I started shooting film and learning how to develop and print my own images. I wanted to learn how to use every single camera type and figure out what works best for me.
I moved to San Francisco with my husband in 2004 and took a few courses in photography and really solidified my passion for taking pictures. I spent a long time photographing all sorts of subjects and decided that I really loved photographing people most.
Once I knew that, I took as many images as I could of people. I practiced lighting to ensure that I would be able to communicate to the viewer all the subtleties and textures that I had seen created back on the film sets I was working on. I photographed beauty, high fashion, lifestyle, and really started to develop a style of my own. Through this process I also learned that I wanted to shoot editorially. To me, that means, always having a flow and a story to the images. I don't just shoot one picture, but I shoot several images and create a mood and story from all of them together.
When planning a shoot I try and visualize the final image. I research what clothing I want the model to wear, I do location scouts, several times if necessary, I look at tons of magazine images for hair and make up and posing suggestions for the model, and then when it's the shoot day I try and make it all happen the way we discussed, then throw it all out the window and try for something else in there too.
I always shoot with a full team. I have a stylist, and a hair and make up artist with me always. Most of the time I have a big say in what the clothing will be. I feel that the stylist is an integral part of the photo shoot. The model has to be wearing just the right clothing or the image isn't good. I'll spend a good two weeks getting clothing together, and have a date in mind for the photoshoot, and once the clothing has been set, I'll then contact the modelling agency for a model. I have to feel totally secure in the clothing for me to even bother the agency with a request for a model.
Shirt, Banana Republic. Pants,Gap. Shoes, Boutique 9