Beauty is Diverse!

Thanks again for the love and exposure! Here's a blog I often follow and I'm thankful for the post!

Taccara-Essence

Love the excitement of fashion and high energy action and movement! This is Taccara from America's Next Top Model. We shoot regularly together for Essence Magazine. These are the higher energy out takes that I loved, but the story itself ran in the March Issue. I LOVE shooting together with Taccara because we both feed off of each other, and the energy on set is incredible! Her jumps and moves are fantastic!

Teen Celebrities and exciting birthday parties!

I flew out to LA to shoot the LovePastry Campaign for Spring 2011. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip of Vanessa and Angela Simmons amongst teen celebrities, Jessica Jarrell, SchoolHouse Gyrls,, Alli Simpson, colorful neon kicks, lots of twitter, and a birthday at the Santa Monica Piers for Cody Simpson, Alli's brother. Nick Cannon DJ'd and Nicole (our stylist and production coordinator) and I rode the dragon 6 times back to back. We had all the kids screaming "one more time" to the ride operators. I have never laughed so hard in my life. I had tears running down my face. Now thats what I call fun!

Wild in the Outback Cover and Feature!

January 28, 2011 cover and featue in www.FantasticsMag.com Model is Sosheeba at MuseNYC, Styled by Janelle Nicole, Hair by Anthony Cole for Sebastian Hair Care, Make up by Margina Dennis, Manicure by Honey Nailz and complimentary retouching by Eightbit.Se

Many thanks to art department at FantasticsMag's ...They always make the story look amazing!!!!

Embracing Fashion

Recently I've been encouraged to evolve as an artist and explore shooting fashion. I have to say, considering the amount of additional production and schedule coordination, I'm really enjoying this process. As much as I still LOVE the art of beauty and the drama of celebrity, I think I have finally found a genre that really allows me to express my own high octane energy level and I'm not sure why I hesitated for so long!! I work with some really brilliant hair, make up, manicurists and fashion stylists and our collaborations, although shot as simple studio, have resulted in some stellar editorials. FantasticsMag.com is about to publish my second story expecting to go live in just a few hours, and I cant wait to see what their art department does with it!!

Seventeen Magazine

It always excites me when an old client becomes a new client and recently this cycle has been a recurring theme. I've been shooting beauty quite a bit for Seventeen Magazine... Prom, Ms. Quince, smiling, happy, fun and energetic beauty shots. It's been a mix of both "real" girls and agency models which has been exciting and at times challenging in terms of improving my directing skills and reinventing the wheel. Here are some samples of my recent endeavors...

Scratch Magazine Cover of the year

Its really hard not to be a sore loser except that I truly love the first place cover! This was such a fantastic opportunity not only because it was my first cover but Scratch Magazine gives so much love and respect to the image itself so thank you Alex Fox of Scratch Magazine!!! This was a bold and graphic beauty editorial that I shot with the fabulous manicurist Honey, make up artist Natasha Morgan, and our beautiful model is Julie at Q.

MARILYN MINTER

So as a creative artist, and one obsessed with both beauty and make up, I often find myself wanting to direct the make up artist or apply the make up myself. Although I've never actually done it, its always one of my favorite parts to any shoot. Its the transformation that's always fascinated me and the colors, glitter and textures that have attracted me.
Recently a friend of mine told me about the artist Marilyn Minter. She has upped the ante of macro beauty. She takes slightly distorted macro beauty shots of lips. mouths, tongues, eyelids, over the top high fashion make up with texture, glitter, diamonds and pearls, layers together the images and then recreates them with paint. The result is dripping wet melting and dissolvingcolor, luminous, glamorous, overtly sexual and disturbing and absolutely brilliant. She also has a video called http://www.greenpinkcaviar.com/

Photo District News

I have been so incredibly blessed with the ongoing support of PDN, I can't thank them enough! I was invited to share an experience that many photographers, unfortunately, are so familiar with. In so many ways, its considered such an honor to receive a commission from a European glossy. It's such a dream come true to see the work you have invested both time and money and have poured your heart and soul into, in print. When the editors approach you with a concept or theme, you believe and trust that once executed, it will without a doubt go to press. This project was one of those aforementioned, which got rejected due to the publications "change in direction" and general lack of communication. I was heartbroken, but with tenacity, confidence and perseverance, I emailed every single publication I had access to, until our shoot got the green light at W25. Barbara Goldman of PDN wrote such a nice article about my bewitched beauty shoot, I had to post it to my blog with a huge THANK YOU to her for her continued support of y work and my career!!!!

ESPN and Dockers Fathers Day Advertorial

This is my Dockers advertorial which ran in the Fathers Day Issue of ESPN. I was referred by a former client but I really believe I got the job by offering to buy the client an ice cream sandwich. Thank you for the marketing tip Maya Farrally Plourde!!

My new agency!!!!

So I realize its been a while since I've blogged, but life has become hectic with shooting, updates, appointments, new work, website redesigns (stay tuned) pre-production, post production, occasionally both simultaneously, running, retouching, networking and occasionally socializing. The frenzied social networking of last year has been put on hold, as I've come to realize only with direct phone calls will I make contact and book jobs.

So here is my update!
I have had the luck and pleasure of reconnecting with my very first agent ever, James Taylor, from 2002! I have signed with Marnie Rose Agency and he is once again my agent as well as Marnie and Janessa. I'm really happy and I feel like I'm in a really good, healthy, drama free, stable environment. That was my big wish for 2010. Stability.
In the very same week I was also put on the roster of Studio D- Hearst. It took almost a year of testing, learning new software, workshops, and studying and finally that too is official.
Since then I have shot my first job for Seventeen and I'm on hold for another.
I have also signed with Corbis for creative stock and spent a day shooting exciting manicured nails with food and medical related concepts. I was very lucky to have my girl Honey give up here entire Sunday for me as well as my friend and food connoiseur Jonathan, who became the food prop stylist.

I will be updating my website shortly so keep checking back in for new work and updates!!!!

Photo District News Feature on me!!!

This was super exciting!!! Photo District News or PDN online, the most well respected resource publication in the industry, wrote a feature on me transitioning into video and motion. I was interviewed by phone and quite pleased with the writing! Thank you Jaqueline and David for the love! Its an interesting time, because the medium is evolving again, and not to say that print is dead (it is not) but just as we transitioned from film to digital, were now evolving from digital into the moving picture and I'm embracing it.