Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Hmong Fashion Fusion

CREDITS:
Model: Adriana Hernandez
Fashion Stylist & Art Director: Sheng Moua
Assistant Stylists: Myeshia, Claudia & Kristina
Hair & Makeup: Sunny Thao & assistant Lina
Cookie Lee Jewelry provider: Kia Moua & assistant Michelle
Production Assistants: Ge, Prince & Christian
Backstage Photographer and Lifeguard: Christian
Location: Joe & Joanne's Mansion - Yorba Linda, CA

The creation of a classic:

As you can see in the credits, it took alot of manpower AND womanpower to get a final photograph such as this. With collective minds working towards one goal, creativity has no end. What was apparent with this crew was the honest pure drive and passion to be a part of a creative process. This above all else is what makes this photo very special to me. Everytime I look through this photoshoot I come across this image and think to myself, wow that is a classic.

Sheng Moua was the genius behind the styling. Fusing Hmong traditional clothing elements into her fashion styling, she's able to create a style that's both classic and very modern. Although it was Adriana's first time modeling with a whole crew there, she did an incredible job as a model. As for Sunny's makeup - it was phenomenal. It brought the whole image together. Also, it was great to bounce ideas with Christian on composition and lighting ideas since he's a cinematographer (yay someone to speak photography lingo with). So although this 12 hour photoshoot resulted in many great photos, this one keeps me coming back to say that yes this was real and I really was a part of this awesome shoot.

As many of you may already be able to tell, my lighting is quite simple. Keep it simple stu--(silly) : ) Yes, one softbox angled 45 degrees towards the model from the right. Big silver reflector on the left, very close to the model. Black cloth background taped, nailed, glued & something or other to get it to stay on the wall (now this was the hardest part actually - it wouldn't stay on and I hadn't had enough resources at that time to get/construct a background stand). There you go. Voila!