My first lookbook shoot! Amy at Sassafras gave me the opportunity to shoot a lookbook for her spring fashions this year, so we rounded up our friends and scheduled a photoshoot! We shot all over Belltown, capturing lifestyle images of cool girls wearing handmade, limited run items. This might be my favorite king of photography — leaning towards documentary, but not quite because the clothing and locations were all planned ahead of time. Plus I do a lot of cleanup in photoshop when it comes to images intended to sell products. Everything has to look great!
When it comes to locations, Belltown has no shortage of cool, quirky bars and cozy coffee shops. Bedlam Coffee was at the top of our list, since they have funky decor, great coffee and they're super nice! We managed to find some windowlight to brighten the dark rooms upstairs, and it created a really nice, natural atmosphere for girl talk.
I love this shot of Sharrell, wearing Boho Republic, buying herself a coffee drink. Do you know why it looks so natural? Because it was real. She wasn't posing and might not have even known I was shooting. Blurring the lines between real life and art is becoming second nature.
Diner culture is still prevalent in Seattle, and Cyclops Cafe and Lounge is one of the coolest spots for lifestyle photography. There's so much to look at! Great diner seats and tables, cool neon signs and really eclectic decor. Shooting with the window in the background above, I even like the busy urban backgdrop of colorful signs, street lights and traffic going by.
Cyclops has a bit of a split personality with its bright diner side and it's dark back bar side. They both worked for our purposes and I'm thrilled with how the colors turned out.
I can't lie — this shot was absolutely planned and posed, but it still looks natural. We were happy to promote Spa Noir — they were generous with their beautiful lobby space and let us take tons of photos, as long as we were quiet and didn't disturb the spa guests. I tried to get their name in a few shots to give them a plug. It's always nice to cross promote!
It was a fun filled afternoon and these ladies were very good sports! We had to get the quintessential walking photo. Thanks to Zakiya, Twyla, Michelle, Sharrell and of course, Amy from Sassafras! Once the lookbook is published, I'll share a link.