MY KPW Photo Shoot - No. 6, An Evening Bride

Sue was a stunning evening bride as Brea McDonald was able to capture all of her fine moments strolling through a historical site in downtown Portsmouth, NH. Check out how Brea worked with our bride for her evening wedding.

Time of Shoot: 4:30pm
Bride: Sue
Hair: Hair that Moves
Makeup: Joya beauty
Photographer: Brea McDonald Photography
Dress and Accessories: Occasions Bridal and Tuxedos
Flowers: Apotheca Flower Shoppe
Location: Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, NH


Brea shares with us her thoughts behind the shoot...

Sue, our bride, was having an evening wedding and I wanted to take advantage of the soft, warm evening light. It made for very glamorous and flattering backlighting that showcased the different layers of her dress. Her shoot took place at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth; if I could live there I would. And in order to find the perfect settings for the shoot, we strolled the streets and paths in search for places that presented themselves to us.

Now Sue had an amazing smile, so my approach was to keep her moving without doing anything too crazy since she was more of a sophisticated bride. In working with Sue, I showed her what to do in terms of posing and movement, and she perfectly reenacted it her more realxed. Well she quickly got into the mood and the swing of things. I also wanted to make sure to keep things realistic yet playful (and with a little subtle sexiness). For example, I just love how she peeked around the corner as if she was looking for her groom.

The apple trees made for a beautiful setting and fallen apples were definitely a walking obstacle, but Sue kicked off her shoes and just had fun with it. Movement throughout the shoot was also key in order to see more volume of the dress, and with Sue just twirling around with her bouquet out made her focus less on the camera and more on just having fun.

The woodshed instantly jumped out because of the texture and the dark wood contrast against a soft, white, flowy gown.

The boat was also a great setting for it's texture and soft, subtle color that made it timeless so we had to take advantage of it. And the different tones in the bouquet against the blue were perfect. The boat also fit the coastal, New England charm.

Check out more photos from Brea!

MY KPW Photo Shoot - No. 4, Hair and Makeup for a Morning Bride

A morning wedding is always simple and refreshing and typically calls for a very natural bride. The makeup and hair team shares with us a look that is appropriate for many brides planning to have a wedding in the beginning of the day.

Time of Shoot: 11:00am
Bride: Liz
Hair: Hair that Moves - Lena Hartford
Makeup: Joya beauty - Joanne McDonough
Photographer: Studio Nouveau
Dress and Accessories: Occasions Bridal and Tuxedos
Flowers: Apotheca Flower Shoppe
Location: Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH


Lena shares with us her tips on creating Liz's soft, flowy style...

Not only does Liz have great, thick hair but her wedding was staged for the morning hours and a simple style is always the best for morning weddings. I wanted to show simple elegance with a soft curl to her hair.

I took small sections of hair, starting at the nape of the neck. Working up using "working" spray, I wrapped the sections of hair around a 3/4" barrel ceramic iron. This gives the beachy curl effect that everyone is looking for. After her entire head was curled, I softened the look with shine spray and used my fingers to comb out the curl to have a long, lasting look. I also took some smaller pieces around her face and gently pinned them close to the ear to give it a little bit of formality and hold.

With Liz's hair beautifully curled, Joanne sits her down for makeup...

For our early morning bride we must keep the makeup as soft as the dawn light.
Her eyes were lightly contoured with a natural crème to powder shadow with a warm matte color to set. Eyeliner is kept thin to define the shape of her eyes and make her lash line look full.

I used a crème blush to highlight Liz's already beautiful cheek bones and of course air brushed her skin for a dewy radiant complexion.

Her lips are balanced with the intensity level of the eyes with a lovely nude pencil topped with a Joya custom blend sheer nude….just a few shades up from her natural lip color.

Once Liz's hair and makeup was complete, she was off to get her into her gown at Occasions. To complete her hair style, the team chose silk flowers to place behind her ear. At first, we only added one flower but then decided to add a second for a little more drama--still keeping it simple for day time.

my KPW Photo Shoot - No. 3, Getting Ready (take two)

Sue was such a beautiful bride to work with, and as you can see, her smile is contagious! It was so much fun watching her turn into a total evening diva.

