Shaye and the Sea

It’s been way too long since my last photo shoot, and to say I’ve been deprived is an understatement.  I have been wanting to have a shoot with my friend Shaye for a long time now, but I just have never had the time to actually do it.  But a week before the actual shoot I contacted her and she was all for it.  I met up with the model at her house and from there we figured out the outfits for the actual shoot.  I wanted to go for a combination of prints that don’t necessarily “match” but still work very well together.  Inspiration came from Urban Outfitters and Free People.  I guess that when it comes to photoshoots, I’m very spontaneous about them.  The look usually comes together when I am either putting together articles of clothing or taking the actual shots, and in Shaye’s case, it came together when we got all of the outfits in line. I took a look at what we were working with and the first location that came to mind was Santa Cruz. I asked if Shaye was willing to go to the beach for the shoot, and sure enough, she was! Everything worked out perfectly.  It was scorching outside and it was the perfect day to drive to the beach.  We decided on Capitola, CA, and from there, we began the shoot.  Throughout the shoot I used my Nikon D5000.  I used two lenses: a 18-55mm Lens and my new 50mm Lens that has an f-stop as low as f/1.8 (it was a birthday gift from a friend).  So I was able to get some super butter-y photos with an awesome depth of field.  The only problem with that lens is that it requires manual focusing, so I got a lot of blurry photos.

Click to see more photos from the shoot!

For the first look we put together a floral Free People crop top with a chunky, knit cardigan as well as some vintage Levi cutoffs.

The second look was a little more “printy.”  I put sort of a tribal, navajo blue and white print tube top with a pink and green rose skirt.  We also added a denim button up to neutralize the look a bit and belted it at the waist.

The third look was my personal favorite.  I think I have a thing for strappy wedges and socks.  It’s very preppy, yet chic at the same time.  For this look we went up on the pier and played around up there.  The shadows were very intense at this time of the shoot so it was a struggle to get the perfect amount of light on Shaye.  But for this look I put together a black lace bra with a creame floral “laser-cut” tank on top.  Another pair of lighter washed Levi cutoffs and brown buckled belt was used.  We also had a knotted headband, which I believe helped make the look.  But I still think the socks and wedges was my favorite part about it all.

The last outfit was our swimsuit look.  You can’t go to the beach and have a shoot without at least one swimsuit, right?  For this we put a floral, ruffled strapless bikini top with black and white zebra print bottoms.  For the shots under the pier, I had Shaye wear a creame, knit cardigan.  A braided gold headband was used to give the outfit a touch of boho.

The very first photo in this post is also from the swimsuit series.  It’s funny because the guy in the background was completely unintended.  There were a few guys skimboarding along the shore and this one just happened to get in the picture.  I love it because it gives the photo a more balanced appearance.

I really hope you like the photos just as much as I do!  This shoot was very very fun and I look forward to working with Shaye a lot more in the future.  So if you love her look, you can expect to see her in some “crazier” shoots in the future.  Staying tuned is a must.

Inspiration