Behind-The-Scenes Video!

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Modeling Shoot - Lindsey from Jonathan Ratzlaff on Vimeo.

Senior Ladies - What TO and NOT to wear

Know your body shape.  Petite women should avoid chunky clothes and strong prints. Instead go for fitted shapes and soft fabrics, narrow belts, subtle contrasts of colour and texture. Keep everything streamlined so as not to cut the body in half. Busty women should wear eye-catching skirts (shorter if you are comfortable) and trousers, strong prints and colours or textures draw the eye away from the top half of the body. Wearing a single block of colour is thinning. Avoid eye-catching tops, instead wear long jackets that draw the eye down. Darker coloured tops which are loose fitting and waist hugging are more flattering.  Pear shaped women should love vertical lines, V-necks and skirts with slits up the side, and straight A-line skirts to just below the knee. Tops should hang past the hips. Classic cuts on top in lighter colours draw the eye away from the hips.  Accent the V-neck with a V or Y- shaped necklace. Tall women should avoid tight clothes. Wear the right skirt length, too short or too long will be out of proportion. As with petite women, keep everything streamlined, wear blouses over trousers so as not to shorten your top half. Rectangular women should wear pattern.  Feminine knit sweaters over skirts are great. Wear a round neckline and mirror it with a round necklace or scarf. Dress to suit your personality.  Rock chick – accessorize and clash a little but keep it feminine.  Urban chic – take advantage of the wonderful high street fashion, stunning yet simple.  Sporty – Layer trendy casual clothes.  Artsy – Take the contemporary fashion and add a dash of your own personality to spice things up.  Sexy – Sensual fabrics, curvy and delicious with a splash of colour and scent.  Retro chic – Great accessories, and a flare for those classic, all time looks. Romantic – Classic cuts, tailoring and soft colours, lace, embroidery and pearls. The right accessories can make all the difference - V and Y- shaped necklaces draw the eye down.   Round necklaces fill the neckline.  Ultra long earrings elongate the neck.  A long, trailing belt elongates the legs.  The right hat can make an outfit.  Cocktail rings add fun and colour and a bit of sparkle to a casual outfit.  Scarves can be artsy - A matching jewellery set can bring an outfit together. Wake up to make up - Make your eyes sparkle with a contrasting eye shadow.  Open out the eye by highlighting down the middle of the lid.  Use black for a dramatic look, use grey for smoky eyes with a delicate pink lipstick.  Choose a red lipstick for a classic look but choose one close to your own natural colour for precision.  When creating bold eyes, keep paler lips. When choosing red lipstick do paler eyes.  Use the colour palettes made up by the manufactures instead of matching your own eye shadow tones.  Blend the colours well. A bag for life - For daywear a good sized leather bag in a classic style cut. This season gives you plenty of choice as to colour and texture. - For evening wear the clutch bag is back or alternatively go for a shoulder bag with a chain strap. Keep everything in proportion - Petite people elongate themselves with a slim cut.  For slim hips, wear straight leg trousers/skirts, avoid flared ankles.  For curvy hips, balance them out with an A-line skirt, not a bias cut.  To hide hips, wear flared trousers and a classic cut top.   Heels are always slimming.  Wear the right jacket, length and bulk are important here. Dress for the season.  In spring / summer wear the bronzer and shimmery make up, also wear lower cut and soft fabrics in bright colours.  In autumn / winter wear matte make up with slightly darker tones.  In clothing, wear natural colours and natural fabrics, knitwear, leather, cotton, or linen. Don’t mix styles - less is more.  There are many trends this season.  Don’t wear bold colours, metallics, animal print and retro glamour all at once.  Pick one style per outfit and don’t go overboard; often one or two accessories will look fabulous with a simple outfit. Have fun with subtle changes.  Have jewellery that you can mix and match each day.  Wear a scarf as a belt.  Wear basic clothes in unusual ways, such as, use a brooch on a ribbon as a chocker, or  wear a long necklace or a scarf as a bracelet. Add cabochon beads to an old bag and use it again. It all comes down to the basics - a good pair of jeans go for comfort; there are lots of styles which are fashionable this year. It is important to try them on before you buy. If going for skinny jeans, get stretchy ones. If you have curvy hips, got for low boot cut jeans to show them off.  If you need a little more room for thighs and calves, go for a relaxed fit, and balance things out with flared ankles. This season go for dark colours and textures.  A leather jacket is an autumn/winter basic. Go for a good feminine cut, no need to look like a biker unless you choose that style.  A classic suit if you don’t wear one to work is great for many occasions.  A white blouse is versatile and feminine.  A proper coat, again go for a feminine cut at a length that suits you.  Boots; there are many refreshing changes to the classics this year.  Evening dress: think of the whole outfit before you buy and make sure you have shoes and jewellery to match.  Maybe consider a versatile dress that can be dressed down for occasions too. High heels are the shoes to dance the night away in. Add an appropriate bag; barrel bag for overnight, clutch bag for evening, shoulder bag for day. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the correct underwear. Start with a good foundation and the rest of the outfit will follow. Go and get yourself measured if you are not sure.

New Equipment!!

I finally got some new lighting equipment! So of course I had to go test it out so the next day I teamed up with my friend Roger (owner of Thompson Photos) and my awesome friend Lindsey.
We waited for sunset, headed out to a field across the river and began setting up our equipment. Since both our cameras shoot HD video we recorded a LOT of "behind the scenes" footage which I will be uploading to this blog soon! So be sure to check back ; )

Here are a few shots I took with my new lights. I will be adding to my collection of portable studio equipment as paychecks permit!

Sarah's 20th birthday "Best Friend" shoot. Pretty self explanatory ; )

Engagement

I've been getting a lot of engagement sessions booked lately so I thought I'd share a few photos from the past two shoots!

This was probably the most fun I've had yet on a shoot. Zachary and Mary were easy to work with and full of energy. It ended up feeling more like an evening on the town rather than a session, lol.








CJ and Jami are also a great photogenic couple. Here in the next few months I'll be posting Jami's pregnancy photos : )

Meagan Senior Shoot

Despite the weather threats and dark overcast, the day of Meagan's shoot turned out to be surprisingly nice. I always like to shoot on a cloudy day, it provides soft lighting and makes my job of eliminating those harsh shadows much easier, lol.

Senior Session with Faith

Oklahoma... how dare you get me all in the mood for spring then RIP that away with your ice cold change of weather. Really, we have the most bipolar weather here in Oklahoma. Yesterday I was sweating on my shoot with Faith and today I'm all bundled up and I'm still freezing! 

Oh well... 

So yesterday me and Faith set off on the first part of her senior shoot. She wanted some field photos so I hopped on craigslist.org to find some cool props to make it interesting. I came across a really cool recliner someone was just giving away! So I rolled down there in my little Dodge Neon and roped that chair into the back of my vehicle and made my way to the shoot. I'm happy to say the photos were pretty neat!

In her next session she'll have her braces off and get to show off her beautiful smile : )