Larnie in the Wilderness

Styling & Photos: Me
Model: Larnie Campbell

Sometime in the spring I styled and shot some photos with my friend Larnie. We went off the beaten path and into the woods for this one and collectively acquired more tics than we ever imagined possible. With the tic problem long gone at this point, I can gladly say the photos were worth it. I like what we came away with and I always appreciate an opportunity to practice with my film camera.

P.S. Sorry I've been away most of the summer! I made a goal to back away from the internet for a while in order to spend more time in the gym and in my sewing room. It's working! I'm running everyday and, best of all, I'm sewing again. :)


 And I took a few Instax photos too. . .

Hello it's me

It's been so long since I last wrote a blog post. How are you?

I went to Mexico earlier this month to visit a handful of ancient Maya sites scattered throughout the Yucatán. I've been home for a while and meaning to stop by to say hi and to post some photos of my trip but I was tied up writing a research paper about how frogs were connected to the Maya rain god Chac during the pre-Hispanic cenote rituals. It was an interesting topic, I only wish that art history papers didn't stress me out like they do. Happy to cross that one off my list.

 The photo I'm posting today is one that I took with my film camera sometime in the spring. I've hung lace tablecloths in place of curtains all of my house and I'm constantly chasing their shadows with my camera.

Remnants of Haskell

Model: Kayla Hackler

I was pretty disappointed when I picked up the film from this shoot because I messed up a few things with my camera and lost some of the photos that I was most looking forward to. That's why it was nice having this set on my digital camera to cheer me up. There's really no story to explain these photos. As I mentioned in the last post, I had just been thumbing through a lot of Sally Mann's work at the time and since I have yet to master a large format camera I settled for shooting mostly black and white. Hope you like them.

Thanks again to my niece Kayla for modeling and my sister Traci for letting her!

Silhouettes

 Towards the end of February the weather was as perfect as it's ever been, and I had an itch to take some pictures. I couldn't seem to coordinate anything with my usual models so I put an open call on facebook asking for anyone who was interested. I received lots of responses, but that particular day I ended up working with my niece. I drove to the small town she lives in, met my sister for a tour of some beat up buildings before meeting up with my niece after school. We found the most beautiful old buildings stacked together next to a pasture and a small barn. Kayla was an A+ model and I was so impressed with her willingness to do all the crazy things I requested. I'd been looking at a lot of Sally Mann's work before taking this set, so she was definitely a major influence.

These are the photos I shot with my 35mm. I'll share the digital photos later this week.

Kayla

I got several rolls of film back yesterday that I'm hoping to post on the blog soon! The first roll I'm working on is the set I shot of my niece Kayla a while back. As usual, I held onto the film for way too long and nearly forgot that I had it. I also forgot to request CD's of the photos, so I'm patiently scanning them in two x two. Here's a teaser of some Instax photos I took. More soon!

dear diary.

 

School started this week and I made egg and ham biscuits twice. I love when I have a break from school, but the truth is, it makes me lazy. I loll around in my pj's for half the day and listen to my belly rumble until noon. With school I'm forced into a plan, and out in time to have lunch with a friend or to take a trip to the thrift store.

Lately my preference has been antique mall over thrift store. It's probably all that camera practice that I get there, and the fact that the booths are arranged so nicely with such a warm, homey atmosphere. Everywhere I turn there's pretty things for me to frame with my camera. Once I get more analog practice I'd like to start selling prints on etsy, and the real reason I'm posting today is to see if any of you have experience with that? I'd love to hear how it worked out for you.

Nothing that surrounds us is object, all is subject.

This was model Katy's favorite outfit from our shoot with Lauren Kemp's collection. She came in town yesterday for a different shoot with me and another photographer, but we had to cancel last minute because the hair/makeup artist never showed. It was a frustrating situation.

I used to get pretty bummed when stuff like that happened, especially because so much thought and planning goes into every detail of a shoot. Some models have to ask off work, others drive in from nearby cities, and you just have to cross your fingers and hope that everyone follows through and shows up like they promised. Most of the time it works out, but sometimes it doesn't. I just try to keep a positive attitude and reschedule as quickly as possible. Yesterday we cured the blues with pizza.

Girl & Kitten

Winter break is almost over, and I haven't gotten any better at regular blog updates. Sorry about that. I don't have much of a desire for taking outfit photos anymore, except on certain occasions, and the truth is, I don't read too many blogs anymore either. It's sad in a way, but it's a separation I've been wanting for a while. There's lots of other projects I'd like to do with my house and things I'd like to create in my sew room, and I'd love to pick up drawing again, too. It's all a welcomed change. I still plan to post my work here when I have something to show, whether it's a shoot I've styled or photographed, or a dress that I've sewn. I know there will be outfits scattered throughout too, but for now I really want to focus on other things.

Today I'm sharing another set of Katy modeling Lauren Kemp's collection. It was all shot in what was Lauren's apartment (she's off to Portland now), and my kitten, Hank, who's now much bigger than he is in these photos (they were shot in October) made an appearance too. I think I have two more outfits to share from this shoot before I'm done (it was a long day), but the funny part is, I have another just-for-fun shoot with Katy later this week. She's just so fun to work with, and such a beautiful model!

