AAAAH! I was so excited when my buddy Jessica Rae told me that we would be photographing the glorious Georjah Jaymes for our little shoot out at her studio! Georjah and I had messaged back and forth awhile ago when I was traveling to Vancouver, but it just never worked out, so I was pleased that this time around I would not only get to photograph this beauty, but also meet her in person. And let me tell you - she is one of the nicest, most brilliant humans on the planet - and I only spent half a day with her!! She's hilarious and an amazing professional in front of the camera! Needless to say, we made our way through a bunch of different looks and she nailed every single one!
Kerosene Deluxe Hotel Session ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
A few years ago I had the pleasure of photographing ms. Kerosene Deluxe when I was in Vancouver and this time I went back, I contacted her again to see if she'd be up for some fun! We actually shot at the same hotel, but this time my view was totally different (with 2 walls of windows), we were shooting at night, AND my work has changed a bit since our first shoot! As usual, it was a pleasure to see this babe who was one of the first plus size models to "make it" in the industry. Unfortunately, due to some life circumstances, she had to take a brief hiatus from modeling, but luckily, she came to play with me!
Chill Vibes ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
As an end of the year creative collaboration, I got together with my girls Jade & Kylie to create a hippie/artist/chill vibe in the studio. The concept was started with an idea that Jade had and then tumbled together from there, with Kylie doing the amazing orangey tones & flower paintings on Jade's cheek, and myself throwing together the styling of the space and wardrobe. It was also the perfect chance for me to FINALLY use the Canadian bell bottom jeans I had thrifted around Halloween! We set up the studio to look like a starving artist's city loft space, with paintings everywhere and a lone mattress on the floor and set to work. If you have been following me this year (and even before), you know by now that Jade is an incredible muse for me and when we work together, it's not even work at all. Her ability to transform during each session and move in sync with me makes the magic happen and it was the perfect way to end off 2018 if you ask me! So, without further adieu, here's Jade.
Stefania {Chapter 1} ~ New York Editorial
When I reached out to Ms. StefaniaFerrario a year ago via Instagram, I put it into the universe that we would someday meet up and when I didn't hear back instantly (because that's what we expect, right?) I assumed she was busy living the dream of being a model and doing her thang (which she was!). But let me rewind a bit: My first "meeting" with Stefania, was watching her interview in the Embrace documentary and watching her speak so eloquently about what it was like being a "plus" model who is between a size 8 and 10 and explaining about the terrible things that women would do to themselves and their bodies to be accepted into the modeling industry. As soon as I saw her poise and sparkle on camera, I started following her on the Instagram. Now, I had never really had the guts to reach out to professional models before, but for some reason I reached out to her because our dual passion for body neutrality and celebrating the uniqueness in humans was something that connected us. Anywho, fast foward now a YEARish after I sent the original message asking to work together and I commented on one of her insta stories about a book she had found! I guess, in responding to my message, she had seen that I had previously messaged her about working together and messaged me back telling me about the book AND THEN SAYING YES WE SHOULD WORK TOGETHER. I almost dropped my phone....but I tried to play it cool, because I didn't want to scare her off. But in Winnipeg, in my studio, I was fucking FAN-GIRLING. HARD. Anywho, she had just moved to New York to model with IMG Models (she's originally from Australia), so I took literally the only free four days I had off in the last 6 months and booked a flight to NYC. Sometimes, you just gotta take a chance. Now, this sweetheart also let me stay with her, which was freaking incredible, because she, like me, gets inspired at the drop of a hat so we found ourselves shooting throughout the day and even one evening at midnight (as you will see in another chapter later on!). So, the day I flew in, I had a hiccup with my luggage at the airport, but we ended up shooting anyway! Previously, I had found this adorable vintage cotton bra and panty set from the early 80s so I threw it in my bag last minute AND THANK THE GOOD LORD! It fit her like a damn glove. We paired that with her amazingly tiny pink bathroom and set to work on our first editorial! Now, as a she is a professional model, I doubted my skills for a second...especially when I pulled out JUST my camera and she said "You don't have any lights?" and look inquisitively at me. I choked down my fear and replied "Nope, I like shooting with ambient light." but in my brain was like "oh my fuck." But really, what was I going to do? I work best under pressure and have way more fun creating, so somehow we managed to throw together literally one of my favorite editorials EVER because it is lifestyle, but also bad ass. Oh, Stefania is also a big proponent in saying no to Photoshop! So, while her images have been color corrected and color toned, there is no skin retouching on this fierce babe! So, now that you have the low-down on how we met, I am going to let you get to enjoying this delightful session we did! I introduce to you Ms. Stefania - Chapter 1:
Lace {inspiration session} ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
I had a vision for this session from the moment I saw this lingerie set and knew that Kylie & Jade would be able to help me pull it off. I wanted to go for a vintage softness, femininity, and still capture the strength of women. Kylie create magic with the makeup and it was perfect for the "vintage dolly" effect and then Jade, of course, was able to slip right into this role (as she does with most of our creatives!) to bring this session to life. We paired the lingerie with a pair of lace socks, lace applique high heels, and a lace cape that I found at Value Village. Sometimes when I have creative ideas, I just create without thinking about where it comes from...I just make it happen. Which is why there is rarely a "story" to go with the images, aside from "LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL IMAGES". I think as photographers, we get caught up in thinking we need to explain ourselves with words in our blogs as well as with images and while some stories are well explained, there is a reason why there is a saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". So, with that, I am going to stop the chit chat and let you enjoy the eye-gasmic images below!