Naomi Campbell Inspired Fashion Shoot

January 13, 2021 in Fashion, People

Georgie and I worked together a lot in 2020 and coming up on the last shoot of the year, she wanted to do something exciting and epic. We searched the internet for days trying to find inspiration when she came across a photo that supermodel Naomi Campbell had posted. The image itself was very controversial because of what she spoke about. She received many negative comments due to the subject matter, but I loved the dress for me. Georgie loved the dress, and she told me she wanted to have it made and do a shoot somewhere in the now-infamous "dress."

Naomi Campbell photographed by Ethan James Green

So firstly, I am NOT a morning person but I told Georgie because of the nature of the dress, morning light would be incredible. We set call time for 6 am and my team and I drove to the location waiting on the arrival of our model.

Georgie showed up a few mins later and we all walked over to a beach where there was an amazing rock structure that I would put the model against. It would be the perfect backdrop to juxtapose her against.

I used a one-light setup, probing my Godox AD600 pro with a Glow beauty dish on a light stand to illuminate the model. I could have easily used natural light but I wanted more contrasting and “punchy” lighting.

Georgie hit pose after pose with the waves crashing behind her. She climbed the rocks, lay on the rocks and shed any fear she had of heights to get great shots again, and again, and again!

Check out this behind the scenes photo of our location and what it looked like shooting this upcoming talent. Please view the gallery below and enjoy. Drop a few comments or questions in the section following this article.

Be creative!

Romantic Lake Engagement Session - Ceron and Tyrina

December 16, 2020 in Creative, People, Fashion

Our first attempt at this romantic lake themed engagement session was a huge fail!

Yes…I am serious. Tyrina, Ceron and I had a consultation about a month back to discuss photographing them around the story of engagement. From our initial talk, everyone was over-hyped about the idea. Actually, it was Tyrina who brought the idea to me.

Here I am thinking, “hmmm, a lake, a boat, flowers, at sunset? This is perfection!”

So we began the creative process. We spoke about the time of day, the boat itself, the type of flowers. Everyone is amped up, especially me and I literally counted down the days until we were able to shoot.

On the day of the photo shoot, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The lake was glassy smooth, not a cloud in the sky and the team was all prepped and ready. The forces that be had other plans, though. When we arrived on set, our boat had challenges getting into the lake due to its design and the depth of the water. Everything seemed to be going wrong, including our boat captain leaving his cell phone ashore, so we had no way to contact him. In summary, the boat was piloted to the wrong end of the lake, the sunset earlier than we thought and the energy of the location, the team and our clients were swallowed up like a good plate of guava duff. Not to mention the swarm of sandflies who had us for dinner!

We were defeated. The shoot was a dud, and we had no authentic images to be proud of.

Something, however, hit me. While we packed up, I walked over to the couple, and I said to them we should reshoot at no cost. The concept was terrific, and as a creative, I didn’t want to give up on it. Tyrina, who was clearly disappointed and upset about the entire ordeal wasn’t sure at that moment, but I told her to think about it and let me know her final decision. Thankfully, after a few hours, she called me to say, “let’s do it.”

Fast forward to a day before the rescheduled shoot, Tyrina called me in excitement, “Scharad!” she says “ ’ve found the perfect lake and the perfect boat!”

After which, she sent me photos and videos via WhatsApp, and I replied with a few exclamations and expletives (well not really), but I did a few backflips in my head after seeing the visuals she sent to me. Utopia Gardens was going to be the PERFECT location!

So we tried again…

My team and I arrived at the location realizing that it’s even more stunning in person. My adrenaline started rushing and the team set up while Kandice Hanna, a super creative floral artist dressed up our tin rowboat. The clients were ready and eager to begin shooting as we worked quickly to set the scene.

I kept things simple using 1 light and a large modifier. The lake was murky and the bottom was muddy and difficult to walk in but we ignored it all, stepping on slippery stones, tying a rope to the boat so it didn’t float away, along with other dangerous elements. We did so much to capture this beautiful couple in this new setting and it worked! The light was perfect, the scene was perfect, my team were amazing at helping me get the shots I wanted and a whole other set of support staff. Here’s what my clients had to say,

“We had a specific vision for our engagement session and Scharad’s energy from our initial consultation added to our excitement. Prior to the shoot, Scharad sent a detailed mood board with the specific shots we would capture. His attention to detail, positive energy and skill make working with him an absolute pleasure. He went above and beyond to execute the vision and totally exceeded our expectations.”

