Got to create some beautiful shots with this cool lady, Makenna Fields, who is a singer in Oklahoma. We had such a nice day in downtown OKC!
Can’t believe my little sister is about to graduate high school! I shoot her all the time, but doing senior photos together was extra special. I’m so impressed with the beautiful, smart, kind person she’s grown into. And she just won homecoming queen at Putnam City High School!
April 25-27th, 2013
Norman Music Festival is a staple for me every year- so much fun! The only bad part is that it’s almost impossible to catch everyone you want to see, but here are the sets I made it to!
Tyler Hopkins & The Rebellion:
Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights:
I am so excited to finally announce the series that I’ve been working on for a looooong time, and the show where I will be debuting it! The theme is… wait for it…. ok, you already know- it’s zombies. Zombies meets high fashion, that is.
Brass Bell Studios will host a show opening for my conceptual editorial series, Zombies Are People Too, on Sunday, October 7th from 4:00pm- 7:00pm. Brass Bell Studio is located on the corner of NW 33rd & Villa in Oklahoma City. There is no admission cost, and the show will include a cash bar. After the opening, showings will be available by appointment during the month of October.
Check out the show website to watch the show trailer/sneak peek of one of the zombie shoots created by Andrew Sloat:
www.zombies-are-people-too.com
The idea was conceived years ago while doing a photo assignment for my fashion class. I made up my models to look like zombies to add some sort of creative interest in an otherwise very strait forward technical learning exercise. Since then, I’ve wanted to do an entire series, but take the time to do it right. It’s always been in the back of my mind. Last year, with the help of some awesome people, I decided to make it happen.
I’ve always been drawn to this dark aesthetic- kinda eery and creepy. I’m well-versed in B-horror movies, and Halloween is my favorite holiday. Obviously shooting weddings doesn’t really call for this style much (except of course in the case of the zombie engagement shoot), so when I have the opportunity to shoot photos with an edge, I’m very creatively motivated. I do however have an outlet in this realm when I’m working on some band promos or fashion shoots. (Now, I do want to clarify that the zombie aspect is truly meshed with fashion, so if scary movies aren’t your thing, rest assured that this will be fairly tame. Bloody/gory isn’t part of the vision in this case.)
For this series, I’ve worked with a handful of male and female models and the shoots take place in locations across Oklahoma. I couldn’t have done it without the help of Jessica Fulton, owner of Siren Beauty Lounge. She has been the makeup artist on the series, executing my vision perfectly! I’ve also worked with some fun and eager models who I’m excited to reveal at the show.
It has been a huge undertaking, but I’m extremely excited, and I think it will be the most personally important show I’ve done to date. Hope you can make it! Don’t forget to RSVP to the Facebook event!
After almost 7 years together, Rachel and Kevin are married! Their wedding was held at FCC Edmond, with a reception at the MAC in Mitch Park.
So who all made it out to WPPI this year?? My second trip to Las Vegas, NV was my first trip to the annual WPPI Photography Convention, and I definitely plan to go back as often as possible! I expected that I would learn a mind blowing amount, and I was not disappointed. I had the privilege of sitting in on some informative lectures and demonstrations by some of the world’s A-List photogs.
Although the learning was structured more for taking notes on paper, my group and I made some time for experimenting and mini photo shoots. The talented ladies that traveled with me this year were:
Catie Bartlett: No doubt you’ve seen mention of her on my blog before as we work closely together in our day job and on photo projects. She currently specializes in family and children photography.
Lisa Lee: I’ve known Lisa for a few years now, and have loved watching her grow as an artist. She focuses on the fine art aspect of photography- taking everyday scenes an manipulating them into a completely different visual experience.
Carly Carlson: I met Carly for the first time on this trip, and I’m so blessed that I did! Throughout the week I came to see her as a mentor, and a friend. Unfortunately she lives hundreds of miles away, but since WPPI we’ve relentlessly tried to persuade each other to relocate to our respective cities. I think I’m losing however, because Carly has an established studio in Baker City, Oregon, where she specializes in some awesome High School Senior photography.
Below are some of my favorites from the week, including everything from images of our beautiful Nevada surroundings to some fashion-esque shoots of each other. We’ll just get started off sexy, with a few (G-rated) shots from our boudoir shoot experiment in the hotel:
The first night we arrived, we were ready to go! I’d brought along a new toy: my Orbis ring flash adaptor, so we trying it out for a fun shoot. The one of me on the left was snapped by Catie.
We had a great view of the Strip each day during our (very long) commute to the MGM Grand for the day’s classes. On paper, a hotel right across the street sounds great, but it took at least 20 minutes of relentless speedwalking to get there, and the trip clocked in at over a mile each way!
Here’s a few shots of some of the neat and diverse hotel styles and features. Left: New York, New York / Right: Caesar’s Palace.
I had the opportunity to learn from some super A-List photographers at WPPI, but only happened to take my camera along to one class. (Like I said, it was a long walk! Extra baggage gets heavy.) I grabbed a picture of Jasmine Star, who is known for her high end wedding photography. She is sweet, down to earth, and hilarious! She graciously hung around after her class to answer every question of the hundreds of people who lined up to meet her, including me.
The four of us set aside an afternoon to explore the Strip and practice some of the shooting techniques we had been picking up in our classes. We found some gorgeous lighting. Here’s a few that I snapped of the other girls:
We also made it out during dark hours for some artificial light practice. The one on the right was lit with the Orbis.
Finally, a few more photos from around the Strip. I used my new Lensbaby lens on a few of these- can you tell which ones? (Okay, it was all of them.) It’s a specialty lens that has really neat, in-camera, blurring effects. The first set is from the Bellagio hotel fountains, and inside under the Chihuly glass ceiling in the lobby. It felt like home in a way, since the OKC Museum of Art is home to a great Chihuly collection, which I’ve seen so many times. The second set of photos are from other hotels on the strip, and I found shooting a backlit, clear glass chandelier with my Lensbaby to have the coolest effect yet!
I have a few more days worth of photos to share, but I will save those for the next post. We got to shoot at some incredible locations, so I will be covering those more in depth. Check back soon!