Metamorfik

Lucky You, Lucky Me - Bringing you Two New Editorials in Two Days!  Unfortunately, after this one I'm going to be real there won't be anymore "new" work for a bit b/c I'm just busy doing weddings and things like that but don't worry obviously I'll still be writing fun and interesting entries.  Plus I think I am going to do a little video about the layout of my portfolio so you guys can see it all printed and maybe understand a bit more about portfolio flow and stories and all that stuff!

So here is the FINAL story from my epic shoot day w/ photographer Adamo de Pax that I've written so much about these past couple of mths.  Originally, we were trying to get this published but no one was biting :(  I still think it's gorgeous!  To be honest I don't always get magazine editors and the stories they pick up b/c sometimes I see some really boring or crappy stuff published.

Anyway, Adamo and I agreed it's better to just release the images and put them up on our sites then have them published in a subpar magazine.  Truth is (and I'm not trying to brag here) I've had a lot of stories published and the majority of stories in my book are published so I don't really care if I have some pics that aren't published in a magazine b/c to me it's better to have a book full of strong stories then to really concern myself w/ the fact of whether or not a couple of stories weren't picked up by magazines.  Plus having a story published in a crappy magazine doesn't really mean anything or get me any farther ahead this point so who cares.

I love this story b/c it is a progression of one idea and Andrea (the model) did an amazing job of capturing the mood which is sort of like the makeup is possessing or spreading across her like a disease and turning her evil.  Of course Adamo did an amazing job as per usual too!  If anyone is curious I mostly used OCC pigments and the Gold is from my MUFE Flash Palette.

I really love that you can see the texture of the makeup in these pics and I esp. love the bit of red that landed on Andrea's eyelashes lol!

4 Girls + 1 Look = Awesome Shoot!

Last wk I got to work on probably the most productive shoot of my life.  Somehow in the span of a 8 hr day myself, the very talented and young photographer Adamo de Pax and 4 models were able to complete 5 beauty stories...yes that's right 5 stories!  I know you're thinking how is this even possible!

Okay I'll give a little background on the whole thing to start w/.  Adamo is actually a super young and talented photographer that I took notice of awhile ago.  I met him through Dexter Quinto (who I've worked w/ a bunch) as one of Dexter's assistants.  I saw some of his work while he was still in school and I was blown away and I saw a lot of potential there.

Here's a tip for many of you out there.  It's important to find new talent and network w/ them.  Build a team w/ them...it might not be profitable yet but when they start to get jobs they are going to hire ppl they trust and that they've worked w/ before.  It's sometimes hard to break into the inner circle of already established photographers.  The hard thing though is spotting that talent while it's still raw and in development.

Anyway, back to the shoot.  I saw previously that Adamo had some great work but I felt his book was lacking some super clean beauty and this is Toronto where clean beauty is where the $$$ is at.  So I proposed that we do a clean beauty shoot together and get a bunch of models for the day b/c I also needed some new clean beauty b/c mine was old and it's sometimes hard to get photographers to shoot a clean beauty shoot b/c let's be real it's not necessarily the most exciting thing for them.

So Adamo wondered if we were going to do anything else w/ the girls besides the one look.  I then came up w/ a concept that we would do 1 look exactly the same on each of the girls - REALLY clean face (like no makeup/makeup) and I would put their hair into a high ballerina bun using one of those donut foam roll things I had gotten before but never used yet.  From there depending on the girl, her features and style we would then experiment and do a different story tailored to each girl specifically.  So that's how we got 5 stories - the 1 original clean face story and then 4 individual beauty stories for each girl.  We shot each story in 1.5-2 hrs...I'm efficient and Adamo is a very quick shooter which I LOVE.  I sort of hate when photographers over shoot something.

FYI for those that might be confused what the term "story" means when you're working on a shoot you want a cohesive set of pictures that sort of tells a "story" just like in an editorial.  It's not useful to do random shots that don't go together at all b/c it won't make sense in your book therefore you come up w/ concepts that tell a story eg. The clean face story where every girl has the same makeup and hair - but the 4 models themselves are actually very different.

