Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 8
Assisting Kaela in a modeling portfolio shoot with Jaclyn.
Over the past two months, some big changes have come about in my life. Towards the end of June, I completed finals, wrapped up everything for Portfolio Show at Heinz Field and graduated from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh with my Bachelors in Photography. Needless to say, I've had my hands full with work, which I will be sharing more about in a later post. But on another note, I'll be catching up on posts from projects and the final weeks of my internship.
First up is behind the scenes of Kaela's modeling shoot with the always stunning, Jaclyn. Jaclyn is building her modeling portfolio, so I assisted during her shoot that took place in studio, downtown Pittsburgh, and Oakland. Jaclyn had a variety of classy outfit choices, and Kaela chose the perfect looks for each location. My favorite look may be the final one with the strips of light shining through the columns. I just love that the dress mimics the columns itself. As always, I'm still impressed with Kaela's abilities to location scout for a specific look and stay organized. A skill that is so necessary when it comes to photography and working with clients.
*Also did I mention Jaclyn looks like Angelina Jolie?!
Check out Kaela's website to see more of her fashion work: Kaela Speicher Photography
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 7
Behind the scenes of a men's fashion shoot in Ohio.
As a photographer, there are always locations I keep secret and in mind for future shoots, just waiting for the perfect concept to make itself known. Kaela did the same with this location in the boonies of Ohio for a men's fashion shoot. We had a great team to work together for the day: Kaela was the photographer of course, makeup by Hannah Donovan, hair by Colton DeLong, stylist Teera Doner, model Gabriel Hopkins, and I assisted.
The look Kaela was going for was, and I quote, "new age refined lumber jack, Mumford and Sons meets runway". I love that description, and lets all agree here that everyone's work nailed it for this shoot!
The day was a long one, mostly from the heat and the bugs, and a random torrential downpour, but oh such a fun one seeing this shoot come together! Plus, it was in my favorite state and we were out in the country, so I felt right at home. And lo and behold, a rainbow was across the sky as we crossed the Pennsylvania state line. Happy endings, am I right?
While assisting and fighting off bugs, I was able to capture some moments behind the scenes again. Here are some of my favorites from the day!
See Kaela's images of Gabriel over on her website: Kaela Speicher Photography. You can click the link, or click the image below to see Gabriel's gallery.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 5-6
Before and after selections of a couple retouched images Kaela and I have worked on.
The past couple weeks have been insanely busy with my internship, classes, planning for graduation, and eating and sleeping somewhere in between. We have covered a combination of retouching methods and also adjusting the perspective of an image, especially in architectural photographs. Architectural photography is something I've never attempted, besides Instagram if that counts. But needless to say, I've never worked with correcting the perspective of an image further than adjusting the distortion simply in Lightroom. Now, since learning how impactful it can be, I take a look at the perspective and distortion of each image I edit.
Furthermore with retouching methods, Kaela has given me several of her files to retouch on my own with the methods we have covered, and then review them when I've worked with them. Below are two of the images a combination of both Kaela and I have worked on the past couple of weeks. All images belong to Kaela, and you can see more of her work on her website: Kaela Speicher Photography.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 4
Behind the scenes of Kaela's studio shoot for male modeling portfolio.
Studio sessions are oh-so enjoyable with feel-good music, a versatile area and window light to shoot in, and when you can smell donuts from the shop next door. This week, I assisted Kaela for her shoot that had several looks for a modeling portfolio, in a cute studio in the Strip District.
Watching shoots taking place from the perspective as an intern has made me realize that just slowing down, taking a step back, and breaking down what you need accomplished in a shoot, everything will (or should) flow more smoothly. Kaela has top notch organizational skills, so seeing her work is mind blowing how well everything lines up in preparation, and time wise. She shared with me her process in planning details from makeup and hair, wardrobe decisions, and replicating a specific look with clients that guided the shoot along in a functional way.
After doing some excellent reflector holding, I helped pack up the gear before looking at the images on her desktop. We went through the images and talked about why one photo could work over another, and what she may look for or what stands out in selecting an image. We also discussed ways that retouching may improve an image over another.
We also went over the importance of LinkedIn, which I have admittedly neglected my page since I was unaware of the value behind it. LinkedIn is a professional way to connect to others and businesses, reach out to them, and to research job opportunities. You are able to upload your résumé, projects, list your experience of work, awards, and so much more. My LinkedIn page is lookin' pretty nice, if I do say so myself, and you are able to view my profile here: Leah's LinkedIn Profile.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 3 (Part 2)
Reveal of Kaela's shoot in collaboration with Mt. Lebanon Floral that I assisted in retouching.
The second part of Week 3 was spent assisting retouching images for a recent collaboration Kaela shot for Mt. Lebanon Floral. From the first intro to retouching she demonstrated, we went over her retouching workflow from start to finish, and techniques that allows her images to look flawless and, ironically, untouched when it comes to editing.
I am so in awe to have been a part of editing a shoot so absolutely breathtaking! Wonderful work and an incredible shoot to everyone involved. Below is a look book created by Kaela with the final images made by an amazing team, listed below as well.
Team Credits:
Floral Design: Mt. Lebanon Floral
Photography and Wardrobe: Kaela Speicher
Retouching Assistance: Leah Schonauer
Hair: Natosha Durr
Makeup: Shana Lohr
Model: Grace Hogan
Live by faith & share through fotos.