Bahari Season 14 Swimwear Campaign
In 2014, I got an email from a new clothing brand based out of a small kiosk in Circle Mall Freeport. As with all my first-time clients, I was excited and intrigued by how this company would make a mark, or if they even would, in a then void-market for ready-to-wear Bahamian clothing. Four years, 11 Campaign Shoots, 14 Collections and 3 Stores Later; Bahari is now the country's Premiere Clothing brand. Needless to say, the pressure was on for The Season 14 Swimwear Campaign.
Anytime I shoot for Bahari, it's always a large production with many different moving parts. A production that requires a few weeks of planning and production. A location has to be found, models sourced and a style team put together. These photoshoots last 8-12 hours easily and require dedication, creativity and the will to push through until the very last shot is taken. Mentally and physically, its taxing on my team and I but the results are great.
The models were a strong lineup, diverse in size and skin tones and we were excited after seeing the sample suits that mixed with an incredibly scenic background, the shoot would be nothing short of amazing. The team was stacked, the pieces had arrived and the models were excited, certainly for a call time of 8 am, which was not so bad compared to photoshoots I'd done before with much earlier call times. The weather was proving to be perfect and the style team got to work putting the girls' faces and hair together while styling fitted the girls and accessorized them.
We shot non-stop, on a marathon of locations and spaces, poses and sessions with both still and film cameras. The team literally felt like they were on fire. We were moving constantly, changing our looks, models, suits, scenes, etc...We even made a joke because it rained twice that day and we felt it was God's way of cooling us down before we overheated.
At the end of a long day, we were exhausted but happy and feeling satisfied that this would be the best Bahari shoot to date. Please enjoy the images and the official promo video below.
Photography: Scharad Lightbourne | Video: Ashley Whitney | Styling: Cardell McClam
Hair: DC Trends | MUAs: Glamourholics + Makeup by Char
Grips: Tariq Cartwright, Seven Thomas, Rayandra Nairn
BTS Video + Pics: Tyreke Butler
Vida Cayo Summer Campaign Photoshoot
I'm going to apologize ahead of time for this post but its going to make you feel really guilty about your current workout regime. Vida Cayo recruited some amazingly fit models to stand in their first ever advertising campaign and hiring me, an amateur fitness expert to photograph it. Walking on set, I found myself to be intimidated by the abs, pecs and glutes that were being paraded around but I stood confident in my Nike tank that I would use them to my advantage. The location was incredible and I was pretty happy with it having seen it a few days prior. I'd already mapped out the areas which I wanted to shoot against and the weather was perfect too. We had green grass, trees and a beautiful panoramic view of the beach.
But not to be outdone, I had a guest model that Id pose with my live models that was equally as fit and toned as they were. Her iron frame and wheels of steel were equally as sexy as her topless frame and all eyes were laid on this custom Jeep Wrangler once she pulled into the yard.
The shoot was "bananas" and tons of fun and these fitness models has an even better time than I did. With my MUA and Stylist working feverishly to ensure the models looked their best. I loved the jeep as Im a huge fan of the custom Wranglers. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect shoot, day or collection of diverse models at which to point my camera to. Please enjoy these images responsibly.
Photography: Scharad Lightbourne // Styling: Shan Oliver
MUA: Makeup by Vonz Ferguson
Grips: Gary Martin, Martin gray, Kenzi Thompson + Derek Adams // Video: Michael Cortez
WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO
Miss Universe Bahamas Official Photoshoot with Scharad Lightbourne
The Albany Bahamas Resort was set as the beautiful backdrop on which 10 beautiful women took their official photographs for the Miss Universe Bahamas Pageant. These lovely ladies were full of energy and laughter on set and as this production progressed, my team and I were able to get great frames from this diverse group of women.
The day was long, a production lasting over 11 hours but the ladies attitudes and personalities jumped through the camera lens. The team worked effortlessly through the blistering heat to make sure the girls were comfortable, catered to and in position to let their beauty shine through.
The makeup team, hair team and my production team all worked together, dabbing every cheek, brushing every stroke of hair and applying the best light to each contestant making sure we got the best! It was truly a fun experience for teamSL. See the FULL range of images by visiting the Miss Universe Bahamas official website.
WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO
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
Eve
I was nervous about this concept…at first. I wondered if I would go too far in getting a message across and if people wouldn’t relate or grasp what I was trying to say as a photographer. As a child I’d always seen the portrayal of “Eve” as a beautiful Caucasian woman so my imagination got the best of me and I decided to go against all the imagery I had previously seen in any biblical illustration.
I wanted to stay clean, within my style, conceptualizing elements that would add to my overall canvas. If Eve were a black woman, what would she look like? Would she be tall, short, skinny or fat? Would her hair be natural, straight, up or down? How would I show her creation, her temptation, her becoming more aware of herself and body?
To do this I put together a group of talented and visionary people in the industry that I felt would carry this concept like it was their own. Creative director, David Rolle pieced the looks together for Eve, orchestrating hair and makeup to follow.MUA, Mandisa Kerr worked her magic brush craftily added the right accents and contours to our models face. Hair stylist, Jameelah Thompson along with her assistant Lovena Magloire created amazing crowns of hair to place on our model that fit the theme.
As expected finding a model to play the role of Eve had its challenges. Because of the reptilian element, many models were skeptical about the representation or meaning behind a very recognizable prop. Selvinique Wright however was down the second I was finished explaining the concept to her. She was in and that was all. On set she moved her body and shaped her poses into works of soft and sultry sentences allowing David to form her into the character “Eve.”
