Makeup-free portrait shoot at Venice Beach

This is the backdrop we had to work with. Choosing Venice Beach as our location was a no-brainer for obvious reasons.

I’m so excited to share the images from my recent photo shoots in LA! One of the sets will be appearing in the upcoming fashion volume of Elléments Magazine available next week (stay tuned for an upcoming blog post about that one). The other portrait shoot, which took place at Venice Beach at dawn on my last day in Los Angeles, is featured below.

The beautiful model in these portraits is Auguste. She had flown into Los Angeles the night before our shoot after having spent the last 8 months in Peru. I was flying out later that afternoon and everything came together so that we were able to do a shoot at dawn that day.

This particular shoot was really just about showcasing the model’s natural beauty.

Auguste has an incredibly special look and we decided beforehand that we would do the shoot virtually makeup free (apart from a little tinted moisturizer that Auguste happened to have in her suitcase), with windblown hair.

Shot in all natural light with no reflector (f-stop, shutter speed and ISO are listed under each portrait).

I knew I’d be doing this shoot with Auguste before I left Vancouver so I brought 2 items from my studio wardrobe for her to wear: the lace dress she’s wearing and the scarf wrapped around her in this photo. Shot at 50mm, 1/250 second, f/2.5, ISO 160.

I was told at journalism school to never take a profile shot of your subject because it’s unflattering. However, with the correct posing it can be so, so beautiful. Shot at 50 mm, 1/320 second, f./2.0, ISO 320.

Sometimes all you need is a little wind to make everything come together…Shot at 50mm, 1/250 second, f/2.5, ISO 160.