What does a photographer you do when they have way too many jeans? Make a photo backdrop of course! Reg apparently had wayy too many old pair of jeans in the closet so we decided to make a really cool backdrop for our “Who Wears the Pants” styled shoot. Check out a few of our favs below.
At the beginning of the year, one of our New Year’s business resolutions was to do more creative collaborations with amazing people. We connected with the super talented artist, Melissa Mitchell a while ago and knew that our styles would work beautifully together. Her use of color and whimsical artwork fits perfectly with our love of color in fashion and architecture in our photography. Melissa painted this fabulous bicycle for our shoot in her signature style along with a few other accessories and props and the results were nothing short of amazing. As we were planning out this shoot we both realized that Melissa herself became the inspiration behind this shoot’s concept and the story played out as a younger version of Melissa living out her colorful artist dreams in the French Quarter. Check out a few of our favorites with our beautiful model Destiny below. Destiny’s unicorn braids styled by LaChanda Gatson are every color lover’s dream!
Dress: Zara; Shoes: Adidas customized by Melissa Mitchell of Abeille Creations; Bicycle customized by Abeille Creations
Glasses: Love My Alannah
Clothing: Junee Jr.
Clothing: Junee Jr.
Hair/Makeup: LaChanda Gatson
Photography: CreativeSoul Photography
Model: Destiny
Clothing: Junee Jr./Zara
We’ve wanted to do a steampunk themed editorial shoot for a while now and finally got the opportunity for our AfroArt sessions in NYC. So in love w/all of the fun accessories and clothing from this shoot (and of course the cool hair). Check out some of our favs below.
Metallic Dress/Fur Jacket: Mia New York Clothing; Leather Jacket: H&M
Clothing: Mia New York Clothing; Boots: Justice
Black Shirt: Mia New York Clothing; Collar: HaloLuxe; Grey Sweater: Sparkles & Suspenders
Dresses: Sparkles & Suspenders; Collar: HaloLuxe
Dresses: Sparkles & Suspenders; Collar: HaloLuxe
Hair/Makeup: LaChanda Gatson
Photography: CreativeSoul Photography
With all of the divisiveness and craziness going on in the world today we started thinking about how our future generation will shape the country we’re living in today. How are we preparing our next generation of leaders to take the reigns and make this world a better place? Our “Future Leaders” editorial is a fun take on high school superlatives. We infused modern African fashion, cool hair and and fun props to make a fun school themed editorial. Check out some of the highlights below.
Photography/Styling: CreativeSoul Photography
Hair/Makeup: LaChanda Gatson
For our AfroArt sessions in Los Angeles, we partnered with the extremely talented jewelry designer UniquelyWiredm for some custom jewelry pieces and beautiful crowns. All of the kids really enjoyed feeling like young kings and queens for the day. Check out some of our favorites below along with our behind the scenes video from our sessions.
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Reg and I even got in on some of the fun at the end.. 🙂
Hair/Makeup: LaChanda Gatson
Jewelry: Uniquelywiredm
Photography: CreativeSoul Photography
Sometimes the best shoots happen spontaneously. We literally made this session with little miss Zahra up while she was visiting us in our studio. Before you know it we’re hanging out at a colorful basketball court with a fly custom basketball to match. Zahra got completely into character and we were here for every minute of it. Check out the adorable photos below. 🙂
Had so much fun with these cool kids in Brooklyn for the recently launched Isossy Children FW17 Sweat Collection. Isossy’s edgy, sporty chic athleisure line features modern silhouettes and cultural influences, blending both old and the new. Who says your child can’t be fashionable and comfy at the same time? Their silk and satin finishes, and a compelling monochrome color palette are sure make your mini fashionista stand out from the crowd this school year. See more from this collection on the Mini Maven blog or visit Isossy Children website to purchase.
Soo this has been a whirlwind week. This past weekend we shared our shoot with the beautiful Kheris Rogers for Little Revolution Magazine. To our surprise, these photos went all around the world and completely shut the internet down. For those of you who are not familiar with Kheris’ story, Kheris is a 10-year old girl who was bullied by her classmates for her dark skin. After changing schools to escape the teasing, her older sister, Taylor Pollard, set out on a mission to raise her self esteem.
In March, Pollard posted pictures of Rogers on Twitter with the hashtag #FlexinInHerComplexion which currently has more than 100,000 likes and shares along with an endless thread of compliments. She has recently become an entrepreneur selling her “FlexinInMyComplexion” t-shirts worldwide.
When we originally saw Kheris’s story we thought that she was absolutely gorgeous and would make a great model. Unfortunately in this industry there are not enough kids with darker complexion so whenever we get the opportunity to find new talent we will try to do what we can to showcase them in a positive way. Our shoot with Kheris does just that – we aimed to showcase her beauty and strength with oversized pearls as the main feature. The pearl is unique and often known as the “Queen of Gems”. They symbolize unblemished perfection, modesty and purity – everything that Kheris represented to us. Check out these stunning images of Kheris from our “Queen of Gems” editorial for Little Revo Mag.
Don’t forget to check out Kheris’ website and support this young entrepreneur by purchasing one of her Flexin’ in My Complexion tees which has been seen by the likes of Lupita N’yongo and Alicia Keys.
Last week we were able to work on one of the most special projects we’ve ever done. We were contacted by an amazing organization called Wish of a Lifetime which grants special wishes for seniors and helps them achieve a long-held or deeply meaningful dream. We were asked to help grant a special wish for 95-year-old Irene, who is bed-bound and on hospice. Her heroes on a scary day this past April were firemen Julius Holinek and Andy Poteet – who swooped in during a tornado warning to make sure Irene was comfortable and safe. Since then, it’s been Irene’s Wish for the two men who carried her to safety to come visit her once more so she could thank them again for their kindness.
With the help of the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety, @wishofalifetime was able to track down the two men from Alpharetta Fire Station 81 and make Irene’s dream come true.
After Irene got her hair and makeup done by local hair and makeup artist, Maraz, she was ready to sweep the two firemen off their feet this time around.
She even had a special lunch catered by Tazikis restaurant and received some love from the delivery guy.
But Irene’s big highlight came when the two firemen stepped in with two huge bouquet of flowers from The Best Little Flower Shop
“[The highlight was] just them being here, and they all gave me kisses. And brought me flowers and gave me kisses before they left.” (Irene)
Irene even showed off her beautiful pheasant hats she used to make by hand after the guys would go hunting. 
Irene was surrounded by family and friends who were there to witness her big day.
We feel honored to have met Irene and are so glad we were able to capture these sweet memories for her family. She’s given to others selflessly all of her life so it was great to see the community put a smile on her face that day. Check out the video recap below to experience Irene’s big day. 🙂
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In the media, black dads often get a bad rep. Stereotypes of deadbeat fathers and single moms are becoming the norm and seem like a regular occurrence. Fortunately I’ve been grateful to have strong father figures in my life and see that every day with the families we are able to capture. It is our hope that the Father’s day images we capture each year does a small part to help combat the stereotypes that currently exist for black dads and help to move the conversation forward about those who are present in the lives of their kids, wives and families. We had a blast working with this group of dads and partnered with Black Men with Beards for their annual Black Fatherhood showcase. Check out their blog to see what these dads have to say about what it means to be a father.
Special thanks to Black Men with Beards for featuring our photos, Sherita Blango for hair/makeup services and Just Braydz by Chaya for the braids.
