Project Fashion - It Takes A Village

It was good timing that brought together the inspiration of VT’s passion for fashion and makeup with my new love for off camera flash and fashion. This came about for me due to my workshops with Scott Robert Lim. Yes, this is from deep in the archives, circa 2010s! lol. This was the first of three projects that we worked on together. VT lead and hair & mua, Jen hair & mua, Chris model. We planned three looks in three different locations in the city, San Francisco. We met several times to go over the details such as clothes style, makeup and hair style, logistics, shoot list, timeframe.

VT’s house was our headquarters for the day. Styling, hair, and makeup were all done there. We started the day early to compose the first look. We returned to the house to restyle for each next look and loation. We worked into the night.

The first look was to reflect on the the times of the 50s. The style involved a beautiful dress and accessories reflecting the time. It was perfect for the location we choose. We shot at the Romanesque style red brick office building, Geneva Car House, built in 1901. It was the operations complex for one of San Francisco’s first electric streetcar lines, the San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway Company.

After a few hours of shooting, we rushed back to HQ as we came to know it. The next look was bit of glamour and theater. The backdrop for this beautiful look was one of many art wall locations in San Francisco, Clarion Alley, the popular alley full of beautiful murals by community artists. The outfit, makeup and hair was so fitting for this location. It was a lot of fun creating in this location as the lighting of shadows through the alley was in our favor. We wanted to show off the beauty of the fashion against the colorful and interesting murals which were as colorful and eclectic as the style.

We ended the day at night, which was appropriate for the last look. We kept the colorful glamour of the makeup and hair but extended it to be more punk glam. This was actually my favorite look. We shot this at the Cliff House at night. Sadly it’s now closed and at least for now, can’t take advantage of its beautiful architecture. The architecture and lighting was perfect in the dark night sky. These images were a challenge to edit but I found a fun look in the color grading that gave it the right pop. We had a lot of fun with the posing and playing with light. I actually had my nieces assist with lighting which also included a flash gun. I think they still have those these days lol.

I hope you enjoy these images and maybe find inspiration in working on projects. I had fun reminiscing about this project. It inspires me to find the same opportunities to work with other creatives. There seems to be a great amount of resources these days so it will be a fun challenge.

Overall it was challenging enlightening, inspirational, fun, and a true learning experience.