A FASHION SHOOT: HOUSE OF RAPHELITA SS21 by David Rolle
HOUSE OF RAPHELITA SS21
David Rolle, creative director of House of Raphelita, wrote me one day asking if I'd be interested in shooting his new collection, to which I adamantly told him, "Yes!" David and I worked together for some time now, and I actually pushed him to finish his new collection. We met sometime back in 2020, but that year doesn't count, so David told me he would be ready in the first quarter of 2021 with his new collection.
"You think I should get the 66 Steps for the shoot?"
That's what David texted me one day about a possible location, and I replied,
"Why are you even asking me? That location would be epic!"
The 66 Steps or Queens Staircase, as its historically titled, is actually 65 steps that are carved out of solid limestone in the downtown Nassau area. The steps were carved out by some 600 slaves as an escape route from Fort Fincastle, which sits above, back in the 1700s.
So after that history lesson and seeing some of David's pieces, this was going to be the most PERFECT place to photography the new HOR collection. Topped with David telling me he wanted to use signature models in the country and incorporate straw, the goosebumps on my arms became more visible as the concept developed.
On location, David pulled out all the stops, completely reserving the site for his team, the models and my team, complete with catering and preferred parking! We had a makeup background built just for aesthetics, and I chose to go with a 1 light setup for the shoot. Working with 6 professional models had its benefits as well. The girls shifted, posed and walked into these marvellous compositions. The pieces fit each model as if they were made just for her frame and combined with very Avant grade makeup and hairstyles; the photoshoot's designer, David, took on the form of a master composer.
Thank you so much for sticking to the end of my story. You will find images and a BTS video below. Enjoy!
House of Raphelita SS21 GALLERY
SHOOT HIGHLIGHTS (BTS) House of Raphelita SS21
Design House: @raphelita_
Photography: @scharadlphoto
Video: @truevisionFSC
Production assistant: @alyssaholiic
Hair: @metamorphosis_bs
MUA: @kabukipaint
Accessories: @harltaylorbag
Shoes: @shoeluxxe242
Models
Jessica Frances-Thompson
Kejuana Beneby
Shauntae Miller
Tara Miller
Selvanique Wright
Milan Georges
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
Neil Dames for Gustavus Augusta, photographed by Scharad Lightbourne
Neil Dames in Gustavus Augusta
Grand Bahama native, Gustavus Cox, the creative director of Gustavus Augusta and I sat down in September of 2020 to plan and produce this shoot. One of the first challenges we had was finding the right male model to fit the looks. We had cast about 3 guys prior to. I didn't think about Neil Dames until later in the creative process so when I showed Gus Neil’s social media profiles, he exclaimed, “we need him, he’s perfect for this!”
I wasn't sure that Neil would even agree to do the shoot. He’d retired from modelling for some time now, but I thought he could pull this off. I reached out to him on Facebook and told him what I wanted to do, and Neil immediately said yes...reluctantly. Neil said jokingly, "Now, I'm not as young and fit as I use to be Scharad, so you will have A LOT of work to do!"
He was in love with the idea that we could collaborate together for a local brand and of course, he'd get to wear custom suits!
We did an initial tape up where Gus got to sit down and chat with Neil. After taping him up, Gus assured me that he would have samples ready in two weeks. However, he clarified for me that the first fitting session would probably call for adjustments. Surprisingly, when we met again for fitting, the suits fit Neil perfectly! Both jackets and pants from each look fit him as if they were sewn directly onto his body. Perfection!
On the day of the shoot, everyone was excited to work. Neil followed direction very well and moved very quickly and kept reminiscing on his former days as a model. We even laughed about his grey hair and tattooed covered body, which worked well with the shoot's overall aesthetic. Neil was still in good shape and his genes had kept his frame, lanky and slim.
I kept the lighting dramatic and the background simple and focused on getting great shots with Neil that showed these amazing handmade suits.
Have a look at the work below, leave a comment or two. I’d love to hear from you.
Model: Neil Dames // Stylist + Designer: Gustavus Augusta // Accessories: The Pico Brand
Naomi Campbell Inspired Fashion Shoot
Georgie and I worked together a lot in 2020 and coming up on the last shoot of the year, she wanted to do something exciting and epic. We searched the internet for days trying to find inspiration when she came across a photo that supermodel Naomi Campbell had posted. The image itself was very controversial because of what she spoke about. She received many negative comments due to the subject matter, but I loved the dress for me. Georgie loved the dress, and she told me she wanted to have it made and do a shoot somewhere in the now-infamous "dress."
Naomi Campbell photographed by Ethan James Green
So firstly, I am NOT a morning person but I told Georgie because of the nature of the dress, morning light would be incredible. We set call time for 6 am and my team and I drove to the location waiting on the arrival of our model.
Georgie showed up a few mins later and we all walked over to a beach where there was an amazing rock structure that I would put the model against. It would be the perfect backdrop to juxtapose her against.
I used a one-light setup, probing my Godox AD600 pro with a Glow beauty dish on a light stand to illuminate the model. I could have easily used natural light but I wanted more contrasting and “punchy” lighting.
Georgie hit pose after pose with the waves crashing behind her. She climbed the rocks, lay on the rocks and shed any fear she had of heights to get great shots again, and again, and again!
Check out this behind the scenes photo of our location and what it looked like shooting this upcoming talent. Please view the gallery below and enjoy. Drop a few comments or questions in the section following this article.
