Zoe Michelle Photography Blog

2011-02-02T11:52:00.001-08:00

No longer using this blog!
Just got a tumblr!
click here for my tumblr

click here for my website

Starting the New Year

2011-01-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

Starting off the new year right!
New pictures, new jobs, creative collaborations, inspirations....the new year is filled with so much hope.

I feel as if I've grown a lot this passed year as a person, but I do admit I was slacking a little in the creative aspect. This year I feel like there is a whole new drive in myself to aspire to. I'm going to work double overtime on my photography - especially the business side of things. I've got my business cards, my website, my lighting kit...now its really the time to meet more prospective clients and really put myself out there for new possibilities!

preview of a shoot with Jess Draven

many new things to come so watch out!

upcoming shoots...I hope..

2010-11-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

hoping for more upcoming shoots! just booked Lisa Annette Goldberg for some creative headshots this week! thinking of experimenting with my camera angle a bit. looking for a lower angle perhaps. images to come soon!

Had an impromptu shoot yesterday with Stephanie Watson! She was visiting for the Thanksgiving weekend and we were able to get some time in my apartment to shoot. Here's a sneak peek.

on another note i've decided to post a little ad on craigslist. what do you think?

Chanel

2010-09-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

Had an amazingly fun time shooting my friend Chanel! I met her last year at a Halloween party and I've now realized that we need to hang out together more! I found out we were in the same 1st&2nd grade together, and her and her sister own their own clothing company AilaBlue. I'm hoping maybe they will want to hire me to take photographs for their line! cross your fingers! ;)

Here are some of the photographs:

see more on my flickr
or on my website

Editorial Story

2010-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Jess & Chris were in town this weekend so we got to do a shoot! They are my favorite! Jess is so creative and really contributes to the shoot!

We were inspired by a shoot in W magazine with Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt.

I've never taken photographs like this before, and I really enjoyed it :)
Here are the pictures:

Courtney Marie

2010-09-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm getting to spend more time with my bestie Courtney Marie! We are both very excited about Halloween! I just ordered one of my costumes: soda pop girl

& I also want to be lady gaga one night, I already bought a wig :)
Courntey is going to be marie antoinette!

heres a few new pics I took of Courtney last week <3

Alien

2010-09-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

Had a fun crazy photoshoot with jess a few weeks ago.
She decided she wanted to make a ducted taped outfit. So first I took some of her in a black leotard with some added mess fabric and then we experimented with ducted tape on the leotard. haha It was fun. Its kind of alien-esk with her black lips, which she used black eyeliner for haha.

Added more to my website zoe-michelle.com

New business cards coming soon!
I'm ordering them next week so when I get them I'll post a picture. so excited for them!

2010-07-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

New strobes! So far I love!
Took pictures of the lovely Courtney Marie on the 17th to test them out. We had fun just playing around.

Then went to see Jessica Draven(my favorite) and played around in her living room, had to move a few things around to get some space to work! We hadnt seen eachother in a while and spent just as much time talking as shooting. Haha, love her!

2010-07-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

I said I'd share some imges I've taken since I havent been blogging so here are a few:

My sister - we were bored and decided to play around and have a little photoshoot. Shot in Cathedral City, no light modifiers, that camera is my step-grandmothers old minolta, my grandfather gave it to me when she passed away.

Jess and I went to the park in Palm Desert, CA to shoot. no light modifiers(as usual). I played around with color and I love the odd angles of her body here. :)

Chris got a new tattoo and I love it! Can't wait to take more. Here he is with Jessica - they are such a cute couple!

So many good pictures from our last shoot together! This was above all my favorite. The heart was there on the wall and neither of us noticed it until I opened it in photoshop haha :)

2010-07-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

I love the opening of my last entry...haha. so didnt happen.

Havent been shooting a ton, but I just bought strobes! Alienbees! heard from my photo friend Adam Rindy that they are really good and cheap! haha so I went ahead and purchased them. I bought 2 strobes and 1 large softbox. I thought they came with stands though! Sill me, now I have to buy some online or something because we have no camera stores that have light stands here. Yes, its sad.

On another note I went to Venice beach last weekend and I've decided I either want to live there or Hollywood where Adam Rindy lives haha. I'm seriously in love with his loft off 6th street so I'll probabaly end up there if I can afford it. My plan is to leave here by next year sometime. Gotta save some money first.

I'll post some pictures I've taken recently up soon! Its strange shooting with strobes again. Its been so long since I've used any kind of light modifier, let alone my own light source! :)

2010-03-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

Ok I swear from now on I am going to update this more!

My photoshoot with Nik Obert(mentioned in the last post) went pretty well. My first time taking photographs of a guy solo. But just yesterday I took the most amazing photographs of my friend Christopher Montgomery. They really turned out well! we ended up going to the Rancho Mirage library to take photographs. Its a new building that has a lot of different textured walls which I'm in love with! And I've been bored of the desert since that's all I've been shooting lately. I'm trying to reach out of my comfort zone and go beyond what I'm used to shooting. I went really dark and contrasty with it - played around with vibrance and saturation - and of course burned the shadows and dodged the highlights.

check out my website or my flickr for more images!

