Eliesa Johnson Photography

This is the perfect time of the year to test. It’s the calm before the storm and an opportunity to add to your portfolio! Amber Brenke, who is one of my favorite hair and makeup artists in the city, helped me brainstorm the idea to do some simple, beautiful portraits of models. The whole concept was to document these ladies in a way that was true to themselves. We didn’t want them to feel like they were modeling or playing a part, we simply wanted them to be themselves. Our inspiration was an Adele portrait that was just simple and stunning. A big thank you to all of our ladies from Ignite Models Inc. who took the time to come on into our little studio and be our subjects! Tasia, Jo, Cana and Molly were so lovely. Another big thank you goes out to Corey DeGuia, who has been testing himself and exploring video. I love the little behind-the-scene bit he put together for us!

The images have been released for the shoot I did for Target RED Magazine, which is Target’s internal editorial. This issue featured real-life Target team members showing off Jason Wu’s super-popular line! I was incredible grateful to be a part of this shoot, which was my first time collaborating with the people over at Little & Co. and Viet Do, who is a great designer and freelance art director. As always, a project like this doesn’t come together without a small army of people, so I would love to give credit to our entire team:

CREATIVE TEAM//

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Producer: Conor Lawrence

Design, Processing & Layout: Little & Co.

First Assistant: Bryce Bordenkecher

Second Assistant: Sara Montour

Digital Tech: Liz Hardt

Laydown Photographer: Larry Callahan

Laydown Digital Tech: Josh Syx

Laydown Stylist: Lynn Ostrowski

Stylist: Erick DeLeon

Hair & Makeup: Amber Brenke

Remember back in the film-days, when you shot off a roll and didn’t know at all how things would really turn out? Some of the best images came from those perfect mistakes, and it made you fall in love with photography. There was a mystery, a giant un-known that was challenging us. With digital, we have instant gratification…and many times that translates into judging out photographs far too quickly. Of course, there are major perks that digital photography has brought to us as well, but I miss the mystery. Last week, I tried to bring some of that back. I hadn’t really picked up my camera in a couple of weeks and I was itching to shoot. Lucky for me, our fabulous hair and makeup artist, Amber Brenke, was feeling that same itch. We simply wanted to create.

Sometimes a test shoot should not be over-thought, over planned or over styled. We literally picked a date, called up my intern, Marcie, and raided her closet for clothes. Then I called my friend Sara and borrowed her apartment for a couple of hours. We didn’t have a plan or any direction when we showed up. We literally just sat and dreamed up some looks and some ideas. Our concept ended up being a little commercial, a little happy and very colorful. Personally, I approached the shoot as if I were taking Marcie’s portrait for an editorial or campaign. After all, this is a real girl, her real clothes and real attitude. This is Marcie thru and thru. I’m really happy with these images and a few of them might just make it in my book! Here’s to collaboration and the element of the unknown.

I wanted to share with you a little project we have been working on over here at the studio! I have a pretty solid shelf of images from my personal work, and for some reason all they were doing was sitting on my hard drives! So, with the help of our crew, we put together an official store on Society 6!

If you haven’t heard about Society 6 yet, I highly recommend checking out their website! Basically, it is a fantastic resource for photographers, designers and artists to get their work in front of the public for purchase. From Society 6, you can browse around and see a whole bunch of work from some amazing artists. You can then purchase products of our work from their site!

In my store, you will be able to purchase prints, canvas, laptop skins, iphone cases and the occasional t-shirt :0) Make sure to check out the store to see if there is anything you love!

I will be updating the store on a regular basis with fresh work as well!

The latest issue of CECI Style has just hit the world and we are super excited, once again, to be a part of this project! We photographed 4 covers for upcoming issues of Ceci’s online editorial, so stay tuned for more fun images! Make sure to check out the entire Winter Reverie feature on Ceci’s site HERE! As always, a BIG thanks to my amazing team who help me make all of this happen! Ceci’s shoots always take place in New York, and it is simply SO much fun to bring this crew together…magic always happens!

CREDITS//

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Hair: Danielle Nelson

Makeup: Jaclyn Accetta

Jewelry: Tejani Jewelry

Assistant: Allan Zepeda