Lore Jac-Rey – Model and Jewelry Designer – Editorial Shoot
Shoot Date: June 24, 2010
There’s something special about Lore.
It started when she commented on one of my pictures on Model Mayhem, and I saw a very intriguing avatar of her rocking it in a trash-bag. No, really! One of her designer/photographer friends whipped up these avant-garde outfits from trash bags and tin foil. And there she was, modeling the hell out of it, with the fiercest attitude. I knew I definitely wanted to shoot her, so I sent her a message and we set up a date.
This was my second collaboration with the marvelous and creative Phi of Phi’s Pretty Faces. Just as with our first collaboration, Yessie, our three personalities clicked beautifully, and we all had a blast gabbing as the make up went on and the hair went up!
This shoot is particularly special to me, because it was really the first execution of a concept I dreamed up pre-shoot and brought to life with the help of my model and MUA. My other shoots thus far had been mostly model-style portraiture (a favorite genre of mine), in which most of the details (such as location, poses, and wardrobe style) were determined by factors other than my own creativity. But in this case, I really had a style and feel I wanted the photos to evoke.
Phi interpreted my rather vague descriptions beautifully, and created the perfect rocker style. I couldn’t have even imagined the style coming out so right – both in the intense eye make up and in the gorgeous curled faux-hawk she created. And Lore has the most gorgeous, natural red hair I’ve ever seen:
The concept centered around an edgy, metal/rocker feel. The location was the top floor of a parking structure, at sunset, with a backdrop of shiny corporate buildings. I was holding this ideal vision of what I wanted, and man if Lore didn’t give it to me exactly:
I can’t even express how giddy I was when I was editing these images. To see the visual embodiment of the concept I’d been ruminating on and mentally nurturing… it was just mind-blowing. And I honestly couldn’t have had a better model for this shoot. It was like Lore and I were connected, brain to brain, and she kept giving me the exact poses and attitude that I wanted:
But at the same time, while appreciating her following my vision, I also love letting models do their own thing. Yes, it’s nice to direct them to get the pose you want, and sure, I do that sometimes. But I also value the fusion of two uniquely creative minds. See, I would never have posed a model like this… and I never would have gotten this shot! I love the detail in Lore’s poses. Note how her left heel is slightly lifted, millimeters from the ground:
But I must say, I think the show-stealer from this shoot is the following image. The fierceness of her attitude, the motion in her pose, the lighting of the sunset, the colors of the foliage behind her, the angle of the framing, the rebel faux-hawk curl, and the glint off of her shiny (sexy!) heels (which I asked her to bring)… it just adds up to more photographic satisfaction than I think I can bear:
On second thought, I’ll bear it gladly. And with much giddiness. :D
My vision being fulfilled, Lore and I decided to play around with some other ideas as the light faded:
Due to some garish yellow paint in the parking garage, I decided to give this shot a bit of a cyanotype feel. It came out with a very 60s spy feel, to me. (Okay, minus the modern cars in the background… :P)
And since our shoot started a little later than planned, we were soon testing out night photography! I had only done one previous night shoot, and with a bit more light, so we had some struggles trying to get good images. Luckily, Lore and I were getting along swell, so we just had fun playing around:
Also, note her necklace in the following shot. It’s from her own independent jewelry label, Rawwrkat. Yep, she models, makes jewelry, writes, learns languages, sews… the list goes on. My kinda girl! I’ve got lots of admiration for the way she lives her life.
After a very satisfying few hours (Lore arrived for make up around 5, we started shooting at 7, and ended after 9), we packed it up and headed back to the car… only to discover that the gates to the structure had been lowered, and the pedestrian doorways had been locked! Slightly panicked -since both of our cell phones, wallets, etc were in the car (lesson well learned!)- we tried to wave down people inside the structure, but were ignored. We were glancing around at all the closed or closing businesses, pondering our fate, when Lore (ever cool-headed, and apparently having been in this situation before) insisted that we try every door. We found an open one. Oh the relief! While Lore was uncertain, I was pretty sure the gate would lift as we drove near it (not entirely sure, but surely hoping!), and it did. So we ended our fun shoot with a little adventure!
I really clicked with Lore on a personal level, in addition to being impressed with her modeling, so you’ll definitely be seeing more of her soon. (In fact, since I’m writing this post weeks after the actual shoot, I can say that I just sent her proofs last night from our second shoot, on July 17th! She was, again, amazing! Can’t wait to blog about that day! 5 models, 9 hours, tons of fun!)
For more images from Lore and my first shoot, with make up by the incredible Phi, view the slideshow:
Shannon – Model and Musician
Shoot Date: June 20, 2010
I didn’t get to spend a lot of time shooting Shannon, but I really loved some of the images we got.
Shannon is a minor, so her mother was present, and they were both very sweet people. I heard that Shannon is a very busy girl: in addition to school and modeling, she’s also in a band!
