Behind the scenes of a collaboration shoot

In honor of this very special collaboration, I figured I would write a "behind the scenes" blog post with the details of how it came to be, what my thought process was on it, and why it is so important and personal to me. I very rarely post why I do things the way I do them, but this session was the essence of why I love my work so much. I always knew I wanted to create great images, and like any creatively-minded person, I find myself doubting my work and abilities at times. This is the only way that we get better as artists. The strive for perfection, but not always obtaining, it moves us forward. I don't even think there is such a thing as perfection, it is a part of human nature to have flaws. Our flaws is what makes us unique, and imperfections are beautiful. I try to bring this out in my subjects, as well as myself. The day I stop learning and striving to make better photographs is the day I should hang up my camera straps. In reality, by doing this, I feel like I'm making myself a better person in the process as well.

So, how did all this come to be? Well, I actually met Monique of Voleur De Bijoux on Twitter {social media is a wonderful thing, isn't it?}, we were mutual "followers" of several people. I looked at her jewelry pieces on her Etsy shop and knew that they were special. At the risk of sounding cheesy, they "spoke" to me as pieces that really fit with the type of photography that I love to do. Artistic, unique and non-traditional. I reached out to her, and told her how much I loved her pieces, and that I would love to work with her on a possible shoot. To my surprise, she said yes! I was completely excited, but how would I be able to make this work? I'm a children's photographer, I couldn't possibly use the pieces in my normal sessions. I had no idea, until I struck me that it would be perfect for a themed boudoir session. Am I boudoir photographer? Heck no. There are so many amazing photographers who ROCK this specialty. So I was presented with the task of figuring out how to make this work, and making sure that it represented me.

I contacted my dear friend Stacy of About Face Artistry and asked her if she was interested in expanding her editorial makeup portfolio. I told her about the project, and she was all for it. Now on to finding a model that represented the look I wanted, but someone who was also comfortable with a boudoir-style session. At the time, Stacy was running a contest for her next "face" for About Face Artistry, and there was a slew of entries of her past clients. Nosing through them one day, I came across a photo that struck me, and I knew she was the one I wanted for the session. I contacted Stacy, pointed out that photo and said "I don't care what I have to do, I need her to be our model!" Jillian had the exact look I wanted. She has this fiery auburn hair, and piercing green eyes. She could take on the look we wanted and run with it. To top it off, Stacy mentioned to me that Jillian had done boudoir photos before and probably would be comfortable with this type of photography. It all started coming together. I just needed her to say yes! So after a few days of stalking Stacy {"Did you talk to Jillian yet? Did you talk to Jillian yet???"} we got the word that she would love to participate. The project was a go. I emailed a photo of Jillian to Monique so she can work with some inspiration of what our model looked like, and within a few weeks, I had 10 sets of one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry in my hands for the shoot.

The day of the shoot was a tad hectic. Stacy and I couldn't meet before hand to go over the pieces so that she too, can be inspired by them to create the makeup looks. I arrived at the location about an hour before the session was scheduled so we can brainstorm. I knew I wanted two makeup looks, a soft and fragile type look and then a more dramatic siren look. I've worked with Stacy plenty of times to know all I had to do was say what I was shooting for {"I want her to look like a delicate wallflower"} and she goes and works her magic with her brushes. I trust enough in the people that I work with that it's not a wise idea to "box-in" in their creativity. This was just as much an opportunity to step out of normal work for her and Monique as it was for me. In going through the jewelry, we determined which pieces fit the "soft" look and the "dramatic" look. So, without further ado {aka my ramblings!}, here are some of my favorite shots from the session, as well as some product shots that I did::

Lamartine::

This piece is called "Lamartine". A two piece necklace, as soon as I saw the beautiful teardrop pendant, I knew I wanted to do a bare back shot, draping it down. I have to say that photographs just don't do these pieces justice, you really have to see them in person.

A shot from the session using Lamartine::

My inspiration for this shot was from a photo in Christina Aguilera's "Stripped" album {don't hate, that girl's got a mean set of pipes on her}. It was a black and white photo, bare back shot of her sitting on her feet with her hair draping down her back. That photo always struck me, it was very simplistic and beautiful. I wanted to recreate something similar but put my twist on it, as well as feature this wonderful piece.