Time of Shoot: 4:30pm
Bride: Sue
Hair: Hair that Moves - Lena Hartford
Makeup: Joya beauty - Joanne McDonough
Photographer: Brea McDonald Photography
Dress and Accessories: Occasions Bridal and Tuxedos
Flowers: Apotheca Flower Shoppe
Location: Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, NH


Sue's photo shoot took place at 4:30 in the evening to represent a look for a night wedding. The hair and makeup team wanted to give Sue a more formal, polished look to take here into the later hours.

Here's how Joanne from Joya beauty started the look...

Sue's look needed to be more dramatic since she is representing a bride getting married in the evening. This look can support high intensity and a smokey eye looks fabulous in candlelight.

I started with the new "Dolce & Gabbana, The Makeup" quad of color...Ice and Smoke. I took black eyeliner, of course, and smudged it into the inner lash line for a sultry look.

Sue's base was airbrushed for a flawless finish and dusted with a custom mineral finishing powder to set. Contour and highlights look great in evening light. Don't be afraid of bronzer to create definition and a stronger high color on the cheeks. Anything less would wash out and appear faded in photos.

Sue's lip color is also a Joya custom color that I call "Material Girl"...a beautiful deep, rosy pink with just the right amount of blue to make those teeth sparkle in the candlelight.

Now Sue is ready to sit down with Lena from Hair that Moves...

Sue has long healthy hair with bangs, and she requested that I keep her bangs down which is very popular right now. So I wanted to show brides that you can create a very formal look without having to pin back the bangs.

Without using a hair iron, I first smoothed any fly-aways with product. Then to create a bit of volume at the crown, I pulled back a section of her hair then pushed up slightly to create the height and secured it with pins.

Next, I wanted to incorporate a braid into her look since it's quite popular right now. So what I did was braid a little section of hair from underneath and wrapped the braid around her crown to create a classic, formal look.

Once the braid was done, I criss-crossed sections of hair and created a looped affect securing each of the sections with pins. And when creating a more formal look, it's really important to make sure the style is secure and smooth to give the hair a shiny, finished look.

To finish Sue's look, a head piece and veil were used to accentuate her hair style.

My KPW Photo Shoot - No. 2, The Story Behind the Photography

Spending a day with Liesl from Claris Photography is no ordinary day. Her ability to find unique locations and capture elegant moments is amazing and quite an art form (her sense of humor is also one-of-a-kind)!

Time of Shoot: 2:00pm
Bride: Kate
Hair: Hair that Moves - Lena Hartford
Makeup: Joya beauty - Joanne McDonough
Photographer: Claris Photography
Accessories: Occasions Bridal and Tuxedos
Flowers: Apotheca Flower Shoppe
Location: selected urban areas in Portsmouth

Liesl shares with us some of her thoughts around the shoot and particular shots...

As I do with all of my shoots, I usually have an image or images in my head way in advance of what I visualize. I wanted to have a more Urban/City type feel for my images and pictured locations in Portsmouth that I hoped to find. Typically, I have this type of thing already "scouted" and planned, but this time the fun was actually in walking the city blocks in search of hidden gems. The model I had was also an adventurous type of person and I knew she would be up for a challenge. A couple of times I would have her wait a few moments while I scoured the streets to come back for her...but working in this "in the moment" style brought a few challenges; ultimately it felt free and allowed for much creativity on both of our parts.

For this shot, I chose the dramatic angle because it is powerful yet feminine. Often I try shooting objects in a manor that people don't usually see them everyday which I feel adds interest and makes one look again and say "what is that?". Adding a person into this type of shot just gives it personality.

We kept finding ourselves in the "entrances" of strangers' apartments. In this shot, this amazing den-like entrance added shape and with her arms mimicking this outline it allowed her body to be soft and graceful.

I try to view a posture from all angles and created this shot from inside the den, which changed the look with very dramatic lighting. And of course we seemed to get caught EVERY time as we were greeted by the owner of the apartment trying to get in the door...oh well!

I have always loved the look of femininity in a rough surrounding. The contrast is very interesting to me so I loved the location here - and it was fun to watch the model trying to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic :) It would have been easier without the 5 inch heels but at least we know that for next time!

I was trying to forget I was still in NH so I pretended we were in France.

In these two shots, Kate was looking at me like "you're the photographer,why didn't YOU bring the quarters?!" So I thought you should all know she can be tough sometimes when she gets all done up (we really love her though!).

The flowers are amazingly beautiful on one's wedding day!

And this one is just amazing!




Since all of Liesl's photos are absolutely incredible, we can't resist showing even more!