So every other month or so I do a fashion type photo-shoot at Echelon Edge in Sandy, UT. And April was the most recent in what I hope becomes a long series of shoots. Rachel, James, Sara and all my other cohorts there are great to work with and come up with great ideas for themes and feedback on my work. In April our theme was “Candyland.” Not necessarily to recreate characters from the boardgame, but to be inspired by it. The girls were given the directive to use candy in their creations. Hair, make-up, wardrobe were all to be designed with, or made to resemble candy. It was up to every girl to formulate their individual interpretation.

My photo-partner Paul Malan saved assissted me by bringing his studio strobes, background, and know-how. We wanted to test out a background look made accessible to the masses by Zach Arias. It involves a blown-out white background and a reflective floor surface. I think we pulled it off.

Roughly 3-4 weeks before the shoot I visit the the students and introduce the theme and get them excited about the shoot. I feed them some ideas, get the creativity goin’ and PLEAD with them to get REAL models! And although I admit that modeling is not the same grade of effort as paving a highway or working the lunch rush at In n’ Out, it does take the right stuff. Great models are comfortable in front of a camera, aware of how to move and pose their bodies naturally, can make uncomfortable poses look comfortable, know how to make specific expressions look natural and subtle, and know which sides and angles work best for them.

The advice to find a good model is slowly sinking in. The models get better each time and I think we got some great stuff! Here is a sample of some of the looks that came back!