Maddy W's touch of glamour shoot

When planning Maddy's photoshoot we talked about sparkle and shine and a 1940s glamour vibe.  Maddy happened to have a short sequined dress that she had picked up at the Free People store in Walnut Creek and a long shimmery skirt that her aunt had given her so she built her looks around those two pieces. 

I normally recommend wearing a neutral nail polish color for photoshoots.  But I have to admit that this shade of grey/blue that Maddy chose actually compliments both of her looks really well.

It's important, when choosing your outfits, to make sure that they won't become see-through if they are backlit. This comes up a lot with white tops & dresses.  I *love* shooting white tops and dresses, so don't rule them out!  Just make sure to check this before your shoot.  Isn't it beautiful how the outer layer of Maddy's skirt looks with the sun shining through...

Also, give yourself permission to go with makeup that might be a touch more dramatic than your normal wear.  I wouldn't consider Maddy's lipstick "dark" but it really does pop in the pictures, as compared to, say, just a tinted lip gloss. 

Now this next section is a complete departure from my normal work, and was just for fun. After Maddy's shoot we were losing light fast but I asked her if she'd be willing to wade into the water and she was totally game for it.  Most of my sessions I shoot with natural light but because this was basically at night I got out my lighting equipment and we played around for a bit.  

Something about those ripples in the water...