Fashion

Behind the Scenes // The March Issue!

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Last week I photographed a super-cool fashion shoot for the March issue of Metro Magazine! The concept is SO much fun, I can't wait for you all to see the final product this spring!

We shot a Orbit Studios, which is an oh-so-lovely studio space! I fell in love with the giant sweep there and just HAD to use it for this shoot!

Special thanks to Louisa for taking these behind-the-scene photos from our day! If you want to see more, head on over to Fashion Editor, Mary O'Regan's blog!

As always, I couldn't have pulled off this magic if it wasn't for the help of one AMAZING crew:

Styling // Erick DeLeon of Modern Day Dapper

Makeup // Fatima Olive

Talent // Tom Sellwood, Wehmann & Orlando, Vision

Assistants // Louisa Podlich, Brandon Werth, Collin Hughes

Publication // Metro Magazine

Location // Orbit Studios

And we couldn't help but have a little fun on the side....

WINTERSEAM

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I am beyond happy with this latest test shoot! Testing is all about allowing yourself the freedom to create! I absolutely love film and wanted to go back to the basics. I wanted to create a menswear spread that was clean and authentic, without compromising quality and, of course, style! Erick DeLeon styled the shoot, and I had my heart set on using attire from BlackBlue. I absolutely LOVE this store. The vibe, the selection, the clientele - everything about it is beautiful and I just had to have them be a part of it! Lucky for me, they agreed and some pure magic happened!

This shoot was so refreshing for me, because it was truly so simple! In studio, all natural light, and since we photographed it with film, there wasn't any post production! The process was just about as inspiring to me as the final images!

CREDITS//

Photographs: Eliesa Johnson

Attire: BlackBlue

Styling: Erick DeLeon

Talent: Jason of Ignite Models

Hair/Makeup: Margo Gordon

Film Development: Richard Photo Lab

Behind The Scenes // Winter Fashion Test Shoot

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Woo Hoo!!! We just wrapped up THE most inspiring test shoot!

It was honestly, one of the simplest shoots I have ever put together. It all began when Ignite, which is an amazing agency in town, sent me over a photo of a new guy they had just signed on. This model had no experience - which is honestly some of my most favorite subjects to work with. Simply, because they have no idea what they are doing yet and they also don't have a pre-conceived-notion of what a model is 'suppose' to do. This particular model had the most amazing freckles, and I dreamed up this winter fashion spread all around his look!

Erick, once again, worked his magic on the styling and my current FAVORITE store for menswear, Black Blue lent us all of our amazing looks!!

The photographs were shot with all film cameras. We used both a 35mm camera - the Canon FT-QL and a Medium Format 500C Hasselblad (which, for the record, is like a little slice of heaven to look through that viewfinder!)

Our film was: Velvia 100F Fujichrome and Fuji Pro 400H

The best part about this shoot for me, and probably the reason it was so inspiring was just how simple it was! We didn't need to worry about downloading cards or even looking at the camera! It was just me, a window full of natural light, one model and an amazing camera! That, my friends, is what it is all about!

AdFed Award Winner!!

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Well, I have some exciting news!

For the first time ever, I entered the AdFed Awards - and I WON!!!

AdFed MN is a non-profit professional trade association serving the local advertising community including agencies, advertisers, suppliers and students. Each year, they host a big awards show, that is basically the Academy Awards of the local ad world! Advertisers, Agencies, Designers, and Photographers from all around submit work in several different categories. These categories  range from everything from Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns to Billboard ads!

I entered in two of the Photography categories this year and here is how I placed:

Photography - Self Promotion - Campaign

Title: The Modern Day Man

Award: SILVER!!!

Photography - Editorial - Campaign

Title: Fine Lines

Award: Merit

I am BEYOND thrilled that The Modern Day Man shoot took the Silver honor!! This was a test shoot for my portfolio and to be honest - I didn't expect to place at all! I was more entering this competition for the experience and exposure to just be critiqued and judged, so I am SO excited about actually winning! I also love that this was something that I dreamed up and worked with an amazing team to create - and that it is good enough to be award winning! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the awards show, so I'm don't fully understand what this winning thing means, but I do know that my work gets published in a book that is distributed among the Advertising community!