Photos shot with vintage Canon TLB.

Wednesday

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! I got a few things from my wishlist and a few cool things that I wasn't expecting, and Jake approved of all his gifts too. I'd venture to say this year's gift exchange was a success. I meant to stop back by the blog last week to announce the winner of the Romwe giveaway, but the excitement around Christmas kept me away. So congratulations to MARILYN. You're the winner of the Romwe giveaway! Someone will be in touch with you very soon about collecting your prize.

I've still got a few photos left of model Katy wearing Lauren Kemp's designs which I'll try to share over the next few weeks. This photo is the only good one I got of that cozy outfit. Doesn't Katy look beautiful?

Lauren Kemp + Katy (Part 4)

Photographer: Starr Crow w/ Vintage Canon TLb
Model: Katy Tipton
Designer: Lauren Kemp
Art Director: Heather Canterbury & Starr Crow

Just a few more shots of Katy to show from our shoot with Lauren's collection. If I had to pick one outfit that I was most looking forward to it was this one. A cutout dress with a boater and a bike, and a basket just big enough for a furry muffin to play in. Maybe my excitement was a distraction when it came to loading the film because I certainly failed at that. My friend Heather helped me with the first set, but she took my training wheels off for this one and my lack of experience showed. Improper installation coupled with the exact opposite ISO settings required = a waste of film. I preserved my most favorites so you guys could at least see the dress; notice the criss-crossed neckline and the cutout detail at the waist. Perrrfection.

P.S. -- one more test before school's out for the semester, andddd Corey's back in Little Rock for good. Hope you're ready to see my face again.

Library Visits

Photographer: Starr Crow w/ Vintage Canon TLb
Model: Katy Tipton
Designer: Lauren Kemp
Art Director: Heather Canterbury & Starr Crow

I'm sorry I've been gone all week. I got sidetracked with an art history presentation that I was incredibly ill-prepared for. I've still got quite a few photos of Lauren Kemp's collection to share, but these seemed like the best segue from my life lately. Lots of books and long library visits. . .  I'm counting down the days until I'm out of school for winter break and I can finally start hanging out and having fun again.

UPDATE: Lauren's got a new blog! She's got some close up shots of her designs and lots of photos from the runway show, and I've got my fingers crossed that she'll do some awesome DIY's real soon. I've been wanting her to start a blog for ages, so I'm incredibly excited about this news. Pretty please go show her some love and welcome her to the wonderful world of blogging.

Lauren Kemp Fall 2011 + Katy (part 2)

Photographer: Starr Crow w/ Vintage Canon TLb
Model: Katy Tipton
Designer: Lauren Kemp
Stylist: Lauren Kemp & Starr Crow
Art Director: Heather Canterbury & Starr Crow

Continuing on with more photos from the shoot I did with Lauren's designs and Katy's pretty face. . .

I've got more photos from this indoor set that I love and will probably show you soon, but I couldn't resist the way these four matched up together. The mood and colors (especially in the bottom three) make perfect sense together. It's kind of annoying, but I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to the cohesiveness of those sorts of things. These photos have me itching to do another shoot in Lauren's expertly curated home as soon as possible.

Lauren Kemp Fall 2011 + Katy (Part 1)

Photographer: Starr Crow
Model: Katy Tipton
Designer: Lauren Kemp
Stylist: Lauren Kemp & Starr Crow
Art Director: Heather Canterbury & Starr Crow

Last year I posted photographs of local fashion designer Lauren Kemp's fall 2010 collection. She shows every year at HarvestFest and last year I was lucky enough to snap some photos from the crowd. This year I walked in the show (for a different designer) and wasn't able to steal any photographs of my own, so I decided to set up a shoot with Lauren and a few other friends.

My friend Heather Canterbury and I planned out the locations and asked the lovely Katy Tipton if she'd like to model. She said yes which was a relief because she's one of my favorite models to work with in this entire city. Not only is she gorgeous, but she's also tons of fun and always has the best attitude no matter how tiring the day is.

I told you guys I was worried about messing up since I was shooting with a film camera for the first time in a while, and well, my worst nightmares were realized about half-way through. We did some photos inside and some photos outside, and I forgot to change the film speed for our first two outfits outside which happened to be my two favorite looks of the entire day. . . This is one of the sets that I messed up, and to be honest, I may like these a little better than the "right" ones. I'll be sure to share the rest soon, and you can tell me what you think. If you're interested in any of the clothing, let me know and I'll see if I can get Lauren to put a price on it for you. Big thanks to Jake for letting me steal his car for the day!

Audrey

Photographer and Stylist: Me
Model: Audrey Dean Kelly

Audrey and I got together again to finish our photography session yesterday. I dressed her in a 30s art deco gown that I found at a yard sale for a couple of dollars years ago. It's been hanging on my wall ever since, waiting for a girl with the most petite waist to come along and squeeze into it. It worked perfectly on Audrey. It's sheer and in the most beautiful shade of blue with beads all along the bodice. I thought a gypsy headpiece would add a nice touch, but since I still don't have one, I used a necklace instead. It did the job just fine. I hope you like the photos! This set may be one of my favorites ever. If you'd like to see the rest, just visit me on flickr. And if you'd like to hear some of Audrey's music, you can find it here.