Concrete Sunset

I recently had the pleasure of working with some very beautiful people from Page Parkes Corporation. Of course, my favorite hairstylist, Johnny Serafin, and makeup artist, Deanna Leflore, were part of this team, as well. (Check out their websites by clicking on their names!)

Model J Morgan Perrault approached me about doing a shoot with a skater, Cali kind of vibe, and since I have never done that, I thought it would be fun. Especially when he threw female model Alex Hogston into the mix. She is so gorgeous, am I right? How could I say no?

So, we rolled out (pun intended!) to this awesome concrete ditch near my house, and made some magic. I absolutely love easy breezy shoots like this! If you follow my blog, you know I posted not too long ago about early morning light... how beautiful it is. Sunset is the other great time of day to shoot. In fact, you might hear a photographer refer to sunrise and early morning light, or light just before or during sunset as the "golden hour." You can see why that is!

Enjoy the behind the scenes "making of" video, and photos below. If you are interested in booking a shoot, you can email me at stretchphotos@gmail.com or find me on Facebook. You can also click the "follow" button on the right side of my blog, to keep up with new posts.

Thanks for reading!

Before and After "Manga Conscience"

Hi, everyone! It's been awhile since I posted... but by now you probably all know that I'm pregnant, wahoooooo! It's been very exciting (and horrifying, haha). I'm enjoying it so much, and I can't wait to start showing (although my doc warns me to be careful what I wish for).

Anyway, I wanted to share a before and after from a shoot that was recently published in Kirameki Magazine. They are a new magazine, and this was their debut issue. I was honored to be asked to contribute. The image I'm sharing is not one of the ones they used, but it's my personal favorite!

First off, though, I'd like to thank Elizabeth Giguere (makeup) and Alexis Fuentes (hair) of Madame Makeup and Hair for making one my favorite models, Jessica Strangely, look amazing!!!Check them all out on Facebook!

Ill go ahead and show you both the before and the after together, so you can compare. Then, I'll briefly explain each of the steps I took to make this happen. It's honestly not a HUGE difference, but just enough to really make it POP. The most difficult part for me was rounding out the joints to look more "doll-like" and have it come off right.

The final image has 29 separate layers! I love layers, and most of my edits have many many layers. Layers are so important to me, bc if I get one little tiny part exactly how I want it, I don't want to have to start over on that part, bc I accidentally do something I don't like, that affects the whole image. So, I just make a new layer every time I think I get something how I want it (if I screw up on this new layer, I can just delete it and start over at my last "save point" instead of going backwards multiple steps).

I'm not going to make you look at all 29 layers, separately, haha! Many of the layers are just me rounding out the joint, liking it and not wanting to ruin it, starting a new layer and rounding it out more, getting it to a liking point, starting a new layer, and making it even MORE perfect. Haha. That would be insanely boring, so I'll stick with the basics.

1. I like to start with the easy stuff, so I cleaned up the lines under the eyes and around the mouth, using the clone stamp.

2. I wanted to make the eyes creepy. I made a new blank layer, chose the paintbrush, and painted over the eyes with white. Then I changed the opacity until I liked it!

3. I added a black and white adjustment layer and set it to overlay, then changed the opacity to 50%.

4. I played with color balance, curves, and selective color in 4 different adjustment layers, until I liked it!

5. I smoothed the area inside the eyes even more, with the clone stamp. I wanted the skin more "doll-like."

6. This is my first attempt at rounding out the joints with the liquify tool.

7. I used a selective color adjustment layer, and a color balance layer to darken the darks, and give more pop.

8. I used the liquify tool to round out the joints. There are thirteen different layers. Each layer pinpoint one of the areas where the rubber band digs into the skin. Some areas I worked on more than once.I also used the clone stamp to remove the shadow on the inside of the elbow.

9. I used a curves adjustment layer, and a levels adjustment layer to brighten the face and eyes.

10. I wanted to make the eyes even creepier, so I made a new blank layer, and used the paintbrush to paint over them with white. Then I adjusted the opacity until I liked it!

11. The final layer. I made a new layer and used the dodge and burn tool to burn back in some of the midtones in the face, and darken the color on the lips.

And there you have it! The before and after. You can tell, I like to make very minor adjustments on each new layer, and gradually work my way up and into the final image. I don't really have a system... I just do what feels right at the moment. I'm a go with the flow kind of girl! :D

 If you'd like to see more of the images from this set, you can purchase a copy of Kirameki Magazine on MagCloud. It's only $1.50! Also, you can follow me on Facebook, where I will be posting the rest of the images from this set, sometime in the next few days.

I hope  you found this informative... or at the very least you enjoyed looking at the photo! Let's see the before and after, one more time, but bigger!!!!