I also saw that she’s been in (another) band’s music video. Very cool!
Shannon has a delicate frame, and a very elegant way of posing:
Best of luck to her in all her future pursuits! It’s so awesome that she’s going after what she wants so early in life. Luckily for some of us, even though the savvy whippersnappers may get a jump on us, it’s never too late to start dream-chasing. ;)
To see more images of Shannon, view the slideshow:
Najarra Townsend – Actress and Model
Shoot Date: June 20, 2010
Okay, I’ll admit it. I was a little intimidated when I met Najarra.
Ok, a lot.
But I mean, come on… did you see the image above? And what about the name Najarra? Never mind the fact that she’s an actress!
Luckily, she turned out to be a total sweetheart, and her disarming charm actually put me at ease. (I think it’s supposed to flow from photographer to model [and not the other way round!], so I was grateful for her kindhearted nature.)
I loved Najarra’s clothing choices. Her first outfit was both elegant and urban, and it didn’t hurt that her shirt was my favorite color (undefinable blue-purple):
Najarra has a beautiful, graceful presence. And I love the way all the lines and angles came out in this shot:
Najarra’s hair is superhuman. It must have sentience, the way it moves and curls and flows perfectly to compliment her face in every shot. I burn with jealousy!
Her second outfit was also perfect. Very pinup-y, which looked fabulous with her porcelain features and dark hair:
One of the best parts of shooting with Najarra is her smile. She often can’t contain it (or the giggles), so a photographer really gets the chance to catch a genuine moment:
She looks like something straight out of a movie… Wait… maybe that’s due to her impressive IMDB credits!
This glass was a little difficult to work with (especially since there were often other photographers and models in the background), but I love the way it compliments her skin, dress, hair, and stunning eyes.
For more images from my shoot with Najarra, view the slideshow!
Ian Alexander – Fashion Designer, Model, High School Student(!)
Shoot Date: June 18, 2010
What a talented and motivated young man! Still a minor, and Ian Alexander is already entering the modeling biz to see the industry from all sides, since his heading is Fashion Design at FIDM next year. Not only is he already building momentum towards his career, he’s already started it, by launching two independent tshirt labels! Impressive!
Ian came down from San Bernardino to shoot with me, and I’m glad he did! His love for couture fashion pulled me into a new mindset while shooting, which was really fun to explore.
One of the first things I noticed about Ian, other than his beautiful bone structure and intense eyes, was the gorgeous smattering of freckles across his face:
I asked him to go urban style for me, which seemed to work well: I noticed his shirt is one from his personal line!
Since he’s big into fashion couture, we made some interesting urban/fashion fusions:
Ian has a gorgeous smile, but it took a while before he’d flash it in front of the camera:
He was also awesome with taking direction and going with my ideas. He even stared in a ridiculously bright, sunny direction to get this shot I really wanted. I love the intensity of color the bright light gave us:
I learned a lot on this shoot about going with the flow when things don’t work out how you were planning. We were warned off from one location I had planned on using by a loiterer who claimed he’d seen photographers get $2,000 fines for trespassing. The loiterer himself was also camped out in another location I had planned on using, and insisted I not get him in any shots. Hrm. Then later, I was looking forward to this gate that fenced in a bunch of trucks and a beautiful guard dog, which I had found when doing a test shoot in the location with my friend and model, Artos the Bear. I was looking forward to a really tough-looking image of Ian and the dog… but the dog was MIA on the night Ian and I shot. I even meowed a bit to see if I could entice him out of hiding, but no luck. So, I took a different angle on the location:
Since I really love natural light and urban locations, I think it’s essential to develop a go-with-the-flow mentality and the ability to take what you’re given and rock it. This is also a philosophy I struggle to embrace in life, so bring on the training! In fact, I’m finding photography is helping me with a lot of life skills… :)
I asked Ian to play with some cards in one of the last locations, and neither of us much knew what to do with them, so in a couple photos he’s holding about 20 cards in a splay in his hand!! *palmface* It’s one of those things (that happens pretty often with photographers, at least at the beginning) that you just don’t see until you’re editing, because when you’re in the moment you get so caught up in the photo and the excitement! Note to self: must pay more attention to details. :P Nevertheless, the card-playing setup produced one of my favorite images from the shoot:
My best friend Brian, who had come along as a sort of chaperone/escort/witness (because working with minors can be a big deal), gave me an excellent compliment when this shoot had ended and we were reviewing some of the pictures together. He remarked on being less than impressed after arriving at the locations I had chosen… until he saw the photos. He said, “I was looking at it thinking… it’s a fence. So what? Anyone would have just passed the location by, thinking it was nothing. But then the way you caught the light through it… it’s actually a really awesome location. You just see things differently than other people.” I was (though I’m not a fan of the expression, there is no better to describe it:) tickled pink.
To see more images (and full-screen sizes) from this shoot, view the slideshow: