Been a long over due shoot with Stories in a Picture. Hiked not too far from home for these mountains. Who would have thought this is Phoenix?
Natural Elements with Kurt Korpong
Korpong Studio
Last summer, Kurt and I shot in a secret canyon surrounded by large boulders and cliff hanging trees in northern Arizona. It was a beautiful day, hiking 45 minutes down by the creek into the canyon among the trees and poison Ivy. Our inspiration: artistic nudes to capture the different elements that contrast the smooth lines of the human body with the jagged edges of the canyon. I find such a deep connection being nude in nature and in the stillness of the lens.
Calling Home
CEB Imagery
Ed Brice contacted me for another experimental project and I must say t'was one to remember. Precise planning, repetition, and awaiting the divine timing were the key to creating some breath taking imagery of the milky way in the land of the Red Rocks, Sedona, Arizona with some added light painting to fill the sky. The first image actually won 3rd place at the Arizona State Fair in 2016 for the Experimental category! The set was then configured into a short film with the remaining experimental images, which can be viewed here
Beauty in Destruction
Night Vulture Productions
Alex Gomez and I took a day trip to create this series. Inspiration: Beauty in Destruction. This was one of the more challenging shoots I've experienced. Being eaten alive at the first location, we discovered this abandoned home, the smell of sewage and trash were nearly unbearable. Bugs crawled their way around the rusted nails pultruding from the broken boards piled on the floor from the fallen roof, exposing the blue sky above. Wires and pipes revealed the upstairs bedroom, though there were signs of life from the growing weeds near the broken toilet within the debris of this location in Globe, Arizona. Emotionally, it was quite devastating to think about what once was a home, is now the abandonment of what once remained...
Spread Your Wings
Mikel Photo
This series was conceived by a teenage girl I once knew that was dealing with cutting. She told me about "The Butterfly Project", which motivated others to draw butterflies in place of harming oneself. I wanted to create something that transformed the emotions and actions of this topic in hopes to help others perceive situations differently through visual art and perhaps guide people to understand the depths of self harm. To my surprise, I have received many messages from friends expressing their admiration for this series and how the images captured the feelings of what they or a loved one have gone through.
Fight Like Girl
Dave Kelley Artistics
This image from 2012 is what started my Conceptual Depths project. I collaborated with Dave Kelley in honor and strength of those battling breast cancer and couldn't have said it better than this. Though The Tu-Tu Project gave me the idea, my mom was the inspiration for this one. Fight Like a Girl.