Alice in Wonderland Wedding Shoot

Last wk I got the chance to participate in this really interesting wedding photography workshop hosted by this really awesome wedding photography duo Justin & Mary (they are actually husband & wife) visiting all the way from New England.

I have to be honest normally this isn't something I would help out w/ b/c well to be perfectly frank I wasn't getting paid but this shoot did actually fall in lines w/ my Rules on When Working For "Free" Is Okay.

1. The photographers hosting the workshop have really nice wedding work and therefore I knew I would get some really nice pictures for my wedding portfolio which is still growing & in development (hard to track down photographers or brides after weddings sometimes to get the professional shots not just the ones i take on my digital camera).

2. It would give me a chance to possibly network and meet other wedding photographers in the area...always a good thing.

3. I really liked the theme b/c it wasn't just your typical wedding stuff - they were doing something a little more whimsical and edgy for Toronto - Alice in Wonderland - this meant I also got to be a little more creative then the stuff I usual get to do for weddings - also I had a say in what the girls looked like - obviously this is not the case for most weddings lol.  And Justin & Mary were going all out w/ set pieces, dresses, locations and little accents just to make it a bit more unique.  They were literally taking the photographers through getting ready in the hotel, portraiture of the bride, church stuff, on location stuff & reception - it was literally like shooting a whole wedding.

So like many shoots there is always a little upheaval right before and this was no exception!  The couple they had originally got for the shoot bailed at the last minute.  Thankfully for them they met me lol!  Being the always professional and generous person I am I posted an ad on MM (Model Mayhem) for couples for the shoot and they got a great response.  In fact we got two great couples!  This meant that I could do an Alice type bride as well as a White Queen type bride.  The girls they picked for these two ideas were actually so perfect.  Olivia was very petite and cute and perfect for Alice while Jenna (who I've had the pleasure of working w/ a couple of times) is tall and elegant, a perfect White Queen.  I'm not going to lie though this was a touch stressful for me beforehand b/c it's one thing to get one bride ready but to get TWO brides ready in a relatively short amount of time is a lot lol!  Actually though, if I do say so myself my timing was awesome that day!

For Alice (aka Olivia) I wanted to keep the makeup light and youthful w/ just a pop of pink on the cheeks and lips and the main focus was going to be the hair. I spent the night before sewing many many extension pieces for Olivia's hair b/c I wanted her to have a big, massive head of long curls - to go along w/ the whimsical feel and I knew I couldn't get that from her own  hair.

For the White Queen (aka Jenna) I wanted something much more elegant, cool and sophisticated looking.  I slicked back her bangs and did a very high ballerina bun (using my hair foam donut).  I kept the focus on a very deep, strong red lip b/c Jenna has gorgeous lips.  I also contoured her cheeks in quite a bit and did a clean swipe of white on the eyes and of course false lashes.

Thanks to Jillian at Headmistress Accessories I was also able to borrow a couple of AMAZING headpieces that were SO PERFECT for the shoot!

I took a few pictures at the hotel of the girls after they were ready but unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the actual locations - the church and the ruins/forest reception area so like my usual weddings I had to leave my brides w/ a touch up kit and believe my work would hold up the entire day...late into the reception.

I can't wait to see some of the pics from Justin & Mary and actually one of the photographers from the workshop Taylor Jackson was actually kind enough to send me a couple of pics she's already edited from the workshop!  They look great and I'm so excited to see more!

My Behind the Scenes Pics

Olivia aka "Alice"...I actually wish I would have made the hair bigger...oh well

 Jenna aka The White Queen

 Mary giving lessons on shooting Portraiture...she had A LOT of really good tips!

 Justin & Mary tag team shooting Olivia

Here's a couple of the shots Taylor sent to me

Great shot of Jenna

 Olivia out on location...Love that her "husband" Joe has a top hat & bow tie...so Mad Hatter!

