5 inspirations for shoots

Sometimes people ask me how I come up with my ideas for shoots.  It usually goes like this:

1. Color
2. Affordability for materials
3. Texture
4. An artist or genre of art
5. Color!
   
   

When I saw the photos of the red dress Kristen had (by Tygerian Lace), I was thrilled as this is my favorite color.  Immediately, I went about designing a headpiece to match with it. 
 
Affordability came into play, as I used materials that I already had on hand—paper.  Yes, it’s made from paper flowers which are attached to paper plates.  I also had a bit of leftover fringe on hand, and of course ribbons. 

Texture comes about in the technique I used to create the hand-rolled paper flowers.  I wanted swirls, with glints of gold highlighting the edges.  Also, I wanted texture in the background of these images.  Again—adhering to affordability—I happened across deeply discounted rolls of deco mesh at Joann’s after Christmas.  These lent themselves greatly to creating a unique textured backdrop for the shoot.

Now, I hadn’t had an artist in mind when we did the shoot.  In fact, I was just going by color, texture, and what my wallet could afford.  I was also coming down with a cold that week, and sadly, by the day of the shoot, it hit me full force.  Powering through the sore throat and grogginess of Dayquil, I focused on the colors and textures both before and during the shoot.  Then came after…
 
As I scrolled through the images on my computer following the shoot (after a much-needed nap and more cold meds), the colors reminded me of Gustav Klimt’s paintings.  Now, I didn’t look at his work while pulling materials for this shoot, but I have looked at it in the past.  As a teacher, I’m a big believer in the more input, the better output.  To be a creative, you need to continually be viewing works of art. 
 
Studying art history, theory, and techniques outside your chosen genre is a wonderful way to improve your abilities.  So, this is something that I do as a daily practice.  In fact, I wouldn’t be doing photography, if it weren’t for all the genres of art (most outside photography) that I have viewed and studied during my life.  I certainly wouldn’t be designing headpieces if I hadn’t learned a variety of crafts (painting, jewelry making, knitting, etc.). 
 
Keeping in mind the color and faming of subjects in Klimt’s works, I went forth with my post work—using this inspiration for my cropping and color adjustments.  Which this now leads me back again to color.  In post, color is everything for me as I will emphasize it using curves, gradients, and hue/saturation. 
 
These 5 points are my inspirations and what shapes my thought process.  Ok, there are more than just these, but in it’s simplest form:  Color, Affordability, Texture, Artist/Genre, Color.

Photography:  Jeannie Nadja
Model:  Kristen Walters
MUA/Stylist:  Jeannie Nadja
Wardrobe:  Dress by Tygerian Lace and Headpiece by JNS Designed

Some of these images were recently published in Editorial Magazine.  For print copies visit: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/1230346