Jouve::

Jouve I saw as a more fun and flirty piece, fit for someone with a lot of style, whose not afraid to take some risks. This piece fit perfectly with Jillian's coloring, and the soft look that Stacy created, the rose petal colors, played up the green gems and Jillian's eye color impeccably. Stacy also had this amazing hat with peacock feathers, which suited the feel that we wanted to capture, so we decided to use this as another prop.

Shots using Jouve::

This shot also used the Jouve piece, and really played on the bold colors of the bra set. Again with the more fun and flirty aspect, I decided the edit the photo a little more non-traditionally.

Belleau::

Belleau was another piece that fit the soft look. The colors were amazing, and I loved the intricate detail of the workmanship on it.

This shot was a perfect example of that delicate flower look that I wanted to create. Jillian's eyes are so expressive and she just looks ethereal.

However the "delicate flower" look doesn't last very long when you're in vixen lingerie! Another amazing shot that really shows off Stacy's artistry. And just to add, I barely had to retouch Jillian's skin, her complexion is just flawless {insert green with envy here}

A few more favorite shots using Belleau::

Ambroise::

Another exquisite yet simplistic piece. I saw this as something that you can wear with jeans and or with an evening gown. Very versatile and elegant!

Session shots::

This shot was for me, I'm not gonna lie, lol. I love using mirrors but my vision for what I wanted to create didn't really pan out the way I had hoped. Instead of making it something that it's not, I just went with it, and edited in a more edgy manner because I felt like it suited the over-all emotion of it. Sometimes things don't work out the way you think it will, but hopefully I can take something away from it as a learning experience and what to do next time. :)

Another shot using Ambroise::

Camille::

Ahh, Camille. This was the piece that was the whole reason why we were all there. For lack of a better word, the cornerstone of the entire session. Stacy and I dubbed it the "transitional" piece, meaning that this was going to be photographed in both the soft makeup look and the dramatic look as well. I didn't want to make a pretty photo, I wanted to make a photo that someone would look at and say WOW. The jewelry had an air of aristocracy to it, something of regal nobility. The shot needed to convey that.

"The" shot::

This is by far the image that I am most proud of. Is it perfect? None in the least, I can already rattle off to you the things that I probably could have done to make it a better photo, but again, live and learn and apply for next time. I'm extremely proud of it, nonetheless, and I feel like I captured what I wanted to express. Many who've seen this told me it reminded them of American Beauty, but I actually got my inspiration from an episode of America's Next Top Model {who says you can't learn anything from prime time TV?}! Yes, really, I watch America's Next Top Model. And no, it's not for the model cattiness, it's for watching the photo shoots and the critiquing process. Okay, so maybe it's like 90%-10%, the cattiness is just a bonus. :P Anyway, there was an episode where famed photographer Matthew Rolston shot the girls from above through a pane of water, giving them a underwater goddess look. I thought it was interesting, so I wanted to shoot from above looking down, minus the water and the sea creatures, of course. ;)

More shots using Camille::

Leloir::

I have to laugh about this just a little, because I literally had to pry this piece out of Stacy's hands. She just loved it. And yes, when I packed up, I made sure she didn't run off with it. That's all that is really needed to be said about this one, it's just gorgeous.

Session shots::

Lautreamont::

Another fabulous pendant piece, this reminded me of old Hollywood glamour.

Session shot::

Another one of my favorites. Non-tradtional in the sense that you don't see the subject's eyes, it just needed to be in black and white. I didn't see it any other way!

Bourdelle::

I love love love turquoise with gold, and again, I saw this as an old Hollywood glamour piece. I decided to use black elbow gloves as props in shots.

Session Shots::

Chartier::

I don't think there was a piece that I didn't want to run off with, and Chartier was no exception! I love the layered look, and that includes my accessories. This two-piece necklace set had so many aspects to it, really fun and unique.

Session Shots::

Gautier::

Gautier was one piece that I didn't get a chance to photograph entirely. We were getting crunched on time, and I was able to only get the photojournalistic style shot that I wanted, but not the more up-close to see how elegant this piece is.

Session shot::

And there you have it. I can't wait to coordinate another project like this. The experience was amazing, fun, and challenging. I was truly honored to work with such wonderful and talented women. Again, another huge THANK YOU to Monique, Stacy and Jillian for being such incredible participants in the project. I hope you love the images as much as I do!