Alannah - New Job, New Car... New Photos

I had Alannah back in the studio today. This girl never stops impressing me. With the promise of outdoor photos (swim wear, no less), she showed up, both sick, and tired.. ready to work (I call it work, but it's really a lot of fun). With no make up artist, or hair stylist to show up, Alannah took care of her own style, and did a wonderful job. I have mentioned in the last few posts about the temperature, and how darn cold it has been for the models outside.. Heather "rocked" a bikini in a snow fall.. but today, with a snow storm looming, it was bitter outside. Of course, so as not to let the camera shake, I "had to" be dressed warm, in a sweeter and winter coat (and was still cold... shh, don't tell Alannah). We went to an industrial location, and like a pro, ready for work, Alannah was hitting her poses in a bikini and heels, never once complaining about the cold (although she did mention how warm the truck was, a few times when we returned to it). Alas.. just when she thought is was safe to warm up in the truck, we headed to a second location, and Alannah dressed in a white dress, and angel wings; even in the cold, looked absolutely angelic. I swear I heard harps playing.. err, could have been teeth chattering? So as not to disappoint Alannah's parents (all the dental bills paid and such:) we snapped away as quickly as possible, and ended the outdoor adventure.
Back at the studio, and after a short time to thaw.... we had a surprise for Alannah's mom.. a wedding dress to model. After a brief session of "why 18's too young for a wedding dress", we set to taking some very beautiful bird's eye view of Alannah laying draped in rose pedals (no actually roses were hurt in the making of these photos.. pretend rose pedals). It was a soft, and peaceful pose, so much so, that I think my little super model fell asleep (I have a photo of you with your eyes closed...err, or maybe blinking.. ). So it was time for something warm and fun.. and with this young lady's knowledge of left from right, we were able to get her swinging the dress AND a piece of material, all at the same time..
The day was, as I thought it would be, a great deal of fun, that produced some very amazing photos. Great job Alannah.. with assists going to her mother, first for taking the time to bring Alannah; on her 29th birthday no less.. and also almost mastering the art of reflecting light, and tossing fake rose pedals directly into the model's eyes.. nice work both of you!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
(to see more of Alannah's photos, or any of the other models from my blog, go to www.markallanphotos.com, and follow their links).

Thanks again Alannah, you did great, and I can't wait to work with you again.

Mark Allan

ps.. during the entire shoot, I had a silly song in my head, which I thought for a time was a Disney tune, which inspired the edit of Alannah's photo you see here. The original is absolutely beautiful and had little to do with me editing the photo.. I hope you don't mine..

ABSOLUTE FUN, with a capital R.. for Rachel

Like is every photo shoot, the two main goals are to get great photos, and have more fun than you could possible imagine. Tuesday, I meet and shot Rachel, and the day, and shoot proved to be all that we could ask for. Rachel came to the studio, open minded, and prepared to work hard to get our amazing photos.. she had it look easy; going from pose to pose, and outfit, to "very little" outfit, and the entire time (with the assistance of her friend; turn photographer assistant for the day :) we have a great time.
Not allowing any time to be shy, Rachel allowed be to play with a photo idea that came to me some time in the night.. and we played with lights, colours, backdrops, and she handled it like a pro. The idea real was pretty simple.. a beautiful girl in stockings, and bright colours surrounding her.. After playing, and playing, the end product, the photo that I think worked the best, was more simple that I had planned.. Rachel in a sexy pose.. that's it! She even provided the stocking, which I jokingly said were perfect to create a beautiful Christmas Card. (maybe not for my mom:).
Rachel is a great young model, with fantastic facial expressions.. The close up of Rachel's open mouth smile, that I have posted to share, is likely one of my favourite fun head shots to date. I can't tell you enough, just how much fun we had.. and certainly not to forget to mention Kevin.. the unsuppecting assistant. (I have a rule about guests in the studio.. no one comes to watch, without expecting to be part.. helping). Kevin was our day's "towel boy".. guys you think that's bottom of the barrel job?, in this case, the towel boy was the one that took the towel from our super model, and left her in just her stockings.
As always, I truly appreciate a model that comes, open minded, and prepared to work, and I thank Rachel for being that fantastic model, that helped me create some absolutely amazing photos. I can't wait to work with Rachel again. Hope you like the photos as much as I do. Thanks, you did a great job!!

