Gold Frost shoot with Haley Walton

Today I had my very exciting shoot with Ms. Haley Walton!

I was inspired by her pixie-like appearance to do something in a more mystical setting, so for our first location, we drove around Monte Sano State Park and pulled off on the side of the road to hunt for fun rock formations, running water, caves, and dynamic lighting coming through the trees.  Our photo shoot turned into quite a glittery adventure!  We hiked, and walked down rocks (I saw my life, you guys. AH), avoided mud (AKA stepped in mud), crashed family reunions, made little girls believe in fairies, and chased the daylight.

As for our second location, we drove back down from the mountain, onto Governors drive where we headed towards Hampton Cove to seek out new locations.  I found a building site quite a ways off the side of the road, where we stopped.  This is where it gets exciting. I found an almost desert.  ALMOST.  I don't know if you guys know this, but I scorn living in Alabama every day of my life because I have no desert, or anything resembling a desert ANYWHERE NEAR ME. So I might be a bit exaggerating.  I found a big expanse of dirt that looked like desert sand.  I was satisfied.  Next to this dirt area, was a gravel lot with building machines.

This location became really interesting when I discovered that I couldn't take a picture, and blow glitter out of my hand at the same time.  As for the reason that I thought I could be capable of this in first place is beyond me.  So I tried to throw glitter while taking the picture, and I threw glitter all over myself.  I am currently sitting here writing this with glitter all over me.  We soon figured out a way to successfully have rando flying glitter in the images, but as to HOW, I will leave a secret.

On another note, Haley was so awesome to work with.  She is so unique looking, with a mane of white blonde hair and pale skin, and ice blue eyes that make such a presence in each image!  She knows exactly what angles to use, and she did exactly what I asked!  She's actually a makeup artist (EVERYONE GO LIKE HER PAGE https://www.facebook.com/MakeupByHj), with amazing personal style, and a carefree air about her.

Check out some images from the shoot and let me know what you think!

Stars and Stripes with Erin Anders

So we all know how much I love America... right? Well if you don't know, I'M OBSESSED, and not just with the great states, but with the style/color of the flag, especially when paired with typical American street style.  This combination leads to a feminine, yet rugged atmosphere, reminiscent of the 80's.  Of course, I owe most of the credit in styling in this shoot to Erin Anders, who could possibly have the best wardrobe I have EVER SEEN. I'm obsessed. 

So in this shoot, I wanted to implement my interpretation of American street style.  We took the America theme to a whole new level with the use of stars and stripes, whether they matched in color to the flag or not.  I wanted leggings, and lots of them! I wanted sheer tops, crop tops, chunky boots and heels, and a carefree vibe.  

This shoot was done in Huntsville, AL.  Like always, I just drove around until we found some old abandoned building on the side of 72 our near Brownsboro. It seemed to be just an old, broken down gas station next to an old broken down store.

We started taking pictures about 6:00, right when the sun was in my favorite spot.  This is one of my favorite times of day, especially for the more edgier shoots because of the really harsh shadows and lines that are created.  Big surprise.. it was like an oven outside.  Is anyone else ready for fall?  I AM. I AM TIRED OF GREEN GREEN GREEN.

*end rant.

Please take a look at some of my images from the shoot and let me know what you think!

Disco Eyes shoot with Alona Absher

I've been in this 60's 70's state of mind recently.  I've been thinking of brown leather and fringe, A-line dresses, plastic jewellery, bold geometric & psychedelic prints, monochromatic outfits, neon, and that overall androgynous hippie look that marked a decade.  I've been inspired by chrome, round sunglasses, rhinestones, messy hair, and the flow of music that's reminiscent of 70's groove that has been playing nonstop on the radio lately.  It's all made me feel a bit like I'm living in the wrong time.  Luckily, with a camera, a few props, and an open mind, time traveling becomes a bit simpler. 

I knew right away when I saw the long, untamed, ombre'd  locks of Alona Absher that I definitely wanted to do a shoot inspired by this time period.  She has such an air about her that screams Woodstock, and it translates into images so well.  Her facial expression in the pictures is so recognizable of another culture.  I wanted to implement this obsession of mine  with round sunglasses into the pictures, I also wanted to use earth tones and clothes that gave off a vintage grunge vibe, but at the same time, I wanted to implement bright colors, diamonds, chrome, and overall glamour! So this is what I came up with.

I did this shoot back about a week ago when I was in Hanceville. I feel like I've worn that place out in the last two weeks! I've nearly run out of places to shoot, or so I thought, until I came across this gravel parking lot off the side of 31.  You could only drive into the parking lot about 50 feet until there were rocks blocking the rest of the expansive space off.  So we got out of the car and climbed over the rocks to find, BAM, Photographer heaven.  There were so many different possibilities for backgrounds, diverse DOF opportunities, and awesome textures to work with.  There were trees with flowers growing out of them, an old broken down stone building, tree stands and mountains off in the distance, the perfect amount of grass sprouting out of the gravel, and a random wall of graffiti! Jackpot!

The weather was kind of overcast, but every now and then the sun would pop out.  It was BLAZING outside, and humid, and to make it worse, it even rained lightly for about 30 seconds kicking the humidity level into "I'm dying, I can't breathe" status.  But that just kind of goes along with the territory during summer shoots.

Check out my images from the shoot and let me know what you think! 

Solar Flare Inspired Photo Shoot with Donica Burton

I had the pleasure of working with the beautiful Donica Burton this afternoon in Cullman, AL.  The weather was unforgiving: hot and humid and sunny.  It brought about great dynamic lighting for the electric shoot, but it was so uncomfortable to work in.  She was quite the trooper though, you couldn't even tell by her body language that we were baking in the heat.

We used two different locations for today's shoot, and five wardrobe changes.  Our first location was a gravel lot with a valley out beyond it with the sun creeping over the trees (around 5:30 PM).  This location stuck out most to me because surrounding this place of natural beauty was old run down/abandoned human creations (industrial looking buildings/trailers/an old machine of some sort).  I love mixing the natural world with man made places/objects, it's such a harsh relation, but somehow they work together so well.  Our second location was nearly right across the street from the first! It was on the creepy side, but the mint color of the building was incredible and I couldn't resist.  I'm not exactly sure what this place used to be, but now it looks like it could be an abandoned motel.  Windows are broken, doors hanging open, and there's still the remains of an american flag hanging in front of one of the windows.  This has got to be one of my favorite places I've ever shot.  There was just something about the atmosphere of the place that made everything work together so incredibly.

My idea for today's shoot was inspired by Nastygal's January lookbook "Pop Rocks" http://www.nastygal.com/Lookbooks_January-Lookbook-Pop-Rocks.  I wanted to work with bold prints and bright colors, and I wanted to create an air of sophistication in the images.

Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Misguided Inspired Shoot with Corrinne Willis

I was inspired by all of the bright colors and vintage filters from Misguided's summer campaign "Project Ibiza." It's completely fabulous. You should check it out. http://www.missguided.co.uk/project-ibiza

I finally got to shoot with the beautiful Corrinne Willis yesterday! She's absolutely wonderful to work with and she's got such a unique look and she is, of course, beyond gorgeous.  She also happens to have a wonderful wardrobe, which you get a peek at in the pictures!

Enjoy!