Lisa Nichols and Marcellus Hall Engagement Shoot on the island of Eleuthera

October 03, 2022 in BTS, People, Portraits

I remember getting a call from Lisa Nichols quite early one Sunday morning. She told me that she'd been approached by several publications to use her and Marcellus Hall’s official engagement photos. She said, " Scharad, before I start, I just need you to say yes!"

I didn't hesitate either. I said, "Lisa, whatever we do, we can't shoot in Nassau. We need to go to Eleuthera!"

I told Lisa that shooting in Eleuthera would give me a playground of different locations that I'd photographed before but not enough. Eleuthera is in my top 3 most beautiful islands in our archipelago. Lisa told me she’d never been, but she trusted me with her vision.

On day 1, we took Lisa and Marcellus near the Hatchet Bay Silos. It was a beautiful sight to see this couple move alongside the road. They were talking and smiling together, embracing and overall having a great time with these impressive structures in the background.

This was one of many locations we used on the island. We shot in Gregory Town, Queen’s Bath and on the beautiful Gaulding Cay Beach. I don’t know if my team were more excited about the images of the couple or about discovering all these picturesque pockets of Eleuthera.

WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO

📸: Photography by: Scharad Lightbourne

🎥: Videography by: TandT Media

👗: Stylist: Anastarcia Palacious

💄: Makeup: Torkel Dawkins

✊🏾: Grip: Tameka Petit Homme

Megan Skye, Daniella Beauchamp and Serena Chen for Javotte’s Couture

Shooting a Bridal Editorial at the Nassau Port Lighthouse

July 13, 2022

Javotte, or “Javie” as she is affectionately called, is one of the country’s top designers. I’ve always wanted to work with Javie because her designs are phenomenal. Her imagination and skillset with a needle and thread seem to have no limitation. Her art director Wild Tamarind (Tamara Delaney), reached out to me. I was thrilled to hear that Javie was working on a new collection and wanted me to photograph it.

What sold me even more, was that Tamara told me she secured a fantastic location for the shoot to take place, the old lighthouse that sits at the face of the Nassau Port. I thought I’d have to be a fool to pass up this opportunity…so the planning began.

We put together this fantastic team of creatives to bring the vision together. Tamara planted a few seeds in my head and gave me the creative freedom to map out how the images would look. The models were hand-picked because we wanted a specific aesthetic for all the visuals. Moreso, I wanted moving visuals to the set because the location would lend to this mystery of how the models would have landed there in the first place.

Tamara and I must have met months in advance working and planning the shoot with MUA Cody Fountain and Aline Charles, who was charged with hair styling. At the same time, Javie slaved away, creating her couture masterpieces. We designed the scenes for both stills and video, scouted the location before and made a detailed list of supplies we’d need before our journey to get to this lighthouse.

Speaking on the journey, we travelled by boat to the lighthouse and had a short hike that put the team at the doorstep of this once historic landmark. The boat crew, myself and the videographer took the boat closer to strategically get all of the heavy gear from the ship to land because the hike would have been too much. We prevailed with our mission, and the shoot was incredible. Watched the dresses adorn the models with the lighthouse in the backdrop, seagulls overhead, and a few passing ships made the set feel unreal.

I decide to photograph this editorial with only natural light. I knew it would give the feel that I enjoy shooting the most. I relied heavily on the available light that I had and was able to pose the model around the light with confidence.

Please enjoy the images and video responsibly and let me know what you thought of the shoot in the comments below.

WATCH THE CINEMATIC FILM

Javotte Bethell x Scharad Lightbourne with Wild Tamarind Bahamas

Couture inspired. A Bridal Landscape. Artfully designed.

Credits

Gown Designer: Javotte Couture

Art Director: Wild Tamarind Bahamas (Tamara Delany)

Makeup Artist: Cody Fountain

Hair Stylist: Aline Charles

Models

Daniella

Beauchamp

Megan Skye

Serena Chen

Grips

Tameka Petit Homme

Cidney Thompson

Video

Film: Scharad Lightbourne

BTS: Shavron Rolle

Olde Town Lady: A Historic Collection of Modern Day Portraits.

March 22, 2022 in Creative, Fashion, People, Portraits

OLDE TOWNE LADY is a series that brings the stories of different generations of Bahamian women out of the shadows and analyzes how they collectively contributed to the culture and traditions that are common and upheld in our Bahamian society today. We aim to theorize and construct the historical knowledge of Bahamian Women through Oral Histories and Creative Interpretations.

Creating New Beauty Portraits!

February 24, 2022 in People, Beauty, Creative

I have always wanted to push myself as a portrait photographer. Beauty portraits are one of my favourite genres to shoot, and when you have a fantastic team of makeup artists and hairstylists, it makes these sessions incredibly rewarding. We all are very clean and minimal in our styles, and we like to keep stunning but straightforward aesthetics in our work. Cody Fountain and Aline Charles were the perfect pairings for this portrait session.

So to get this ball rolling, we wanted to select a diverse range of models to style for hair makeup and, ultimately, the photo. I think we did a great job choosing women who’d had little to no modelling experience. From natural hair to stunning blue eyes, the portfolio of subjects who confirmed excited us and we were ready to get to work in the studio right away.

