Creative Make-up by Courtney Mcmanus with Maranda Moore
Creative Make-up by Courtney Mcmanus with model Maranda Moore and photographer Todd Youngblood
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Category: Editorial Shoots
Water photography - high speed photography
Water photography is still very new to me but this is clearly one of my favorite shoots of the year. This time im working with model Meredith Evert. The set-up for this photo shoot is quiet simple, consisting of just plexiglass that I picked up from a local hardware store, a spray bottle filled with water and a translucent colored visor. I quickly learned that timing was everything when photographing with water. As for the studio lighting used in this shot it was all Alien Bee strobes from Paul C. Buff. Shooting with my Nikon D7000 Im usually limited me to a shutter speed of 1/200th or 1/250 of a second but that was fast enough to capture the droplets and without too much blurring.
Water Photography – capturing droplets of water
My first attempt was a failure due to the water being poured too fast and wetting up the everything. With a few adjustments and patience the second attempt was much better. It worked much better by having the water slowly trickle onto the visor and capturing the droplets at 1/200th of a second shutter speed and an aperture of F10. The raw image was a bit darker than the final product you see here, however Im a photographer with a tendency to shoot a bit darker than desired an bright things up a little in the Photoshop post production.
The Nikkor lens set at 55mm using a beauty dish and and reflector which set a few feet from her chin. About 5 mins after we got the hang of things the we began capturing several very good shots with each pour of water. I am very pleased with the outcome! This is just the first of my water photography series, more to come. I must give a big thank you to the CEO of Maevee Modelz “OT” and a huge thanks to the lovely model Meredith Evert for her patience in making this possible.
Book me, Todd Youngblood charlotte based photographer but always willing to travel for your next shoot! 704-712-2393
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston inspired photo shoot as a part of the “Music Icons” with Chaise Enrique.
May she rest in peace, Whitney Houston was much more than just a singer, she was an actress, producer, and model. She was born August 9th, 1963. She departed this life February 11th 2012. Her voice and smile spoke to your soul.
The Music Icon’s shoot was an idea brought to me by a fellow designer, Chaise Enrique, Kyle Alexander Murray and Rosetta Davidson.
Video captured with Nikon D7000
WHITNEY HOUSTON’S LEGACY
Written by: frewriter
Whitney Houston had a super exceptional voice. Her mezzo-soprano voice made her number three in MTV’s list of the greatest voices. Even among other listings such as online magazine COVE’s, Rolling Stone and many others, she still stood out as one of the best artist with the greatest voices. Not only that, she was able to relate with a song, and let herself be carried with the emotion ignited, this made her exclusively out stand as a great performer, making her one of the greatest artist ever.
Music was not exempted from racial racism, in the 1980’s. As Michael Jackson broke the color discrimination for the male artist, and their music could be played on MTV, Whitney did it for the black women. Her breakthrough with the success of “How will I know” song video, made other African American women to be inspired and they were able to succeed in music. These African American women influenced by Houston back then include Janet Jackson, Anita baker and the list flows up to even the present African American artist.
She also had a great impact in modern R&B, and the development of music competition which has really played a role in music quality. Some of the vocal artist she did influence include Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Christina Aguilera, Ashanti, Alicia keys, the list is just endless.
Houston’s achievements is a true proof of her legacy. Guinness book of record lists her as the female artist with highest number of awards. She had 2 Emmy awards, 30 Billboard awards, 6 Grammy awards, 22 American music awards. Among other awards, they total to 415. She had the most AMAs to be ever won in one year that was in 1994. She had outstood as the most American music awards and only shared this with Michael Jackson. She was an all-time pop culture icon. Her debut album is on the list of 500greatest albums of all times list. The mentioned achievements are just but a few when it comes to Houston’s artist legacy.
She was a celebrated film actress from 1992. Her first filmed role was in the movie titled “The Bodyguard’ where she played the role of Rachel Marron. She got several nominations for different awards such as MTV award for best female performance, MTV movie award for best breakthrough performance among others. She also starred in other movies such as Waiting to exhale’ in 1995, “The Preachers Wife” in 1996 as Julia Biggs. Her final film was Whitney; can I be me”, a movie about herself, it was released on June 11, 2017.
Apart from films Houston also had television roles, such as the 1984 “Gimme a break” and “As the world turns”. Others were “Silver spoons,” 1985 and “Boston Public” in 2003.
Whitney Houston did thrive in music and film, her influence and legacy speaks for itself. May she always continue to inspire and may her legacy live on and forever.
Sugar Skull & Halloween Make-up
Creative Halloween looks with make-up by Paul Mitchell Charlotte students with Nahn Tran Models. This is a behind the scenes of the preparation before heading over the Morris Costumes haunted house for the video and photo shoot
Sugar Skull Makeup
Photography by Todd Youngblood
Makeup by students at Paul Mitchell Charlotte
A little about the history and creation of sugar skull
Candy skull make up is a day of the dead face painting holiday celebrated in southern and central Mexico in honor of their loved ones. The sugar skulls are used to decorate the deceased gravestones in honor of their remembrance.
The holiday is celebrated as from 1st and 2nd of November. It is believed that adults spirits are the ones who come down and enjoy the festivities. They believe that by 31st October the gates of heaven are opened and the spirits of the dead children unite back with their families for a period of 24 hours.
On 2nd November the adults spirits come and enjoy the festivities prepared for them. In most homes the sugar skulls are decorated with a variety of things from buckets of flowers, candles, marigolds have to be wild looking, peanuts, fruits and the deads -bread and placed in an altar that is made in each home or the tomb. This activity is done on 2nd November. In addition, there has to be a lot of food, hot cocoa, water and bottles of soda for the spirits which are weary.
The sugar skulls are beautifully decorated with bright foil, sugar, icing and always bear the deceased person name. They are easy to make through tutorials and can last an year if well done.
The people present , clean the tombs, play and listen to the band as they remember their loved ones. Lately the day of the dead is becoming popular as more people are embracing the culture of remembering their loved ones.
The families of the deceased take flowers and sugar skulls to the tomb to decorate them. The sugars skulls are well decorated with colored sugars, pieces of foils, colored sugars and icing
Most of the families believe that by celebrating and honoring the deceased on this day, in return they will have protection, wisdom and good luck to their families. Hence, majority of the families honor this festive at all times.
How sugar skull is done:
The ingredients:
1. Granulated sugar.
2. Powdered sugar.
3. Meringue powder.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add 1 teaspoon of water depending on the sugar used per cup. Incase you need the sugar skull to have colour, you may add food colour.
Always avoid making sugars skulls when its humid or raining as the sugars will not dry.
Method:
Mix all the ingredients with both hands and make sure the sugar is moistened. Ensure when you squeeze the sugar between you fingers the fingerprints should not remain.
Ensure its feels like beach sand when you are molding. When molding, pay attention to edges and chins and scrap the rest of the molds. When done set the sugar skulls aside overnight for 8 hours and let them dry before decorating. When they are almost dry , carefully hold the skulls and make hollows and the back and front with a spoon. Avoid scooping the neck area. when done leave them to dry. Check after 8 hours and then decorate the sugar skulls with icing. You can store them in a breathable cardboard awaiting the occasion.
Candy Skull Makeup
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