9.16.2008

green screens, houses on stilts, and tea!

Hey Everyone!
It’s time for another recap on what I have been up to in the past few weeks…

as some of you know, I have been working with the super rad clothing company, think the higher end American Apparel), LNA. I recently shot their Holiday 08 look book (a catalog for buyers where they can look at the designers entire collection for that season). Usually look books are very straightforward, shot on a white or grey background, but we decided to try something a little more artistic.

I came up with a concept for a green screen shoot, where we would shoot the model separately from the background on a green screen, and composite the two in post production. Here is what the images looked like on the green screen…



It was my very first attempt at a green screen shoot, and it was an enormous amount of work, especially with Thania being a blonde, curly-haired model. I used no shortcut Photoshop plug-ins, which in hind sight, was seriously annoying. I loved this project though, because it really challenged me both as a photographer and a retoucher. I learned a lot, and was actually really inspired by the end of it. The project had morphed from the original idea, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. Let me know what you think.



I will put up a link when the lookbook is up on the LNA site!


After finishing the LNA project, I was absolutely dying to shoot. Mt stylist roommate, Sarah Hawkins and I decided to brainstorm another project. We decided to shoot with Aria, a Brand Model, and a girlfriend of mine. The concept was something like, well, you decide what you would call it…here are a few








How incredible is that location?! I’m not telling where it is…it’s too good. ☺ sorry!
Here is a little video of the team on location…





After that shoot, I was off to England for a little holiday with my boyfriend for 10 days. We will be in his tiny home town of Haslington, which is nearest to Manchester, but still about a half hour away. Haslington is a teeny village on the countryside, it is so beautiful, and a nice change from LA. We also went to Liverpool, where Nikki actually lives, and spent some time in Manchester too. England is so awesome, and so different...and i am now obsessed with tea-no joke. Here are some images from the trip…





















So here I am, back in the states, and ready to work! Collabo, anyone?

7.28.2008

a recap of the past few months

so i have ben m.i.a.
yeah, yeah, yeah.
what that means is...super busy!

i'm back though, and i really will do better at keeping up with posts. so since january, i have...

had a victoria's secret cover swim 2008!

maria carmel

maria carmel

put the biggest check of my life thus far in the bank...



bought my first camera...
Canon Mark 3 1Ds!!!!!!!



maria carmel

maria carmel


thank you scott!!!!!


worked with amazing models all over the country...

maria carmel
thania

maria carmel
chris crocker

maria carmel
danielle

maria carmel
the delta fiasco

maria carmel
shooting in houston

maria carmel
shooting chris crocker on hollywood blvd with a crowd...

maria carmel
LnA Holiday 08 look book shoot

maria carmel
some of my gear...


i fell in love




i went to colombia

>










and made some really great work!

maria carmel
the delta fiasco

maria carmel
chris crocker

maria carmel
ashley hartman for nous

maria carmel

maria carmel
holly graves

maria carmel maxim
talor marion for maxim

maria carmel

maria carmel
paige

maria carmel

maria carmel
thania peck for wilhelmina

well that was a mouthful....
hope you all enjoy, and let me know what you think!

xx

1.14.2008

big bear

hey everyone!
so, this weekend, i was in big bear, ca for a little r&r and a shoot with model Ashley Hartman, who also happens to be my little sis! you may recognize her from this:



anyway, we had a blast! here are some snaps from the weekend. you may recognize someone else in these pictures too...










here are a couple of snaps from the shoot:

maria carmel

maria carmel

maria carmel

and a preview of the final images:

maria carmel

the weekend was so much fun, and the shoot went great. hope everyone had a great weekend!

on another note, i heard that the VS catalog might have come out while i was gone...has anyone seen it? let me know!