LA Cityscape on Whitney's Rooftop

I met gorgeous Whitney at a shoot with Ray John Pila. While doing her makeup, I fell in love with her Southern accent and telephone purse! 

 After doing a test shoot with her, I told her I wanted to do another night shoot that tests my abilities to use a basic external flash. I usually shoot outdoors, during the day. I have no problem manipulating natural light, but artificial light has always been tricky for me. At this point, I had the basics down, but I wanted to challenge myself.

 Whitney mentioned she had a rooftop available to shoot on. From the rooftop, you can see the LA cityscape and lights. Since I was comfortable enough with the lighting, and I wanted a challenge, I figured I would play with the bokeh the city lights would create. I wanted the horizon to glow enough to see the silhouettes of the California palm trees. I had no idea what her rooftop looked like at this point, but I knew I would be able to just go with the flow once I saw it.

 When she showed me the rooftop, I fell in love! There was a perfect combination of palm trees and city lights. There were riots going on in the city that night. I don't remember the case, but something happened so there were also several helicopters in and out of the shots, which I think added to the great bokeh.

 We had no idea what wardrobe, hair, or makeup were going to look like. When Whitney invited me to check out her closet, I couldn't resist! Anything sparkly already catches my eye, but when I saw this particular dress I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I wanted the bokeh I was challenging myself with to compliment the sparkles in the dress. I know bokeh isn't really much of a challenge. It's easy to create, which is why I see it overused. I wanted to use it just enough. Bokeh is often used to convey that a surface is sparkly. I didn't want to over light the dress to create more sparkles. (Unfortunately, it is possible to have something be too sparkly, lol.)

 After finding the dress, we found her pink tights, which matched her dress perfectly.

 Whitney has some of her favorite 60s and 70s singers displayed on her walls. I was inspired by those photos to add some beautiful, big, bouncy curls.

 I love her giggles!

Thank you to Travis for the great assisting!

Sarah & Carson//Sandy and Danny

Sarah is one of the most creative people I know! She is always wanting to do a new set with her and Carson. When the fair came, she found the perfect opportunity to do a shoot inspired by Sandy and Danny! 

Boudoir with Sarah Alysse

Sarah Alysse is one of my favorite models! She's always positive and happy to shoot. When I've done her makeup, it has usually been a light, natural look. This time, I wanted to do something a little darker and edgier. This particular look was one of my favorites. Her eyeshadow is dark enough to be edgy without being too much, her blush and contour are so well blended and her lip color is a nice lip bitten red, without being too much. It's neutral enough to not clash with the dark eyeshadow, but bold enough to stand out and compliment her skin tone. 

Something I hear often is, "I'm a mom, I can't be sexy. I have stretch marks, cellulite and scars." Sarah is a mommy of two! I say this because I want to show what a professional photographer can do. She isn't a professional model, she just has the confidence of one! Posing, lighting, wardrobe and angles can do a lot to compliment women of any size, shape and insecurity. She admits to having her own insecurities, but she knows that she is a beautiful young woman who deserves to have her beauty captured.

Maternity Photos with Audrey Adams

Audrey Adams is a naturally beautiful model I had the privilege of working with a year and a half ago. I was delighted to find out she was expecting!

 

 I was so delighted when I caught the above image!

Also, this is a great example of how nude colored undies are beneficial to models. Audrey had no problem being nude, but I wanted to see how they would look. I also planned on using the photos for social media, and editing out any goodies for such a beautiful maternity photo would be difficult, and probably unattractive. 

After our first maternity shoot, I wanted to do another one with Audrey. She is such a natural beauty that I wanted to do another shoot that showed her natural, feminine beauty. I knew she was getting ready to pop, so I didn't want to put her in any awkward situations. She is a dancer so any positions most would find awkward in a bathtub are nothing to her.

 This was the first image after the lighting test. This shoot was inspired by Todd Powers' photos of model Berlin. I watched the placement of his softbox over the tub and tried to do a similar placement, but because Audrey's complexion is so much lighter than Berlin's, I had to redo the placement of the softbox so it complimented her skin tone and didn't blow her out.

 Soon after, I added the milk and flowers. It was 2% milk. I used only about 1 cup of milk. The flowers are potpourri.

 White flower crown: Fluffy's Fab Finds

 A before and after  of a zoomed out shot. I added some color to her lips, lightened under her eyes, edited out any nipple/areola, brought some of the color from the top of the water to the bottom, and cleaned up the shower.

 Her smile is priceless! I look forward to doing more maternity floral milk bath shoots!