Scharad Lightbourne 3/2/21 Scharad Lightbourne 3/2/21

PORTRAITS with the Nikon Z6 II ft model/actress Chrystal Bethell

Now I’m usually one who stays up on new gear and technology, and when I heard that Nikon was releasing the Z6 II, I was eager and excited to purchase it. Still, for some reason, life got in the way, and I haven’t had the opportunity to buy the upgrade to my Nikon Z6, which I primarily use to photograph 99% of my work.

A colleague of mine and fellow photographer friend Warren Grant, who I’ve also known to be an advocate for Nikon, sent me a text one day announcing, “Hey! I got the Z6 II; when are you getting yours?”

My face, which if it was an emoji, would have looked like this 😑. I reluctantly told him that I had not ordered mine yet and at some point shortly, I would prob upgrade. But Warren is a dope friend. After hearing the disappointment in my voice, he said that he would loan me his Z6 II, and I could test it out firsthand. Backflips and Spartan chants from the movie “300” followed suit.

So what is the point of my story? I will connect the dots right now. Chrystal Bethell is an accomplished model and actress living in NYC, and we’ve known each other since high school (a long time!) She had let me know that she was in Nassau and she wanted to book a photo shoot. So I got the team together, we chose a mood for the shoot, designed the aesthetic and confirmed our location.

On the day of the shoot, I used several lenses with the Z6 II, my 85mm, 70-200m and 35mm all helped me compose a variety of frames to help me tell a story with the photos. I kept the lighting simple, adapting one light with a soft modifier to compliment the natural light. I loved the way the finished images looked. The camera, which was the whole point of this story performed amazingly, it was super fast, focusing was a breeze and I was very impressed with the overall responsiveness of the Z6 ii.

Stay creative!

Chrystal Bethell 📸 by Scharad Lightbourne⁠

Makeup by @Gail Clarke

Styling: @hannahnsimone⠀⁠⠀⁠

Grip: @tpetithomme⁠ BTS: @Keith Bryan

Clothing: @signaturestylesbahamas

Video: @Jiggy Productions

Location: @Utopia Gardens

Scharad Lightbourne 8/9/18 Scharad Lightbourne 8/9/18

Bahari Season 14 Swimwear Campaign

In 2014, I got an email from a new clothing brand based out of a small kiosk in Circle Mall Freeport. As with all my first-time clients, I was excited and intrigued by how this company would make a mark, or if they even would, in a then void-market for ready-to-wear Bahamian clothing. Four years, 11 Campaign Shoots, 14 Collections and 3 Stores Later; Bahari is now the country's Premiere Clothing brand. Needless to say, the pressure was on for The Season 14 Swimwear Campaign.

Anytime I shoot for Bahari, it's always a large production with many different moving parts. A production that requires a few weeks of planning and production. A location has to be found, models sourced and a style team put together. These photoshoots last 8-12 hours easily and require dedication, creativity and the will to push through until the very last shot is taken. Mentally and physically, its taxing on my team and I but the results are great.

The models were a strong lineup, diverse in size and skin tones and we were excited after seeing the sample suits that mixed with an incredibly scenic background, the shoot would be nothing short of amazing. The team was stacked, the pieces had arrived and the models were excited, certainly for a call time of 8 am, which was not so bad compared to photoshoots I'd done before with much earlier call times. The weather was proving to be perfect and the style team got to work putting the girls' faces and hair together while styling fitted the girls and accessorized them.

We shot non-stop, on a marathon of locations and spaces, poses and sessions with both still and film cameras. The team literally felt like they were on fire. We were moving constantly, changing our looks, models, suits, scenes, etc...We even made a joke because it rained twice that day and we felt it was God's way of cooling us down before we overheated.

At the end of a long day, we were exhausted but happy and feeling satisfied that this would be the best Bahari shoot to date. Please enjoy the images and the official promo video below.