Etalk Features Headmistress

This is sort of cool!  Just found out that Etalk (Canadian Entertainment Show) just did a feature on Hot Spring/Summer trends and they mentioned Headmistress Accessories - A LOT!  Like the whole first part of the segment is dedicated to the brand and features tons of the campaign pictures from the Spring/Summer line (Mad Men Goes Country) which I did the Hair & Makeup for.  If I do say so myself those pics look good on T.V lol!

Check out the segment here

Headmistress SS11 Campaign Pics

So the Headmistress SS11 Campaign pics have finally been released and I'm so excited to finally share them w/ you b/c they look SO GOOD!  I saw some of the pics awhile ago but finally seeing them up on the website is just so exciting b/c I'm positive Jillian (the creator) is going to get a lot of attention and publicity for this collection b/c it's so cool and pretty!  Yeah again to Sian Melton for her wonderful photographic talents!

As you may remember we did a whole 60's girls in the country theme and everything just works so well together - location, models, head pieces, makeup & hair...it just works!  Hope this is a big hit for Jillian...I have a feeling it will be...apparently some of her pieces have even been picked up by Anthropologie...that's BIG!  Plus she now has two lines - the traditonal Headmistress line and the higher end Love by Headmistress line - both Gorgeous!

 The bouffants turned out so good!

 I LOVE the lip colour, eyelashes and her stare in this pic!

 This is the one featured in Flare Magazine :)



My Work in Flare Magazine!

So I just found out last night from the very talented Sian Melton - photographer extraodinaire that one of the campaign pics we worked on for Headmistress Accessories is featured in Flare Magazine!...pg 28 if you want to check it out ;)  It's just a small pic and obviously I'm not credited for it or anything but it's still pretty cool to see something I worked on featured in Flare Magazine...who knows in a few years maybe I'll actually see my name in print somewhere in the magazine!
You may remember back in late Sept. me writing about the Mad Men inspired shoot I did out in Stratford...it's from that shoot!  Jillian Wood the creator of Headmistress is very talented and she's getting a lot of press for her work so I really think this is only the beginning for this collection.  The pics from it are fab and I really think they are going to get a lot of press which is totally cool.  I really hope to work on the next campaign w/ her b/c I really like her stuff and love what's she doing for indie designers in the city!

Here's a cheesy webcam pic of me holding the magazine...sorry it's not the best quality but it is just a webcam pic lol.

Also here's a couple of Behind the Scenes pics from the shoot that I don't think I showed before!

See the New Year is already off to a good start!  Btw finished my New Wedding Site...just waiting for the Domain transfer to go live and then I'll share it w/ you guys!  It looks SO MUCH BETTER than the old one...I'm really happy w/ it...esp. since as you all know I'm such a computer idiot lol!

Mad Men Goes Country

So yesterday I had the pleasure of working w/ photographer Sian Melton and Headmistress creator Jillian Wood on Jillian's Spring 11 Campaign for Headmistress Accessories .  You may remember I've mentioned and used Jillian's awesome accessories a couple of times in the past few mths on various editorials I've worked on.   Her stuff is hand crafted, gorgeous and is awesome enough to make a statement but not so over the top that you look like a fool...just really really cool!

I was so excited when Sian and Jillian approached me about this project b/c I really believe in and dig what Jillian is doing and I've been a fan for awhile.  In past shoots Sian has done the photography as well as the makeup & hair...b/c she's super talented like that.  But this time she wanted to just focus on the photographic end of things so that's where I came in. 

The theme was Women of Mad Men Go Country...how awesome is that theme!  I'm a huge Mad Men fan so Sian didn't have to do much more then mention the show and I was on board lol!  I think Sian and I have spent at least a couple of conversations now idolizing the amazingness that is Joan's chichis lol...plus I just love the style.  Sometimes I wish we put that much effort into how we looked nowadays...I mean the women really cared about how they looked back then...they wore lipstick and got their hair done...they looked hot!  Makes me wish I was around then...minus the whole a woman's place is the home thing of course lol!

