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| Wilson Park was the perfect setting for a romantic, fairytale shoot with Carmen Carcamo. |
A few weeks ago I was lucky to get a chance to shoot with esteemed local photographer Carmen Carcamo. She has a very cool fantasy-surrealist style that I love. I came across her work on Instagram, as happens with a lot of the models and photographers I work with these days. I asked her if she would be interested in shooting some of my spring Romance collection and she said yes, and we set up a date to shoot a few weeks later, at Wilson Park in Fayetteville. Here's a little rundown of our photoshoot, and the final result.
In the afternoon of shooting day, we all met up at the salon of the hair and makeup artist, Rhonda Kelly-Duncan. Rhonda has done all kinds of hair and makeup competitions and photoshoots so we just told her the vibe of the outfits and turned her loose on it. Since there were 3 models and only one HMUA, Carmen scheduled us to begin at 2, and plan on shooting by 6. Rhonda was an absolute whirlwind, switching back and forth between models efficiently.
Behind the scenes team cuties:
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| Rhonda, the hair/makeup artist, Carmen, the photographer, and me. |
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| Models Tabatha, Gelynda, and Amanda |
With hair and makeup finished around 5:30, we started getting the models dressed. The corsets are a bit of work to get into, they have to be laced up and tightened. We waited to put on the hoop skirts until we got to the location.With hoops and headpieces packed in the trunk, we all piled into Carmen's car and headed to the park.
Rhonda did a quick touch up on makeup when we got there.
My main job was to dress the models, taking headpieces on and off for photos, and double checking to make sure everything was on correctly. I also got to help throw rose petals in the air for one of the shots, LOL! (Petals from the ground, we didn't hurt any roses!)
Rhonda was on reflector duty to help deflect some of the strong afternoon sun.
There were so many roses in bloom!! It was perfect. Smelled amazing too.
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| Yes, that is a giant earthworm sculpture! I told you this park is cool. |
Using the shadow of the castle. It was sooo hot out. Bless these ladies in the full dresses with petticoats!! Absolute troopers.
When we started the light was harsh but it mellowed out as the day wore on. Carmen eventually shot all the looks with the castle, with flowers, various poses and combinations. We sustained ourselves with cookies and bottled water while we waited between shots.
The Death dress has a 15 foot train that needed to be rearranged for each pose. Challenging and fun. The reflection on the water was really neat.
By the end of the day we were all hot & tired but super happy, having laughed through the day, and knowing we got some great shots. It's always fun spending the day doing what you love. Seeing the beautiful finished photos is the icing on the cake!
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| Heartbreak (Tabatha Taylor) |
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| Death (Amanda Knoner) |
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| LOVE (Gelynda Johnson) |
Thanks for reading! -RR