Meredith; a little bit colder...

The snow looked so pretty the other day, that I really wanted to shoot outside, at least one more time. I had already had a photo shoot arranged with Meredith, with plans to travel to TO and shoot in an abandon factory. The weather was perhaps not the greatest to travel in, so with very little convincing, Meredith and I were off to shoot in an old abandon barn that I have shot in a few times before. It was very cold. Despite the weather conditions, Meredith pulled off another amazing set of photos. We started inside the barn, in the basement, with little light, and yes, absolutely no heat. We found a spot the lit up with available light so nicely, and Meredith, dressed in over alls was able to hold a pose long enough to get the shots.
After thawing, slightly, and changing in the truck, we moved to shoot in the snow, outside, without any sort of cover. Like a pro, Meredith pulled off the amazing photos that you see here.
Afterwards, we headed back to the studio to get some work done.. food on the way, and while I edited some of the photos, Meredith, warmed, under a few blankets, and the heater.. fell asleep. Who says Art isn't exhausting? Thanks for BRAVING the cold.. you did a fantastic job.

Heather beats the weather brrr!!

This past weekend, I finally got to work with, and shoot model Heather Orr. Here's a young model that I have been chasing for nearly 4 months. She is every bit as talented, charming, and fun as I had hoped. On top of all that, Heather is a polite young professional, that enjoys every second of the work, and is able to hit a pose, do her own make up (she's a trained make up artist), and even laugh at my jokes.
Dressed in a thin full body stocking, we headed OUTSIDE, to start the shoot. It was cold, and even, at times, was snowing. My idea for the shoot, was the black body stocking, plus Heather's long body, and her ability to pose, using her entire body for each pose; and for the backdrop, a couple old churches in the local area. It was Sunday, and although Heather truly looked amazing, we both laughed at the thought of her stretching out in front of a church door, with "grandma's and grandpa's" existing the churches.. (I am pretty sure it says right at the top of every map to purgatory, pose a model in a skin tight body stocking at the doors of church on Sunday)... so we drove a short time to find a new location. The first place was at the back of an old building, with a wierd provided yellow light. Heather pulled it off.. The second spot that we found, was directly beside the river, and while shooting, Heather seeing the flowing river, and a stone drop wall, she decides it could make a wicked photo. So, in the snow, and minus temp., Heather put on a bikini, and sucked it up in the cold, for real, no editing tricks, or photoshop.. she sat on the cold wall for some wicked photos. After a quick thaw, and a hot chocolate, we were back in the studio, with a heater, and taking some gorgeous head, and fashion photos.
I had a great time, and glad that I got to meet Heather. We are planning another shoot soon, letting Heather flex her make up talent, and bringing is a second beautiful model (Heather's younger sister).. Thank you Heather, it was a fun day, and I look forward to working with you again.

AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS GIFT!!

Last night I took a little time away from shooting future super models, to shoot a SUPER MOMMY!! Sue's baby is due the eve before Christmas, and we wanted to get some maternity photos to capture one of the most beautiful times in a mother's life (of course second only to the first time a mother's son has his photos published in a magazine :). We took some pretty nice, black and white artistic photos, and because Sue's baby will be a Christmas baby, it seemed only fitting to finish off the Christmas gift, with a big Christmas bow. With this mommy's charm, grace (she using to be a ballet, and jazz dancer -- "JAZZ HANDS!!").. and beauty; her new baby --, will be a very handsome/beautiful addition to her family.
A note to her husband... I am pretty sure that you won't have to leave a list this year, Sue has already got your gift, about 8 months ago ;)
Even as a professional photographer, it's seemingly hard to convince a "mommy-to-be" to entrust these special photos to a male photographer.. so I thank you Sue for your faith, and hope that you think the photos are as beautiful as I do. You did great.
In advance, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and Congratulations on the newest member of your family!!
HA! let's see Santa pull a gift like this out of his red velvet bag :)

The "Under-Study" - Meredith, a rising STAR!

