Murakami/ Highlights Magazine

Color for me has always been a huge source of inspiration. Whether it's a display of make up and nail polish or a brightly lit candy store, or walking through Pearl Paint, the colors intoxicate me and often evolve into elaborate beauty concepts (which until recently, I visualized from the perspective of the makeup artist rather then the photographer)
The dynamic imagination of color, shape, swirls and patterns behind the characters in the paintings, figurines and sculptures of the Japanese artist Murakami is like an explosion of pop culture expression and energy. This is our Murakami inspired beauty story with model Kai Li. The characters and designs were hand painted cremes by Rebecca Casciano, and hair was brilliantly executed circular shapes by Lacy Redway. This story has been published in the most recent issue of Highlights Magazine, an Australian glossy which comes out twice a year and is well worth the wait for the prestige alone.

Hydrating Skin Care Project

These exciting images are finals from February's print and directorial debut by myself and camera operator Chris Raymond. Our concept was about "water and hydrating skin care products" with Studio Gear Cosmetics supplying us with a ton of amazing product to work with, and extra lip gloss for me :) The original inspiration behind this was a L'Oreal ad with water splashing up and down the wrists of Penelope Cruz. Rebecca Casciano (make up) and I obsessively studied this image, wondering how much happened in camera with water and special effects and how much was in post production and retouch. The obsession took on a life of its own and slowly evolved into this elaborate water in motion project. Christina Ionno of Trump Models was absolutely natural and beautiful with flawless skin, and Ling Nguyen did beautiful clean slickeded back hair. Super sweet and incredibly patient, Christina endured hours of hydrating water effects, bubble machines and tricks of the trade. This project took weeks of pre-production, castings, coordinating multiple schedules and pulling a plethora of favors, all of which we're all extremely grateful for! I'm so excited to see the final retouched images and the final spot once the editing process is complete.

Skin, Skin, Skin

This is my recent foundation and skin beauty story. It was a collaboration with make up artist Rebecca Casciano and model Lisa Marie. Our images were created using an assortment of neutral colored creams and powders, painting with various brushes and techniques. A bit of an exploration of different textures over a flawless canvas of clean skin. I used a flesh colored silk background to complement the skin tones of the model. We're all very happy with the results.

Glamorous Beauty Regiments

As a visual expression of our daily beauty regiments, we've glamorized ordinary tasks such as flossing teeth and Queen Helene's facials. Color cremes are brushed and painted on showing texture, design and a bit of attitude. Because we all perform these duties looking absolutely glamorous with flawless skin, long and bold lashes and a rich and decadent glossy red lip ;)