Cody, Aline and I worked closely together even before the shoot to figure out what looks we would create for each model.

We threw in stylist/designer Ria Georgina who put the finishing touches on each model, and the shoot went over really well. From the hair to eyeshadow and more, the team was confident that we’d keep things simple while enhancing each woman.

MUA: Cody Fountain

Hair: Aline Charles

Styling: Ria Georgina

Film: TrueVisionFSC

Portraits of Realtor. Private Banker & Watch Collector, Bobby Chen

October 08, 2021 in Fashion, Lifestyle, People

“Working with Scharad was a cakewalk. He’s a consummate professional full of creative energy along with the perfect timing to capture the essence in every shot. He went above and beyond to ensure that the environment and creative process brought out the best expressions in me and my wife. An absolute pleasure to work with and the finished products are indeed timeless to say the least.”

— Bobby Chen

I met Bobby Chen a few years ago when I did some headshots for the real estate firm he worked for, and he seemed to be a pretty cool dude. As I followed his career path, I noticed he had an interesting portfolio that included cryptocurrency, private banking, and more so, a love for collection luxury and vintage timepieces.

You see, photographers are always looking to add more exciting people to their portfolios. Bobby seemed intelligent, accomplished and we both shared similar interests.

I reached out to Bobby via social media and asked him if he would shoot with me. After explaining my concept some more, he eagerly agreed. I explained to him I would photograph him in a way that timelined what a possible day would look like for him. I made up this story that he’d wake up, take a morning swim, have coffee in bed with his wife before heading to work and I also threw a pseudo modelling career for fun and date night with his beautiful wife, Patrice. We all felt this was going to be a great shoot to execute.

The shot list was simple enough, but I called on friend/stylist Shan Oliver to put all the looks together. Bobby had multiple options for wardrobe from his own closet, so we simply pulled from that to make it work. Working with a stylist is very important; I showed Shan a mood board of looks that I liked, and she was able to put pieces together based on my vision and used her expertise to make each outfit pop. She knows my style is clean and straightforward, so she made the styling the same.

The shoot went relatively smooth and we shot the entire day. Bobby got through it like a champ and with his wife by his side, he was able to confidently knock and model his looks out the park. The team had a great time working with this multifaceted Bahamian.

Bobby Chen by Scharad Lightbourne

Styling: Shan Oliver

Grip: Tameka Petit Homme

Grip: Sammy Rutherford

MUAs: Torkel Dawkins- Patrice’s morning look

MUA: Raven Forbes - Patrice’s evening look

Running a portrait session with Olympic Gold Medalist Steven Gardiner

September 12, 2021 in People

This title is so fitting because I had no time to photograph gold medalist Steven Gardiner. When I tell you the lengths I took to photograph Steven, you might not believe me, but I will tell you how this opportunity came to me to photograph “Speedy Stevie.”

Here we are, The Bahamas, a country hyped, and excited, fresh off back to back wins in the men and women's 400-meter race by local track athletes Steven Gardiner and Shaunae Miller-Uibo. The whole country was excited for them to come home, and a light bulb went off in my head. I wondered, "wouldn't it be an honour to photograph either one of them? Cementing them in the fabric of Bahamian Photography?"

I'll be honest with you, I had connected with Steven a few years prior because I wanted to photograph him shortly before he won his first Olympic medal. This Abaco born son holds numerous Bahamian records amongst his other accolades, so I felt my role was to make sure unique and driven Bahamians like him are photographed for historical purposes.

Let's get back on track. (pun intended)

I was determined to photograph Steven and Shaunae on their return trip, and once I saw the welcome celebrations at the airport, I got on my mobile phone and started my search to contact either athlete. I am not exaggerating when I say I called the entire country to reach Steven. I felt he may have been more accessible than Shaunae. Yes, I did have his contact, but it was a US number, and he wasn't answering texts. I contacted people close to him who never followed up. I called EVERYONE but, to my disappointment, I struck out with the opportunity to photograph him, and I watched everyone get their 5 seconds with the two and then they were gone.

But…one day, on a Tuesday afternoon, something told me not to give up. I texted Steven, and he responded! I congratulated him and told him what I wanted to do. I threw out the question, "when would you be in town again?" to which he responded, "Thursday." I gasped, thinking he meant a week from that day, but he meant 2 days away! I had an hour of his free time, and I had to make it count!

I scrambled to think of a concept. Steven was down for whatever I came up with. After crossing out a million ideas, I just decided to keep it simple. I would take my backdrop outside and use natural light. Less fuss, less clutter, just clean and simple.

Steven brought a few clothing items, ones he'd packed prior, so I didn't style him; I just picked out a few pieces I thought may have been great on camera. I wanted to call my stylist badly, but there was no time. I had to think quick. I had no mood board, shot list, or planned anything, just me, my Nikon, and the subject.

Steven was surprisingly awkward in front of the camera. A far from his natural environment of running on the track. But that pushed me to direct him more. I was happy with what I got in a short time, and hopefully, these images last forever. Plus I got to hold an Olympic medal!

Please enjoy!