Bohemian Summer

Another day, another Muse Boutique photo shoot! Although I am no longer with them as a stylist, it is a ton of fun to work with the girls on the shoots!! We were lucky to have so many beautiful, boho-chic pieces to play with!! It’s not quite my dream boho shoot (it’s hard to be fully creative when you have to make sure the clothes are always the center of every photo), thankfully when I am choosing for my blog, I have more freedom!

Nomad Princess

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Outdoor shoots are my bread and butter. I detest studio photography and will only shoot indoors if ABSOLUTELY necessary. Nothing is more gorgeous than natural lighting!! Although golden hour is the best, any time can be amazing as long as you pay close attention to where your sun is. I try to avoid direct, harsh sunlight on the face to avoid sheen and over exposure.

Unless of course the sun is being used for artistic purposes!!

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It is wonderful to have the help of a stylist on site! It is a FANTASTIC help to not have to worry about how the clothes look while I’m shooting. In the past I’ve worked with a make-up/clothing stylist on site and that was unbelievably amazing. Although it is a ton of fun to put my own outfits and looks together for my own shoots, I can appreciate only having to focus on one aspect of the photo shoot. If you have a friend that would be willing to come along and focus on those little details (hair, make-up, clothing and jewelry placement) take them! Have them help you! You will notice a huge difference.

High-waisted Hippie

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Climbing out of a river bed, Marissa is a trooper!

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Boho date night anyone??

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Marissa (my model) has come so far from our first awkward photo shoot almost two years ago! I’ve so enjoyed watching her talent grow and learning right along with her. It’s an amazing gift to be able to work with people I enjoy! I love meeting new people and getting to know them while I photograph them, but it’s just a whole different level to spend the day laughing with people you are close to.

Flirty summer prints make me drool!

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Finding locations can be stressful if you think too hard about it. Most of the time you aren’t going to want the background to overpower the people in the photograph. A shallow depth of field (low f stop) is important to making your modle stand out. Because of that, any area can easily become an ideal photo shoot area. It’s always nice to have some greenery or solid background; a park, back yard, attractive wall or fence, really anything can make a fantastic back drop! Be creative!

A passive background

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When the opportunity presents itself and you are given a gorgeous background, USE IT! These local caves are to die for and I can’t seem to get enough of them lately. In this case, the background obviously matters and it is important to make sure it doesn’t outshine the subject!!

A more active background

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I want to live in this cave.

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Flash would have been greatly appreciated in the cave. Right now I only have my built in flash and I HATE it! It is over powering and I never, ever use it! I need to invest in an external flash and learn to use it, right now I am so anti flash; I just love that natural light! Avoiding a whole type of photography because I am uncomfortable with the equipment is silly and my goal this fall is to become comfortable with flash!!

A black and white for the road 🙂

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It was a lovely day, filled with laughter and joy, a perfect day. As always I am grateful and cannot wait to do it again!!!

What makes a perfect day for you?

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

xo

Hil

Bohemian Shoot Inspiration

I have been DYYYING to do a boho/hippie photo shoot. Messy hair, piled on jewelry, layers of clothing and accessories, really just that over the top feel. For inspiration, I am turning to a few of my favorite bloggers/photographers and as always a little bit of pinterest.

Photo via Charcoal Alley, click the pick for the link 🙂

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I don’t know where I am going to get pounds of jewelry, I will have to borrow from a few girlfriends. I think this shoot will definitely require soft golden hour lighting (golden hour is the last 30 to 45 minutes of the day when the lighting is PERRRFECT).

Photo via pinterst from some random tumbler.

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A dark smokey eye is a must!! I’m also loving the all black (not something I normally do). I also love the light airiness of all white with chunky bling and maybe a hair accessory and some braids.

This one is from a hair website. If anyone knows the origins of any of these photos, please share!!

