Abandoned resort E-Session!
If you saw this location prior to me shooting there, I’m almost certain you would have looked at me sideways especially if I said I was going to photograph an engagement session there! This now abandoned resort appeared to be a far cry from its former glory days. The dilapidated and abandoned facilities were now hurricane damaged and now occupied by overgrown weeds, vines and trees.
Now I’d photographed Elena before and we always kept in touch and when she approached me about shooting her engagement session I was excited about doing the honour. She became more excited by convincing me that she wanted to do the shoot on a certain property, one she had sent me photos prior to. At first it did raise a few eyebrows especially after seeing these images but I embraced the challenge and I accepted.
“This shoot was incredibly special for us because of our connection to the location and our story as a couple. We have shared 8 beautiful years together and recently purchased our first home in this area 2 years ago... so we thought, what better place to shoot than in our backyard, the place we spent the most time together! ”
I wanted to show you the images Elena sent to me…
I decided that I’d want to shoot closer to sunset because the resort faced the ocean on the western side of the island where the sunsets were typically the most dramatic. More so, I hoped to get good golden hour light for lifestyle imagery. Styling wasn’t an issue either. Elena was a little bit of a hippie so she told me she wanted a “boho chic” look which I agreed with. Hank, on the other hand, would need more convincing. He’s very laid back and doesn’t like cameras or the limelight so getting him to “dress up for photos” became a running joke between Elena and I. Hank eagerly fell in line with the plan.
“Who knew Scharad could turn my man into a model in these photos!.... I was low key jealous when I saw how amazing he came out in them!”
The shoot went even better than we initially planned. Elena’s close friend and MUA Erica Bogart had flown in from Miami that same day and jumped right into makeup upon arrival. She was fast too! I brought along my Nikon D850, 2 lenses, the 85mm f1.8 and the 24-70 f2.8 and B1 light from Profoto to mix both the artificial and ambient light together and it worked out great. At first, I shot the couple in natural light but as the sun set in our blue skies, I brought out the strobe to balance the strobe light with my ambient light.
Hank and Elena’s chemistry was great. I barely gave them any direction.
Elena prior to the photoshoot told me,
“We just want to be ourselves and not overthink how we should pose or interact,” to which I happily obliged because this was particularly my preferred method of capturing these types of themes.
I can't stress enough how beautiful the light was and frame after frame my team and I salivated and got weak in the knees at how the light worked so well with us to create the photos.
Please enjoy the couple’s gallery below.
“Shooting with Scharad and his team was amazing. They were patient, creative and beyond talented.They captured our personalities with ease and caught that sunlight at such perfection that it felt surreal”
Bahari Spring 2016 Campaign
With the rise of this local clothing giant, Bahari Bahamas Ltd releases their 2016 Spring Campaign. The campaign was shot in Nassau, The Bahamas at The Cliffs. With the talents of Miss Bahamas Universe 15/16 Toria Penn and male model Endierich Rahming, the bright and bold styles of their pieces strike lightning again!
I had the opportunity to preview the pieces for the spring collection before hand and I immediately got excited because every collection, the company seemed to improve tenfold from the last. My team was equally excited and impressed on shoot day agreeing that in fact, to date, this collection has been Bahari's strongest.
The set was alive with great electric energy from our team and models. We had our home base blasting music like we were in the club and with charismatic chatter, strong models and a hype crew, we rocketed through the looks shooting frame after frame with unbelievable precision shouting out ecstatically once achieving that "money" shot.
Photography + Creative Direction: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: Ts Artistry
Hair: Yonarda Beneby
Styling: The Style Diaries
Models: Toria Penn, Endierich Rahming
Grips: Aaron Davis, Malik Smith
Athleisure Fashion Shoot
When I first concocted this grand idea that I could do a fashion shoot in the National Stadium, I second guessed the thought several times. Somehow I knew with the right connections, I could make it happen and once I found those, I was determined to pull off this momentous feat.
I called on stylist Lavonne Alexis of ShoptheCC and when I threw this idea in her face, she was immediately ready to strap on her tape and clothes pins. I told her I wanted to shoot both a male and female with multiple looks in what to me was a curious trend occurring in the fashion world called "athleisure." Now according to fashion culture, the term is used to describe looks or outfits that would normally be found in the gym, styled for social occasions like shopping, lunch, running errands etc...casually athletic in so many words!
Lavonne thought the idea was hot and we brought on stylist Vuitton to assist with our male model's looks. They both sourced pieces from all over, mainly Dkylpse Swimwear, ShoptheCC and The Sports Center so for me everything was coming together. Storyboard after storyboard and mood board after mood board, we laid out the entire shoot with confirmed models Davin and Laura.
Shoot day was amazing, killer team on deck and the stadium was nothing short of a masterpiece to shoot against. The architectural prowess, with clean lines and repetitious patterns made for amazing frames shooting the models in, around, under and over all the amenities the stadium provided.
Photography: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: Lincey Carey . Hair: Raquel Pinder
Styling: Vuitton Bain, Lavonne Alexis . Assistant Styling: Waydell Ingraham
Clothing: ShoptheCC, The Sports Center
Models: Davin Johnson, Laura Megan
Grips: Shawn Hanna, Aaron Davis, Malik Smith, Terrel Carey, Tamara Flemming, Cee Jay Jermaine