Fashion Portrait Beauty Photography At Sandy Beach, Hawaii
December 12, 2005
Elise is an actress whom I contacted via my MySpace photographer profile to setup a shoot.
These photos are from our second time we took pictures which was Elise’s second session ever. And that is no problem for me because I love photographing first time and amateur models!
Even though I only saw “non-professional” MySpace photos of Elise I knew right away that she had a special captivating beauty and I was very happy to get a chance to shoot with her.
We arrived just before sunrise around 6AM and shot until about noon. Lengthy on location photoshoots are not unusual for me.
The location consisted of a landscape of dry brush, scattered lava boulders and mangroves between Makapu’u Beach and Sandy Beach Park, two very popular local body boarding spots on the East a.k.a. Windward side of Oahu, Hawaii.
We explored many nearby locations under very different lighting conditions and experimented with different themes from dramatic to casual i.e. pretending to shoot a denim jeans commercial.
What better way to introduce Elise than with a beautiful portrait just minutes after sunrise (7:12AM). She is the quintessential all American girl next door with beauty, intelligence and confidence.
Let’s not forget she looks this incredible this early in the morning after having to get up around 5AM. She only had a chance to put on some light makeup herself using the rear view mirror of her jeep at the beach parking lot in almost complete darkness!
I think Elise could easily be a Ralph Lauren or Abercrombie model so I decided to do a play on a denim jeans promotional photoshoot idea:
Now up on a lava rock … another denim jeans ad version, mixing up the angles, poses, we had to be quick on our feet and moving fast to take advantage of the warm light with its low angle because at the latitude of Hawaii sunrises (and sunsets) do not last long.
By this time the sun was up and the temperature was rising rapidly. Without assistants, reflectors and other lighting aids it is time for the usual improvisation to make the best of each location and setup – my favorite part of each photoshoot.
Intimate beautiful portrait taken in the shade of a large boulder. Amazing eye contact, not a hint of self doubt or fake emotions, models (or girls) like Elise are the dream of every portrait and fashion photographer.
From the moment I saw this picture I always thought of it as Elise’s Alanis Morisette lookalike photo. It may not evoke the same feeling from everyone but once I came up with it I could not look at the picture any other way.
The sun is high up now (9:46AM); besides using open shade another technique to prevail under these harsh light conditions is to shoot against the sun and have the model backlit. The resulting effect has a dreamy pure soft quality, perfect fit for our model here:
We were approaching the 10:15AM mark meaning the angle and heat of the sun were further limiting our choices lighting wise. Time for open shade again this time created by the back of Elise’s jeep.
It is so bright now that sunlight the reflected from the yellow sand beautifully bathes the model’s face.
Variation of the above setup as I am constantly moving around tweaking ideas; Elise is holding onto the open back of the jeep out in the sun. I asked her to raise her arms so her face would end up in the shade that was created.
I cannot help but notice on this photo that the model has beautiful lips reminiscent of Julia Roberts and a classic symmetric face .. and we all know symmetry is beauty!
Another beauty shot from a different location now and the tile is approaching 11:30AM, we are still going strong and having fun in the process.
One of the last pictures of the shoot, appropriately the hair is a bit messy looking a bit like a lion mane; signaling we’ve put in a good half a day’s work and it is time to wrap! The photo is still a beautiful portrait but a bit more edgy.
A stunning beauty!! You state that she is an actress. What is her full name so that I can see what work she has done?
Amazing work!