Portraits of Influencer Kate Knight
Many people refer to influencer, Kate Knight as a mermaid. She’s ALWAYS in the water. Whether the beach or a pool or some body of water, she loves posting images displaying her love for the water. Kate and I discussed doing a shoot that shared the same theme but something more artistic, something anti-swimwear with a “mood” that could be translated to an effortless and whimsical photo shoot.
I called on a colleague and amazing fashion designer Ria Georgina, commissioning her to create a dress for our “mermaid” to wear. Once I explained the vision to Ria, she sent samples of fabric and colors and this glittery, semi cheer golden fabric that was perfect…so much, it was almost like she had read my mind!
One of the things I am a perfectionist with as a photographer is where I shoot. 80% of the time, the client has no idea where to shoot but once Kate explained to me what she wanted to do, I knew the cliffs at Clifton Pier would make for the perfect backdrop. We also chose dusk as the time to capture the shots as well. There was something about the mood of the light around that time that I knew would add to the overall aesthetic.
Kate brought her A-game, moving effortlessly from frame to frame. Our MUA, Y.Aysia placed a palette of bronze and natural colors on the models face that seemed to be barely there. We weren't going for high fashion but a more natural look and she achieved this look perfectly. This combined with the location, wardrobe, and lighting all worked out to be a wonderful shoot.
Please enjoy the images below.
Styling + Photography: Scharad Lightbourne
Dress: Ria Georgina
MUA: Y.Asia MUA
Grips: Stephen McKinney Jr
Carolyn Carter for Ale by Alessandra
I got an email from Carolyn late one evening introducing herself saying that she was in The Bahamas and wanted to shoot lifestyle swimwear images for her blog. She told me that she connected with Alessandra Ambrosio, former Vicky Secret model who was now going into her own line of swimwear and that she had a few of the pieces to shoot with. I always jump at opportunities like these because it allows me to work with foreigners and ultimately grow my network.
Carolyn and I met a few days after to discuss a concept for the shoot and to look at the pieces that we would use to style her in. She was very easy going and assured me she could do her own hair and makeup, meaning that I would be working with a smaller team. Of course I didn't mind this as it would cut down on prep time and allow me to focus on shooting. We planned for a sunrise shoot, scouted our locations at Albany Bahamas and even secured a few four-legged models for the set.
My team and I woke up around 4am that morning to make sure we would be punctual on set. We arrived only to be greeted with a spread of deli meats, fruits, pastries and beverages which would surely provide us with fuel for the shoot...which of course we did not turn down!
The shoot ran great, particularly, the lighting. I love using natural light where I can and the lighting was almost perfect all day. I was able to diffuse the bright sun, bounce the light, which lit my model beautifully. Additionally, using my NIKKOR 85mm f1.4 lens created great flares and bokeh frames and awesome depth of field compositions.
See images from the shoot below.
Eve
I was nervous about this concept…at first. I wondered if I would go too far in getting a message across and if people wouldn’t relate or grasp what I was trying to say as a photographer. As a child I’d always seen the portrayal of “Eve” as a beautiful Caucasian woman so my imagination got the best of me and I decided to go against all the imagery I had previously seen in any biblical illustration.
I wanted to stay clean, within my style, conceptualizing elements that would add to my overall canvas. If Eve were a black woman, what would she look like? Would she be tall, short, skinny or fat? Would her hair be natural, straight, up or down? How would I show her creation, her temptation, her becoming more aware of herself and body?
To do this I put together a group of talented and visionary people in the industry that I felt would carry this concept like it was their own. Creative director, David Rolle pieced the looks together for Eve, orchestrating hair and makeup to follow.MUA, Mandisa Kerr worked her magic brush craftily added the right accents and contours to our models face. Hair stylist, Jameelah Thompson along with her assistant Lovena Magloire created amazing crowns of hair to place on our model that fit the theme.
As expected finding a model to play the role of Eve had its challenges. Because of the reptilian element, many models were skeptical about the representation or meaning behind a very recognizable prop. Selvinique Wright however was down the second I was finished explaining the concept to her. She was in and that was all. On set she moved her body and shaped her poses into works of soft and sultry sentences allowing David to form her into the character “Eve.”