I've posted images from both shoots below - enjoy!

The Fine Lines Shoot for Metro Magazine also received a Merit award in the Editorial Campaign Category!

MOTO HIGH // Test Shoot!

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It's done! It's finally done! I am SUPER stoked about how the images from my last test shoot turned out!

The concept was somewhere in between a Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign and the Drug, Sex, and Rock-n-Roll attitude! I wanted to have this juxtaposition of a trashy environment, mixed with classy attire. I wanted it fashionable, yet gritty. Polished, yet messy. Refined, yet questionable! I was super lucky to, once again, work with an AMAZING team! A. Michele Boutique let us use their gorgeous pieces to style all of the models! Seriously, this boutique had absolutely everything we needed to pull the shoot together and I really, really appreciate local shops who are willing to collaborate with us on these test shoots! Collaboration is what this is all about!  Now, onto the sexy car...I was coming into the studio a few weeks prior to this shoot and my friend, Betty - who is an amazing jewelry designer, drove by in this beauty of a ride! I literally chased her down and was like...BETTY! I MUST USE YOUR CAR!!! It fit perfectly in the setting and was the perfect pop of color to tie in the whole shoot!

CREDIT//

Photography // Eliesa Johnson

Production // Chelsey Paul

Hair // Micah Savage

Makeup // Margo Gordon

Talent // Kristina & Elle – Ignite Models, Ewalt & Siddiqee – Vision Management

Assistants // Jonny Bennett, Louisa Podlich

Post Production // Liz Hardt

Clothing // A Michele Boutique

Car // Betty Jager

RENEGADE ROMANCE // TEST SHOOT!

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The beauty of testing is that anything can happen! While getting ready for the MOTO Shoot, which I know you are all DYING to see and will be released in the very near future, I took some images to simply warm everyone up to the camera! There is something about these images that I am totally digging, so I decided to actually use them for my portfolio!! With every series of images that I put together, I like to compile a story, in editorial form. This series is titled Renegade Romance, for, I think, a pretty obvious reason!

CREDIT//

Photography // Eliesa Johnson

Production // Chelsey Paul

Hair // Micah Savage

Makeup // Margo Gordon

Talent // Kristina & Elle - Ignite Models, Ewalt & Siddiqee - Vision Management

Assistants // Jonny Bennett, Louisa Podlich

Post Production // Liz Hardt

Clothing // A Michele Boutique

Moto Test Shoot // Behind The Scenes!

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With every shoot that we do, I try to have someone there catching the behind-the-scene moments!! Our new photographer for our sister company, Louisa, captured some sweet shots! When she showed some to me, I thought, "This is totally why I hired you..." She is so good! I thought I would share some with you and to see more, head over to Louisa's personal blog!

Moto Test Shoot // Sneak Peek!

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Yesterday's test shoot went SOOOOOO well! I've just narrowed the final image picks down and I am THRILLED with the outcome! Now begins the post-production-process, which is going to be a little complicated for us! We are really pushing the limits with this shoot, not only with the lighting and concept, but also in our editing process. My creative vision for this goes far beyond the actual shooting and I'm sooooo excited to dig into this! Obviously, I will show you all the end result, but while I was culling through everything, I came across this image that I fell in love with! The tone of our shoot was quite serious and I absolutely love this photograph, because it shows the tone of our crew and the actual set that day! There's a certain amount of acting that is necessary to make a good model, but these are genuine smiles and I'm so drawn to the energy of this photo!

Below is an image of yours truly, which I also love! Collaboration is KEY to a successful shoot and this totally captures my feelings about everything that is going on right now!

And last, but not least, our oh-so-fabulous crew shot! A SPECIAL thank you to absolutely everyone who helped out with this! I'll talk more about these people when all of the final images are released, but they deserve a little love:

Jonny - Assistant

Louisa - Assistant

Liz - Digital Tech / Post Production

Margo Gordon - Makeup

Micah Savage - Hair

Chelsey Paul - Production

Ewalt & Siddiqee - Vision Management

Elle & Kristina - Ignite Models

A Michele Boutique - The Sweet Clothes

Betty Jager - The Sweet Car

Flashlight Photo Rental - The Sweet Gear