Chris told me there seems to be quite a buzz around town about my photography! Which I was very excited to hear. So anyone who's out there, if you want any pictures....check out my website and send me an email!

This weekend alone I have 4 photoshoots booked! which is a lot for me, I've only been trying to do at least one a weekend, haha. I'm so excited about my photography! Its only getting better :)

2010-02-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...i haven't been shooting much lately. I've been trying to find a good time to shoot with my friend Nik Obert. He is a personal trainer at a gym I used to work at, haha. He is amazingly fit, being a personal trainer and all. He been thinking of doing some fitness modeling and has hired me to take some photographs. I've had some great ideas but unfortunately one thing keeps leading to another it seems. Our schedules do not mix well.

On another note, one of my friends, Sean Cullen, approached me with a business idea. He just started a new business as a real estate agent(He is also a pilot who flys privately as well as teaches people how to pilot planes). He wants me to do interior and exterior photographs of houses for him, and said he can even help me get gigs with other local agents and bigger businesses around the valley.

Unfortunately, the only real experience I have in this field was one assignment I did at brooks photography institute right before leaving. Although I don't have much experience in this field I've decided I'm going to learn. I need to really start accomplishing more in photography because someday I hope to quit my day job of medical assisting and completely rely on my photography business to support myself.

So wish me luck with my real estate photography. Hopefully I can pull this off.

2010-01-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

Took photographs with Miss Heather Marie & Miss Courtney Marie.

We went down Washington St. and off on a dirt road to a desert area. I got some great shots of the snowy mountains in the background. Its a funny contrast - desert & snow. Heather now wants to hire me to do a shoot with her boyfriend, I've very excited about that!

I had a great day today, I'm so glad that photography is apart of my life.

I've decided I'm going to try to shoot every weekend, and then do the bump and grind(hiking trail here in the desert) the other day. Shouldnt be hard since I actually have quite a few photo shoots scheduled :)

For more photographs check out my website here
or my flickr here

& I have a model mayhem account as well here

2010-01-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

Went up highway 74 and took a few photographs of Miss Courtney Marie yesterday.
It ended up being pretty warm in the hot sun, we only stayed out for a little while. We were out by a hiking trail, Courtney was a trooper and without a care was just changing haha love her.

It was nice to see my dear friend and take some pictures of her.
I'm excited to work with her more so look out for more photographs!

dont forget to check out my website here!
and my flickr has even more of my photographs posted.

My current muse

2010-01-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of time with Jessica Draven and her boyfriend Christopher Montgomery lately. We've also done some individual shoots with just Jessica. She really is an amazing model. She's worked with several local photographers here in the desert, but thankfully im her favorite :p

Unfortunately, she has left to study abroad for 5 months! looks like I'll be needing a new muse! any takers?

check out more of the pictures here on my new website. go to the contact page to contact me with questions or to request a shoot! dont be shy now!

or you can go here for even more pictures on my flickr.

2009-03-26T00:36:00.001-07:00

haven't written in here in forever. nothing much photography related going on in my life.
i added a new blog here

its about random things i find on the internet mostly. pretty random.
I have a livejournal as well thats more about my personal life here

2008-11-10T13:48:00.001-08:00

I've decided to withdraw from Brooks Institute soon.
I've learned a lot, but I no longer have the money to stay here.
I think it will all work out for the best. I've stayed for all the technical aspects of photography, so I know everything technical wise. I'm planning on moving home and getting a job to save up money to move to LA summer 09 with my friend courtney. My good friend Adam Rindy lives there and works as a photographer and is doing quite well for himself, so I hope I can do the same. I'm going to miss everyone here at brooks, but really being in debt 70k + is not what I want. I really wish college was free, or even just if brooks was cheaper. But wishing doesn't get you very far. I have to face reality and make the best of the cards I've been dealt.

2008-10-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last week i ended up having my friend Jess come over for a photoshoot. We knew eachother in highschool and now she's going to college here in SB, so of course i had to take advantage of how beautiful she is!

here is a shot i took for one of my assignments:

this assignment was called complementary colors. We could pretty much shoot whatever we wanted as long as there were complementary colors in the photograph. I chose red and cyan. I wanted to use gels instead of just an item in the photograph that was cyan. I like how it turned out but there are some things i would have changed. As far as critique went, my teacher really like the lighting and he thought the idea caught his eye, but he did say he would have made the bow cyan or done more in the background to further finish the photo. what do you think?

here are a few other shots we just played around with for fun :)

it was nice just having fun with her, playing around with a few ideas. im in love with bows lately and leather jackets! :)