A Malibu Winter

I started packing for my week long adventure in the Chicago snow today.

Shortly realizing - I don't own cold weather clothing. Hoodies usually are my protection against anything frosty in the California winter. I may freeze and become a little camera holding popsicle, but I could not be more excited to breathe different air, and see Danielle. There will be much laughter...

This past friday I had the great opportunity to do a shoot with Jenna Hannon - who is an amazing individual (and ridiculously gorgeous!). We went to Malibu, El Matador Beach, in the early AM. Unbeknownst to me - a huge photoshoot was going on, spilling over into the entire staircase and parking lot. Slightly intimidating, but made me smile to myself in hopes that it would be me one day getting paid that much money to do what I love to do.

Here are a few of my favorite images.

The rest can be found on my new website soon!

Suffocation Keep

Now that I'm graduated and settled into my new place nestled by the beach, I can start updating this thing again. Below are a few pictures from a shoot that I did while in school, but not for any assignment. This was shot at Jim Jordan Studios in Calabasas, which is who I intern for. He was kind enough to let me and another intern shoot along side him. The model's name is Dakota, and was such a blast to work with - really nice down to earth guy.

I don't have much going on in life right now, other than trying to pull myself together and start producing more photoshoots for my portfolio, getting my new website live, and getting ready for holidays. After 3 years of non stop running, I feel like I'm stuck in the fast lane going nowhere... if that makes any sense.

Nymphs of Toro Canyon

This past weekend I had my last photoshoot of school planned - and obviously my model bailed. Even after contacting close to 10 models, not one could commit (for various reasons.)

So instead, I kept the clothes I had gotten from my stylist, and figured I'd step in.

It was cold, pouring rain, muddy, and nothing to even close to what I wanted.

Luckily, I had Danielle and Dylan with me - and before I threw in the towel, I thought we could try it with a cell phone. So we did, and it worked, and that was that. My last photoshoot of photo school - on a cell phone. Ironic?

Here are a few of my favorites!

Thanks to Danielle and Dylan for helping me make this happen. I love.

Do The Hustle!

I did a photoshoot this last weekend with who else... Danielle Sepanik.

It's almost a joke how much we use each other - not sure who I'll find to inspire me after we graduate (which is literally in one and a half weeks...)

She was generous enough to let me use her camera and underwater housing for these; and pull her connections so we could use the pool up at the Montecito Campus - which is closed to almost everyone else! Freezing water, warm air, panino, so much laughing... THE BEST.

Here are a few images I loved the most.

"Now floating up and down
I spin, colliding into sound
Like whales beneath me diving down
I'm sinking to the bottom of my
Everything that freaks me out
The lighthouse beam has just run out
I'm cold as cold as cold can be
Be"

Bright Eyes

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to shoot with this up and coming model.

Her name is Taylor Camp, and she's thirteen. (!!!)

Really basic, with a supposed 70's vibe - they turned out better for her portfolio than mine. Nonetheless, it was a great experience!

Only two more weeks of school - can you dig it?

(Hair and Makeup by Ashley Harris, and Styled by Amber Tatum)

I Feel So

This week has been one of the busiest/fastest yet.

I'm still trying to find my footing in the fashion class - not to mention my confidence.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the "over the top" shoot Monday.

Danielle, my muse, was generous enough to step in front of the camera.

Finding models is one of the hardest games to play right now, but luckily I have her and all her beauty!

Inspiration came from a shoot I modeled for in Haifa, shot by the great Ryan Lash.

Dusk to Dawn

Finished editing my shoot from this past weekend.

I shot with Jessica Jerskey, one of my favorites. She drove all the way from LA to come help me out which made me feel awful lucky. :)

The idea was shooting at dusk, with a bohemian beach vibe running through it. Although, I found out moments before the shoot dusk wasn't actually until a few hours later - but I was close.

Through all my classes, and internship - I'm trying to set up another shoot for this weekend. So keep your eyes peeled!

Walking on Sunshine

Tomorrow morning I'm embarking on an entirely new chapter in this mini series I call my life.

Well, it's more of a lead into a new chapter...