I've already seen the pics Adamo has chosen for the 1st clean face story and they look amazing already so I cannot wait to see them retouched...seriously they look like a skincare ad b/c the 4 girls all have different hair colour, skintone and features.

I'll tell you about the other stories shot that day another time but here's some behind the scenes photos from that day.  Btw Adamo is very excited to officially be part of my blog b/c apparently he's a big fan lol ;)

Sarah (Elite) So young and fresh!

 Bea (Elite) INSANE cheekbones!

 Alex (Next) She was soo sick...I felt bad for her but such professionalism!

 Andrea (Next) We did the craziest stuff w/ her!

Me hard at work...please ignore the GIANT mess of a station...it was the end of the day lol!

Twists of Time

So here is my first editorial in the latest issue of INK Magazine (I actually have 2 editorials in the latest issue :) ) . You may remember me writing about this shoot mths ago when I did it...wow I remember it was all cold and miserable then and look at it now - HOT and humid! I'm proud of this story b/c it's my first real "hair story". I think it turned out really pretty and it's right on trend :) Wish I would have done a few more braids that I've learned since then though...but that's how it always is - there's always 1 or 2 things you want to change or improve upon.

Photographer: Kira Bucca
Hair & Makeup: Jessica Jean Myers
Model: Ellen (Next)

Which image(s) is/are your favourite(s)?

Some New Work...Finally!

So in the next couple of mths I should have about 4 editorials coming out..maybe more. I've been doing some shoots over the past few mths but unfortunately I'm not allowed to share the pics w/ you until the pics are published.

What's exciting is that I actually had two editorials come out in two days! One a Beauty story and the other a Fashion Story. Today I'm going to share w/ you the Beauty Story (so you'll just have to tune in tomorrow for the Fashion Story ;) )

I worked on this story back in late Nov. actually. The model Kristen (Next) had actually just come back from working in Asia...so of course we had a lot to talk about lol. The photographer Kira Bucca and I were going for a very pretty, flowery, Spring style story. This really appealed to me b/c a lot of my Beauty work happens to be very bold and avant garde. This hasn't been intentional it's just that's the type of Beauty work I had been offered up until then...sometimes it's hard to find a photographer that wants to do a clean, pretty beauty story b/c it might not be as "exciting" as say me painting the model's face white or something.

So to connect this to my other recent post - this was an excellent opportunity for me to do a "free" shoot b/c it totally filled in a spot in my portfolio that was lacking...clean, pretty beauty work...plus the model had gorgeous curly red hair...who doesn't want to have a red head in their portfolio (I LOVE natural red hair)!

My only gripe w/ the story is how the magazine decided to do the layout (you'll understand when you see it) but you can't have everything. Btw it was featured in Ink Magazine. So w/out further ado...

Garden of My Dreams
Photographer Kira Bucca
Stylist Sherri Gallagher
Model Kristen (Next)
Makeup & Hair Jessica Jean Myers

To answer the question the model's hair is naturally curly and gorgeous but I did use my "magic wand" to refresh some of the top layer curls.

Braids, Braids, Braids!

So I got the chance to flex my hair skills today on a shoot w/ the very talented Kira Bucca. I had worked w/ Kira once before right before X-mas and we had great chemistry then. She shoots quick - My look changes are quick...we just get our shit done QUICK..but good :)

Unfortunately, I can't show you anything from our last shoot just yet b/c we're waiting for publication but I will tell you about today. Before x-mas I mentioned to Kira that I wanted to do a Braid Story and she was ALL over the idea! FYI Braids are VERY in this Spring/Summer! So basically, we both wanted it to be really pretty, clean makeup w/ slight changes throughout the shoot but the main focus being on the hair.

This is the first shoot I've EVER done where the main focus has been on hair and NOT makeup but I was up for the challenge since a lot of you know one of my BIG New Year's Resolutions has been to get stronger at Hair.

So I met up w/ Ashley for another hair class and Ashley totally helped me w/ the braids. If anyone doesn't already know this Ashley is LITERALLY the Braid QUEEN lol! She's obsessed w/ them. Her lessons helped me A LOT! I also spent a fun Saturday night at home sewing clip in extensions and practicing on my mannequin head.

