Signature Styles Holiday ’19: “Lady in Red” Collection
Words by Sherron Young
The product of two authorities stemming from two completely different industries, fuse for an electrifying reveal.
Scharad Lightbourne, renowned Bahamian Photographer has established quite the name for himself, introducing photography in lighting that forces all eyes.
As a pioneer in his industry, Scharad re-invests heavily into budding photographers, mentoring them all while capturing stunning polaroids of some of the largest names in the Region.
While immersed in his work which dictates a rather overwhelming schedule, it leaves very little time for projects of the heart. He says being the creative that he is first, sometimes leaves him famished for a creative project, one that he can call his own and that is born from a pure passion in photography.
This collection was precisely that, a birthing of a veteran photographer's soul; bringing it to life, however, would call for a clothing line that was expansive in its collection yet exquisite, bearing fierce variables and a team whose fashion sense purely distracts.
Mitzi Turnquest, fashion connoisseur and founder of Bahamian Fashion Empire; Signature Styles, partnered with the noble photographer for the capturing of her brand's 4 tiered holiday collection which features bold reds among other holiday looks. As her brand moves to onboard an international line, Turnquest thought it the perfect timing for a peak in the brands look and feel in the changing of the company's entire branding scheme, logo, inter-store cosmetics among other upgrades. This photo-shoot would serve as just another feature to the brands full overhaul and seal her efforts placing Signature Styles in due position as the leading ladies’ fashion brand.
She along with her team collaborated with Lightbourne on a set that looked like we were in Miami South Beach, bearing floor to ceiling glass walls and a memorizing view of the Nassau Harbour. The ambiance alone was a sight to behold, amplified by model and social influencer; Denise Francis.
This campaign showcases the profound power of collaboration but more importantly raises the bar in editorial fashion locally. The collection definitely opens your senses for a better product in 2020 as they have certainly outdone themselves this year. All looks are available within the Marathon Rd location commencing 10:00 am December 3rd with a sip and shop experience. All are welcomed.
Photographer: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: Y. Aysia
Model/Hair Stylist: Denise Francis
Styling: Mitzie Turnquest
Styling Assistant: Cordero Toussaint
Grip: Tariq Cartwright / Stephen McKinney
Tony & Geena: An Engagement Session
I was just as elated as the rest of you when I happened to scroll social media and saw a video Geena had posted where Tony planned a surprise engagement for her. Tony and I worked together several times and I the same with Geena as she modeled for a few of the brands that I have worked with. I was excited for these two. So much that I called a meeting with them both and talked about gifting them with an engagement session.
In our meeting, I laid out my points for what I wanted to capture. I told them exactly what I felt based on their personalities. With Tony being the quiet, shy and subdued individual while Geena being the social, outspoken and expressive member of the bunch, I had the notion to shoot two looks. One of them being a more chill, homely and casual look, fitting Tony’s speed while the other being more fashion-based which would fit Geena’s personality perfectly. In the meeting, the couple laughed over and over as I hit all my points like a hammer to a nail.
I told Tony that he’d have to dress up because if you know Mr. Williams, a pair of dark shorts, a t-shirt and some tennis shoes are his life. This only made Geena excited because she expressed getting her now fiance´ to dress up was always a challenge. Tony agreed and the planning began.
With the help of Realtor Phillipa Newton of C.A. Christie, we found the perfect home to which would serve as the backdrop for their e-session. TONS of natural light flowed through the home and using my mirrorless Z6, I was able to focus more on creating my shots allowing me more time to manipulate, highlight and create a mood to the photos that simply worked. I used a reflector to help me fill in the dark areas, high ISO to let in tons of light and as I directed the two I felt like it was easy because I’d known and worked with them for some time so it was familiar to both parties.
I hope you enjoy the images.
Clients: Tony Williams + Geena Thompson
Photographed + Styled by: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: Alexandria Miller
Grips: Dayna Pratt
Set Asst: Caneasha Carrol
Shooting a Naturalista ft Rache Josey
Most times, when shooting a client, they often start by saying, "Now I’m not a model, inferring that they have no idea what to do or that they won’t appear as beautiful. I believe that as a photographer, its ones job to make every client look and feel good. It's an art to pull something from the average person and make them appear in a whole different light. Such was the case with Rache.
When we first met up for her consultation, the first thing I noticed was her natural hair and I asked if it was all hers to which she replied, “yes” but she seemed not to care too much for it. I was shocked considering it was so much! She took it down and I knew right away that I would focus this shoot around her hair. I had a makeup artist and hairstylist who wanted to work on someone natural not taking away from their skin or hair and Rache was perfect.
She asked about clothing and I didn't want anything too fussy, I kept things simple; a summer dress and I liked the idea of overalls. I wanted a summer theme in a garden photoshoot. My client, Caribbean Landscape graciously lent me their premises to complete the shoot. This was a great shoot, natural, effortless and free.
Enjoy the images and the cinematic BTS video below.
Model: Rache Josey
Photographed + Styled by: Scharad Lightbourne
Hair: Ryen Fox
MUA: Raven Forbes
Grips: Kenton Ferguson
Video: Sherard Campbell (iFocus Films)
WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO
(and be sure to subscribe to my page for more behind the scenes)
Enchanted Forest Maternity Session
If this beautiful woman looks familiar, you are not seeing things. Gail Clarke was recently shot by my team and I, 5 months ago to announce she and her husband Wenrick were expecting. Gail and Wen without question, just after that shoot, began to discuss the idea of shooting the actual maternity session.
