First of all I apologize for the rambling mess that is this post; it’s late and I am struggling to keep my eyes open, but I wanted to post some shots from today’s spontaneous set before turning in. So forgive me for being less than eloquent here.
I got off work early and decided to play around in makeup and take portrait shots, then the best pic of the 500 I took was one where my face doesn’t show at all – go figure.
I love that top for photos, even though the cropped aspect of it is problematic. Sure I look OK in this photo, but there’s plenty of others were I most decidedly do NOT, which is why I tried to take all my photos of the head and shoulders only; I just missed the mark in some of them like the one above. But the asymmetry and vibrant color really make it a good photography top, exposed skin notwithstanding. I actually cropped this one to share it on Facebook because I’m not totally thrilled with the amount of skin I’m showing here; it’s just that the shape my body made in conjunction with the curls and the one-sleeved top was very visually appealing, so I prefer this longer version to my Facebook one (which has cropped out the entire abdomen area. I’m a bit of a prude about skin-showing, what can I say).
Anyway, there’s the makeup. I think I did a pretty good job. I really wanted that yellow to pop, so I loaded up on it as well as on eyeliner and brow pencil (as usual). I even added a little cleft to my chin, but it may look more like I smudged off my makeup right there. not sure.
This next one was a mistake – I meant to reduce the exposure of my Speedlite but accidentally increased it instead, and this shot was blasted out from the flash. I decided to try and edit one of the shots I took like this before I realized what I’d done, but on its own it wasn’t quite right.
The highlighted areas are all too flat and there’s a lot of purple tint to my skin, so I uploaded this one to Pixlr and came up with the following:
Eh, it’s a little campy but I like it all right. I have a lot more to process as I was actually playing around with light a lot in this set – using reflectors and off-camera Speedlites and what have you – and I took over 500 photos (!). But I ran out of time and energy tonight to edit any more than these, so more coming over the weekend I am sure!
mareymercy. 
The color in that top is really wonderful – I am in a purple mood this spring, so it really grabs my attention. The makeup is obviously dramatic and it works. The first shot is spectacular, but I like the last one too. I wonder if people actually wear that hair with so much purple in it, like for reals, out in the world? Great for costumes like this one. You did a great job on the skin effect too.
I thought I replied to this, but I guess I forget to hit ‘post.’ I’m sure I had purple like this in my hair for reals at some point or another – I used to mess with the color all the time when it was short. And thanks about the skin – i’ve really got that down now. Although I also discovered if use MAC’s Studio Fix powder foundation on my neck and decollete, I mean REALLY slather it on – it covers up a lot of my sun damage and makes my work post-processing MUCH easier. It gets all over whatever I’m wearing though, so sometimes if I’m more normal clothes I don’t want to do it.
I will have to check that Studio Fix powder out. I usually just use Bare Minerals and that seems to work well. I don’t have anything on my face, but I have a couple of blotches just below my collar bone that are from sun damage. I got a couple of really bad burns traveling (and growing up). Sometimes I am tempted to just daub them with clorox, lol!
Great photo work and I like the makeup and the look you came up with!
Thanks! Lots to work with here!
I too thought I commented on this yesterday, but maybe forgot to hit the post button.
Your make up job is perfect.
I agree, Bare Minerals is fantastic.
Since you do a lot of special effects makeup, you may want to look at a company called, Cinema Secrets. They have a few retail outlets, but not many. There’s one here in Sacramento, but don’t know about your area. Lots of pretty wild stuff. They do have a Web site.
Once again, great makeup job.
Thanks! 🙂 I will check out Cinema Secrets. I’d like to get some better foundation for photos; I just use my usual MAC Pro Longwear right now and probably could get good use out of some thicker stuff.
Believe me…their foundation is thicker. They use it to cover tattoos in the movies. Check out the colors for lips and eyes though. Have fun. 🙂