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Tearsheet in Society Living Magazine

amydunn — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:04:38 +0000

Society Living Magazine
October 2009

Photographed in New York City
Makeup by Diana Manzanares

New York State of Mind

amydunn — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:38:34 +0000

During my last week in New York City, I got to squeeze in a shoot with a couple of my favorite people: Erin, the monstrously-talented-force-to-be-reckoned-with-artist at Make Up For Ever and Stephen Eastwood, a freaking Canon Explorer of Light as my companion to b.s. with during breaks. Who’s better than me?!

Erin sent me the files from our shoot, and I suddenly felt nostalgic. Over the last two months, I traveled to Europe and spent a good portion of time in Houston and Austin, TX. Many shoots I organized in the listed cities fell apart for some strange reason, and while Texas boasts some serious beauty and talent, the energy is way too laid back here. I would love for someone to prove me wrong.

I originally intended to crash the Photo Plus Expo in NY; however, I must attend a wedding in Texas this weekend and would not miss it for anything. BUT, I found a ridiculously amazing deal at Jet Blue today and will visit New York City next week! My mind keeps racing over the possibilities of shooting there, and I want to explore some of the ideas I intended to test but could not due to time constraints. I definitely want to shoot with Erin because we always get such amazing beauty work, and I will see if I can get the infamous Mr. Stephen Eastwood to be my “reflector bitch” again. He really does fill in a good shadow, doesn’t he?

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Lighting consultant: Stephen Eastwood
Makeup artist: Erin McCarthy
Model: Anka

Make Up For Ever Studios
New York, NY 2009

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM
Hensel Flash Unit and Small Softbox
Reflector for Fill

My First Shoot in Houston

amydunn — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:55:25 +0000

I stayed in Houston, TX for approximately 10 days before I decided to dip out of the country. I’m in Ljubljana now, but since I have jet lag, I will share some photos from the one photo shoot I had n Houston before I packed my bags again. Of course, the one shoot I booked would involve macro makeup!

Living in New York City always spoiled me in the sense that I could assemble a team (model, makeup artist, etc.) within 24 hours. In Houston, not so much. When Orit responded to one of my castings, I noticed the beautiful shape of her eyes and eyebrows–not to mention her lovely eyelashes–and booked her to amp up my macro beauty section. I luckily know one brilliantly talented makeup artist in Houston, Charissa Keo, and I knew we would get some dynamic, bold, colorful images.

The great thing about my shooting space in Texas is just that: I have SPACE. Because of that luxury, I tried different lighting for these two shots. In the first, I placed a DynaLite with an attached reflector camera-left to bring out the warm colors in Charissa’s palette. In the second shot with the cooler tones, I placed an Alien Bee 1600 Flash Unit with a snoot attached to focus the light on Orit’s spectacular eye makeup. For my previous macro makeup work, I used Hensels or a continuous spotlight at the Make Up For Ever studio. The DynaLite and Alien Bees produced nice lighting, and I will start playing with fun catch lights in my future macro work. I want to explore more macro makeup and will definitely look out for talented makeup artists across the globe to capture beauty up close.

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Makeup artist: Charissa Keo
Model: Orit

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Beauty Test with Model, Anka

amydunn — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:59:46 +0000

I consider myself lucky to live in New York and work with such a talented pool of artists. Erin McCarthy invited me to a test at the MUFE studio and booked a lovely model from Russia named Anka. Stephen Eastwood kept me company today and helped light the set. Stephen is an official Canon Explorer of Light, but he happily stood there with a reflector in his hands, joking about one more talent to add to his extensive resume.

Stephen and I set up a small softbox camera-right and added a gridded kicker light in case I pulled back. Erin worked her magic on Anka’s delicate features, and we got a nice series of beauty shots today. My lens did a lot of hunting in a low-light setting, and the focus did not always lock properly. I wish I brought a different lens, maybe the 100 mm Macro or 180 mm Macro if my arms could keep it up and steady. I really like the 70-200 mm f/4.0, but if you can afford Image Stabilization, I say make that splurge.

I have one outtake to show my blog readers, but please forgive the ruddiness of the shot. I will have the whole series ready and retouched in a few weeks, and I promise they look ten times better! Thanks for checking in, and I look forward to seeing you at the next blog post.

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Lighting consultant: Stephen Eastwood
Makeup artist: Erin McCarthy
Model: Anka

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM
Hensel Studio Lights