Yesterday was turning out to be, one of those days that, you just file, and forget. I had a photo shoot scheduled for noon, with one of my favourite models. For some reason, 3 o'clack, then 4, I was still waiting, wondering if; she was ok, or if I mis-informed her of the time, or if I actually knew what day it was (it was Tuesday :). At any rate, when all else fails, "edit photos"; and that's what I was doing, when I received an email from a "new" model, inquiring "if I might be interested in working with her". Well... surprise!, not only did I want to work with her.. I brought Meredith into the studio, the same day, last night, and we put together some very wicked, hott photos.. Usually in a shoot, specially with a new model, we shoot from "cute" to "sexy"... but last night Meredith jumped right into some pretty cool, artistic photos.. dressed in long satin gloves, thigh high leather boots, and a full body stocking (those photos you'll have to look for on my web site.. ).
Anyways, thanks Meredith for stepping in, and doing a fantastic job. I look forward to working with you again. At 5'5", Meredith might not be CNTM (<--shameless plug for the web site to apply for the new season of CNTM), but she has the looks, and is very talented as a model, and I am sure you'll soon be purchasing her photos off a magazine rack somewhere soon. By the way.. she's a university student studying English, so you may even see a bi-line in the same magazine.

Long Sunday, Great Hair Photos

This past Sunday was our first hair shoot. We had a plan; three models, Jenn, Stacy, and "fresh on the scene" Alannah. The day would start at 9am, with a meet at my studio, and then a caravan to the hair dresser's; touch ups, for Stacy and Jenn, and a whole, brand new look for Alannah. I think the hardest part for Alannah was saying good-bye to her long "cover the face" bangs. But like a trooper, she watched as her bangs got chopped, and became what we all thought suited her.. "fashionable, and hott".
By 10am, and girls were walking around with tin foil in their hair, and waiting to see what the finished colour would be. With hair done on the two models that came to take part in the photo shoot, we headed back to the studio, to meet up with Kristen, of Punch Zombie Effects Make Up, and Jenn, and Alannah began the task of sitting again, to have make-up applied. It was Alannah's make up that took the longest, as my idea for her photo not only ment make up on her face, but also make up on her arms, shoulders, and neck. Both girls looked absolutely amazing.. BEAUTIFUL!, like pro's they in turn stepped in front of the camera and made it easy to take these award winning hair photos. Thank you to Alannah, Jenn, Kristen, and of course the outstanding creative hair styles by Philp, we got many GREAT photos.
But, of course it wasn't quite over... as it does so often during a photo shoot, my mind races with new, and add on ideas... Poor Alannah wasn't done yet. We had our friend, and representative from the hair colour product Natrique run out and get a bottle of gold paint, and then poured it over Alannah's hands letting it run down her arms..
I have posted two of the photos from Sunday's hard work. I think it was all worth it.
Thanks everyone.. AMAZING job!!

A SPUR OF THE MOMENT PHOTO SHOOT WITH JESSICA

I am still playing, and learning how to use and set my new blog, and thought that I may as well, try and throw in some photos... you know, because I am a photographer, and all.

This is the latest photo, of Jessica. She's become one of my favourite models to work with. Jessica is absolutely stunning, and keeps surprising the heck of you me. In just the few photo shoots that we have done; she's jumped from the top of a ladder, and was able to remain, ever so graceful falling through the air, to help be create an amazing photo.. and she's also helped me create one of my "more talked about" photos of recent times. Jessica, without hesitation, agreed to lay in a "swamp" for a photo. That photo is FANTASTIC as well.

And, most recently, at a "spur of the moment" sort of photo shoot... Jessica pulled off some photos that should be on the cover of any fashion magazine. Keeps your eyes open for this girl.. We have started working on her portfolio now, and I will bet you my lunch money; the first agent that looks at her, and her photos in her portfolio, will have Jessica signed, and working world wide.. as a high fashion model. I am very excited for this girl, her chances, and waiting opportunities, and of course.. our next photo shoot.

Mark Allan Photography - "Welcome"

Hi, and thanks for clicking onto my new blog. It's all pretty new to me right now, but I hope to be able to keep everyone up to date on latest photos, photo shoots, up coming shoots, events, as well as news, and important events in the world of fashion.
I will also keep everyone updated with links to my photos, and add links to model's web sites, agents, and web sties that provide helpful tips, and information that I may think is important.

Bare with me as I am still figuring out all the ins and outs of my new blog.

Thanks,
Keep Smiling,
Mark Allan
Mark Allan Photography
www.markallanphotos.com