Tomorrow I am starting my internship with an amazing team of people who work for an extraordinary photographer. Excited? Understatement.

Though busy every day of the week, and frantically scrambling to put together the last shoots of my college career - I couldn't be more pleased or calm with the way things are falling into place. It's a divine thing, having so much productivity in life. To put forth so much effort to show you deserve a place in the competitive commercial world, and to still pull an ounce of creativity out after 3 years... I could not feel more accomplished.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the next 7 weeks play out!!

Loverrs

I've been struggling to get through this portraiture class this session.

Only two more weeks and I'll be frolicking through the streets of Portland, bubble tea in one hand, camera in the other. I hang this image in front of my mind every day - it helps me to keep going forward.

Here is an assignment I shot with my favorite model Danielle, at my favorite place in Santa Barbara. (It's getting bad how many times I've used her and the place - so this will probably be the last. Time to start with something new and different.)

The first is supposed to emulate a painters style, and the painter I chose was Renoir. He did portraits that depicted people (usually women) just being... My favorites were outside, and had very flat bright lighting. I put a small fashion-esque twist on it, because I wanted to make it mine.

The second is still in it's rough stages - but it's for a "pictoral" assignment. I pretty much said eff, and did what I wanted. There will be more to come in that series!

Now, off to the Bay area for the weekend.

I Won't Forget You

I was digging around through my photo files, trying to find good stuff to put on my new up and coming website. Low and behold I ran across these two, that were taken 4 years ago with my little film camera! I love them because there's just something extra in them for me. I can't explain what... but when I look at these I feel really distinct emotions. Just so raw and made from pure love. Who doesn't appreciate that?

Drops of Jupiter

I had to do a really basic traditional shoot the other day - that had to include rim light in one image, and hands in the other. The gorgeous Danielle Sepanik was amazing and helped me out - mostly keeping me sane through a really boring set up. The first two are what I turned in - and the last one I edited for myself! Meanwhile, all my fashion inspiration and ideas are starting to collect again, making me eager for next session. I have a lot to look forward to in these upcoming months!

Lurve

So after my small hiatus from Blogging - I'm happy to report that I am in fact a married woman now! Everything worked out better than I could have imagined it to - and I owe my family and friends the biggest thank you in the world for turning my dream into a reality! It was the most monumental day of my life to date, and it will be hard to top.

Now, I'm back in school (no honeymoon...) and even though I feel like I'm taking the most ridiculous, worthless classes right now - it has forced me to take a step back, and realize that I need to start making every negative I feel into a positive. So I'm trying to put my own creative twist on our mundane assignments - and so far it's made me feel a sense of calm.

My friend and fellow photographer Justin Miller used Brooks and I for a faux engagement session the other day - which was really fun, and the pictures turned out fantastic! Our first photoshoot post wedding. :) Here are two of my favorites, but you can check them all out at http://jcharlesphoto.blogspot.com/

I Won't Be Left

So I ordered my Sarah Seven dress in March, anticipating it's arrival every single day. It was supposed to be in my arms at the end of May, and when that time came and went - and I heard absolutely nothing from the dress maker herself, I began to worry.

I wrote many many emails, with only silence to return making my worried mind grow with furvent anxiety. Finally, I heard something. She told me she was a week behind. And I pushed my disappointment down into my chest because hey, it was still on its way. And it was going to be perfect.

Two weeks went by, and I heard nothing, received nothing. Now, I was pissed. with a month to go until my wedding - and I didn't even know what my dress was really like. I wrote and I wrote, but no response. Finally - I heard something. Her assistant said there had been an "emergency" and Sarah had been gone for an entire week. Really? I don't mean to be insensitive at all, but even if it was a huge emergency, like a death, you still are back to your business within a few days. This is when those feelings of disappointment and yuck came to surface and refused to be kept down longer.

I told her I NEEDED my dress. She had my money - was this going to be one of those awful life lessons that teaches you not to trust anyone? No response, same story. I just became more and more angry. Who does this to a bride? Who runs a business with absolutely no customer service skills...? It doesn't take genius... Finally, I heard something. She told me she had sent it that day, and I'd have it a week later. Wait... a week for Fed Ex to get from Portland to Santa Barbara? Ok suspicious...

