Stansbury Park Portraits ~ Ariella is Turning 1!

Ariella Hodges is a sweet little girl, possibly one of the sweetest I’ve seen. Between diaper and wardrobe changes, I think we shot for about 2 hours, and she was so stinkin happy. And has the sweetest laugh.

Her mom, Danielle, had the best ideas for props, including some chevron print fabric, a children’s rocking chair her handy husband Travis painted pink, a cute crown, and a necklace and bow handmade by Danielle. Seriously adorable. I should hire her to make me some photo props!

More to come, but a serious fave for now.

Open Casting Call for Female Models – Salt Lake, Tooele, Davis, Utah

I’ve been working on an idea for the past month. It’s something I’m so incredibly excited about because it’s so different from anything I’ve ever done and will require planning, precision, patience, hair, makeup, several yards of fabric, and a model.

I have the hair stylist… I have the makeup artist. I’m buying the fabric soon. The planning is almost there…

I need a model.

My plan is a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. It will be a short series (5ish images will probably be the end result, plus any ideas or headshots the model might want. I figure probably at least 2 hours of post processing in Photoshop will be involved with all of the layers and things I want to do). If you’ve heard of Brooke Shaden, then you’ll understand somewhat what I am looking for and looking to do. I want to go through the stages: death, regeneration, life.

What I’m looking for: dark or red hair (preferably. This doesn’t mean others shouldn’t apply though, your blonde hair and personality might wow me!), someone who is flexible and okay with possibly uncomfortable positions and can hold them for a few moments while I get my shot. Someone who doesn’t mind going somewhere out of the way like the Salt Flats (not necessarily the location at this point, but definitely in the top 5). Someone who doesn’t mind getting dirty. Literally. I will probably smear dirt and ash on you at some point. Attitude is everything with me. I like to joke around and have fun on my shoots, so egos are to be left at the door.

I plan on submitting this series to art galleries and possibly publications. If you’re on the fence because you don’t have a lot of modeling experience, who cares? If this sounds like something you’d really like to do, then email me. I don’t care about experience, per se, I care about if you can follow instructions and have fun. That is what is most important to me. This is a collaboration and, cheesy as it is to say it, a celebration of talents. Let’s gooooooo!

If you or anyone you know is interested email me at sheadrake@live.com

Meet Tammy, the Mother’s Day Contest Winner!

I was finally able to meet and shoot with Tammy, the Mother’s Day contest winner. We met at Wheeler Farm in Murray, and let me tell you one thing: it was HOT! Luckily we tried to stay in the shade. I couldn’t imagine having to be out in the sun for a couple hours of shooting. I don’t think we would have made it. But we did, mostly due to the shade though. .Despite the heat, it was wonderful. I may have said this before, but I love Wheeler Farm. There’s so much there to enjoy, and it’s a photographic gold mine.

Tammy was great, despite the hot sun she was ready and willing to go all over the farm and try some of my ideas. I just loved how outgoing she was, I mean just look at her on the tractor. There were plenty of goofy moments shared by all of us, and I don’t think there could’ve been a better winner for the Mother’s Day Contest Winner.

There was also a fair there while we were shooting, so after we were done we got some snow cones. Really, you can’t beat two hours of shooting in the heat followed by a 25 cent snowcone. It’s one of the most refreshing things. Ever.

This next part might sound a little weird, but often after shoots I feel like I’ve made a new friend. I feel that photography is a fairly personal thing. There needs to be trust between the photographer and subject/model to achieve the best photos possible. If someone doesn’t trust me or isn’t comfortable around me, it shows. So when I shoot I get to know people, and I feel like I really got to have a cool little insight on Tammy. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, but she’s beautiful and bubbly inside as well. Thank you Tammy for shooting with me, I have loved getting to know you and it was so much fun working on the photos.