So anway, we couldn't have asked for a better day!  I mean everything fell into place.  Sian drove us out to Stratford to shoot...minus a few detours we got there in good time ;).  We had some great models from Spot 6 - Emily and Saira.  The Makekup & Hair Gods were looking down on me :) (Btw did I mention how amazing I'm getting at extended liner...use to be my serious weakness!).  The weather was GORGEOUS!  Plus we got to use Jillian's mom's HOT 1965 Red Mustang Convertible as our prop! 

So basically, my Makeup & Hair inspiration was a 60's vibe which works so great w/ all the beautiful turbans and head scarves/wraps Jillian is designing for the Spring Collection.  I wanted to keep the eyes softer in colour w/ the main focus being on the lips.  I kept the brows full, used shimmery nudes on the eyes and did a nice extended black liner on both girls w/ really full, flirty, flared lashes to top it off.  I wanted the lips to be bold w/ full strong lipstick.  I believe more women should really embrace the power of a great lipstick like they did back then...nowadays everyone just wears gloss and a great lipstick can immediately take your look from being casual to being done up...trust me I know!  I played w/ a variety of pinks on the girls.  It's for Spring so I didn't want to go full on w/ the reds plus I wanted them to remain fresh and playful.  

Another thing I was excited about w/ this shoot was the hair...it really allowed me a chance to play w/ some different techniques and styles.  Last Christmas I asked for this book about Vintage Hairstyling and let me just tell you this book is amazing!  It gives a step by step guide to tons of amazing vintage hairstyles and it REALLY helped at the shoot!  The first hair look I did was to go w/ the turbans and head wraps.  I set the hair to get some nice curl to it and I basically did a mock bob on the girls so that the hair just peeked out the turbans and curled under.  The second hair look I did involved doing a giant bouffant through the top and a curled ponytail to keep in fresh and young in the back...it looked amazing w/ the headbands and hair scarves. 

So here's some pics from the day...can't wait to show you the real stuff but you're going to have to wait awhile on that one :(

Sian giving some amazing commentary for posing lol! 

We wanted Happy, Light & Carefree!

I'm Beautiful but I still know what's under the hood!

Let's Have Lunch in the back of our Car!

Let's Pic Flowers, Skip and Laugh!

Fixing the Bouffant

I need more Height!

Julia & Julia

After lots of hard work, planning and a few prayers my photoshoot w/ photographer Zach Hertzman FINALLY came together!  We've been trying to get something together now for a couple of mths but things kept getting delayed and postponed for various reasons.  I'm happy things finally worked out and I can't wait to see some pics from the shoot b/c I definitely think it has the potential to be AMAZING :)

We shot in Bronte Park in Oakville which is this awesome location and perfect for our concept.  The concept was a two model shoot - one playing a sort of Fortune Teller character and the other playing a sort of Spirit character.  Sort of a blend of light and dark.  Great concept for me as an artist b/c it allows me to both play w/ an edgy, dark look and a lighter, softer, prettier look all in one shoot. 

We got some amazing models from Elmer Olsen - Julia K & Julia C...very easy to remember their names lol.  We shot some of the story apart and a couple of the outfits together and the girls played off of each other really well.  Both great girls w/ great personalities...esp. since we ran just a couple of hours over our original end time lol. 

I find w/ fashion it almost always happens that we run a bit late...but usually it's not b/c of me lol.  Well I had some big concepts planned (makeup, hair, nails) and even w/ my amazing assistant Cassandra I had NO IDEA my hair concept for Julia K was going to take SOOO LONG!  But I think it will be worth it in the end ;)  Plus we hit some traffic so that put us a bit behind too lol.  But b/c we started late we did miss a HUGE rain storm...I'm sure stylist Alexandra Loeb was thankful for that one since she pulled some amazing pieces as usual...the girl has got connections!  Plus starting late actually ended up giving us some amazing light so maybe it was all meant to be lol!

So as usual here's my fav part...behind the scenes pics!

Me touching up Julia C at the Park...so Hot & Humid...definitely wasn't the best for the hair which originally I was going for an Old Hollywood style...but you know me...I made it work ;)

Doing some touch-ups on Julia K...did the Black Lip w/ OCC Lip Tar...amazing product but major touch-ups necessary in that heat!