Be creative!
Romantic Lake Engagement Session - Ceron and Tyrina
Our first attempt at this romantic lake themed engagement session was a huge fail!
Yes…I am serious. Tyrina, Ceron and I had a consultation about a month back to discuss photographing them around the story of engagement. From our initial talk, everyone was over-hyped about the idea. Actually, it was Tyrina who brought the idea to me.
Here I am thinking, “hmmm, a lake, a boat, flowers, at sunset? This is perfection!”
So we began the creative process. We spoke about the time of day, the boat itself, the type of flowers. Everyone is amped up, especially me and I literally counted down the days until we were able to shoot.
On the day of the photo shoot, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The lake was glassy smooth, not a cloud in the sky and the team was all prepped and ready. The forces that be had other plans, though. When we arrived on set, our boat had challenges getting into the lake due to its design and the depth of the water. Everything seemed to be going wrong, including our boat captain leaving his cell phone ashore, so we had no way to contact him. In summary, the boat was piloted to the wrong end of the lake, the sunset earlier than we thought and the energy of the location, the team and our clients were swallowed up like a good plate of guava duff. Not to mention the swarm of sandflies who had us for dinner!
We were defeated. The shoot was a dud, and we had no authentic images to be proud of.
Something, however, hit me. While we packed up, I walked over to the couple, and I said to them we should reshoot at no cost. The concept was terrific, and as a creative, I didn’t want to give up on it. Tyrina, who was clearly disappointed and upset about the entire ordeal wasn’t sure at that moment, but I told her to think about it and let me know her final decision. Thankfully, after a few hours, she called me to say, “let’s do it.”
Fast forward to a day before the rescheduled shoot, Tyrina called me in excitement, “Scharad!” she says “ ’ve found the perfect lake and the perfect boat!”
After which, she sent me photos and videos via WhatsApp, and I replied with a few exclamations and expletives (well not really), but I did a few backflips in my head after seeing the visuals she sent to me. Utopia Gardens was going to be the PERFECT location!
So we tried again…
My team and I arrived at the location realizing that it’s even more stunning in person. My adrenaline started rushing and the team set up while Kandice Hanna, a super creative floral artist dressed up our tin rowboat. The clients were ready and eager to begin shooting as we worked quickly to set the scene.
I kept things simple using 1 light and a large modifier. The lake was murky and the bottom was muddy and difficult to walk in but we ignored it all, stepping on slippery stones, tying a rope to the boat so it didn’t float away, along with other dangerous elements. We did so much to capture this beautiful couple in this new setting and it worked! The light was perfect, the scene was perfect, my team were amazing at helping me get the shots I wanted and a whole other set of support staff. Here’s what my clients had to say,
“We had a specific vision for our engagement session and Scharad’s energy from our initial consultation added to our excitement. Prior to the shoot, Scharad sent a detailed mood board with the specific shots we would capture. His attention to detail, positive energy and skill make working with him an absolute pleasure. He went above and beyond to execute the vision and totally exceeded our expectations.”
At the end of the shoot, everyone clapped because we knew what we went through to get to this point. My clients were overjoyed. My team and I felt accomplished and we got all the shots we wanted to capture.
SEE THE GALLERY
Client: Tyrina Neely + Ceron Rolle
MUA: Raven Simone
Grip: Tameka Petit-Homme
Grip: Kenton Ferguson
Floral Art: Kandice Hanna-Cargill Creative
Location: Utopia Nursery + Gardens
Rapper/Singer Chase Fernander kills in ROYALTY: A Maternity Editorial
I wanted to work on something that I'd grown to love in my work. Maternity has been a growing part of my portrait work, and I felt the need to shoot a series that would tie in all the things that are apart of my overall style as a photographer. Lisa Sands, MUA and I have wanted to work together for a while, and when I pitched the idea to her, she loved it. It's just that we needed to put together a team to thoroughly execute the production, oh and we needed a muse!
Several weeks later, during lockdowns and quarantines, we finalized our team and after multiple screenings, decided to approach Chase Fernander, a larger than life rapper/singer here on the island of New Providence. We just needed the ok to meet in person to start work on, ROYALTY.
Our first two looks were edgy, bold and to me, very sharp. Shan, our stylist, really flexed her talent on them so when it came down to look three, I knew I wanted something comfortable, painterly and feminine. In fact, this look was nearly scratched because initially, the team felt it wasn't complete.
The overcoat was mine that conveniently hung in the studio, I usually keep a few pieces for when I shoot male clients. We knew we wanted to use it for the series. So literally minutes to call time I asked Chase in our WhatsApp team group if she'd bring jeans from home. She regrettably had none that fit. I don't know why I asked her to, but I realized that pairing jeans with the coat would be the look I wanted. Shan jumped in and said that she'd turn around, go back home and grab the "perfect pair!" ⠀
This entire shoot was a collaboration between very talented creatives and the planning and time that went into producing the shoot was a massive factor in the success of these images.
ROYALTY ft Chase Fernander
Image: @scharadlphoto⠀
Styling: @_thestylegroup⠀
MUA: @lisa_sands_beauty⠀⠀
Hair: @metamorphosis_bs⠀
Dress: @javiebethell
Props: @jlavishaccents⠀⠀
Film: @truevisionfsc⠀⠀
PA: @amaris_touch @kcbferguson⠀
