular basis.  Marcia came up with the idea of having a little party  one night after work.  It was a great idea, we had wine and nibbles and each MUA's had to come up with their own creative make up concept, which I then got to shoot.  I stayed off the wine for as long as I could resist.

Alex Anderson - Make Up By Serena Brangman

This is the fifth and final Beauty shoot from the series that I did in collaboration with Make-up Artist Serena Brangman.   Alex was chosen for obvious reasons, firstly she is a very good friend of Serena and more importantly one of Bermuda's most experienced models.  By the time it came to shoot Alex we had been at the studio for about 6.5 hours, it was late and we were all tired and hungry and I was running out of creative inspiration.  One of benefits of working with an experienced model like Alex, is that she knows how to pose, how to create interesting angles and how to model to the lighting setup, meaning I didn't have to direct or think too much at all.   It didn't take very long before we had enough good shots from a variety of angles and were able to call a day. 

Nea Pantry - Make Up By Serena Brangman

 This is the fourth in the series of beauty shoots that I did with make up artist Serena Brangman.  The model is Nea Pantry.  I have been wanting to shoot with Nea since 2008 when we briefly shot at a group event with multiple models and photographers.  However, Nea was has been off island a lot away at college and my summers have been booked by the time she has returned.  I was pleased to hear that Serena had chosen her as one of the models.

Yuki Hoshina - Make Up By Serena Brangman

This is the third of the beauty shoots that I did in collaboration with Make up artist Serena Brangman.  As mentioned in previous posts Serena wanted a mix of ethnicities and Yuki was chosen obviously for her Asian features.

Sherall Seymour - Make Up By Serena Brangman

This shoot with Sherall is the second of a series of five Beauty shoots that I did in collaboration with Serena Brangman.

Serena wanted the five models to differ in ethnicity and skin tone.  Sherall was chosen for her dark skin tones and Indian mix.  I had shot Sherall last year and once I'd shown Serena those pics we agreed that she was the perfect choice.  Obviously being gorgeous was also a key factor LOL.

Sophie Adams - Make Up By Serena Brangman

Last week Serena Brangman and I collaborated on a series of beauty shoots.  Serena was looking to add some more beauty images to her portfolio and as the NFL season is drawing to a close, it was time for me to get off the couch and start shooting again.   We shot 5 models during a 7 hour session.

The first model is Sophie Adams.  Serena was looking for a variety of skin colours and ethnicity.  I suggested we use Sophie for the "white" girl.