Recently, I did a photoshoot to get some new photos to update my portfolio. I wanted new photos because my bangs had grown out significantly, and my hair color is different too, going back to my natural shade.
I had been wanting to shoot again with one of my favorite photographers, Mike Prado for a few months. We had been trying to plan a good time to shoot and he called me the night before asking to fill in to shoot with him at a studio he rented because the other model cancelled. I jumped at the opportunity! Mike is very talented and totally professional, and I’ve always enjoyed shooting with him. He is excellent at lighting and composition. He photos are so good, they honestly don’t need retouching or post production! And just to show you, I am showing you some shots (below) straight from the camera screen!
Given that this shoot was last minute, I threw together some sexy clothes/lingerie, accessories and shoes to style it myself. I got inspired by a photos of Rosie Huntington from an issue of Maxim, and tore them out and brought with to the shoot. I wanted this to be a very sexy shoot. I choose mostly black and white clothing items, and some of my favorite accessories, to keep it simple. Mike is excellent at lighting, he really balances all of the light so that it hits you perfectly, making you look flawless and gorgeous! So I knew that I didn’t need much to make this shoot successful.
We did 2 looks. One white look, on a set bed with white sheets, gold head board, a few turquoise pillows and tulle. I wanted it to be really soft and sexy, like my inspiration tears, so I wore white lingerie, and some of them were implied. The second look was against a glossy black painted wall with a leather bench. For this look I made my eye makeup darker, and my lip color lighter/paler, to give it more of an edgy/sexy look. I wore black lace lingerie, and a black leather fringe vest with black booties. I then wanted to ditch the vest and booties, and put on some sexy strappy Jimmy Choos.
Here’s a shot of the clothes I brought to the shoot:
Several lingerie options, a white silk shirt, a black silk button-up, a black leather fringe vest, and a cozy sweater. I only shot in about half of the stuff I brought with.
I kept the shoes simple, and brought only 3 pairs. My dressy satin Louboutins with the bow and chunky heel, super high strappy black suede Jimmy Choos, and some black booties from Steve Madden.
I did my own makeup and hair before arriving at the shoot, and only needed to do touch ups for the first look. I easily changed the makeup for the second look by just adding eyeliner along the waterlines on top and bottom eyelids, and I changed the lipstick to a very pale nude shade. I wore this look against a black background with black lingerie, and a black leather fringe vest.
This was my makeup station at the studio, I also had my accessories and “inspiration tears” also spread out on the table. We also used the makeup station as a backdrop for some of the photos, which came out great! Mike is so creative!
The makeup station in the studio, of my personal makeup set up, accessories and inspiration tears.
The magazine spread of Rosie Huntington that inspired my shoot:
A close up of some of the accessories that I brought to the shoot. I only ended up using the gold hoop earrings, and the bronze bangles, along with my Right Hand Rings.
Some of the makeup and tools I used for this photoshoot, of course you can see all of the SUNSET BLONDE Makeup Brushes I used! These two in front are from the new HOLLYWOOD HIDEF Collection coming soon to Sunsetblonde.com. They are synthetic bristles, that are extremely soft and high quality, perfect for achieving my flawless look!
Here’s two shots from the shoot on the camera screen, unretouched :
There were so many great shots from this photoshoot! Here are just a few shots! To see more visit my website at www.rachel-bernstein.com
After this photoshoot, a 2 page spread about me (using a few of these shots) was published in VIVA GLAM Magazine’s Digital Edition:
Here’s a sneak peek! To see the full version and to see more, subscribe to this glamorous new magazine!!
I hope you enjoyed taking a peek behind the scenes with me for this shoot!
Love,
Sunset Blonde
Young Fabulous & Broke Hampton Long Dresses, here is one in 
