Photo Shoot of Divas!

Hi Ladies! I dropped off the blogging scene for the last week just due to a long holiday weekend, and Valentine's Day. Also, this Monday past, Leonna (Creative Director of aSASSYries) and myself completed a photo shoot for the cover of http://www.salonsunlimitedmagazine.com/ . This is a publication based in Atlanta, Georgia that is distributed to over 145,000 readers per month. We have begun building our portfolio of make up artistry. We have been doing make up artistry on a private client basis solely for our Image Consulting clients for a few months, and now we are ready to put it all out there to really begin growing the make-up artistry part of our business.

I am currently waiting for the copyright release, as well as, the retouched pictures from our photographer, http://www.horacephotography.com/ based here in Columbus, Georgia. As soon as I get those from him, I will definitely post pictures.

I wanted to offer you ladies and guys a few tips for making sure your shoot goes smoothly:

1. I know sometimes it is tempting to want to use friends or family members as models, but, you have to have an eye for how a face can photograph from many different angles. So, your sister or, best friend may not necessarily be the best model for the look you are trying to accomplish.

2. In our case, we were calling the shots on the set of this shoot. So, definitely be adamant, while remaining courteous to the hairstylists and photographers about your vision for the shoot. They aren't mind readers; if you don't communicate it to them, they won't know.

3. If you are fortunate enough to be conducting a shoot where you have had a chance to assess the models' features and undertones beforehand, I would recommend planning your look by either writing it down, or coloring in face charts. That way, you aren't looking through your entire kit for shadows, glosses, or whatever. You could even go so far as to place everything you need for your look in a zip loc baggie. It keeps me organized. Leonna will disagree with me; she prefers to "freestyle" her look on the model as if it were the first time she has seen her. No matter how you bring your vision to fruition, make sure it reflects the overall theme of the shoot and make sure it meshes well with the hair and the set the photographer has.

4. Make sure your models are comfortable. It seems like they are just sitting there being pampered, but, it really is exhausting to be shuffled from hair to makeup and then to a photographer asking you to pose continuously until he or she captures that "money shot." Carry extra water and cereal bars, or something similar, with you just in case your models don't have anything to snack on. Our shoot started at 9:00 and ended at about 3:00 pm.

5. Have a damn good time!! When I tell you I loved every minute of that shoot....!!! It was exhausting for us as well, but, we felt accomplished, proud, and powerful after that shoot was over and we were looking at the images. This is something I very rarely feel after my 9 to 5.

The freedom of creativity you have as a make-up artist will send you into a whirlwind of ideas and visions that will keep you up at night. You know you are a true make-up artist when......

You can look at the supermarket clerk and imagine her with a smokey eye, nude lip, and contoured cheeks and think how gorgeous she REALLY is when everyone else just sees a supermarket clerk.

Stay tuned for more diva talk!