Vintage Vagabond Wardrobe House- Washington D.C.

A couple of weeks ago I got to pop into Vintage Vagabond Wardrobe House for their fall preview event. I was lucky that they had a live model that I could shoot with, as she served as the main focal point for the evening. I generally shoot in natural light but brought out my new flash and such to practice.

It was awesome to meet the styling team and see all of the great pieces in store. I really look forward to a planned shoot with them. If the impromptu images ( literally only let them know I would attend the event an hour before hand) turned out this great, then I am sure a little planning could make things epic. I showed up barely introduced myself to the model who was already posing on the store roof top,  I started snapping and directing immediately.  We started shooting around 6:30 and wrapped at 9 pm. 

For the second look we left the roof top and hit the crowded streets of D.C. I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful golden light and the loud colors of the street. We found a greenery on the sidewalk across from the store and used that as an additional backdrop. 

For the third look we had a vintage velvet black dress to shoot and the sun had gone down. Time to bring out the flash and make some popping imagery. Most of these were shot in black and white in the halls of the store for a real vintage feel. 

The last look we made our way into the store itself and set up shop in what I kept referring to as "the pink room." They had a beautiful vanity that provided plenty of beautiful light for us to work with. 

A huge thank you to all the wonderful ladies at Vintage Vagabond Warehouse for inviting me to your event and welcoming me to the area! 

Model: Andrea 

Styling: Team at Vintage Vagabond Warehouse - 1833 14th ST NW 3rd floor (D.C.)

Hair: Alix founder of The Unicorn Tribe in Alexandria VA

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. 

New Double Exposures

So before leaving moving from Beaufort, I got one last chance to shoot a couple of my favorite models in Savannah, Ga.

That shoot was in December and I had solicited them on the basis of most shooting film for me to experiment with more double exposure in a style that is not my typical. Generally when I do doubles I rely on silhouettes to create black or unexposed area, and then after shooting the whole roll with the model I will retrieve my film lead and shoot the whole roll with botanical of a light/ bright color. 

This time I wanted to rely on the color black. One model has black hair and the other black clothing. So the intention was for the floral patterns to appear on the clothing and hair. 

So some of the images came out as planned. But we were also dealing with a changing lighting situation. Most of the time was overcast which is fantastic but other times we had full sun for a few seconds with bright shadows which COULD turn our cool or overcrowded.  

Lastly I experimented with shooting other things and orientations which can lead to a lot of unpredictability.  I like unpredictability. 

Because I use a camera that has both auto- advancing and auto rewinding, there isn't too much planning as far a imagery is concerned. I have an idea of what was on one roll, and many moths later, when I get around to the second set of images chance are I have forgot poses or orientations. So for best luck I have to think of it as would the two images be good photos separately?

Here are some of my favorites:

Thank you to models Vy Dang and Jacqueline Harbin in Savanna, GA.