Love this dress that Alex created herself...so perfect for the shoot!

Look into my Crystal Ball...btw I made & shaped those nails myself!

A lot of the accessories were courtesy of Headmistress Accessories...amazing local Toronto designer.  Love this Feather Headpiece...so Perfect!  Btw for the hair I did a bunch of techniques - braids, crimping, curls and also this interesting technique involving wrapping hair around hairpins and heating it up to set it...it took forever thanks again Cassandra.  You can see the intricate details of it a lot more in bigger pics.

So that gives you a taste of the shoot...hopefully it leaves you wanting more now ;)

Vintage Romance

Last Sunday I got to work on an amazing creative (for mag submission) w/ a great team. I re-teamed w/ photographer Zach Hertzman and stylist Alexandra Loeb who I've had the pleasure to work w/ on numerous occasions now. We also got an amazing model Danielle Knudson from Sutherland who had actually just returned from working in Asia the past 18 mths. I'm so glad we got the chance to work w/ her b/c she was not only a great model but also had amazing skin and an amazing body! Plus VERY patient...she stayed later for us b/c we ran a bit behind and I'm SOOO glad she did!

Everything came together so perfectly on Sunday. The location was this amazing loft loaned to us from one of Zach's friends. It was still in the mist of construction and had a great feel to it - very rustic, rough and eccentric (there was a working toilet and shower in the middle of the loft w/ nothing enclosing them lol). The weather was perfect and sunny which worked perfectly for the window scenes.

We were going for a sort of vintagey, soft, romantic sort of feel - dead leaves on the ground, old books, sunlight etc.. Once Zach clarified the theme it totally came to me to contact this accessory designer I'd heard of through another MUA friend - Sian Melton. I knew her accessories would be a perfect match for the style we were going for. So I contacted the designer Jillian at Headmistress Accessories and she was more then gracious and generous w/ the loan. I really LOVED her one headpiece that we used esp. for the beauty shot at the end.

Saturday before the shoot I picked up the hair pieces and once I saw them in person it totally changed the concept I had originally planned for the hair...and I'm so glad I went w/ my gut b/c I'm VERY happy w/ the results (I really do think I'm getting better at hair ;) ).

I actually wanted to use this technique I saw on YouTube using tin foil to curl hair. I tried it on my mannequin head before and it made the most amazing big curls. Unfortunately, it didn't work that well on Danielle's hair :S . I think it was b/c her hair was SOOOO long and it just didn't have time to dry thoroughly enough even w/ a hair dryer to make the ringlets I needed...but never fear I had a Plan B. I just took my New Magic Wand (like the one I mentioned before but now it has 3 different curling stick sizes that you can change) and went through her hair and made tiny ringlets that I then pulled apart to create some of the biggest and curliest hair I've EVER done - time consuming but SOO worth it. It lasted perfectly throughout the ENTIRE shoot! You'd never believe this girl actually has thin hair looking at the hair we got that day!

I kept her makeup fairly clean through most of the shoot. Later into the shoot I pumped up the eyes or added some lip colour. The last beauty shot was by far the most dramatic of the looks. I teased her hair out some more and gave her a bold burgundy lip w/ a purple smokey eye...it looked so hot w/ the head piece IMO.

Can't wait to see the pics...I definitely feel this one has a VERY good chance at getting picked up somewhere. Exactly what I needed for my book - A fashion story that's a bit softer but shows great hair work!

So here's some pics of the shoot throughout the day courtesy of Alexandra Loeb (b/c my camera sucks lol)

Me trying the ill fated tin foil technique on the VERY patient Danielle (I swear it does work...just not that day :( )

This is the 2nd Look - Headpiece by Headmistress Accessories

The 4th Look was shot in the VERY open concept bathroom lol! After seeing a toilet in the middle of the room Alex and I both felt it HAD to be used!
Teasing out Danielle's hair EVEN more near the end of the day....that girl had some big hair by the end lol!
Beauty Shot Look - Love the Head Piece!