One-day only Boudoir session! Huntsville, Alabama.

August 22nd!

Hey guys! It's happening, I am making my way back home and while I am there I am hoping to empower some women.

I have teamed up with awesome make up artist and hair stylist, Tiffany, and it will be our mission to make you feel as beautiful as you are!

Session prices start at $150!

In base session price you get:

45 minutes of shooting time
Option for wardrobe change (two looks for the price of one!)
15-20 retouched images color and black and white (full files and print rights)
online gallery and lab recommendation
Full face professional make up
For additional charge ($30) you have the option to add hair styling to your package.

FAQs:

What is the age limit? 18 and above! No if, ands or buts. It's the law! You will be required to have ID present when signing your model release.

What should I wear? You can bring options and we can consult in person but remember when shopping for a boudoir session that matching sets are important, buy what makes you feel sexy and comfortable. Clean high heels are important and accessories are always fun!

I am more modest, is there a way I can do boudoir and feel sexy without having to wear revealing lingerie? Absolutely! You will be surprised how far some great posing tips and a silk robe can go!

Can I be nude? If you want to! Whatever you feel comfortable with, but my style is sensual and classy and I tend to enjoy the implication of nudity over actually nudity. My general rule is no nips and no bits ;)

I hate X, Y, Z about my body... can you fix it in photoshop? No! I am confident in my work, and I want you to be confident in your skin! You are beautiful the way you are, I will help pose you and put you in your best light.

About how long will everything take? Rome wasn't built in a day. Because this session is just one day, and if you include hair and make up, you should budget for about three hours of time to be safe. Sometimes on long shoot days, things can get backed up. We will do everything in our power to try to make sure this doesn't happen.

There are only a few slots available. The location will only be disclosed to paying customers two days prior to shoot. Location is Huntsville, Alabama address.

A $50 non-refundable retainer will be due upon booking to reserve your time slot.

To book or for further questions email: starladawnndl@gmail.com

Germantown, MD- Test Shoot with Katie

A couple of weeks ago I got to work with Katie. Katie is a multi-agency model based both in DC and Philadelphia. She drove up to my townhouse so we could play around and test some ideas. I didn't have much of an angle, but wanted to test some lighting situations, one of which didn't work so much but we ended up going to Ridge Road Park which is practically around the block from my house and ended up most of our shoot there. We got lucky it was a cooler day and she could wear long sleeves without melting.

While the first location was completely unplanned it turned out to be my favorite. After the park we came back to my place and got weird in the alley behind my place... with a wagon and goggles I painted as she was on her way over. The first image actually made its way to the Vogue Italias- Photo Vogue Best Of list.

Lastly I borrowed a couple of 80's showgirl headdresses from Stage and Screen in Frederick MD and wanted to go for this weird old school makeshift studio shoot with harsh lighting and a sad showgirl.

We ran a little over our two hour estimation, but that tends to happen when you are chatting and making a connection. We had fun and with no direction we made some really interesting and diverse imagery.

Washington D.C.- Independence Day Parade

On Saturday my family and I hopped the Metro and headed into the city for the Independence Day festivities and while I won't go into the soggy details, I wanted to share my favorite shots of the fashions and fun of the parade. Luckily for everyone the rain took a break for the parade.

Cabin John, MD- Tina's Bridal Shower

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to welcome a new family member via bridal shower. It was a family affair and a delicious feast. This is just to share the details that the hostess Denise spent time on. No images of guests will be posted here.

The event was full of fresh flowers, sea food and laughter.

Fort Tyron Park with Laria NYC

A few weeks ago I got to meet up with designer Maria Teresa Pena in The Bronx to plan the photo shoot of her designs in Fort Tyron Park.

Fort Tyron is on the Hudson river and is home to The Cloisters.

The park became the perfect backdrop for the lacy textures and dark palette of Maria's designs.

Designs: Maria Teresa Pena of Laria NYC

Model: Sarah Rose of St. Claire Modeling

MUAH: Blake Smith

The Mall In Columbia with Candice & Ava

The military lifestyle has some benefits. One benefit being that it can make the world seem like a much smaller place. You meet so many people and are shuffled around so often you are bound to meet again. Thanks to one of my friends I met while modeling in Savannah Ga (because my husband was stationed in SC), I got to meet Candice and her daughter Ava.

Candice is also in the military. Right now her husband is working over seas while she is stateside.

She asked if we could get together and shoot the two of them for her husband as a Fathers Day gift. This was special to me because I did the same thing for my husband was he was deployed.

We started at Wilde Lake park.

So when asked what mother and daughter enjoying doing together, the answer was shopping! I remembered a mall that had a carousel that I had visited a few weeks prior that I thought could be a lot of fun. To the mall!

It was fun getting to hang with these girls! They know how to have a good time, and do it in style.

Bonita Maas Park- Melissa's Bridal Shower

On Saturday I was invited to photograph a bridal shower of Melissa, a friend of a woman I met when I lived in California and then reconnected with in South Carolina, and then we meet here in Maryland for this momentous event.

