fashion shoot // working with a creative team = a happy Lisa

I've been neglecting this blog(not to mention friends and family) for the past couple weeks, but only because I've been uber busy working alongside talented, creative people. See those folks above? If it weren't for them, my most recent photography work would not have been possible.

I did my very first collaborative photo shoot a few weeks ago at my house, and it was pretty dang awesome. And vastly different from what I'm used to. Coming from my own personal experience of doing a lot of self-portraits, I never put too much thought into pre-production work, other than composition and lighting. It went something like this: Hmm, I have a giant mirror, I should incorporate that into my shot. I'll put on a teal dress. And put my hair up into a messy bun. A swipe of red lipstick. All of that would take less than five minutes. Easy peasy. And for the purposes of shooting an experimental self-portrait, that is totally fine.

But when you need to shoot something that's a bit more fashion and beauty related, pre-production work counts BIG time. And so I have the utmost respect for the clothing designer, hairstylist, makeup artist, wardrobe stylist, model, and creative director that I worked with. In my mind, each one is an artist in their own right.

I mean, c'mon, look at that hair. I could never pull that off on my own. I can barely make a top knot. If I remember correctly, the hairstylist that day, Badri, said she's been doing hair for 17 years. She totally delivered. We wanted soft and loose hair, she gave us soft and loose. We wanted tall, gravity-defying hair, she gave us tall and gravity-defying. Nothing was out of the realm of possibility for her.

Sydney, the clothing designer, provided four dresses that I shot that day. I think this one was my favorite. Kudos to anyone that can make a garment from scratch. And she was a busy bee the day of the shoot as well....she was ironing, de-wrinkling, pinning, and modifying each dress. It can take a lot of work to make a dress camera-ready.

And don't forget about wardrobe stylists. They choose the right shoes and accessories to go with the clothes. They help fit the garment to the model. They keep everything in place while I'm shooting and notice things about the clothes I would miss. Thank you Sarah, for doing all the above and more.

I've always thought of makeup artists as painters. As cheesy as it might sound, the human face is their canvas, isn't it? And not only that, but from a retouching point of view, their skills as a makeup artist makes my job in post-production so much easier! There's been too many times where I've attempted to use Photoshop to make eyelashes look thicker or add eyeshadow (on my own personal work), and it was pretty much useless because I never had the right makeup to begin with. Respect your makeup artists, people. They do things a lot of us can't.

Misty was my model for the shoot, and I'm grateful that I had the chance to photograph her. Not only is she dizzyingly tall with a beautiful face, but she was gracious, fun, and excited to be there. Even when we put her in a pair of shoes one size too small (in the photo above), she took it in stride and did yoga-like moves without a hint of discomfort. Truly impressive.

And of course, this whole thing wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't met Nick, the creative director. He put this whole team together and had a vision in mind for the shoot.  I have since worked with him a second time, and he definitely knows what he's doing. It is a pleasure to work with him.

My eyes have definitely been opened to just how much work can go into shoots like this. When I look at these images, I see that I am not the sole person who made it. Each person involved is represented, and every person made that image possible. It is an honor to work with people who are truly passionate about their craft, and I hope to be able to continue doing so.