Metallic Beauty

I decided I want to experiment more with lighting and while skimming the internet found some beauty shots where a photographer utilized fluorescent lighting tubes to light the model. I searched for a while looking for a way to use fluorescent lights without the housing behind them that held the wiring and was told by a couple hardware stores that what I wanted wasn't possible.

I'm not overly knowledgeable about the wiring of lights and specifically about disassembling fluorescent lights, so I developed my own solution.

The first shot I did with this lighting was of a model, Melinda, with a copper colored theme. I used copper leaf for an accent on her skin and obtained a copper colored background with a flow instead of being flat. She was wonderful to work with, despite the time constraints of the shoot, and I was incredibly happy with the results.



The second shot, which I did earlier today, was similar in styling except with a gold theme, a bit more time and Calico modeling. I really love how these have come out and it's something I'd definitely like to experiment with more.

Wrangler

I photographed and designed a mock advertising campaign for Wrangler Jeans, which was completed today. The photography, processing and design were all worked on to add to the identity of the brand, as well as create a playful campaign, to speak to the working male market segment. The images can be seen at Michelle Girard Photography in the product section.

Updates

Added new images to my site. One set of Mike dressed in a simple leather jacket and posing by the train tracks and graffiti wall in downtown Rochester. The second set of Fatima posing in a variety of ways with a couple different looks in the studio.

Nature and Beauty

Here's a shot I composited for another assignment in Retouching Beauty. The theme was Nature and Beauty. I was trying to come up with ways to talk about how we, as humans, hold ourselves apart from nature more and more through technology and the things we create.

You would never guess what the bubble was created from!

Retouching Beauty

Back at RIT, after a summer of London and Six Flags Entertainment. One of my photography classes is about examining the idea of beauty in general and within our culture. The assignments allowed for us to work with whatever subject matter we chose and we explored meanings behind images, beyond the pretty aesthetics.

Brandi modeled for a beauty shot.

Home Again

London was such a wonderful experience, but it really is hard to beat your home. It is nice to be back.

I have so many files still in need of organizing and editing. They'll slowly be appearing on my website.

London Fashion Shoot

In the Notting Hills area in London we had the final photo shoot of the trip. We were once again split into small groups to work with a model and I could not have been happier with the model our group was able to work with. Our model, Lianna Fowler represented by Ford Models, had so much energy and so much positivity to run with. Styling/Clothing was changed three times during the shoot. I started with a beauty shot of her outside of the infamous London telephone booth.



Then after lunch we set up in an alley way nearby that offered a number of backgrounds and spaces to work with and capture different feelings and moods from.



I have so many amazing photos from that shoot and it really opened my eyes to something that I could be passionate about shooting.

**When I returned home from London, I was flipping the channels on the TV and came across "Britain's Next Top Model" which had been filmed before my trip to London and I watched for a moment. One of the models caught my attention and it forced me to watch the marathon all the way through, to see Lianna Fowler win.

Prague Fashion Shoot

While in Europe studying fashion we were able to go to Prague for a little less then a week. Such a beautiful city! It's stone streets and cathedrals and artwork are incredibly romantic and you can feel that there's history there, not quite like anything I've been to back home.

It is also rich with wonderful locations for shooting. Even the streets and walls have character. Part of that trip was spent location scouting, for which I was a part of a small group. We worked with a model named Dominika, who had gone through the process of hair, makeup and wardrobe when we met her. A hair stylist had her hair teased out, her makeup was done beautifully and a stylist arranged her clothing. After our shoot I saw her without all of that, and she didn't look any older then 14. Its amazing how much it transforms someone.

Our shoot started in the beautiful gardens in the city. I photographed Dominika posed in the sculpted greenery. We each used different aspects of the gardens, the plants, benches, walls, and small rooms decorated by murals. We had to work through a language barrier with Dominika but overall it was a great experience and I learned a lot.

Second Plane

It was worth the shaky plane ride, my second ever, that had me feeling sick. I was glad to land.

We arrived in Prague.

Beautiful.

Street Fashion

It is hard not to notice the incredible styles in London and how people wear their clothing and carry themselves. I photographed some of the people I passed by that I felt exemplified a unique kind of style in London. This i s a project I'd love to continue with. Everyone was so friendly and generally quite flattered.

SUAbroad: London

I arrived in London today, after my first plane experience ever (which happened to be both alone and over an ocean), to be a part of a fashion photography program through Syracuse University. During the program I will be working with Lawrence Mason (aka 'Doc') and near the end of the program Jeff Licata, a New York Fashion Photographer, will be joining to work with us as well, in both London and Prague.

BB: Before Blog

Here are some bits and pieces of my life before entering the blogging world..

April 13, 2007- Redesigned my website to incorporate Flash programming I've learned.

April 7 & April 8, 2007- Continued photographing the Wells upcoming seniors. I also shot for my 'People Illustration' class illustrating the poem "The Red Dress" by Dorothy Parker.

March 30 & March 31, 2007- Went to Wells College, which is the first college I attended, to do work for the Cardinal, the Wells College yearbook, and did on location portaiture photographs the upcoming seniors.

January 22, 2007- Submitted the 'Henckels Knives' photography project to the local ADDY Awards.

January 20, 2007- Participated in the Shootout contest at R.I.T. sponsored by the MAC Group. I worked with a partner, Mike Fiske, and we used a Leaf Aptus Camera, Sekonic Meter and Profoto Lights to create an image with the theme ‘Dream’ in a two hour time period. Our image is displayed within a case in the Photographic Arts building at RIT.

January 19, 2007- Spoke with panelists of the ‘Switch’ Lecture and had my portfolio reviewed by each guest speaker individually.

January 18, 2007- Attended the ‘Switch’ Lecture Panel at R.I.T. about the variety of career paths available, other than being a photographer, once we leave school.

December 22, 2006- Presented Henckels Knives Project with my group, Mike Fiske and Jillian Seaton and myself, in a critique open to the public.