— Tyrina Neely

At the end of the shoot, everyone clapped because we knew what we went through to get to this point. My clients were overjoyed. My team and I felt accomplished and we got all the shots we wanted to capture.

SEE THE GALLERY

Client: Tyrina Neely + Ceron Rolle

MUA: Raven Simone

Grip: Tameka Petit-Homme

Grip: Kenton Ferguson

Floral Art: Kandice Hanna-Cargill Creative

Location: Utopia Nursery + Gardens

Rapper/Singer Chase Fernander kills in ROYALTY: A Maternity Editorial

October 25, 2020 in Creative, Maternity, People, Fashion

I wanted to work on something that I'd grown to love in my work. Maternity has been a growing part of my portrait work, and I felt the need to shoot a series that would tie in all the things that are apart of my overall style as a photographer. Lisa Sands, MUA and I have wanted to work together for a while, and when I pitched the idea to her, she loved it. It's just that we needed to put together a team to thoroughly execute the production, oh and we needed a muse!

Several weeks later, during lockdowns and quarantines, we finalized our team and after multiple screenings, decided to approach Chase Fernander, a larger than life rapper/singer here on the island of New Providence. We just needed the ok to meet in person to start work on, ROYALTY.

Our first two looks were edgy, bold and to me, very sharp. Shan, our stylist, really flexed her talent on them so when it came down to look three, I knew I wanted something comfortable, painterly and feminine.⁠ In fact, this look was nearly scratched because initially, the team felt it wasn't complete.

The overcoat was mine that conveniently hung in the studio, I usually keep a few pieces for when I shoot male clients. We knew we wanted to use it for the series. So literally minutes to call time I asked Chase in our WhatsApp team group if she'd bring jeans from home. She regrettably had none that fit. I don't know why I asked her to, but I realized that pairing jeans with the coat would be the look I wanted. Shan jumped in and said that she'd turn around, go back home and grab the "perfect pair!" ⁠⠀

This entire shoot was a collaboration between very talented creatives and the planning and time that went into producing the shoot was a massive factor in the success of these images.

ROYALTY ft Chase Fernander⁠
Image: @scharadlphoto⁠⠀⁠
Styling: @_thestylegroup⁠⠀⁠
MUA: @lisa_sands_beauty⁠⠀⁠⠀⁠
Hair: @metamorphosis_bs⁠⠀⁠
Dress: @javiebethell⁠
Props: @jlavishaccents⠀⁠⠀⁠
Film: @truevisionfsc⁠⠀⁠⠀⁠
PA: @amaris_touch @kcbferguson⁠⠀

VIEW THE GALLERY

ENJOY THE “ROYALTY” REEL from TRUEVISION

Beautiful Maternity Couple shoots at Luxurious Location.

October 06, 2020 in Maternity, People

Sometimes I feel fortunate to attract a particular type of clientele. I love shooting in new places and exceptionally beautiful homes. When Jaynna and Jamal reached out about commissioning some maternity portraits, I was ready to fill their request. Jaynna had sent me some photos of concepts she wanted to shoot, and that got me inspired to create something memorable for them.

I told Jaynna in our consultation that we needed to photograph at an amazing location. She took a few seconds to reply, but when she responded, she said: “Scharad hold on, I may have a house we can use.” Shortly after sending me photographs, I replied confidently, “this WILL work!”

We met later on that week to do a walk through the site, and this house was nothing short of amazing. Endless ceilings, perfect marble floors, sky-high glass panels and a view to marvel at were just a few of the things that sold me.

Usually, when I’m inspired by a location, I know the shoot will go well. I put together my shot-list in a few days and gathered my team to work. We shot a full day using only a third of the property, ( it was HUGE) but for me, I knew getting that shot outside on the private beach at sunset was vital. Jaynaa looked amazing in her dress and Jamal was equally as dapper in his custom look.

I was trying to be long-winded with this post, but it didn’t make sense because I wanted the images to speak for the work we did. Usually, I would have shot this natural light, but I decided to shoot using 1 strobe and a broad softbox modifier.

Please enjoy the images below.