I told Gail, we had to think out of the box, take the session outside of the studio and shoot her in an unexpected place. She has no issues with my ideas nor did she question my thought process. In fact, she told me to run with it. She’d bought a red dress already and she told me she’d fix her natural hair in a particular way.
We took the couple to the Primeval Forest, a protected park on the island of New Providence and I’d photographed numerous people here but never a maternity session! The couple had never seen this location before so they were immediately impressed when presented with the area. The thick foliage, natural trails and rock patterns gave us great backdrops to shoot Gail and her red dress certainly popped when putting into all that green. It was a great contrast!
Gail was a trooper. We fought through humidity, poison oak, mosquitoes, and other flying characters to get the frames we wanted. Oh, we threw Wenrick into a few shots for fun which he was completely ok with! Since I've gotten into maternity portraits, I’ve really just included the male as a prop! We did share a few laughs on set about this statement by the way.
Please enjoy the images below.
MUA: Khandise Bain.
Grip: Tameka Petithomme
Abandoned resort E-Session!
If you saw this location prior to me shooting there, I’m almost certain you would have looked at me sideways especially if I said I was going to photograph an engagement session there! This now abandoned resort appeared to be a far cry from its former glory days. The dilapidated and abandoned facilities were now hurricane damaged and now occupied by overgrown weeds, vines and trees.
Now I’d photographed Elena before and we always kept in touch and when she approached me about shooting her engagement session I was excited about doing the honour. She became more excited by convincing me that she wanted to do the shoot on a certain property, one she had sent me photos prior to. At first it did raise a few eyebrows especially after seeing these images but I embraced the challenge and I accepted.
“This shoot was incredibly special for us because of our connection to the location and our story as a couple. We have shared 8 beautiful years together and recently purchased our first home in this area 2 years ago... so we thought, what better place to shoot than in our backyard, the place we spent the most time together! ”
I wanted to show you the images Elena sent to me…
I decided that I’d want to shoot closer to sunset because the resort faced the ocean on the western side of the island where the sunsets were typically the most dramatic. More so, I hoped to get good golden hour light for lifestyle imagery. Styling wasn’t an issue either. Elena was a little bit of a hippie so she told me she wanted a “boho chic” look which I agreed with. Hank, on the other hand, would need more convincing. He’s very laid back and doesn’t like cameras or the limelight so getting him to “dress up for photos” became a running joke between Elena and I. Hank eagerly fell in line with the plan.
“Who knew Scharad could turn my man into a model in these photos!.... I was low key jealous when I saw how amazing he came out in them!”
The shoot went even better than we initially planned. Elena’s close friend and MUA Erica Bogart had flown in from Miami that same day and jumped right into makeup upon arrival. She was fast too! I brought along my Nikon D850, 2 lenses, the 85mm f1.8 and the 24-70 f2.8 and B1 light from Profoto to mix both the artificial and ambient light together and it worked out great. At first, I shot the couple in natural light but as the sun set in our blue skies, I brought out the strobe to balance the strobe light with my ambient light.
Hank and Elena’s chemistry was great. I barely gave them any direction.
Elena prior to the photoshoot told me,
“We just want to be ourselves and not overthink how we should pose or interact,” to which I happily obliged because this was particularly my preferred method of capturing these types of themes.
I can't stress enough how beautiful the light was and frame after frame my team and I salivated and got weak in the knees at how the light worked so well with us to create the photos.
Please enjoy the couple’s gallery below.
“Shooting with Scharad and his team was amazing. They were patient, creative and beyond talented.They captured our personalities with ease and caught that sunlight at such perfection that it felt surreal”
I jumped at this opportunity to work with twins!!
Clients: Santia and Anaya Dean
Photography: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: Ruth Rolle
Hair Styling: Whitney Miller
Hair Provider: Amani Hair
Grips: Catina Ferguson and Rayandra Nairn
When MUA (makeup artist) Ruth Rolle approached me about shooting natural look, I was excited because she’s a very talented and passionate MUA and she’s someone who is always excited about her work. Initially speaking, she expressed that she wanted to shoot something different, natural, with clean looks, very little distracting elements and she wanted to shoot twins! What photographer wouldn’t jump at a chance to work with twins and a professional makeup artist?
Now, the challenge would be finding twins worth photographing and I remembered that a colleague of mine, Lavado Stubbs knew twins but freakishly upon visiting his Facebook profile to find them, in the friend suggestions panel, there in my face was one of the twins! I wrote her a note and the next day she responded with a “yes, sure, we’d love to!”
Now, this is a tricky subject because I am absolutely terrified of approaching people to photograph them because I’m always afraid to hear the words “no, thanks.” and yes its happened to me before but Ruth really liked their look and so I took the risk of asking.
We had a production meeting and kept things simple. Ruth wanted to do a “dewy” look on the twins, keeping the making light and minimal. She said, “I want their skin to look flawless and moist keeping the tones smooth and even.”
We shot in studio and I used 1 LED light on a 5ft Octobox, keeping the lighting consistent to match the even skin tone of the twins. Whitney Miller, my hair stylist is really good with natural hair textures so she styled the girls and added more volume by sourcing pieces from Amani Hair. These inexperienced models were great in front of the camera lens and my team worked well.
Please enjoy the images.