The meter's running...

Have you ever been mid-photo shoot and think to yourself, "this is such a funny day"?

I have.

First, stop and think about how your life would be if it depended on a meter. What do you do when you know your time is limited? Always try your hardest to put your best foot forward, no matter what.

We all know that most fashion shoots don't go perfectly with rainbows and unicorns at our sides, but some days in this industry can be way more challenging than others. I have to say, it is so impressive & refreshing to see small hurdles occur, and see everyone continuing to work hard, and not letting anything get them down. I am so happy with each talented member of that day's team.

Here's how that day went down. Got stuck in major traffic from an accident, arrived 30 minutes late to the project. Let me be clear, I do not arrive late to jobs.  So, obviously, I was off to a great start.

I got turned away by three "cash only-pay up front" parking lots, and found a meter that only lets you pay for 1 hour at a time. Turns out, three of us had the same situation. Frank [wardrobe designer] and I took turns guarding everyone's gear while Aneisha [photog] and Jenna [model] were shooting at various spots around the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Keep in mind, each hour, we were also taking turns to run to the meter to put in another $3.

The team survived traffic, parking problems, phone calls from home delivering worry-some news, 90+ degree weather, running out of coins for the meter, getting yelled at for putting our model in a tree, thirst, hunger,parking tickets, and a little more that we won't mention.

This day really allowed me to see these moments in a new light. As it turns out, weird days can turn into awesome days. We put our best foot forward, and delivered success!

Here are some shots from that day:

 I am in love with the photos, the up close photo is of course, my personal favorite.

As I left this shoot, and drove to my next job, I totally got lost and was almost late for a second time in one day. Whew!

You can check out Aneisha at www.ajportaits.com
and Frank at efgeedesigns.com.

xoxo,
Juliet
www.makeupwithjuliet.com

Finding New Focus

Over the past two months, the trend in my business, and let's be honest, in my life, has been re-focusing my train of thought and my attention. Any artist will try to step out of their bounds to do and create new things that are out of their norm. In the world of makeup application, the same thing happens. While every artist develops a signature style, you constantly want to push yourself to think outside of the limits you usually stay within. Taking risks and trying new things can be intimidating, especially when you're on a job to please a client. This is why I firmly believe that anyone in this industry needs to have creative sessions. Whether it is a test shoot, a brainstorming day, a filled up sketch book, borrowing a friend's face to practice on, or styling your old doll head from beauty school. From these experiences, you can have mini "break throughs" and learn how to use your talent in different ways. It is key in becoming a better artist.


Apparently, this can also soothe your mind when going through a challenging situation. There have been a lot of changes in my life lately, some of which I had no control over. However, I must say, these situations do wonders for your personal growth and understanding. Once I was able to find new perspective and focus, I had new thoughts about the whole experience. That can only help myself and my business. So, to you fellow freelancers out there, I know its hard to not let life get in the way of your path, but if you keep going, you'll impress yourself with how strong you really are. 


Here's a photo from a recent "creative session" aka test shoot with a very talented photographer, Sylvia Gunde, and the lovely model Nicole Boyd. This was a super small break through moment for me, since I was able to use techniques that were not my usual go-to looks, and try some new things. 

enjoy!

Yellow Field, feat. DaveG Photography

Hi there.
So, a photographer contact and now friend, Dave, of DaveG Photography and I were driving with our favorite model one day, and on the side of the freeway, we noticed a field of bright yellow flowers. We all said together, "I wish we could find a way to shoot there!", knowing getting to that field would be near impossible. But in the midst of Wilderness Month, we thought up all these ideas for concept, makeup, hair, wardrobe, and additional models.

Time goes by, Dave and I keep shooting at various outdoorsy locations together with some awesome people. Then one day, I get an email that says, "look, if we want to shoot at the yellow field, we should do it soon". Before you know it, the three of us are driving in my focus, asking local residents how to get to that field, climbing fences, and avoiding hundreds of bees just to get a few good shots of our beloved red headed model in that field surrounded by tiny yellow flowers. 

The two of them let me create a very different makeup look for this project, including white eyelashes. We later changed it to a more normal look, when we continued the shoot in Pomona. Dave gave us some great photos, and I even learned how to climb a fence that day. I must say, that Ashlee (our model) is the biggest trooper. She made that hike in a sundress and heels while the rest of us were in our comfortable hiking shoes. AND she delivered great photos!

Here's a preview. The rest will be uploaded on my website today (probably).
www.makeupwithjuliet.com

The Wardance Magazine

Ok, so on a Sunday morning everyone wakes up at 4:30am, right? 


This morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed, I showed up to my first photo shoot with Wardance Magazine. It was a high fashion shoot featuring jewelry for their next issue, and I brought with my fav hair girl and so we can work together to get the awesome looks! She and I are like a tag team lately, and as an up and comer, her work is amazing.  The jewelry was beautiful, the model rocked the looks really well, the wardrobe stylist picked out great stuff, and we all managed to wrap up by 10am! 


The Wardance is a training facility where you can work out, they even have a fighting cage! Just recently the company decided to release a fashion magazine that revolves around the training site. I've checked out their magazine, and I loved it, so I was thrilled to be apart of their next issue. You can check it out at www.thewardance.com.


At the end of the shoot, our new friends initiated us into the fam by having us take a behind the scenes picture with their chicken...yeah, it really happened. Here's the picture for you guys!

Enjoy! I'll blog again when the issue comes out!


Juliet

Wilderness Month

So, as an artist, I am constantly looking for new concepts and new pictures to add to my portfolio. As a result, I decided that April would be my "Test Shoot Month" and somehow that ended up to be "Wilderness Month"...by accident. Every photographer I linked up with was planning a shoot in the great outdoors. It started off calm, in a park, and then one was at a waterfall, and then the next was a really long uphilly hike, and then I found myself climbing rocks and walking knee deep in a moving river! Some great things came from April though! I got some great photos, learned how to climb a fence, made friends with a horse, and I can even identify the sound a rattlesnake makes when you are walking way too close for comfort. I will say that last month has helped me make large strides in my freelance business, like finally having the courage in my portfolio to  launch my website! 

Here's a behind the scenes photo from a shoot in the Altadena Mtns. This was my studio for the day. The models were so cooperative, and the photographer (DaveG Photography) actually helped me carry that box on the hike up and down the route. We took turns, but his turns were longer than mine.