Photog vs. Photog: Ashley
Every so often, we get a chance to have some good ol' creative fun with our portrait sessions. Since it was spring, we knew that the cherry blossoms and other flowering plants alike would be blooming. So we just had to plan a very floral themed session with Ashley, our model for the day.
Cara's Photos
I'm always so anxious over the winter to get started on photographing in the luscious florals of springtime in Rochester. We chose Highland Park as our inspiration for this day's shoot - it is absolutely overflowing with blooms and pastels in early spring. Rochester is well known for the Lilac Festival at Highland, so we got ourselves over there right after the trees started blooming, but before the big crowds came for the festival. We ended up with some really rich views of the cherry blossoms which are a never-ending source of joy for me. The outfit perfectly matched the dusty lilac of the flowers, and being surrounded by flower petals floating in the air just made for the perfect day for a photo shoot.
Rachel's Photos
My inspiration for styling Ashley was a combination of fairies and romance. Definitely whimsical! The outfit was my first thought. I needed something flowy and graceful. I bought a maxi dress from a second hand store and cut off the top to turn it into a skirt. and to add some contrast, I paired the skirt with a black, half sleeve shirt. For her make-up I really wanted it to be bright and colorful like the flowers we would be photographing in. And I wanted a little extra pop for her eyes, so I added some teal eyeliner. Ashley already has some killer cheekbones, so contouring wasn't really needed. I just added some highlighter and a little bit of blush for some more pink! And for her hair, I just did some beach waves and twisted it up into a loose chignon, and pinned a flower crown in to seal the deal!
My favorite part about these sessions (besides the styling) is the little competitive challenge Cara and I do. Its fun because it pushes us to really get our creative thinking going. This is a really great thing to do and practice because it helps keep us on our toes, as well as to make use of the short time frame we give ourselves. (Which is really useful for photographing events, such as weddings!)
