Fashion Photo-shoot with Algonac High School Senior

1 beautiful Senior girl, 8 rockin' outfits, 2 photo-shoots, and a HUGE collection of gorgeous shots that make your jaw drop. 
Meet Zoe. I met her Mom last year when I was photographing at a womne's retreat. She mentioned maybe we would be able to work together for her daughter's Senior pictures, and she kept that promise. Thank god! I can't imagine missing out on ALL this! 
We had a blast. The first day we met to plan everything we knew we were going to have to break the shoot up in to 2 different projects because she came with 8 outfits, none of which we could part with. 
Normally, most people can only pull off a certain look but Zoe could pull it all off. A baggy sweatshirt, and oversized cardigan, a sassy dress, crop tops, boots, heels... Man! 
So we started our adventures in the Summer, on a crazy day with down pouring rain, and vicious winds. But it made for the best sunset, and her hair dancing literally made me, my assistant, and her mom yell and jump up and down at how amazing everything was coming together.  
Imagine being on a cliffside, waves crashing, the deep blue water crystal clear for as far as your eye can see, your model just working her beauty, and the wind comes up on set, blows her dress, whips her hair and you get the shot. If it sounds perfect, that's because it was perfect. 
See for yourself. 

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Check Out Our Full Senior Gallery!

For more Downtown Beauty Check Out Marissa's Photoshoot!

If You Like The Studio Look Check out Logan's Fun Senior Session!

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model seeks out unique portfolio- creativity flies at night

   You see Brooke's modeling portfolio and you see this glamorous beauty. Someone with confidence, someone with way more years to her soul than her flawless face shows. Or at least that's the impression I got the day she contacted me. 
   She found me on facebook and sent a few of her portfolio images to me. She then said she was looking to expand that and sent me a few basic ideas she was interested in. Her main goal- it had to be unique, it had to be different, it had to be artistic. And I knew I HAD to do this project with her!
   The rest of the guidelines? She gave us none. She totally trusted me, and I totally trusted her that no matter what we designed, she would be able to own it. I was right. 
   Then you meet Brooke in person. She's still beautiful, but she's just the sweetest. Where this fierceness in her photos comes from, I'm not sure. It just goes to show you she's a professional at what she does and can transform herself in to these characters. Her smile is so genuine, and her positive personality is truly up-lifting. Again... I can't imagine her NOT smiling when I look at her, but... when she gets in front of that camera, she drops the smile, works it, and owns that area she's in for the time being. 
   We first shot at dusk.  We wanted something dramatic, something with a dark, ethereal feel to it so we shot in the back 20 acres of the studio, loaded up the ORV with lights, chairs, fog machine, clothes, and headed back. Dusk quickly transitioned in to night. We eventually shot outdoors with nothing but the flashlight from an iphone and the headlights. Being outside of your element pushes you to see things differently, so it was perfect for all of us!
   When we went inside Brooke dropped the edginess she had just embraced so well and transitioned in to this delicate, free flowing model, who just so happened to be covered in flour. The way she moved was soft and light. Taylor, my assistant, suggested we shoot through tule we had, which just added to the dreaminess of the whole set. 
   Projects like this make me feel so alive. You're taking your world and expanding it in to this dream like state, which I always have my head stuck in. 
   Watch the beauty unfold below.

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Check Out Our Full Beauty Gallery!

This whole session was shot indoors and outdoors at the AJBC studio in the Fall!
See how different the SAME area can look in the Summer during Daycee's Fairy tale Rapunzel shoot and
in the Winter for Aubrey's Senior Shoot!

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Floating through the Veil- An Endless Performance

The stage was lit and the crowd was quiet. 
She sat watching them, taking in the silence. 

Her red dress freshly washed from the performance before. 
Her hair let down and her bare feet on the floor.

Her talent was enough but her beauty was greater. 
She was a burning star, but she wouldn't realize until later.

Later did come, yet time no longer passed.
She stayed in that theatre now reciting the past.

No tickets were purchased and the front door was locked. 
The dust sat beautifully on top of what others had forgot. 

She floated above the scuffed and tattered floor. 
Her dress never dirty, her burning, no more.

Days were nights and nights were days.
Her piano rotted on top of the stage.

