© athena danoy. all rights reserved.

© athena danoy. all rights reserved.

This was my first newborn shoot. And I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it. I could definitely get use to this.

© athena danoy. all rights reserved.

If you haven’t heard already, the best look for spring is “smile”. It will also be my best look for summer, winter and autumn.

© athena danoy. all rights reserved.

When photographing wedding gowns with a train, place the train in front of the subject rather than on the side (and never behind like in the left image). Doing so will help make your subject look longer. Especially good for brides that want the extra height that heels alone cannot achieve. But even if the bride doesn’t need the height, it still looks better to place the train in front. And if the bride is looking over her shoulder with her back to the camera or to her side, have the train always flowing towards you, the photographer.

images courtesy www.ejerciciosdeestilo.com

My wedding day (many years ago!). This image was shot by a family member but we also had a professional photographer—and I’m ever so glad we invested in one because our wedding pics are the only images of myself I like looking at. Our wedding was a morning wedding (as in late morning) and the ceremony itself took place in the gardens of Curzon Hall, Sydney. I remember the photographer being disappointed with the light because there was so much of it on the side of the building where our ceremony was taking place. I couldn’t understand why he preferred taking our pics in the shade of the archways but the photographs turned out SO beautiful. Now as a photographer I can understand and appreciate the choices he made. Wedding photography is hard work so if you get a good working professional one, they’re worth every cent because they know what they’re doing.

. . . of lifestyle bridal shoot for local magazine I shot during spring break. Appreciative of all the talent that came together to create these images in such short notice.

Model: Hailey with the Campbell Agency
Hair: Sarah Cisneros with Jackson Ruiz
Makeup (and hair): Clarissa Luna
Styling: Brandy Joy Smith
Assistant Stylists: Seane Marie, Vinh Ngo
Photography Assistant: Pam Smith

I really liked her bag so had her use it in our test. When she told me it was a diaper bag I thought no fair! Accessories for mothers have certainly come a long way from when I was a mother with young children. Of course one could use a tote or large hand bag as a diaper bag but a diaper bag needs all the compartments to hold bottles, diapers, bibs etc that your usual bag will not have. Because it not only has to look good, it has to be functional too.

On the subject of diaper bags—Camila Alves (and her mother) make and design bags including diaper bags. Makes sense to me. Now I wonder if the tote she is carrying here is her own design.

Yesterday a friend and I visited the Fine Arts Museum in Houston to visit the latest exhibition displaying masterpieces of the Impressionists. While there I visited the exhibition of photographer Heinrich Kühn (who I had never heard of before). Kühn was a photographer and scientist at the turn of the 20th century who, being skilled in processing, manipulated his images and printed them on various art papers that gave his photographs the character of a charcoal drawing and even of a painting. Which reminded me of a couple years ago when I got my first digital slr camera. I was walking along the beach with it in hand experimenting with the different modes and shot this image. Though I was upset that I had broken my camera (and had to send it in for service) I was pleasantly surprised at how much the image looked like a painting. Unlike Kühn who knew what he was doing, I had no idea what I did to capture this but am always surprised and excited at what can happen when I “mess around” with my camera (which isn’t a bad thing to do if you can prevent from breaking your equipment). Kühn was also a member of the pictorialist movement (something I had never heard of until yesterday too) that worked to elevate photography from “a strictly commercial venture to an accepted artistic medium.” So there you go. If you’re in Houston, be sure to visit the Fine Arts Museum; particularly of note, the exhibition of photographer Heinrich Kühn: The Perfect Photograph.

“Fashion is what you’re offered four times a year. Style is what you pick out of that fashion. . . it’s what you make of it once you’ve learned what to accept and ignore based on what best suits you.”

and “Developing your very best personal style – and that includes figuring out what works for your body type – involves a lot of trial and error. Youth is for trying absolutely everything.” Lauren Hutton.

Lauren Hutton featured in the JCrew magazine in 1994 and again in 2009.