High School Senior Style

Being a senior in high school was one of the best times of my life. You feel invincible, on top of the world and of course SO flippin' cool. Granted, I look back at myself and just laugh at the notes I wrote to my friends, the stupid things I did that year, and what I wore for my senior photos!!! Seriously, what the heck was I thinking?! I wore ALL black and posed with my clarinet! So NOT cool! If only I had my own personal stylist to help me pick the right clothes for my personality and the camera.

Well, I'm happy to say that I've definitely learned from my mistakes, AND I'm offering my styling services to seniors as part of a high-end style experince with Melissa Jill Photography!

Melissa is not only a great friend of mine, but she was my wedding photographer back in 2007 and has since become one of the top wedding photographers in the country. Remember those pictures with my bright red pants? Yeah, she took those. =)

Recently, she has been able to grow her business and bring on Sara Nevels who is one of the cutest gals I've ever met AND a talented photographer in her own right. Along with Tina Burnham who is an uber talented makeup artist and hair stylist (she worked on the Rock 'n Roll Bridal Shoot, Marie Antoinette shoot, and did my makeup), a team of creatives has been assembled to make seniors feel like they are even COOLER (if that's possible) and ensure that they'll look back on their photos and love them FOREVER!

So, what are the specific dets?

Well, each session has four components: The Initial Consultation (Sara), The Styling Session (me & Tina), The Photo Shoot (the WHOLE team), and The Viewing & Ordering Session.

The Initial Consultation is a time for Sara, the senior, and the parents to really get to know each other. Lots of bonding takes place here. Stories are shared, questions are answered, expectations are set, and decisions are made.

The Styling Session is a phone chat with me, where I'll talk through different look options using Pinterest.com. Together, we'll discuss favorite looks and how to achieve them with the clothing the client already owns, or talk about where to go shopping to find the clothes that will achieve the looks they want. I'll also find out what the senior's hair & makeup preferences are, so that I can make sure Tina knows EXACTLY what they want on the day of the shoot. And don't worry, we have plenty of alternatives FOR GUYS to make this time worth their while too!

The Photo Shoot is the main event -- Hooray! Depending on how the senior wants their hair & makeup, it's safe to assume they'll be with us for 4 hours. Better to over-estimate than under! We plan 2 hours for preparation and 1-2 hours for the photo shoot. This also gives a little wiggle room for traveling to their location. We'll start at the Melissa Jill Photography office where Tina will do their hair & makeup and I will put together 3 outfits. As soon as the senior is ready, we'll head out for the shoot!

The Viewing & Ordering Session is the very first time the senior will see any of their images...SO EXCITING! Sara and Melissa will show a slideshow of all their images and have them pick out their favorites while celebrating with sparkling cider. Parents are required to attend, since we give an extra 25% off all of our prints and canvases if they purchase during this session. Sara and Melissa will post the photos online for friends and family to order from, but the discount is only valid for the senior at their viewing & ordering session.

Pretty cool, right?! We think so too.

For pricing information, please contact Sara, sara@melissajill.com.

Promise Tangeman Creative Photo Shoot

So, I'm really excited to reveal a photo shoot that I was actually in this time. I had the privilege of being photographed for Promise Tangeman Creative by our TALENTED friend Melissa Jill. Promise and I had a blast doing her photo shoot for her website and promo photos at the end of last year, and so of course, we needed to have another girl PARTY (a.k.a. photo shoot) to kick off 2011.

As I mentioned awhile back, I've been helping out Promise Tangeman with some project management, and I'm LOVING it! She is incredibly energizing, brilliant and SO encouraging. Seriously, follow along on her blog and you'll see what I mean.

I had a blast helping to put this shoot together. It took place in downtown Phoenix - the BEST place for locations in my opinion. Color, hair and makeup were the focal points of this shoot. So, of course Promise and I had our good friend and hairstylist Kim Cornwell help us in the hair department. AND...Jack of all trades, Tina Burnham, joined us to do makeup even though she has told me she isn't a makeup artist. Well, I'm sure you guys can tell from these photos that she is UBER talented as a makeup artist in addition to being a talented photographer and hair stylist. RIGHT?!!

So, as always, we collected hair, makeup and clothing inspiration for this shoot. Promise had been wanting to do a bright eye, and I have been in love with bright lips all season long, so we went our own ways with the one condition that COLOR had to be incorporated. We even painted our nails a really bright color as shown below.

As for hair...Well, as you can tell Miss Promise has hair that is unrivaled. I mean, there is NO chance I could ever do what she does with hers. This girl gets SOOO many questions about her hair and every girl in the work wishes she could get that kind of volume. I have accepted the sad truth that I'll never have "promified" hair, so Kim and I decided we would work with what I have that is unique to me - CURLS!!!

Kim did a FANTASTIC job, no? I felt like I had just stepped off the spring runway. Remember my post on fuzzy curls? Well, she nailed it!!

As for clothes, well, with color being the requirement there was no question that my red, GAP skinny jeans would be used for this shoot. They definitely make a statement. And of course, I played up my love for retro style with my gingham oxford shirt tucked in. We had a second look for which I was struggling to find something until I did a little shopping at Buffalo Exchange and found this cute magenta skirt for $7.00!!!

Promise on the other hand, had these amazing jeans that reminded her of clouds, this sweet neon green/yellow bandeaux top, a teal shirt and this AWESOME pair Zara shoes she got in Europe. I think we nailed the color requirement. haha!

In her second look she incorporated some colored denim and played up the black and white stripes trend. It looked awesome against the blue wall!

Here are some more fun photos. I hope you love them as much as we do!

Part 2 - Melissa Jill's Photo Reveal

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I got to style Melissa Jill with an Anthropolgie feel for a photo shoot with Promise Tangeman.

We went with three looks to give MJ a range to work with for her promotional materials - very casual, casual feminine and sophisticated dressy.

All of the clothes were MJ's, and I just added three of my scarves for the t-shirt and jeans looks.

Tina Burnham, whom I have worked with on Marie Antoinette and Lindsay Garver's shoot, did the hair and makeup and executed the inspiration to perfection!!! Tina is also a photographer with Live. Love. Photography, and I think it's such an asset to have the knowledge of the camera when you're styling hair and makeup.

Biggest tip for those of you getting family portraits done - WEAR FALSE EYE LASHES! If you can, also take the time to spend the money on getting your hair and makeup done.

Of course, I would also like to think that having someone style your clothes would also be worth the time and money too. ;)

Rock 'n Roll Bridal Shoot

You guys don't know how LONG I have been waiting to post this photo shoot....SINCE JUNE my friends! But now, I'm SOOOO excited to reveal all of the hard work that took place back in the 100 degree weather of Phoenix, AZ.

I was invited to style this shoot by the very talented photographer Jeanette LeBlanc. I also collaborated with Jeanette on Marie Antoinette, which came after our amazing grass roots rock 'n roll collab.

Jeanette assembled a team consisting of myself, Tina Burnham (hair stylist), Kayrene Kelley (leather designer), Lola Chevelle (model), Ella L from (Classic Cake Designs & Confections) and Patricia Eastwood (Wild Child Floral Designs). We basically knew that we wanted to create an unconventional style for the bride that still let beauty shine through. Leather, of course, was going to play a key role. =)

We hope you guys really like the photos! Let me know what you think!