Makeup: T’s Artistry

Hair: Tara Miller (Metamorphosis Salon)

Jamal’s Look: KIS Bespoke

PA: Kenton Ferguson Tariq Cartwright

Cinematography: Kyle Ferguson (Jiggy Productions)

WATCH THE CINEMATIC BTS VIDEO

Model: Tarrea SturrupMUA: Italia Wilson (Eye Candy Makeup) — Model: Tarea Sturrup
MUA: Italia Wilson (Eye Candy Makeup)

"MARCH ON!" Bahamian Flag Inspired Beauty

July 10, 2020 in Beauty, Creative, People

Working with a talented makeup artist is always an incredible experience for me. I get these really crazy ideas, and it is still great to know an artist who can help bring your ideas to life. I’ve known Italia of Eye Candy Makeup for some time now, and we’ve worked on epic projects before. We were both coming off a slump due to being quarantined, but when I gave her this idea to collaborate on a shoot where the theme would center around the colours of the Bahamian flag, she did not hesitate.

There was no one else that could do this besides Tarea Sturrup, the reigning Miss Universe Bahamas. We saw via Instagram that she had recently cut her hair too, so her look was perfect for the concept. Italia’s studio was perfect for doing everything. Our concept involved applying dramatic makeup to the model layered with various sizes of gold glitter. I watched her (Italia) like a kid at Disney World for the first time, my mouth hung, seeing her apply everything to the model. It was indeed about an hour and a half build-up that I could appreciate. We sometimes have no idea how much time goes into works of art but experiencing this in person was definitely an eye-opener.

For my lighting, I used a 3 light setup. (see photo) One strobe overhead the model fitted with a blue gel to cast the light over the model's torso while another strobe sits behind the model to her right fit with an orange/yellow gel as an edge light. Another strobe was placed behind me to give the model’s face some fill and what you see are the results are exactly what I wanted. Tarea put the modelling background to the test! I gave minimal direction. Once the flashes began to fire, she moved and danced, slithered and sauntered her head, shoulders, hands and eyes into mystical frames.

I did a BTS (behind the scenes video) of the set so that you guys could see the shoot in its entirety from application to shooting. Please enjoy the images and video. Feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what you think!

WATCH THE BTS VIDEO

Whimsical maternity session with Star and Carlos Palacious

June 28, 2020 in Creative, Family, People, Maternity

The more I shoot maternity sessions, the more I fall in love with this type of portrait work. My approach after a client contracts me if to create something different and I usually try to start away from the traditional pregnancy sessions I’ve seen before.

When Anastarcia aka Star approached me about shooting her maternity images, this was just the case. She wanted something unique and told me that she expected me to produce images that were whimsical beautiful and timeless. Even though my focus is the mother to be, Star insisted on including her toddler daughter Cairo and husband Carlos. That’s a lot of pressure for one shoot, right?

Star sent me a few images of what she wanted her and Cairo to wear. Seeing the dramatic dress sparked so much inspiration in me because I knew immediately after seeing the dress where I would want this to be photographed. We also selected a stylish suit and shoes for Carlos to wear which complimented the theme and then went on to think of ways to make the shoot work. We were coming off strict restrictions placed by our government due to COVID-19, so we had to take into account safety as well as her high-risk status.

In the photography world, there are ideas that you think of that are seldomly a “first”, and I googled for days under the search topic “Maternity shoot on a horse ranch.” After coming up with very little, my excitement grew even more, especially since the couple was one of colour. It took a few weeks to put together a mood board and shot list, and since I was quarantined at home, I had lots of time to perfect it. Ironically enough, we were supposed to shoot way before the country was shut down, on a much larger scale but COVID forced us to keep things simple.

We took the couple, their housekeeper and my PA and executed within our social distancing guidelines. Using one large modifier and one light, I was able to mix ambient light and an artificial strobe to create lighting that was effortless and natural. Star performed like a champ and Carlos was a good sport doing everything we needed him to do. Cairo, the couples two and a half year old gave us about 15 mins of her time before she retired back to her quarters, typical toddler behaviour!

We got beautiful shots of the family together, the couple and Mom to be, all in 45 mins before the sun went down. The location, lighting and styling all worked seamlessly together.

Please enjoy the images below.

Makeup and Hair: Anastarcia Palacios

Floral Arrangement: The Greenhouse Bahamas

Dress: Katharina Hakaj Couture

PA: Kenton Ferguson