Sometimes a girl's dress invades her face.

While I was creating a zebra, Brigid was working on a really cool concept for Jen's shoot. She decided it would be really cool if the pattern on her dress were to sort of take over her skin! After she spent some time with the black and white makeup, this was the result. Love it!

And then this time I took an ex-zebra and some fabric up to a roof...

After the last traces of Zebra were washed down the sink (see previous post), my crazy creative Sunday could continue! Julia was once again a trooper, climbing up to Jen's rooftop in a tiny dress and bare feet. That probably sounds easier than it is. Jen's rooftop is accessed by a 10 foot long rickety iron ladder that leads to a trapdoor. The ladder is conveniently located behind disused air conditioners and bikes in a darkened closet!

We got up there just in time to catch the dying sunset and Julia posed against an awesome old advertising billboard frame that just has so much character. I'd actually imagined shooting against it months before when I saw it from the street. I had lugged a big Dynalite Pack and Strobe setup on to the roof and ran the extension cable down to Jen's place. I really enjoyed playing with the flash against the diminishing ambient light and using it for some great backlit flare effects. 

So there was this time when I turned a girl into a Zebra...

Just for fun you understand! My friend Jen had the inspired idea to spend a Sunday just messing around and being creative with photography. Then we met Julia, an aspiring model who has the distinction of being the tallest woman I've ever met.

Julia also has an amazing attitude which meant she didn't bat an eyelid when I asked if she'd be okay with me doing a full face special effects makeup job on her even though I have no experience with makeup. She did bat an eyelid when I painted it black and white... Couldn't be helped really.
Stay tuned for more creative experiments. This was fun!

More Artistic Experiments

Sometimes you can find some really nice subjects while just walking around with a camera. Enjoy.

Irina Shabayeva Fall 2012 Collection

New York Fashion week is here again and Irina Shabayeva presented another beautiful collection of pieces. This time the outfits were shown as a static presentation at Midtown's Eventi hotel rather than a runway show. This allowed me to get up close and really hone in on great compositions.

 This show was also my debut shooting video for a fashion show which was a very exciting and novel thing for me. I'm embedding the two finished videos (Edited and produced by Aris Ziagos at Riot Science productions) at the end of this post. Enjoy!!

Irina Shabayeva Fall 2012 from Aris Ziagos on Vimeo.

Irina Shabayeva Fall 2012 Behind the Scenes from Aris Ziagos on Vimeo.
 

Caitlin's Headshots

There has been a trend in high end performer's headshot photography over the last few years to really isolate the subject on a pure white background and light the face with high-fashion influenced glamour lighting. I haven't explored this look much in my own headshot work as it's quite an expensive proposition (studio space, eight lights! etc...) But when I found myself with a studio at my disposal and a beautiful modern dancer on hand I couldn't resist trying it out. I definitely love the look and will be trying to find an excuse to do it again soon!

   

Laura Zukaite publicity portraits

Laura Zukaite is a designer of beautiful hand made knitwear. You may have seen my shots of her designs here before. Recently I shot a new collection for her and while we were waiting for an outfit change, we decided it would be fun to try and shoot some publicity portraits for her. Laura is a very energetic and athletic woman, so it made sense that we showed some of that in her pictures. We tried to shoot her in action with lots of jumping and hair swishing. I think we really captured some of what she is as a person.