ONE WEEK LATER - NOTHING. I write. And write. And she says "oh hey yeah, I just talked to fed-ex and they said there was some sort of delay... you'll have it wednesday."

So now I know she's lying. I'm not dumb, and to treat me like I am? Oh, you are going down...

Wednesday rolls around, and low and behold - my dress arrives! WITH a date that said it was overnighted from the day before! Guess she thought I couldn't read... But it was fine, I had my dress! Opened the box faster than any child on christmas morning. It looked beautiful sitting there. I put it on, looked a little closer - and the tears fell.

It didn't fit. NOT EVEN CLOSE. The top had been sewn onto an already made bodice - which wasn't my size. Way too big... It hung off me, and went way past my knees... when it was meant to be above. And she had taken all the excess fabric from the top layer and folded it where the butt was underneath, and sewn it there - not even in a pattern. Which made me look like I was smuggling a marshmallow factory where my butt was... and I was big and puffy enough to be their marshmallow queen. SERIOUSLY? strings hanging off, not even sewn together in the right places. I waited for this? I paid lots of my own money for THIS?

So with two weeks left - I sent my dress back.

My fault for trusting her to be a good dressmaker/businesswoman/human being...

My fault for wanting something different and unique.

Her fault for being stupid... And I could write so many hateful things - but I fully believe that you get what you give in this life. And if thats how she treats people, she won't go far.

SO I ordered a dress off Jcrew. (image below) And it's simple and my second choice - but I will try to make it my own. And what else can I do right? C'est la vie!!

Sin City

I'm off to Vegas in a few hours for some serious rest and relaxation.

New York New York room, Ceasers Palace Spa, Bellagio Show.

YES PLEASE.

Hopefully I will be returning with a tan, an eased mind, and renewed creative juices for more pictures!

Holler.

Wild Thing

So yesterday I had my editorial fashion shoot with Danielle Sepanik. She is probably the funnest girl to be around, so taking these were no doubt easy and enjoyable! I had the concept of a "wild beauty" - fashion meets fur/animals. I took so many more than these 6, but these all seemed to flow the best. Now on to printing my portfolio for class!

Go Do

This shoot was for a mock magazine cover - which I was inspired by W magazine, with Anne Hathaway on the cover. The more I look at it, the more I'm reminded of a porcelain doll, or an old vintage portrait from the early 1900's. The model is Jessica again, who is absolutely fabulous to work with. Getting ready to shoot an editorial spread this weekend, keep your eyes peeled!

You've got soul

So I'm still scrambling to get my assignments for this week done and squared away - and prepping for my editorial shoot on Saturday, which is going to be absolutely phenomenal. But amidst all the chaos, I've managed to get some images up here! . The "watch" is modeled by the wonderful Jessica (who you can see elsewhere on this blog.) And the glasses are modeled by yours truly, and yes, I put every one of those rhinestones on there! More to come!

Creature of the Night

Last week I did a shoot for Night Time Fashion, with my friend (and the fiancés best friend) Paul Ghusar. It was a step outside my usual comfort zone, I'm used to natural light and desaturated images. At least, thats what I love to do. But I think this was a nice change, and he did a fantastic job at being beautiful! Here are 3 out of my final 5.

Your a big girl now

So this week I shot for Jeans and Shoes.

I was plumb out of ideas, probably due to the fact that I'm going crazy mentally. I can't decide the right direction to go after I graduate in October - and needless to say it's freaking me out. So as much as I tried to not let my head get in the way of what needs to be done, it sort of did. This is the result. Not your 'typical' advertisements... but I never was very good at those.

Wish Right Now

I photographed Miss Danielle Sepanik, who is absolutely wonderful.

It was for a "Catalog" assignment, where we chose our favorite catalog (mine was Anthropologie) and try to emulate the style. Although I haven't seen too many direct sun as

the main light in many of their catalogs, I have seen a few. So I chose to light it with the sun in the front of her, and the sun behind her. I think they came out completely different - but I am pleased with both!