Portfolio development | Mckenzie Gardner

Model: Mckenzie Gardner
Hair & Make-up: Casey Ritchie

Make-up and hair artist, Casey Ritchie, contacted me about doing a last minute portfolio development session with her daughter. She sent me some of the ideas and inspirations for what she was wanting to do and I immediately accepted!

This shoot was my first shoot in about two weeks as I had set some time aside to work on senior portraits and other client work, so I was ready to do some creative work. I did a lot of straight forward flash to give that harsh and edgy look, I also worked with multi-light set ups consisting of softboxes, octaboxes, beauty dishes, and reflectors (see behind the scenes shot below).

Mckenzie absolutely killed this shoot. She was a natural in front of the lens!

Welcoming Grace Sherrell

I would like to welcome Grace Sherrell as my new intern to the team! Grace is an aspiring photographer that focuses on seniors and couples and is wanting to broaden her knowledge of the field. She has a great eye for detail and should be an excellent asset to the team. Don't worry, Cliffy, my original assistant hasn't left!

With 2014's schedule filling up quickly, I thought it would be a great time to bring someone to the team that is wanting to learn and is also wanting to help out!

Welcome Grace Sherrell!!

We had so much fun doing these photos and had so many hilarious images, I thought I would post some outtakes to the blog. Enjoy!

Fall By Blush: Helen Mitchell

Last year I started a series titled "Fall By Blush". When I completed the series I decided I would do a yearly collection of Blush Louisville's finest fall fashions. This is the first shoot from this years collection.

Photography: Tyler Zoller / www.tylerzoller.com
Model: Helen Yvonne Mitchell / Mother Model Management
Outfits: Blush Louisville
Hair & Make-up: Casey Ritchie
Assistant: Cliffy Madden

Feroce

Model: Emily Bennett / Heyman Talent

As I do before all of my photo shoots, I was looking at blogs and images for inspiration. We didn't really discuss much except that we wanted to do something fun and different. I had been feeling in a rut with my studio lighting so I wanted to capitalize on this shoot and get out of the box. To get out of my comfort zone, I brought some extra lighting into the picture. Not only did I use more lighting but I included colored gels, which is something I have struggled with in the past. I also used speed lights for this shoot, both on and off camera.

Hair & Make-up: Casey Ritchie

I knew right away that I wanted to do a couple different looks for this shoot, starting with something subtle that progresses to full on fierceness. Casey and I always seem to find the same examples of hair and makeup but she works her magic and puts her own spin on things. We started off the shoot with a very simple look, ending with black eye makeup and black lips, two complete different ends of the spectrum.

Emily and I had been talking about clothing for the shoot once we booked a date. It started off with doing an indie/hipster styled shoot. The first set includes that type of clothing then all of the sudden I said forget that and it went full on edge. Stainless steel accessories coming to a fine point, army jackets and diamond covered crop tops just scream hipster don't they? Emily had brought just the right clothes to go with the edgy look, it's almost like she knew I would change my mind!

Of course you can tell by the images that the location for this shoot was all done in studio. I suppose this is a great time to tell you all some news regarding the future of my photography. I officially have a studio space!! It is located in my wonderful hometown, New Albany, and I feel it will be a wonderful starting space for me to work out of.
I decided to do studio on this shoot because Emily had said she had not done to much work in the studio. I thought this would be a good opportunity to use the new space and add more studio work to her portfolio.

When it came to editing these images, I had the hardest time. Emily literally brought so much attitude and fierceness to every image that she made it hard to narrow it down. I decided I wanted to post about two from each outfit so that was a starting point, that still left the images to choose for the blog.

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Mode de vie

Model: Christen McAllister

Christen McAllister with Heyman Talent of Louisville contacted me about doing a more natural shoot. Her and I had shot once before and done some more glamorous shots. I enjoyed working with her so much the first time I immediately took her up on the offer and we booked a date.

Inspiration

At the time we booked this shoot I had been looking at a lot of blogs and websites that featured the works of West Coast fashion photographers. I have always been fond of the West Coast style of photography and thought I would try to bring a little bit of that to New Albany, Indiana. I have also been looking at some photographers that do Lifestyle photography and I thought that would tie in perfectly with the shoot. I scouted some locations in the New Albany area and I came across the New Albany Waterfront. It has an awesome run down skatepark and basketball court, it was then that I knew what I wanted to do with this shoot. I went home, grabbed my old skateboard, an IU basketball and packed my car.

Hair & Make-up: Casey Ritchie

Casey and I had been talking back and forth for quite sometime when Christen contacted me. I knew immediately that her amazing hair and make-up skills would be perfect for this style of shoot. She hopped on board and was ready to go. With an early call time of 8a.m, we met at Casey's studio for her to work her magic. I spoke with Casey about ideas and we decided on doing a natural look for both the hair and make-up.

Clothing

For this shoot I wanted the wardrobe to be very simple; consisting of high waisted jean shorts, crop tops, high top shoes, etc. As I was talking to Christen about what I was looking for and some of the places that may have carried clothes like that she said she had pretty much everything I was looking for. What she brought to the table was perfect and exactly what I was visioning.

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