Melissa is in the landscaping business and the details of her bridal shower showed her love for plants.

Hand stamped seed packets were gifted to those who attended.

The shower games were fun and interactive.

Gifts from the handmade to the humorous.

And the fun whisper bench!

Congrats on your engagement Melissa!

Germantown, MD Test w/ Leanne Mayo

So finally had a sunday free and a model that I had contacted via Model Mayhem had actually responded via FB which means they were serious about working together. Yay!

We start going over ideas and we decide we want to do something with water but I don't have a pool or a yard or and thing for to fake it. So I order a kiddy pool and decide to shoot from above in my balcony.

I knew that I want to do a milk bath shoot because we were shooting in an alley, and I wanted to do anything I could to prevent reflections from the building.

And if you guys haven't notice. I almost always have fresh flowers at my shoots. Nature makes its own art.

Because of the shape of the pool cropping has been the biggest issue. There is not way without tons of editing to crop the images in a traditional size. Outside of details I have been mirroring the images, especially those in black and white.

Leanne was such a trooper. I though I would have two models to test so there would be the possibility of interaction, but things happen and this gave me the opportunity to get to know the model. She was really trusting of my vision and open to my styling.

Our second look was a pink wig. This look photographed really well in black and white because it made the model look like she had a blonde bob, making her look like a completely different person. A diverse portfolio is super important to models.

We switched the flowers to rose petals which made for an interesting spotted background in these b/w images.

The last look was a long blonde wig and we switch over to a gown and sunflowers.

For two hours, we got about 500 pictures and three set/wardrobe changes. It was a lot of fun, but now there are things we learned from the test that will help when we are ready for an editorial.

If you are interesting in working with this model she is with T.H.E. Artist Agency in Washington, DC.

Model: Leanne Mayo, New Faces, Women

Indisposable Concept

The whole idea of the Indisposable Concept is to get rid of all the bells and whistles and rely solely on creativity and composition. We get so used to all the cool tricks we can do with all our fancy settings and photo shopping or "fixing in post" type of mind set. Also you get really used to shooting 500 frames a shoot.

With most disposable cameras you get 24 shots, and while there are higher end versions equipped with nice films, underwater bodies and even zoom lenses, all three times I have shot for this project I have used whatever camera was the cheapest at the local drug store.

Most of the time when people shoot for this project it is mostly travel photography, but IC has a portrait series going on. For this project I shot my cellist friend Kelsea, in Beaufort SC.

I have shot Kelsea many times before I knew she played cello. On IC for the project you only get 24 words to describe which can be difficult because people are so complex. Kelsea is a girl I connected with through a military spouse page when I first started shooting again and was looking for people who had modeling experience or at the very least were interested in fashion. Kelsea is a Black Milk-aholic and she had these really cool leggings with sheet music on them. We wanted this shoot to represent both the girl, the clothing and the music. It was much harder than it sounds!

I think the funniest thing of all, is the disposable camera used to be my favorite thing in the world. There was nothing I loved more that my crazy party pictures, interesting faces and places and just pure memory on film. And now shooting with a disposable has to be so thoughtful because we are so spoiled with our idea of endless frames, you forget how quickly or how long 24 frames can last. Most of the people who do this project, do so with the guideline of 24 frames/week.

Its the documentation aspect of our lives that used to be printed instead of captured on a phone never to be seen or always to shared via social media.

Anyways, this is a project for EVERYONE. You are encouraged to share your world in 24 frames. You can develop your roll locally and email you images in with the info pack or you can ship the camera all the way to Australia. I have done both and it is actually cheaper to do it locally that to ship. Check it out and if you do this post a link in the comments. I am nosy and want to see your life!

You can check out the full roll here:

http://indisposableconcept.com/2015/05/11/starla-l-roll-3-ic-portrait-series/

#TBT First SLR

My first SLR wasn't even mine.

Truth be told, my go to camera of choice like everyone else in the late 90's to mid 2000's was a disposable camera. At less that $3 for processing and FREE double prints (which means two of each print) it was an affordable option to get those awesome party pics, you know back before they had cell phones with cameras.

As a teen I never thought much about photography other than for documentation purposes or for like portraits and comp card (model business cards) photo session. I was REALLY into video, making bad skate videos, editing together my random road trips to Kentucky, friends rock shows, and truly epic party moments. [insert clip of little brother wearing contractor stilts with beer in one hand and a cig in the other trying to run on gravel]

After high school and while many of my friends were in their senior year I gained access to my mothers old SLR (Canon Rebel of some sort) when she thought the back latch broken and she got a new camera. All my friends were into the high school photography program and the assignments always seemed like fun, I found myself out and shooting with my friends in the park at night and grave yards at various times... because you know... that was cool.

Along with our laughable ideas of what to photograph for meaning and depth was my idea of a good photo. The following images were my ideas on art, sports, macro, portrait and self portrait circa 2004-2005.