Now her skin was washing thin.
Transparent was her beauty.
Either this was her chance
Or a pure game of cruelty.

Days had been years and years had been days.
But today the sun was actually burning through the haze.

Oh to return for one more night! 
Just to touch the keys and caress the light. 

She called out with hope, raspy was her voice.
She began to levitate as if by choice.

Colors began to rush back in. 
Her star back to burning, the show to begin.

And there she saw it, her piano, her friend. 
Where she could play for one more night, while the veil was thin again.

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Behind the Scenes:
I've never done levitation photography before, so that was the driving force behind this shoot. 
We were lucky enough to be able to shoot in the second and third floor of the Old Town Hall Winery in Lexington, Michigan.
It wasn't until I entered the space that I switched my thinking from a glamorous "floating" shoot to a haunted levitation shoot. 

It's told the Winery is said to be haunted, really haunted, by adults and children. Even tv crews have came to check the place out and left because it was that haunted.
Not sure where I stand on this... I can at least say I was happy to be photographing there in the daylight.

We did have a few happenings with lights and our fog machine, and our model, with no clue how it happened, did look down to see her big toe cut and bleeding. She later lost her toenail, so, take that how you wish (extra props to her for working through the shoot the WHOLE time like that!). Maybe the ghosts were not happy with our presence, or we just had bad luck. 

As gloomy as the day looks here we shot this in August (I think) on what had to be the HOTTEST day of the year. Only a few minutes in and we were literally stripping off our clothes and shoes to continue working. Not to mention what we hauled up 2 flights of tall stairs:
fog machine, a gallon of fog juice, loaded camera backpack, loaded trolly with light stands, lights, reflector, extra fabric, cords, battery pack, and god only knows what else. Oh, and a ladder. A 6 ft tall metal ladder. Oh, and a small, heavy ass trampoline we found in the garbage a week before. Call us crazy, but... Ok, no, no excuses, we're crazy.  

After 3 hours I got what I wanted and we hauled all of our stuff back out and celebrated with lunch and a cold beer. 

When editing, this effect is created by layering images, removing unneeded things, adding in shadows, and a lot of blending. 
Here's a look at what an image looks like BEFORE and AFTER I mess with it. 

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Check out the full beauty gallery here!

If you have a thing for hauntingly beautiful girls in red dresses (or black dresses!) I suggest you click those links! 

And if you're in to Dark Beauty see what we shot in the woods at dusk!

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Double Exposure In Camera Art with Port Huron, MI Photographer - AJBC Photography

As humans I feel as though we have a really important role to play in Nature.

We shouldn't fight it, or be above it, we should be one with it. 

See, alone, we are still a part of the Earth, it's hidden inside us, it makes up who we are; we are strong individuals who hold unique traits, shapes, stories, and souls. Just like Nature, we grow, we root ourselves, we look up to the sky, and one day we all exhale with both feet on the ground, forever planted. 

But when we seek to live and indulge ourselves in nature, we no longer stand alone, and that is a very beautiful thing. Beauty in a way we may never fully understand, for the vastness of it goes beyond just ourselves. 

It's raw at every level. 

And it lets us know we can become a part of something bigger, with no judgements, just simplicity at it's purest and most beautiful form. 

This series demonstrates that coming together through Double Exposure of Human and Nature. 

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All Double Exposure images were done IN camera, no editing or photoshop work has been done to achieve these looks. 

(This print above available for purchase in my Fine Art Store!)

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Meet Raquelle. 

My main purpose of the shoot was to get beautiful Double Exposure images that told the story of Human Exposure and Nature. But once I saw how gorgeous she was all on her own, I knew we had to at least get a few shots showing that. Nothing distracting, not even professional hair and makeup, or a specific wardrobe. Just her and the camera. Natural Beauty.

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I can never help myself from going outside though. And as of late, I really know where my heart belongs when it comes to who I am when I create, and Nature plays a very large part in that. I don't know what I would do if clients confined me to a studio for the rest of my days. 
Who wants to miss out on natural, literally, all the way around, natural beauty like this? 

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Want to see some more cool stuff?

Check out this other Double Exposure Piece we did WITH the help of photoshop
And feel free to hop on over to Pinterest to check out all of our recent sessions, outdoors AND in studio!