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I wish I had a horde of models to dress up and pose, along with an old station wagon or hippie van. I know it’s cliche and over the top, but that is what the idea behind this shoot is. There is a time and a place for subtlety as well as crazy, wicked, over the top.

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I’m excited to put my own spin on something like this. I think I’ll title it something expected like Young, Wild and Free. I won’t know until it’s done. This isn’t any kind of concrete thing, just a vague idea/guideline to inspire me for the shoot. It’s always best to go in with some kind of idea and not just wing it; it’s very difficult to direct a model/models if you are trying to come up with your plan on the spot.

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Ahhh backlighting, you are my true love.

xo

Hil

Muse

I’ve always had a love for fashion, as a kid I wanted to be a clothing designer (until I realized I couldn’t draw to save my life), but it wasn’t until my job at Muse Boutique in Laguna Beach that I thought to combine my love of fashion with my love of photography. When I first started working as a stylist there, I had fallen out of love with photography; I no longer had the inspiration to carry around my camera and I was going nowhere fast. I couldn’t find a direction I wanted to take my photography and I was trying my hardest to move on without looking back, until I noticed that my manager was taking our store photos on her iphone. I volunteered to bring my camera and snap a few photos for her (thinking that it would be nice to dust the thing off and anything would be better than iphone photos!). Immediately I knew that I had found my passion!

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It wasn’t easy, my models were my co-workers, some were more comfortable in front of the camera, others were downright awkward.

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Slowly, together, we figured it out; as I became more skilled with my camera the girls became more relaxed and confident.

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At some point I realized I had no idea what I was doing, although I was enjoying every second of it. I signed up for some photography classes at the local junior college and finally learned how to use my light meter and other manual functions. I am lucky because I have been allowed almost complete creative freedom on the shoots (and also because we have such cute clothing).

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Last week I gave my two weeks at Muse as a stylist (I could never tear myself away from doing the photo shoots!) As difficult and heartbreaking as it was, I know that my time there and the people I’ve worked with have made a drastic change in my life. I’m leaving to focus on my photography, but without Muse, I might have never picked up the camera again.

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I am so grateful for the time that I have spent at Muse. The girls have become my second family and the clothing fills my closet! If you are ever in the Laguna Beach area, make sure you come by and check them out! Also they just launched their new website! Exciting stuff!!

I wanted to give a special thank you to my manager, who has been the most amazing inspiration and has been patient every step of the way!!

I couldn’t have done any of this without you!

xo

Hilary

Fashion as Inspiration

A day at the beach.

Fashion is my muse, which is amusing, because I work at Muse Boutique in Laguna Beach. A part time stylist, part time student; my dream is to be a full time photographer. I have always wanted to create beautiful things. Over the years those things have changed with my life, originally I wanted to create clothes, then I thought maybe I would create atmospheres with interior design. For the last five years I have wanted to create beautiful images with photography.

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 I couldn’t think of a better introduction to this blog (no one reads the first couple posts anyways) than my most recent shoot.

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I always find that fashion is what most inspires me. The ability to reflect my inner emotions and quirks on the outside is something I am very grateful for! When looking for inspiration for my shoots, I reach for everything. I scour fashion magazines, blogs, vintage photographs; however I find that no matter how much I prepare, nothing quite compares to being on site and feeling how the shoot itself wants to go. Being over prepared, having too solid of an idea can be a handicap. You need to have the ability to roll with the punches. To see the ideas and opportunities that present themselves in the moment. Rarely do things ever go exactly as planned 🙂

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The most important part of any shoot is just to have fun. When you are relaxed and enjoying yourself, your subjects will too. Especially when you are working with normal people (instead of models). Enjoy every moment of your shoot and NEVER delete a photo!  Instead of living believing that you need to do something you enjoy, enjoy the things you do! Have fun!!

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More of the photos, as well as the clothing used in this post can be found at Muse Boutique in Laguna Beach https://www.facebook.com/museboutiquelagunabeach

xo

Hilary