I was a little nervous heading into this shoot just b/c it's new and so different for me but you know what - IMO I totally ROCKED it! The model Ellen for NEXT was a doll...literally so pretty and GREAT skin - EXACTLY what we were going for! And thankfully her hair had grown a lot since some of her pics on the site.

We ended up doing 6 Looks: Modern Hippy Inspired Braids, Fishtail Braid, Milkmaid Braids, French Braids that made a Bun, A Lot of Little Braids w/ Wind Machine and My FAV - The one I really practiced at and wasn't sure I'd be able to do - The Front French Braid. It was actually way easier on her then my mannequin...guess all that practice helped.

I only have a couple of pics this time...sorry I kind of forgot to take more but they are from The Front French Braid Look...I took them after we were finished shooting that look so sorry for the poor quality.

Can't Wait To See The Finished Product From This One!

Bryan Lockyer Shoot

Last wk I mentioned I did a creative w/ photographer Bryan Lockyer. Today he sent me a few images that he worked on today and he'll get the others to me soon. I know he was a bit disappointed w/ the styling but overall I like the images he retouched so far. Can't wait to see the others!
*If you want to see the pics bigger just click on the image :)

Networking the Key to Success!

Last Weds. I had the pleasure of doing a creative w/ photographer Bryan Lockyer. I've never met or worked w/ him before so it was great to get an email out of the blue asking to work w/ me. Basically, his scheduled MUA had to cancel and he was looking for another MUA to replace her. He asked his friend Mackenzie James if he knew anyone and he suggested me.

What's crazy about this is I've actually never worked w/ Mackenzie or Bryan. Basically, when I got back from Shanghai I contacted a bunch of photographers I admired and asked for a meeting. Mackenzie was on of the photographers that got back to me and we really hit it off during the time I showed my book to him. He told Bryan my work was great and I had an amazing personality so that's why Bryan contacted me. It's important to remember those first impressions really are EVERYTHING sometimes and it's not even just about how good your work is a lot of times it also has to do w/ your personality and if the other person thinks you'll mesh well w/ their team.

So I was the first to arrive on set on Weds...this tends to happen to me a lot b/c of my perpetual need to ALWAYS be early lol. I swear if I'm going to be 2 mins late I'm calling the photographer to let them know lol! Bryan and I definitely had a long time to get to know each other b/c both the stylist and model were running late. The model was actually from London, ON so I can totally understand how this happened. I was just really happy to get to work w/ her as she usually only travels to Toronto for paid work. She's w/ NEXT Canada and her name is Virginia and she has a great look.

Because of Shanghai I don't really have many blond models so I was really excited to work w/ her b/c it fills a hole in my book. Whenever you accept a creative or any work that isn't paid it's important to remember what that shoot is going to do for you and how does it help your portfolio. No use doing a creative if you've already done that concept 3 times or you have multiple models in your book that have similar looks to the one being offered.

Once the stylist and model arrived we finally were able to get things started! The styling was exactly what I was expecting but what can you do sometimes that happens. Overall, I'm really happy w/ what I did as far as makeup and hair goes and I think the team was too. The look I did focused on a really dramatic purple and black winged eye w/ very sculpted cheekbones and a nude glossy lip...very 80's and very cool IMO! Hopefully, I'll get at least a few cool pics from the shoot to make it worth my while even though the styling was exactly what I was expecting. I saw some of the pics that Bryan took and they looked really great just off the camera so I can't wait to see how they look once they've been retouched. I definitely hope to work w/ Bryan again on some other shoots.

I think this could be an exciting time for me b/c I feel like all the groundwork I've been laying these past few mths is finally starting to fall into place. Photographers I met are starting to contact me, photographers I've worked w/ are passing my name on to other ppl in the industry, word is starting to get around about my work (hopefully all good ;) ). It takes time of course but this is how it has to happen if you ever want to make a serious business of this. In the end it's all about the NETWORKING!

Me Doing Makeup

Bryan Shooting Virginia on a Bridge
Virginia