Jenny...

Jenny is a very outgoing and beautiful girl. She has a personality that is hard to come by. She is just one of those people that are hard to explain, but you adore them. She was very relaxed which is hard to come by when working with girls from Model Mayhem. She is not a new model and has vast experience which is where I lend the relaxed attitude to.

Even though she has an amazing sense of humor and she likes to goof around, she is very professional. She would be cracking jokes one minute and striking a serious pose the next. She was a joy to work with!

She has this amazing model quality about her. I hope to work with her in the near future, we created some fantastic images together.

I did her makeup for this shoot and I think that it turned out very well.

Jeff...

Jeff contacted me from ModelMayhem and I decided to shoot with him. He had a lot of really great work in his portfolio which made me a little nervous. Shooting a male was really different. I felt like a fish out of water. I was very nervous, and awkward. I am not sure if I will be shooting anymore guys any time soon, but shooting with Jeff was definitely a great experience. He knows how to pose and has many expressions which is always nice. All I was hoping for was to get him a couple images that he actually liked. I think I succeeded but I still have a few more to edit.

I tried to use harsher lighting and not try to shoot him how I shoot the women that I work with. I wanted to add a bit more of a manly element to the shoot, but he also wanted some more commercial looking images as well. He was very understanding in the fact that I don't usually shoot men, but he still wanted to shoot with me anyway.

Thanks Jeff!

Collaborations...

I am definitely going to start working on more collaborations. A couple weeks ago I did a shoot with a great model, Lauren, and she proposed that we shoot with her friend that has a jewelry line. After that was set up, she contacted a makeup artist and I contacted a hair stylist. We had such a great time and everyone was so incredibly talented!

The jewelry designer was Katie of www.dollybirddesign.com. Her pieces are handcrafted, and so incredibly uniques and gorgeous!

I just loved working with all of these ladies. I am hoping that we all collaborate again in the future! Here are a few shots we got.

Karina...

I scheduled a last minute photoshoot with a girl from Model Mayhem. I wasn't sure how it was going to be as the girl didn't have very many photos in her online portfolio.

When she showed up at my place with no makeup on, I was floored. She had such an incredible natural beauty. Not only was she beautiful, she was talkative, funny, and nice.

It was probably one of the most fun photoshoots that I have had in a long time. She was a little nervous at first but that is expected for new models, she quickly loosened up and was a natural at posing.I did her makeup for the shoot , and she did her hair. It was a blast working with her, and I hope to work with her again real soon!

Logo...

I am trying out new logos. I have always known that I wanted a simple logo and a simple yet beautiful business card. I want something that says something about me but is also professional.

I think this design fits me well! I added a bit of hot pink in there just for a little flare of personality but overall, I shoot clean and professional work so I wanted my card to be a very clean, simple, yet modern design.

Here is what I have so far:

Perfection, what I thought I wanted...

It's funny how things happen in your life that finally make you go "Aha!!". I had that moment today. I was looking through the work of a young photographer and I kept thinking to myself, "wow..,what creativity! man, he has some talent." Well, I am sure he does have talent, but one thing he has that I lack is the power to make images that he carefully creates and thinks through, images that say something about him and his vision.

I constantly feel like I am striving to make photographs that other people will love, or that other people will think are amazing. I have been going about this all wrong. I think that the minute that I finally let go and try something different for a change, is going to be the day that my photography starts blowing ME away.

I want to take pride in the work that I do, but I also want to have fun doing it. The last few shoots have felt like a chore. I feel like I need to make everything perfect for the perfect portfolio. Well the truth is that I have not been doing this that long! I need to experiment and grow, I shouldn't be limiting myself to what I think I am good at right this minute because I have only had around a dozen photoshoots.

This experimenting that I want to do will cost me though. I need more lights. I have decided to save up to get speedlights so that I can further my creativity by not being limited to a studio setting with cords, I will not be tied down.The, even modest priced, speedlights are about $200 per light then you need adapters, modifiers, and stands...but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

I need to be able to know what it feels like to just grab a person and run to any location that inspires me and start shooting something that feels right. I need the experimentation, I need the freedom, I need to be able to be creative again, and most of all I need to know what it feels like to make mistakes so that I can learn as much as possible. I just need right now. I have been so busy giving, giving all of myself...well more of myself than there is. I have been spreading myself too thin and trying to force a perfect portfolio from my camera without any imagination or creativity!

I will continue to shoot beauty work, I will shoot portraits, but I also want to shoot ideas and feelings, moods, and just anything that makes ME feel good. I need to feel good about the choice I am making to start a career in photography. I need to not worry so much about getting clients, being professional, doing things perfectly...because if I let myself go and I feel good about what I am shooting then the rest will take care of itself.

At least...that is what I hope happens!!

Alanah...

So, the shoot went well. Alanah was an awesome girl. She is very new to modeling so I kept it simple and only worked on getting her a great portrait for her portfolio. I think the results are great for her being so new to modeling. She was great to work with and hopefully we will shoot together again sometime.

I did the makeup myself. I kept it very natural with a bronze look. She has a great tan and I had a background paper that matched her coloring. I loved how everything was so cohesive. I am a bit of a perfectionist and sometimes I feel that interrupts the artistic flow because I am so wrapped up in all the little details. That is one thing I am going to try and work on, to relax and have fun with shoots.