This is an annual competition that I have participated in for the past 5 years. I have won twice and have been nominated twice. I would love to rank this year. Please vote for my team, Aura, with the link below.
http://afw.fashionxaustin.com/works/aura/
Here is a behind the scenes slideshow…
The story behind the photo…
We had a blast doing this photo shoot. This was my first time to shoot at an actual studio! We shot this at Waveform (http://www.waveformaustin.com) in north Austin. We did the actual shooting on March 9t,h 2015. The image was due at the end of March. It takes a long time to choose one photo that each team member likes. There were hundreds to choose from in the end. In some photos the model was standing, she was posing on one leg or some it looked like she was running. It was a challenge for her because she was standing on a box in front of a fan (which made her cold after a while, poor thing) and standing between very expensive and very big vertical black lights. She was quite the rock star. We chose this photo because it had the “It” factor. She took up the whole frame and we just had a feeling about it. It was a challenge working with UV paint, make-up, clothing and hair peices. In fact, we did a practice shoot a couple weeks prior. We learned what looks good on camera and what looks weird (too avatar vs fashion forward). I’m so grateful that we did that we had an opportunity to eliminate a lot of the unknown. It’s funny how some things or colors light up in black light and others don’t. We had confrence calls every Monday at 5 PM to talk about how to get everything just right. We communicated with a secret Pinterest board. Ben Von Wong was our inspiration. Our photographer, Steve, brought this idea to the table.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDCfgcmedXg
The hair was so fun. I made dreadlocks. I had never done that before. I had to YouTube it. I worked on the hair peices for 3 weekends. I just sat in front of the TV and attached one end of the hair strands to the coffee table (or my boyfriend) and weave each piece like I was making friendship bracelets. I had 4 different colors of hair that I bought from the wig shop- yellow, green, pink and white. I probably made 50ish dreadlocks ahead of time. At the actual photo shoot I bobby-pinned them into the model’s hair. She has short shoulder length brown hair. It was a challenge but I like to be pushed out of the box. We played with UV hairspray from the costume shop called the Bazaare off Riverside Drive. Yellows and pinks looked the best. White looks blue under blacklight. It was quite the learning experience and such a blast. My team is a pleasure to work with. We are a bunch of fashion nerds and boy did we nerd out on this project. Please please please vote for my team – AURA
Model Anna Cash
http://www.facebook.com/anna.lauren.cash10
Photographer Steve Wampler
http://www.stevewamplerphotography.com
Stylist Michelle Zuzek
http://www.stylebeacon.com
Wardrobe Jessica Faith Marshall
http://www.jessicafaithmarshall.com
Make Up Mandy Hernandez
http://www.mandyhernandez.com
Hair Rachael Dunn
http://www.rachaeldunnhairdesign.com
Rachael Dunn Hair Design 