Every now and then I come up with the idea for a photo-shoot to show off my make-up abilities. These shoots started out small with some friends and sometimes a borrowed camera. I have been the creator, director, producer, photographer, stylist and make-up artist in many past shoots. Knowing that one person can't do everything, I decided it was best to start reaching out to others for help. I wanted people that were just as enthusiastic and excited about the shoot as I was. I needed people with talent but didn't mind doing something for the fun of it. These shoots are all un-paid. Every person involved has donated their time to make these a reality for me. For that, I am unbelievably thankful!
All of these individuals have as much passion for their line of work as I do mine.
This particular shoot was something I did not do a lot of pre-planning for. By that I mean, I did not have a dead set idea going into it. I just went with it. First being offered a location to use for the photos...
TRK Helicopters at the Langley airport reached out to me and offered the use of their facility for our upcoming photo-shoot. My reaction was more or less, "HECK YES!". Who turns down the opportunity to use a helicopter as a prop in a photo...no one. TRK was generous in allowing me to stop by before the scheduled shoot and scope out some places for the photos and have a better idea what I would be working with the day of. They were even kind enough to let my son sit inside one of the helicopters, he was a pretty happy camper. Not only did they open their hangar to us, they even had people onsite to move helicopters around to more ideal locations, inside and outside the hangar. One was pushed with man strength alone, or should I say two men and one woman strength. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. TRK offers adventures such as city tours, helicopter fishing, mountain tours, helicopter golfing and special occasion tours to name a few. Their pilots are highly experienced. Their slogan and motto is "Raising standards...from the ground up", what a perfect sentence to sum up the experience we had with them this past weekend.
Since we were offered such an amazing location for the photos it then became real. I began my search for other businesses that would be interested in contributing to the shoot.
Of course, my first person to contact was, and probably always will be, Hayley Rae Photography. I can always count on Hayley to be "down" for anything. Watching her talent and career in photography take off has made me so proud, and always excited to see what photos she comes up with. An extremely passionate photographer and an even greater person, she always has my back. It just wouldn't be a collaboration shoot without her.
Next, I decided to contact another familiar face. Kelsey. She has modeled for me in the past and is the easiest person to work with. Very professional and such a sweetheart. Her natural beauty makes my job easy. She has great confidence in front of a camera and her photos never disappoint. I am so happy that Kelsey was willing to be apart of yet another one of my crazy ideas!
All I could think of at this point was, wow, we will be shooting at a helicopter hanger... this is a pretty big deal. Since it felt so big to me, I knew we would need a second photographer and model. I am so happy that I made this decision, because it added so much more variety to the shoot and covered a wider range of style.
I was contacted on facebook by a mutual friend and was recommended to Kassy Davis. She is currently attending BCIT for Graphic Design. Originally from Kelowna she didn't know any make-up artists in the area and thought this would be a great way to get to know one. I emailed Kassy and she was open to helping out with our shoot. Viewing her website I knew right away that I loved her style and could see she is very talented at what she does. Never actually meeting her until the day of the shoot, she fit in perfectly. Just like we've known her all this time. I appreciate that she took the time from her schooling to be apart of this shoot with us, it was really appreciated and I look forward to working together again in the future.
If you don't know what Model Mayhem is, it is a website that is specifically for models, photographers, make-up artists etc. to create accounts to show off their portfolios and collaborate together to make amazing works of art. I created a casting call for a second model to use in our shoot and was messaged by Jessica showing interest and availability. After viewing her portfolio I saw that she was very stunning and had a bit more of an edgy look that I knew would work perfectly for this type of photo-shoot. Being a new, up and coming model I was happy that these photos can help her expand her portfolio. In the end, this is my goal for every person and business involved.
Hayley has done some Look Books for Privilege Clothing Boutique in the past and mentioned I should contact them regarding outfits for the shoot. They sell designer clothing that is all beautiful and I was very excited when they were more then happy to lend us some outfits. We scheduled a fitting for the models and ended up choosing one casual outfit and one dressed up outfit for each model. Bailey, at Privilege Clothing was a pleasure to work with and made the process go so smoothly. I don't have a great knack for fashion so she was able to guide me in the right direction. All the outfits were stunning. They complimented the location, the models and the style perfectly.
What is an outfit, without your accessories?! I came across a local business that creates handmade jewelry out of wood called Moonshine Dreams. Taking a chance, I emailed them and got a quick response stating they were very interested in lending some pieces and just needed to know which ones I wanted. After choosing two necklaces, a few pairs of earrings and some rings I met up with the maker himself. Learning that from Monday to Friday he works doing demolition, and makes jewelry on the weekends and has a beard, I chalked this up as a very unique individual. I also think it is quite cool and really enjoy these types of stories. Not only did they lend out the jewelry, they kindly allowed us to keep every piece for ourselves. Each girl involved got to go home with their favorite piece. I got the wooden heart earrings and they are gorgeous, thank you for the gracious gifts!
Last, but definitely not least, I thank my good friend Candice. She came out to the shoot to be my third and fourth hands. Ready to hold umbrellas, which luckily we did not need as it turned out to be a beautiful day. Always so generous and willing to help. I appreciate it all!
Here they are, some of the most creative and eye catching photos I have ever seen. I am forever grateful for all the hard work everyone put into this shoot. The photos go to show that dreams really do come true :) Enjoy.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and checking out the photos. This won't be the last shoot I plan, but it will sure be hard to top!
Sincerely,
